Today, I’m looking to see what you think was the most ill-conceived romantic pairing of two regular characters on a TV sitcom (so no guest spot romances).
Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.
One of the things that happens on long-running TV series is that there is a desire to just pair off the characters so that you can consolidate romance plots by having two regular characters date instead of paying for two more actors for them to date on the show. Sometimes, those pairings are very ill-conceived. What example do you think was the MOST ill-conceived?
I’m going with Fez and Jackie on That’s 70s Show. Fez literally stalked her in the early seasons, it is pretty darn creepy that they ended up together.
That’s my pick. What’s yours?
And feel free to suggest future Pop Culture Theme Time topics to me at brian@popculturereferences.com!
“How I Met Your Mother” marrying Barney with Robin at the worst matchup.
1) Barney was a creep and Robin knew it
2) The show had already planned the conclusion where Robin and Ted are married
I totally agree about Fez and Jackie. It really did reek of the show’s writers and producers having nowhere to go with Jackie (since she had already dated Hyde and Kelso, and Eric/Topher Grace was already off the show by that last season) and just shrugging their shoulders. Honestly, anytime I think of a sitcom which lasted at least one season too long, “THAT 70’S SHOW” is the first example that comes to mind. Usually when a show loses some/all of their main leads and the supporting cast is running things, that’s a hint from the universe to wrap up. The extra year or so’s salary for eking it out is rarely worth it for anyone in the long run.
Zack Morris’ brief romance with Lisa Turtle in “SAVED BY THE BELL” always seemed odd to me. Their actors dated for 2-3 years in real life so I get that, but it meant Zack deliberately breaking his best friend Screech’s heart, on top of all the other mean spirited and borderline abusive things he did to him across all those seasons (including that one season of “GOOD MORNING, MISS BLISS”). It mingled with the endless Zack/Kelly/Slater triangle and it was dumped pretty quickly, making Screech’s heartbreak over it almost worthless.
Another one which was brief but always leaped out at me was Agnes Skinner and Comic Book Guy from “THE SIMPSONS.” I know the absurdity of it was part of the humor, but I still thought it was kind of icky and/or played to a lot of stereotypes even beyond comedy.
“THE OFFICE” had a couple of these. Most people cite Ryan and Kelly, or Michael Scott and Jan as examples.
I know it’s less of a romance than a hookup, but I will take every opportunity I can to complain about Shirley and Chang from Community.
So ridiculous. Completely. So awful.
Drew and Kate on the Drew Carey Show pretty awful but the worst was Chandler and Monica on Friends. Zero chemistry and the pairing made a marginal show completely unwatchable.