The Best of the Best
Jonathan and Jennifer Hart (Hart to Hart): Gosh, what can I even say about these two. This has to be one of my all time favorite TV series. Watch one episode and you will see what I mean. These two are so obviously in love. Even twenty years later in the reunion movies they still act like newleyweds, even if it's just Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man repackaged for the '80s. That is what I want my marriage to be like. There was fabulous chemistry between Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers and it just made the show seem so real.
Lee Stetson and Amanda King (Scarecrow and Mrs. King): He was a spy, she a divorcée (with two young sons, as she was always telling everyone). The moment he pulled her aside at the train station and she accepted the package from him, she was drawn into a world of spies, intrigue and danger. But somehow they always seemed to come out on top. The looks, the flirting, the denial ... totally cute. It always seemed like they would end up together, it was just a matter of time before it happened. And eventually it did, they just kept it a secret from everyone else.
Remington Steele and Laura Holt (Remington Steele): This was another of those couples you knew would one day end up together, it was just a matter of time. They danced around each other constantly, but something always seemed to get in the way -- and usually it was a lie he'd told. He was a con artist playing detective and front man for his reluctant partner, a female detective who couldn't get a job without a man's name to back her. And it didn't hurt that Pierce Brosnan is an absolutely fine looking man.
Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher (Star Trek: The Next Generation): The consumate never-to-be-consummated relationship. They were friends for twenty-five years, and he was best-friends with her deceased husband. Fans clammored for this one for many years, and the producers finally made a stab at it in the final season with the now legendary episode "Attached," when they were mentally linked and could hear each other's thoughts. But alas, nothing serious ever came of it. More's the pity. There was some very interesting chemistry between these two. (Check out my stories).
Nathan Bridger and Kristin Westphalen (seaQuest DSV): Another of my all time favorites. I knew from about the third episode that these two were meant for each other. He's a widower, she's a divorcée (exactly how many times was never revealed). They shared exactly two kisses and one make-out scene in one season of work. In fact, in the season finale, the producers acknowledged what I'd been saying all along -- they were in love. But she didn't return for the second season and nothing more ever came of the relationship. Darn. (Check out my stories).
Chakotay and Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek: Voyager): A Starfleet Captain stuck seventy years from home and her ex-Maquis First Officer. It was obvious almost from the start that there was great chemistry between the two, and it came to a head with the now legendary episode "Resolutions" in the second season. They were stranded alone on a planet for three months due to medical reasons. Debate has raged since as to whether they actually consummated the relationship or not, but the prevailing attitude is that they didn't. But Chakotay did admit his feelings in a roundabout way through his similarly legendary "Angry Warrior" speech. But since then, with the exception of when he cried over her dead body, the producers have let the relationship stagnate. Both have had relationships with others, but eternal optomists kept hoping right up to the end that something would still happen between them. (Check out my stories).
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres (Star Trek: Voyager): The only confirmed relationship on the starship so far from home. Tom and B'Elanna danced around each other for a while before being stuck in space with dwindling oxygen. Since then the relationship has been going strong, even prompting the great line "There is no one on deck nine section twelve who does not know when you are having intimate relations." And in a truly revolutionary moment in the Star Trek universe, Tom and B'Elanna became the first pair of main characters from any of the series to actually marry - not to mention procreate. I guess birth control is just as reliable in space as it is here on Earth.
Harmon Rabb and Sarah MacKenzie (JAG): When they first replaced Meg with Mac I didn't like her. She was too cold and harsh. But since then I've warmed up to her. Now I'm fully behind this relationship, even though he seems a bit hesitant. This was one of those relationships where they never seemed to be at the same place in life at the same time; just as one would end a relationship, the other would just be starting up with someone new. Producers teased us for ten years with maybes and "what if's" before finally letting these two hook up for good in the series finale.
Colonel/Brigadier General Jack O'Neill and Captain/Major/Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter (Stargate SG-1): Why am I drawn to so many couples that will never see the light of day? These two have a valid reason, however, in that it's against the rules. The producers/writers have done a wonderful job of teasing us with the occasional acknowledgement of the attraction between Jack and Sam, and even the odd dream-kiss now and then. But the characters always seem to come back to the fact that this is something that can never really be. Too bad for us fans. Though there might be new glimmers of hope to be had in the latest season (now that he's left the show).
Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn (Alias): Another pair of spies, their love is similarly hidden from all but their closest friends. Even though everyone can see the attraction there. And how can you not like these two? Like most of my favorite couples, the spark was there right from the moment she walked into his office with an offer to take down the evil SD-6. There were just these minor little problems of a girlfriend and a dead fiance to work around. Oh, and of course her missing two years in which he went and married someone else. And that pesky death of his right after learning she's pregnant. Doh!
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall: This isn't exactly a TV couple, but they are, in my humble opinion, one of the most romantic couples ever to grace the screen. Though there were twenty-five years between them, they still seemed like the perfect couple, totally in love. Everyone who knew them thought so, and it came across perfectly in the movies they made together.
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn: Again, not a TV couple, but ... Only Bogey and Bacall rival these two as the greatest pairing, both on and off screen. Over a span of twenty-five years they made nine pictures together, and in every one the love between them is palpable. Even when their characters are fighting, there's still love in their eyes. And that love carried over into their personal life, though they very carefully kept their relationship out of the public eye.