In honor of
Valentine's Day, I wanted to take look at some of these classic examples. As
we'll see, sometimes these work out, and other times they don't. The one
constant rule of this cliché seems to be that when the two people finally get
together, the magic chemistry vanishes. Is that really always the case?
Happy Days-Why
do I always start with this show? I could be wrong about this, but I am pretty
sure that when Chachi first came on the show Joanie pretty much turned down his
advances. He was just an annoying boy to her. However, as time went one (and
the creators started needing a reason to keep viewers interested), she returned
his affections. They started dating, had an awful spin-off series, and in the
series final episode got married. They had ok chemistry together so I guess it
worked.
Cheers-In the early days this show was all about one thing: Sam and Diane. Some may argue all of the examples on this list owe their thanks to these two. I'll be honest; I was way too young to care about this. By the time I got interested in Cheers, Diane was out and Rebecca was in. However, despite that even I knew about this romance. In the beginning we weren't sure if they loved each other or hated each other, then by season 3 the real relationship started to form. The relationship went back and forth, Diane almost married Frasier while Sam hit the bottle, until they finally got engaged and were supposed to be married. However, she walked out to go write a book. She promised to come back in six months, instead she returned in six years. They tried again to make it work, ultimately deciding that it wasn't meant to be. The idea of womanizing Sam settling for one girl would be hard to swallow, but somehow Ted Danson and Shelly Long made it work with their great chemistry.
Who's The
Boss?-This is one of the first successful sitcoms entirely based around this
concept. On the surface the show is simple; Angela hires Tony to be her
housekeeper. Just a simple role reversal show, right? The actual drive of this
show is that Angela and Tony are hot for each other, but never admit it. Well,
not when they are conscious anyway. As the series progressed they did admit it,
but decided to stay friends. That finally ended the last season when they
confessed their love, were engaged, and got marri.....no, the series didn't end
with a wedding, bit of a let down after eight years of will they/won't they
crap.
Saved By The
Bell-Most of the love was returned in this episode. At first Kelly didn't
respond to Zack, but she gave in. Slater and Jessie kind of went back and forth,
everyone forgets Slater went after Kelly in the beginning. Of course, there was
Screech and his constant pestering of Lisa. I never really bought he had true
feelings for her (we'll see a better example of the same thing in a minute). He
just comes off as a pest. There is one episode where Zack heats things up with
Lisa, and Screech get so jealous he and Zack almost have a fist fight over her.
Despite that, I think he just liked annoying her the way friends sometimes like
getting on each other’s nerves in a playful way. Of course this could be because
Dustin Diamond is one of the worst actor’s god ever put on this planet.
Family
Ties-Skippy was one of my favorite annoying neighbors. A later article will
talk more about that, but his big character trait was his unending love for
Mallory. Mallory couldn't have been less interested in him that way. She
usually shrieked at his presence. When Mallory started dating Nick they did
have an episode where Skippy was jealous about it, but he quickly accepted that
Mallory and he were not meant to be and stayed friends with all of them. It's
amazing when I watch Skippy on this show, is that what nerds were like in the
80's? Compare him to the nerd of the 90's.....
Family
Matters-Oh, you knew this one would be here. What would Family Matters have
been without Steve Urkel and his undying love for Laura? However, unlike
Screech who was just a pest, you really felt like Steve had real feelings for
her. Credit to good writing or Jaleel White's acting, but it really came across
on the screen. True Laura didn't reciprocate the love, she did respect how good
a friend he was. He was always there to support, comfort or protect her, and
Laura couldn't help but appreciate that even if it did come along with his
annoying habits. I think this goes for the rest of the family, they could see
that he really meant well and really cared about people. Why else did they put
up with him causing more property damage than a severe storm? Of course, toward the end of the series Laura
did finally develop feelings for him. I gave up on the show by then, but I
believe it ended with them basically getting together (I am not even getting
into the clone thing with Stefan, that was just absurd).
Night
Court-It was pretty clear the creators wanted Harry to be pining over someone.
The first few episodes had court clerk Lana, who disappeared quickly. Then
there was Defense attorney Billie. They established Harry had feelings for her,
just before she vanished from the show. Finally Christine Sullivan came along.
It was clear they had feelings for each other, but their situation kept them
apart (he was a judge; she was an attorney working in his court). They did kiss
a few times but nothing really happened. However, toward the end of the series
they did finally confess their feelings. Unfortunately, they ended up deciding
they were better off just being friends.
