This list will countdown what I think are the 15 greatest relationships on television. Not everyone is going to agree with me on this list but this is just my personal favourite. My list doesn’t just involve romantic relationships, it also includes friendships and even brotherly love.
15) Tommy and Kimberly – Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
"Can you feel my Saba?"
I was a huge fan of Power Rangers, the original series is full of awesome, the new ones are complete shitfests. This really was the only romantic relationship on the show, well maybe apart from Bulk and Skull but I don’t want to go there. The relationship slowly developed through the show, they were honestly a really cute couple. Though it’s weird that I liked that relationship because I had a massive crush on Ms Pink so seeing her with another man, you’d think that would upset me.
14) Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello & Michelangelo – Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
I'm assuming they're hungry for pizza.
It was called Hero Turtles over here in the UK, maybe Europe hates Ninja’s or something. These four brothers have quite a strong bond, they have to work well to do what they do. It might be a cartoon but it’s probably one of the most realistic portrayals of relationships between brothers. They don’t always get along, they fight like brothers, just like we all do but they have a great bond and they care a lot about each other.
13) Beavis and Butt-head – Beavis and Butt-head
Not hard to assume what they're talking about.
Best of friends who had the same sick twisted humour, loved to sit on the sofa watching their favourite TV shows and basically just loved to fuck around. You couldn’t imagine Beavis without Butt-head, just the same as if it was the other way round, they might have been juvenile and stupid guys but their friendship was one of the strongest that’s ever been on TV.
12) JD and Turk – Scrubs
It's guy love...
Another best of friends and these are sort of like the human versions of Beavis and Butt-head, well not quite but they’re similar in certain aspects. Chocolate and Vanilla Bear are the epitome of what it means to be the best of friends. They’re very juvenile together (world’s giant doctor) but it’s what makes that relationship so great, it’s a natural and a very believable one. It’s TurkandJD…and JD.
11) Ash and Pikachu – Pokemon
An electrifying friendship.
Alright this might not be a popular choice with some people but I couldn’t care because this friendship deserves to be on the list. I was a massive Pokemon fan when I was younger, I thought it was one of the greatest things ever created, still do. The heart of the show and which still is, is the friendship of Ash and Pikachu. At first they did not get along but over time they’ve grown closer together. Pikachu is Ash’s number one choice of Pokemon to use, he’s been through everything with him, all the dangers and they’ve got through it together.
10) Jack Bauer and President David Palmer – 24
This picture is crap, I know.
Another friendship and one that some people might not agree on. They wouldn’t agree that this shouldn’t be on the list if they’re a 24 fan but I guess some people are saying, why not Jack and Tony? Well I say to those people that Jack and Palmer have a stronger relationship than Jack and Tony did. Throughout the years of the show, Jack and Tony fought over a lot of issues, they might have been good friends but that relationship was always doomed. Jack and Palmer was the greatest friendship in the show. We only ever saw them together in season 1, (that’s why the picture above is rubbish, couldn’t find a decent one) throughout the other seasons they always spoke over the phone and that’s a testament to the writing of the show that we consider this a great friendship even though they’ve hardly shared any screen time.
9) JD and Elliot – Scrubs
How sweet, you lucky bastard JD
The on-off relationship of Elliot and JD is Scrubs’ version of Ross and Rachel, which they’ve took the piss out a couple of times. Throughout the first three seasons they got together once a year and did the sexy horizontal dance and near the end of season 3 they were a couple but JD fucked it up. They went back to becoming good friends and from season 4 we thought that romance was dead but it recently struck up again to have died away again. Both characters have these major commitment issues which make them destined for each other. Some might not agree that they should end up together because it would be cheesy but I disagree, they are perfect for each other.
8) Lenny and Karl – The Simpsons
Nothing gay about these two.
Lenny and Karl are like Yin and Yang, you can’t have one without the other. We don’t know too much about Lenny and Karl, we know they’re best friends, they do everything together. They work together, they drink together and I have no idea what other things they do together.
