Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

[The Curmudgeon]

The main hook of pretty much every TV show is the "will they/won't they" love angle between two characters. Cynical as hell, but it's effective when done properly.

Of course, sometimes the answer to "will they/won't they" is "who gives a shit?" Characters with no spark may soon be locking lips, but unless you're invested and it's not 100% obvious then it's hard to care.

But what TV shows had the best romantic interests, so much that you were shouting "kiss! Kiss!" at the screen during those long, awkward silences and lingering looks. Here's mine.

Tim and Dawn (the Office)



Brent was the main attraction to begin with, but by the end of the series all anyone wanted was for Tim and Dawn to get together. Like the show itself, their relationship was all too believable, all mumbled, embarrassed exchanges and secret glances. Their series finale kiss in the Christmas special was voted the number one Christmas TV moment of all time this year. Hard to argue.

Buffy and Spike



Buffy and Angel was the focal point of the show from pretty much the first episode, and I didn't really care. Buffy and the insufferable Riley was next, but Buffy and Spike was a total surprise for me. Didn't see it coming at all, but as soon as it was hinted at I thought a) it would never happen and b) I totally wanted it to. The first kiss - to music, no less - was genuinely great.

Mulder and Scully



One of, if not THE defining "will they/won't they" relationships in TV history. The show ran for years with only brief hints at the attraction between the two, and I remember going to see the first movie in the cinema, and actually shouting "D'OH!" when they..nearly..kissed, only for Scully to faint after being stung by a bee. Always hated fucking bees.


Anyway, those are my three. How about you?

[lemex]

Allow me to be obvious: Booth and Bones:

images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/25000000/Booth-and-Bones-booth-and-bones-25091491-800-1066.jpg

These two guys were the only reason I watched Bones. Aside from the fact I found Bones really hot, too, but ... yeah. Ok, one of two reasons. All through the series until they actually ended up getting together, the writing was on the proverbial wall. It created so much tension too, and was great to watch. And I grew to care about the characters too. The first kiss, though, I've not yet seen. Damn, I have a lot of Bones to catch up on.

Oh god, did I really write that sentence?

More to come.

[Mrs_C]

I would agree to a point with booth and bones but I think the show has kinda jumped the shark since then.


My three (that have not already been mentioned) are;

1. Ross and Rachel from friends (both times but more so at the end of the run).

They had a will they won't they relationship throughout the shows ten year span but after Rachel had announced she was leaving on a jetplane and Ross realising what he was about to lose and a desperate race against time ensued I was literally shouting at the TV. That final kiss after he misses her at the airport was what every fan of the show had been waiting for ever since they went "on a break"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui2LXk_hzeg


2. Jim and Pam in the US office.

Like Tim and dawn the American show had its own awkward couple in Jim and Pam.

She too had a dick of a bloke and after a few seasons of awkward states, conversations and an engagement the first kiss was always going to be worth it. Well in this case not so much as it didn't result in the reaction one would hope but the pay off came later and after they got together when they got engaged. Needless to say I got through a fair amount of kleenex. I won't spoil too much in case you haven't seen it but wow.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8_mXss4m9g

3. Ray and neela in ER.

It's like taking on a new part time job watching ER with 15 seasons there are literally hundreds of story arcs but one of the most memorable was that of Ray and Neela. They were friends for ages and there was always that hint of something between them and the usual things, people getting the way, bad timing, trucks getting in the way, limbs being amputated all the normal stuff however after all was certainly finished between them and a hiatus for one of the characters a return was on the cards and finally after years of yelling and crying at a tv they finally got together. Was so happy!

[trashcanman]

Wow, if this was any other site you would have just opened a helluva can of worms. Shipping is a competitive sport on the internet and the fans are worse than pro sports maniacs. My problem is that so many shows insist on pairing up as any combinations of people as they can. True Blood became a total joke doing this. At this point I wish they wouldn't focus so much on romance and maybe just accept once in a while that for a story and character it isn't 100% necessary that they wind up attached to somebody.

That said, we got kind of a shocker for the series finale of Legend of Korra.
The title character had this love triangle thing going in the early seasons and she ended up becoming good friends with her former romantic rival, Asami, and the internet starting going nuts about them as a couple.Yeah right. Lesbians in a Nickelodeon cartoon. That'll happen. Still, the show teased it a bit with a few looks and blushes, but didn't really let it get in the way or anything. I kind of warmed up to the idea myself, even. Then the very last scene of the very last episode ends like this:



Not exactly a kiss, but it's pretty fucking close. Needless to say, the internet hit the roof. Funny thing, anime has had open homosexual relationships since the goddamn 80's and this episode technically didn't even air since Nickelodeon kicked Legend of Korra to the internet in favor of 10 Spongebob reruns a day instead of only 9. Still, I'll count it as a landmark ad it's a rare TV relationship that I actually kind of gave a crap about.

[The Curmudgeon]

Wow, nothing like a bit of romance to bring some people back to the fold.

I agree with Trash that there seems to be this desire to pair every character with someone to make good TV, and by the end of True Blood (I didn't even watch the final season I was so done with that show) I think every conceivable partnership had happened on it. Stupid. Speaking of Mrs C's American Office entry, that show was guilty of over-egging the romantic pudding (does that work? Eh, roll with it). Pam and Jim is one thing, and followed on from the British show, but how many office romances had we sat through by the end of that show? Six? Seven? No wonder Gervais ends his shows after the second series.