Frasier-What
comes to mind when I say Frasier? Niles and Daphne of course! This was one of
those unrequited love affairs you would have never expected to get resolved.
Daphne worked for Frasier, and his brother Niles almost immediately had a
school boy crush on her. For several seasons there were all kinds of gags about
Niles secret love for her, and a few times she almost became aware but for the
most part never caught on. Finally when she was engaged Frasier let it slip,
and suddenly Daphne was the one mooning over Niles (who had apparently finally
moved on). However, in an admittedly great episode Niles and Daphne finally
revealed their feelings for each other. After that it got kind of got boring as
they eventually married and, in the final episode, had a kid. But the early
shows when Niles was pining over a clueless Daphne had some real cute moments.
I could mention Frasier and Roz, but that never really turned into a
relationship.
Friends-Ross
& Rachel. Do I need to say more? If Cheers set the standard then Friends
perfected it. First Ross liked Rachel but she had no clue. Then Rachel liked
Ross but he had no clue. That little secret came out and they got together,
until a huge fight and Ross's one night stand broke them up. Then there was
some back and forth, and when Ross met Emily and was going to get married that
seemed to be it. Until Ross said "Rachel" instead of “Emily” at the
altar. There were more up and downs, Ross and Rachel were married in Vegas but
that was quickly ended. Then they had a baby and even lived together, but that
too ended. Just when all hope of them getting together and staying together was
lost, we got the series finale where Rachel’s moving to Paris forces Ross to
confess his feelings. I'm going to reveal a little secret, of all the
relationships in this article; this is the one I cared about. I know, but I was
really into their relationship and I was very happy to see them get together in
the end. I did want to mention the other unrequited love in Friends and that
was Gunther, the guy at Central Perk who had the unending crush on Rachel. I
was very surprised to see them actually resolve this in the series finale.
The
Nanny-The 80's had Who's The Boss?, the 90's had The Nanny. I was not a loyal
fan, so if I get the facts wrong I apologize. Fran Fine became the Nanny of
Maxwell Sheffield's three kids. Almost immediately there was chemistry, but the
two never acted on it. For about three years there were lots of flirting and
heat between them. It took a near plane crash for Maxwell to reveal he loved
Fran, and even then he backed off on it. At first. They were married and the
last season of the show was about their married life, and man was it boring. I
need to mention another unrequited love on this show. C.C. was Maxwell's
business partner and had a crush on him which was totally not reciprocated.
However, that isn't the love I wanted to mention. Through the run of the series
the butler, Niles, constantly made fun of C.C. Any chance to insult her, he
took it and had some funny lines. In the final episodes of the series, its
revealed all that time Niles had a crush on her! Wait, what? This is like
Benson revealing he loved Ms.Kraus the whole time! Oh wait, it gets worst. C.C.
found the idea hysterical, at first. Somehow, and the creators didn't show how
probably because it didn't make sense to them either, Niles and C.C. are
together in the end and she's pregnant in the final episode! Sorry, didn't buy
any of it. Niles and C.C. were great antagonists, and they should have kept it
that way.
A Different
World-When this Cosby spin-off first premiered, we saw Dwayne Wayne with a
crush on Denise, who didn't reciprocate. However, the end of the first season
they shared a kiss. Of course, when Denise was written off the show that
changed things. Dwayne changed his sights from Denise, to Whitley. This was the
focus for the remainder of the series. They dated, and then broke up. Then just
before Whitley was about to marry another guy, literally just before in a
really well done scene, Whitley changed her mind and married Dwayne who she
truly loved. They were happily married when the series ended. There were other
love triangles in the show, like with Ron and Kim and Freddie, but I never
really watched the show enough to report on them.
The
Office-It amazed me when I first watched this show and found this trope very
much alive and well. We all know this one, Jim and Pam. They are co-workers who
are real good friends. They played pranks together and shared everything. Actually, Jim likes her a little more than
that. However she is engaged so even if she feels the same, there's no way she
can act. By the end of the second season he admits this and kisses her, only to
have Pam say she is still getting married. The next season the wedding is off
but Jim has transferred out of the office. Jim and Pam kind of kept their
distance until one of the series great scenes in “The Beach Game” when Pam
admitted missing Jim and his friendship. Finally Jim returned to the office and
he starts dating Pam. That leads to them becoming engaged, married, and finally
having a child. Now she is pregnant again. I’d be lying if I said I have seen
every episode. However, I did like this couple they seemed to have a nice
chemistry.
