Top 10 US TV Couples

Doing some research to write this list, it amazed me at how many couples I ended up jotting down and remembering in hopes of coming up with my 10 favorites.

There are just so many good ones.

We all have a favorite TV couple. That combination of your favorite characters that you simply couldn’t get enough of, that made you hope on a weekly basis that they would get together, and that they would be able to make it all work out.

In creating this list, I was looking for couples who were strong, lovable, fun to watch, and gave us some nerves wondering if they would ever get together. Feel free to debate, tell my I’m wrong, or suggest your own favorite couples from US television!

10. Ross Gellar and Rachel Green (Friends)

Who doesn’t know this famous couple from one of the most significant sitcoms from the 1990s and 2000s? Ross and Rachel teased us with getting together, then were together, then were “on a break”, then maybe were thinking about getting back together (”Front and back!”), then had a baby, then got together in the very end. As a couple, they were so on-again-off-again that it became a bit much, but their relationship became a central focus for the show as it plowed towards a decade on TV. They are nothing, if not memorable.

9. Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky (Full House)

Probably the most wholesome of all couples from this list, Jesse and Becky were just meant to be together from Day 1. Sure, she resisted his charms (and his hair) for as long as possible, but they became perhaps the best TV couple to live in an attic.

8. Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper (The Wonder Years)

If this amazing couple doesn’t bring you back to the days of your first crush, those wild moments of wondering if she notices you too, then something may be be broken inside of you. We couldn’t help but cheer on Kevin in his pursuit of Winnie, causing us to hate Becky Slater for no real reason aside from her not being Winnie. The kid in all of us, reminiscing about our grade school crush, had to hope for Kevin and Winnie to make it work.

7. Angela Chase and Jordan Catalano (My So-Called Life)

Perhaps the greatest series of the 90s, and definitely one of the best teen dramas of all-time, My So-Called Life gave us the improbable love story of Angela and Jordan. The girl exploring rebellion, hooking up with the dreamboat rebel (played by Jared Leto). We knew that Jordan was wrong for Angela, but we wanted them together nonetheless; we wanted to see her make it work with someone who was considered out of her league, and often times in a different world.

6. Dale Cooper and Annie Blackburn (Twin Peaks)

Ok, so I am unabashedly a massive fan of this show, but this still stands as a great TV relationship. The quirky FBI agent who appreciates the powers of zen, and the nun-turned-diner waitress, back in the world after years in a convent. Amidst the darkness of Twin Peaks, this relationship offered us a view of something fresh and sweet. Maybe it wasn’t Cooper getting together with the sultry Audrey Horne that perhaps we wanted, but those that love Coop loved to see him so happy, and exploring the world through the innocent eyes of Annie.

5. Eric and Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Good parents, good people, good husband and wife. Eric and Tami were always there for one another, no matter what. She could rein in his anger and emotion, and he could help her chase her dreams. They were an incredible, if underrated, TV couple, and deserve to be more recognized for showing us what a strong marriage is all about.

4. Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars)

“No one writes songs about the ones that come easy.” And it was never easy for the odd coupling of Veronica and Logan. He was a tempestuous brat bad-boy, turned giant marshmallow when she was around. She was the sassy detective who could see right through people’s games. They were so opposite, yet so perfect for one another. Maybe they were meant to be, but their fates were put to the test time and time again over the course of the three-year run and film version of the show.

3. Joey Potter and Pacey Witter (Dawson’s Creek)

One of the most exciting moments of being a fan of Dawson’s Creek was when viewers realized that Joey wasn’t going to go for the mopey Dawson, instead falling for the full-of-life Pacey, someone who loved her and doted on her. Despite complications to their relationship, we always got the sense that they were meant to be. Plus, Pacey gets all the brownie points in the world for taking her away on a sailing trip for an entire summer. Dawson was too self-absorbed to do something like that. True love overcomes, and Joey and Pacey needed to overcome a lot to be together.

2. Desmond Hume and Penelope “Penny” Whidmore (Lost)

This one was heart wrenching. Too complex to explain in a quick blurb, Lost provided us with a lot of crazy entertainment. It had monsters and Others, and vanishing islands, and time travel, and nuclear bombs, and relationships galore. But we always got the sense that it was Penny and Desmond that deserved to be together most of all. This relationship was filled with heartbreak, as were most things with Lost, and we all remember the warning of “Not Penny’s Boat.” This was simply a great love story, where nothing, like actually nothing, would be able to keep people apart who were meant to be. With all the turmoil that Lost threw at us, we always seemed to be cheering for Penny and Desmond to make their way back to one another.

1. Pam Beasley and Jim Halpert (The Office)

Pam and Jim gave us years of entertainment before they ever got together. The US version of the show provided us with a few seasons of will-they-or-won’t they, and gave us another reason to keep watching. They were incredible as friends, playing pranks and keeping each other company while their dreary jobs dragged along. Then they made an incredible couple: a couple that audiences were craving. They made it worth the wait, providing us with memorable moments like their engagement in the rain, their Niagara wedding, and more. It is impossible to not love Pam and Jim, and many of us have secretly snuck looks across our offices to see if there is a Pam or Jim nearby with who we could be so lucky to share such an incredible connection.