From 'New Girl' to 'I Love Lucy:' our favorite TV couples

Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Buffy and Angel, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' – It became clear this romance was doomed as soon as it turned out that a night of passion with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) would turn vampire-with-a-soul Angel (David Boreanaz) back into his evil self, Angelus. Buffy ended up with another vamp; Spike and Angel ended up with a spinoff. Here's a look at other TV couples we've cheered on.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Brenda and Dylan, 'Beverly Hills 90210' – Dylan McKay and Brenda Walsh (Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty) were the "It" couple on "Beverly Hills 90210," helping the show become one of Fox's first hits. But there was friction between Doherty and other cast members, and that was it for romance
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Nick and Jess, 'New Girl' – When Zooey Deschanel's Jess moved in with three guys in Fox's hit sitcom "New Girl," you knew she would end up with one of them. It soon became clear that she had a connection with Nick (Jake Johnson), but fans wondered how long before they would become a couple.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Luke and Laura, 'General Hospital' – Soaps never saw anything like Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura (Genie Francis) and haven't since. The couple's wedding in 1981 broke ratings records, and "General Hospital" has brought them back off and on in the years since.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Ross and Rachel, 'Friends' – Few sitcom couples have had the impact of Ross Gellar (David Schwimmer) and Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston). Their romance was the major driving force behind the early success of "Friends," solidifying NBC's dominance on Thursday nights in the 1990s. Ten wildly popular seasons meant that we saw them on again, off again and on again. Yes, they even had a child together.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Castle and Beckett, 'Castle' – For four seasons on "Castle," writer Richard Castle and detective Kate Beckett solved murders both grisly and outlandish -- and fell for each other. They finally made it official with a wedding in 2014.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Joey and Pacey, 'Dawson's Creek' – At first, the popular teen soap "Dawson's Creek" paired Joey (Katie Holmes) with Dawson, but as the years went by, it turned out that Pacey (Joshua Jackson) was her true love.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Elena and Damon, 'Vampire Diaries' – Innocent Elena (Nina Dobrev) only had eyes for the nocturnally oriented Stefan on "The Vampire Diaries" at first, but sparks flew between her and bad boy Damon (Ian Somerhalder) as well. The two got married in real life, but things didn't work out.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Sheldon and Amy, 'Big Bang Theory' – It was love at first sight for viewers of "The Big Bang Theory" when Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) met the equally geeky, slightly more adventurous Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) via an online dating site.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Cam and Mitchell, 'Modern Family' – It's quite a feat to steal scenes regularly on one of the most acclaimed comedies on television, but Cam (Eric Stonestreet, left) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) make it look easy on "Modern Family."
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Bo and Lauren, 'Lost Girl' – This Canadian cult series about a succubus gained a following in the United States as well, and Bo's (Anna Silk) relationship with Lauren (Zoie Palmer, as one of Bo's two lovers on the show) was the subject of much discussion by "Lost Girl" fans online.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Bones and Booth, 'Bones' – Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and Seeley Booth were a mismatched pair from the start, but audiences have eaten up the chemistry of Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz.
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Jim and Pam, 'The Office' – The "will they or won't they?" status of Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) remained the heart of "The Office" from early on. They did finally get married and have two children.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Lily and Marshall, 'How I Met Your Mother' – Ted's quest to find a woman and Robin and Barney's long and winding quest for each other carried through the hit comedy "How I Met Your Mother," but Alyson Hannigan's Lily and Jason Segel's Marshall were the glue that held it all together (with the exception of their brief breakup early on).
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Leslie and Ben, 'Parks and Recreation' – Adam Scott's Ben Wyatt married Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope in season five. The pair eventually had triplets and became -- it was implied -- political powerhouses.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Ralph and Alice, 'The Honeymooners' – "Bang, zoom!" probably wouldn't fly these days on a TV sitcom, but audiences loved watching Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows spar (every bickering TV couple owes them a debt of gratitude), and they were reassured when so many episodes ended with Ralph telling Alice, "Baby, you're the greatest."
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Sookie and Eric (or Bill or Alcide), 'True Blood' – The love life of Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) saw more than its share of twists and turns through the years on "True Blood," but fans seemed to embrace whoever her boyfriend was (such as Alexander Skarsgard, left, as Eric) at any given moment.