Good
Morning, Miami-Never heard of it? There is a good reason. I wanted to put this
bad series on here to show this doesn’t always work. This series pulled out
every cliché associated with this trope. The whole plot of the show was the
main character kept a job at a low rated Miami morning show because he fell
head over heels for a woman who worked there. He loved her; she had no idea and
was in a serious relationship. On top of that, there was another woman who was
interested in him but he had no clue! If you turned this cliché into a sitcom,
this would have been the sitcom. The show failed and the creators rushed the relationship
in an attempt to save viewers, it failed of course when they got together and
the romantic chemistry vanished.
The Big Bang
Theory-Leonard had a crush on Penny from the first moment he laid eyes on here.
After some flirting around he finally managed to ask her out, and they dated
for awhile before breaking up. Penny then regretted letting Leonard go while he
dated others, and at this point in the series the two are together again and
working on making their relationship work. The big problem with this
relationship is Penny is insecure about the fact that Leonard is much smarter
than her.
There are
plenty other examples. For the sake of brevity, let's take a quick look at some
other famous TV crushes, some less unrequited than others:
WKRP in Cincinnati-Herb
had a crush on Jennifer (who could blame him?) which was totally not reciprocated
(who could blame her?). They did go on a date once which was a disaster.
The Wonder Years-Of course one of the main plots of this show was Kevin's love for Winnie. In the end, they didn't get together.
Full
House-When Jesse and Rebecca first met, Rebecca had no interest in Jesse. After
about a year of flirting and will they/won't they teasing, they quickly got
together and were married.
NewsRadio-Dave and Lisa hooked up early in the series run, and subsequently broke up. Even though there were hints of them getting back together, it never happened.
Boy Meets World-Cory and Topanga was a hot item. They finally got married, but I am not sure if this counts as unrequited when it began. I didn’t start watching this show till very late.
Seinfeld-Of course Jerry and Elaine was a former couple. Despite the teases that they may get back together, they never did. I always liked it when someone would inquire about their relationship and rather than saying a simple no Elaine would explain the whole story to a complete stranger.
Murphy Brown-Eldin the house painter had a crush on Corky, which made for a few good laughs
Everybody Loves Raymond-Robert and Amy had a very roller coaster relationship. They broke up four or five times before finally getting married (despite her parent’s objections).
Just Shoot Me-The first three seasons we could tell there was something between Maya and Elliot, and finally they confessed those feelings and went out for about a year. The interesting thing is when they did break up, they stayed broken up.
Caroline in the City-When Caroline hired Richard to color her cartoons, the chemistry was almost instant. First Richard had feelings for her, and then after he was married Caroline has feelings for him. It took some time but the two did finally confess for their love for each other.
Scrubs-J.D. and Elliot had a relationship which so mirrored a Ross & Rachel kind of romance that it even made it as a joke in one episode. They did wind up together in the end, but there were lots of twists and turns. At one point J.D., after pining for so long, admitted his feelings. Elliott dropped the guy she was with and went with J.D. who changed his mind! Wow, that takes guts.
It doesn't
need to be a sitcom to have this. Drama's like Moonlighting were famous for his
too. Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd had a very hot will they/won't they
romance. Finally, there is no way I can finish this without discussing Star
Trek. There were tons of these through the course of all the series. Here they
are quickly:
Original
Series-Nurse Chapel had a thing for Spock; of course he was incapable of
returning those feelings.
TNG-Riker
and Troi were the Star Trek version of Ross & Rachel. They had a history, and
then decided to just remain friends, but you could still feel the heat between
them. There was also Picard and Crusher, and when they finally revealed how
they felt they decided it would be best not to act on it.
DS9-Odo had
a thing for Kira through the whole series. Of course, Bashir's crush on Jadzia
started literally from the beginning. She never returned those affections;
instead she seemed amused by them.
Voyager-The
Doctor had feelings for Seven of Nine that were never expressed. We also felt
like Janeway and Chakoty had feelings for one another. I don't include Harry
and his ogling of Seven of Nine, Harry was a horny guy who liked anything with
a pretty face, which is why his relationships were always disasters.
Enterprise-We
were given the distinct feeling that Archer had feelings for T'Pol, but she
hooked up with Tripp in an on again, off again relationship.
The funny
thing is even after all that I feel like I missed a few. As you can see this is
a very popular trope. Why is that? I think it's because when a show is written
well and we really care for the character, we want to see them happy. So when
love is in the air, how can we not route for things to work out? It also makes
for some awkwardly funny moments when we see one character to clearly in love
with other who either doesn’t have a clue or does not share those feelings.
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