7) Desmond and Penny – Lost
Wonder where this was taken.
The greatest relationship in Lost, Skater and Jater have nothing on these two (by the way I’m a Jater). It’s a story about cowardliness and fate, Desmond got scared and thought he wasn’t good enough for Penny, he left her and wanted to prove to her father and to himself that he was the right man for Penny. This resulted in him arriving to the Lost island and being stuck there for three years. Throughout those three years, Penny did everything she could to find him and in the season 4 finale, they finally got that reunion that they both hoped for. What the future holds for them is unsure but I don’t think it’s going to be all happy ever after.
6) Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian – The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
The perfect marriage???
Are these two the perfect couple in TV? The perfect mother and father? I probably would say so, you believed these two were married, it was a very realistic portrayal of what it takes to be married. Though they were also great at raising their children and Vivian’s nephew Will. They might have been strict in their rules but it was their way of parenting and they did it to make their children better people. Aunt Vivian was played by two different actresses through the six years of Fresh Prince but it was the original Vivian which was the true representation of this fond relationship.
5) Chandler and Joey – Friends
Lazy boys.
The ultimate friendship in my list, this is my favourite representation of what true friendship means. Chandler and Joey started out as roommates and their friendship developed over the years. Throughout ten years of Friends we saw the two fight, hug and play lots of fussball. They’ve been through a lot together and throughout all the trouble they got through it all. Chandler and Joey show what it takes to be best friends, one of the greatest, if not the greatest representation of friendship on television.
4) Ross and Rachel – Friends
The first kiss to start it all.
No list of great TV relationships can leave these two off the list, some people might regard it as the best but while it is great, I think there is better. Ross and Rachel was the heart of the show. Friends in the early years of the show was the Ross and Rachel show. In season one we wanted them to get together, when they did in season 2 it was what the fans always wanted but when they broke up, we wondered if they would ever get back together. Throughout the ten years they were always on and off, it seemed that they were destined to be together. By the end of the show, we got what we wanted and they were back together.
3) Buffy and Angel – Buffy The Vampire Slayer
I hope they don't do it.
I love this relationship so much, it’s such a tragic story, for many reasons Buffy and Angel cannot be like Ross and Rachel and live happily ever after, they know that their relationship could never work, it didn’t matter how much they tried. Buffy is a vampire slayer, Angel is a vampire with a soul, not exactly a perfect match. As you know when Buffy and Angel consummated their relationship in season 2, Angel turned into a right asshole, he lost his soul and became the villainous Angelus. So they can’t have sex, Angel will never age and the slayer/vampire thing are the reasons why this relationship could never work. They will always love each other but they are not destined to be together.
2) Homer and Marge – The Simpsons
Or is this the perfect marriage?
19 years is a long time for any marriage, 19 years seeing the same couple of TV is a lifetime for some people, hell I’m only 22 so The Simpsons has been going for most of my life. It doesn’t matter if it’s live action or animated, this couple are the greatest married couple on television. You’d think Marge would have divorced Homer ages ago with the shit he does but she truly loves him and he truly loves her. They never give up on their marriage, they fight through their troubles. They would do anything for each other and do anything for their children.
1) Mulder and Scully – The X-Files
Their love is an X-File.
My favourite relationship in any TV show I’ve seen, The X-Files might have been about aliens and paranormal activity but for me the great thing about the X-Files was the relationship between Mulder and Scully. We watched that relationship develop over the seasons, we saw it changing, we wanted them to be together. The show hinted many times that a romantic relationship could develop but they never came out and said it. The thing which was great about the show was that it wasn’t a soap opera type relationship, it wasn’t mushy or cheesy, it never overtook what the core of the show was about. When we found out Scully was pregnant at the end of season 7, we hoped that it was Mulder’s child, it was. By the end of the series, Mulder got the two things he wanted, the truth and Scully. For us in the UK there are only a couple of weeks away until the next X-Files movie so we’ll see how their relationship is now, it’s what I’m looking forward to the most with the movie, what state is their relationship in after five years since the show ended?