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George and Weezy, 'The Jeffersons' – George and Louise "Weezy" Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) may have had their quarrels, but when it came to "Movin' On Up," they did it together.
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Kurt and Blaine, 'Glee' – When "Glee" producers set out to introduce a love interest for Chris Colfer's Kurt, they hit a home run when the virtually unknown Darren Criss was cast as Blaine.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Lucy and Ricky, 'I Love Lucy' – Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz portrayed a show business couple on "I Love Lucy," while behind the scenes they invented the sitcom. The real-life couple controlled every aspect of their hit show, still one of the most beloved of all time. And it wouldn't have been a hit if these two didn't make people fall in love with Lucy (and Ricky) every week.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
House and Cuddy, 'House' – Dysfunctional doesn't begin to describe the relationship between Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) and dean of medicine Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). Fans got what they wanted at long last at the end of "House's" season six, but sadly it didn't last.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Roseanne and Dan, 'Roseanne' – Roseanne and Dan Connor (Roseanne Barr and John Goodman) were unlike any married couple before in sitcom history. Through nine seasons of wisecracks, put-downs and tough times, you knew at the end of the day they loved each other. Here they are with the cast at the 2008 TV Land Awards.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Sam and Diane, 'Cheers' – Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) bickered in the early years of "Cheers," and audiences loved it. When their wedding was called off and Long left the series, Kirstie Alley's Rebecca replaced her, but it was never the same -- despite high ratings for the rest of the show's run.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Derek and Meredith, 'Grey's Anatomy' – Known more often as "McDreamy" than the character's name of Derek, Patrick Dempsey's hunky doctor swept Ellen Pompeo's Meredith off her feet when "Grey's Anatomy" first premiered (though there were plenty of complications). The couple married -- and then found tragedy.
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Mulder and Scully, 'The X-Files' – Meet sci-fi's power couple. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully brought sex appeal to the paranormal as every glance between the two was analyzed by fans in the early days of the Internet. David Duchovny eventually left the series, and interest in "The X-Files" waned when Gillian Anderson paired up with Robert Patrick (any romance was out of the question). Duchovny returned for the poorly received finale and even more poorly received second movie. They're trying again in a new series.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Joanie and Chachi, 'Happy Days' – The Fonz aside, the romance between Joanie (Erin Moran) and Chachi (Scott Baio) was one of the most memorable parts of the ABC hit sitcom "Happy Days." But their spinoff, "Joanie Loves Chachi," was decidedly less successful.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Paul and Jamie, 'Mad About You' – The marriage of Paul and Jaime Buchman (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt) put every relationship under a microscope (though often in a humorous vein), and "Mad About You" made Hunt into a star over its seven seasons.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Lois and Clark, 'Lois and Clark' – Lois Lane (Teri Hatcher) and Clark Kent (Dean Cain) were more the focus here than "The New Adventures of Superman," and initially, it was a hit for ABC. Once the writers brought the couple together (including a timed-with-the-"Superman"-comics wedding), ratings took a nose dive for "Lois & Clark."
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
David and Maddie, 'Moonlighting' – "Moonlighting" is also TV shorthand for a romantic series that succeeds so long as the couple never get together. As soon as Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd's characters made it official, viewers tuned out in droves (reports of tension off-screen between the actors didn't help).
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Jack and Kate, 'Lost' – The mysterious island from the hit drama could also wreak havoc to relationships as Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) learned over six seasons of "Lost." They tried to make it work, but it wasn't to be.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Rob and Laura, 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' – Rob and Laura Petrie set the standard for many a sitcom marriage. You had two gifted comic actors (Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) with chemistry to beat the band. Plus sitcom wives weren't expected to be sex symbols when "The Dick Van Dyke Show" first appeared in 1961.
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Dwayne and Whitley, 'A Different World' – When Lisa Bonet abruptly left college-based sitcom "A Different World" after one season, the focus shifted to Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Southern belle Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and their unlikely romance. But their chemistry clicked. (Here are Hardison and Guy in 2006.)
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Photos: Our favorite TV couples
Chuck and Sarah, 'Chuck' – When spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) took Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) under her wing, the show's devoted fans quickly found a couple to cheer on -- all the way until the final bittersweet scene on "Chuck."
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