TV romance. Slow burns, insta-love, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, or even ships that never sail – we’ve seen it all. The perk of television is that unlike a 90-minute-long feature film, it has plenty of room to develop relationships, but the downfall of that is, there’s also plenty of chances to mess them up.
I started this as one article, but because I’ve seen about 200 TV shows and have pairings that I liked on some level in almost every single one of them, the article turned out to be a small novella. For the sake of my readers, I decided to separate it into manageable chunks.
This is the first part of however many pieces it turns out to be and it focuses mainly on pairings that I actually wouldn’t say I particularly like but more so think they have some moments that had potential to become something better than what we got (at least in my opinion). Anyway, enough intros, let’s begin!
160. Emma/Ethan (The Lying Game)
If I’m being honest, I don’t remember much about the pairing. I never actively wished for them to end up together but they did have some cute moments.
159. Emma/Thayer (The Lying Game)
The same applies to these two, I think the only reason why I placed them above Emma/Ethan is because I thought they had better chemistry. I need a rewatch.
158. Aria/Ezra (Pretty Little Liars)
To make it clear, I do not root for them in the present day and think the implications of their relationship are fairly disgusting. However, as I was watching it while it was airing as a teenager, I found the whole forbidden student-teacher angle kind of appealing. It absolutely should’ve been nipped in the bud at the very latest when Aria’s parents first found out about them. The whole plot in season four was just the final nail in an already nailed coffin.
157. Belle/Rumple (Once Upon a Time)
Same applies here, after watching the entire show I do not think they were a good pairing or should’ve ended up together. Belle’s character deserved better and the way she was disserviced to fuel Rumple’s storyline was atrocious. Just as it seemed the show would call their relationship out, they were put back together and I was not a fan. As a concept, their relationship had potential and I was rooting for them while watching the first few seasons.
156. Howard/Bernadette (The Big Bang Theory)
While I’m definitely not invested in these two, they did have a decent dynamic and Bernadette did make Howard a less slimey person, so props to her for that. Apart from that, nothing much to say here.
155. Tom/Lynette (Desperate Housewives)
I think they embody the whole ‘toxic marriage’ dynamic fairly well. Although there’s no doubt they love each other deeply, they spend more of their time together miserable rather than not and brought out the worst in each other. While it does make sense they ended the show back together, I think in real life they would’ve been a lot happier with other people.
154. Mary/Francis (Reign)
This one on a bit on the complicated side. On my first watch, I absolutely despised them. Now, I still can’t say I ship them but I don’t hate them anymore and they do have some cute moments so it’s a bit of a toss and turn for me.
153. Miranda/Steve (Sex and the City)
I never had strong feelings for these two as they seemed such polar opposites, although I guess that was the point. They did have their moments, though and would probably be higher on the list if not for the movie as the reason Steve cheated was just completely out of line for me and the way Miranda was pressured into forgiving him never sat right with me.
152. Mike/Tina (Glee)
It says a lot that I rewatched Glee fairly recently and cannot remember anything about them, which makes sense in a sad way as their characters were pretty much a backdrop. For what it’s worth, they were cute and had their characters got more focus, they definitely would’ve been worth rooting for.
151. Liam/Naomi (90210)
I’m a bit on the fence with these two as it didn’t look like anything apart from a sexual attraction until the moment in the snow that was pretty romantic and could’ve possibly developed more had the show not chosen to go in the Lannie direction. One could still debate on whether Naomi was so angry at Annie because of her genuine feelings for Liam or because of her bruised ego.
150. David/Donna (Beverly Hills 90210)
I was never a big fan of them, but ironically, they did turn out to be one of the big constants of the show (not counting the spin-off) so that has to count for something. The whole Donna virginity plot was drawn out way too long for my liking and put too much emphasis on the whole ‘sex is bad’ narrative which is probably why the pairing is a bit tainted for me.
149. Dan/Serena (Gossip Girl)
This entry is purely driven by nostalgia. Let’s be real, regardless of how the show turned out, they were adorable in season one, despite some long-lasting internal conflicts. However, there’s no denying that as a whole, this relationship is a mess full of idolisation and unwillingness to move on from something you know and look for what’s good for you. Throw in the whole Gossip Girl thing in the mix and it gets even worse. Still, that first season really made them be something.
148. Jimmy/Hazel (Degrassi TNG)
Even though I rewatched this show recently, I cannot remember much about these two. For one of the longest-running couples of the early seasons, they were pretty bland, although that’s more to do with Hazel being side-lined as a character and lack of storylines for them. Regardless, they were a cute pairing.
147. Ellie/Sean (Degrassi TNG)
I definitely understand the appeal of this couple (maybe even more than Semma at times) and they definitely made each other’s lives better. However, they never really got a real shot considering Sean’s abrupt exit from the show in season four (a common trend with his character), which is a shame as they definitely could’ve been a good rival to the Semma ship.
145. Kurt/Blaine (Glee)
It’s a bit of a coin toss with this one. When they’re good, they’re really good, but when they’re bad, they’re *bad*. Cheating, emotional abuse, belittling – a lot of iffy stuff in there. I’ll go as far as saying they should not have ended up together but I don’t have strong feelings about the show to think about them too much, anyway.
144. Pacey/Andy (Dawson’s Creek)
This show is super fuzzy in memory, but I remember liking these two on some levels as I thought they were cute and helped each other become better people. The way the show broke them up was just poor writing and even though I love Poey, it was a super cheap and quick way to speed up the process with them which undermined Pacey and Andy’s importance to each other.
143. Jackie/Kelso (That 70’s Show)
Just to be clear, I more enjoy their dynamic rather than think they’re relationship goals because they were toxic as hell and the show wasn’t subtle about it. Regardless, they did have good chemistry, romantic and comedic, besides, it was obvious Jackie genuinely loved him and needed that relationship to grow and find someone who loves her the way she deserves, so Kelso’s purpose in their dynamic was very clear.
142. Craig/Ellie (Degrassi TNG)
I’m honestly a sucker when it comes to pining in ships. That being said, I’m glad these two never officially got together, mainly because Craig is a trash boyfriend to all his love interests in the show and Ellie wasn’t in the best head space a lot of the time to deal with that (plus she deserved better in general).
141. Peyton/Jake (One Tree Hill)
I’m not gonna lie, a huge part of my love for this pairing is because I only really like Peyton when she’s not wrapped around Lucas’s finger. These two definitely had potential that could’ve been explored had the actor stayed on the show. What we got between them, though, was better than some long-term ships on TV so that must count for something!