If there’s one thing most TV shows over the years have had in common, it’s the element of romance. Whether you’re watching a sitcom or a drama or even a series about crime, chances are there’s a love story in there somewhere…or at least some kind of ongoing flirtation, just to keep things interesting.
So when Entertainment Weekly ranked the “100 best TV romances of all time,” the list included storylines from a variety of genres representing all different types of love affairs, from the toxic to the sweet to the unexpected. For example, coming in at #94 was the “working-class marriage” of Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) and his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) on All in the Family, which — while not particularly romantic most of the time — certainly illustrated lifelong marital devotion.
Other couples in the long-suffering marriage category included George and Weezy (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) from The Jeffersons at #88, Bob and Emily Hartley (Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette) on The Bob Newhart Show at #65, and, of course, Lucy and Ricky (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) on I Love Lucy at #6.
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There were several iconic teen romances included in the list, too, from Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Nick (Scott Valentine) on Family Ties at #70 to Joey (Katie Holmes) and Pacey (Joshua Jackson) on Dawson’s Creek at #20 to Dylan (Luke Perry) and Kelly (Jennie Garth) on Beverly Hills, 90210 at #11.
Some of TV’s juiciest love triangles made the list, and more than one involved vampires; specifically, Sookie, Bill and Eric (Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgård) on True Blood at #44, Buffy, Angel and Spike (Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz and James Marsters) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer at #30 and Elena, Damon, and Stefan (Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley) on The Vampire Diaries at #21.
The “will-they-or-won’t-they” category was a popular one on the list, from Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) on The X-Files at #46 to Dave and Maddy (Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd) on Moonlighting at #32 to Sam and Diane (Ted Danson and Shelley Long) on Cheers at #3. The “they finally got together and lived happily ever after” genre was honored, too, with the likes of Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) on The Officeat #33 to Ben and Leslie (Adam Scott and Leslie Knope) on Parks and Recreation at #13 to Chandler and Monica (Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox) on Friends.
Naturally, the tragic romance has always been another popular type of TV love story, which is why the list included couples like Glenn and Maggie (Steven Yeun and Lauren Cohan) on The Walking Dead at #67 to the pair ranked the number one best TV romance of all time: Sun and Jin (Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim) on Lost.
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As Sydney Bucksbaum wrote, Sun and Jin “triumphed over the show’s enduring ‘live together, die alone’ theme when Jin ultimately chose to drown with Sun — a tragic ending Yunjin calls controversial but ‘beautiful.'”
“I’d never seen a relationship like that on television before: two nonwhite characters, speaking predominantly in a language that was not English, on primetime TV, and having that be something the average American could get behind and ship,” Daniel told EW, adding, “Jin and Sun became the heart of Lost.”
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