# Best--and worst--onscreen chemistry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694 "2007-06-12T12:36:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/61 "2007-06-12T22:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] > [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Um… did anyone else open this thread thinking it was a science-niche hyper-nitpicking thread? > > My .02: > Dave and Maddy > Sam and Diane > Drew and Mimi > Mal and Anarah (sp?) > Above topped by Wash and **Zowie** I think you mean “Zoe.” [/QUOTE] Have you SEEN her? ZOW-IE indeed. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/62 "2007-06-12T22:59:56Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] House and Cuddy smoke up any scene they’re in, IMO, while House and Cameron…they don’t even seem like they’re in the same room with each other. [/QUOTE] _nodnod_ I used to think House/Cameron would be ok, but then I realized it had nothing to do with Cameron and everything to do with wanting to see House’s fuzzy side. There is truly no spark between those two at all, which was disgustingly evinced in the kiss scene. _shudder_ What, by the way, did you think of House/Stacy? Man, I thought they were smoldering. I could practically _hear_ the tension when they were in the room together. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/63 "2007-06-12T23:13:10Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] \I’ve often wondered at the casting choice of Frannie and Stu in _The Stand_. I got a crush on Gary Sinise after that mini-series, but Molly Ringwald was not strong enough to play Frannie. It seemed like they were going through the motions, and the love scene was (dare I say it?) booooooring. [/QUOTE] Yes! The pair coupling up in the novel was so great, and in the mini-series, it was not so great, and I blame Molly, since Gary is da man. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far without any “Best” votes for Jack and Ennis of “Brokeback Mountain.” 😉 (Wouldn’t be surprised to see “Worst” votes for them, too.) I second your vote for the Winchester [del]gay lovers[/del] brothers, **tremorviolet** , for “Best” chemistry. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/64 "2007-06-12T23:20:43Z")
Some Coen Brothers chemistry: Good: Everett, Pete and DelMar in _O Brother Where Art Thou?_ The Dude, Walter and Donny in _The Big Lebowski_ Tom and Leo in _Miller’s Crossing_ Tom and Verna in _Miller’s Crossing_ Bad: The Dude and Maude Lebowski in _The Big Lebowski_ Norville and Amy in _The Hudsucker Proxy_ Everybody and everybody in _The Ladykillers_ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/65 "2007-06-12T23:28:57Z")
Speaking of the Coens, I was thinking of mentioning H.I. and Edwina. Holly Hunter was also good with Albert Brooks in _Broadcast News_. And neither of those is a hot, smoldering, sexual chemistry; just characters and actors who worked well together. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/66 "2007-06-12T23:46:51Z")
Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Newirth had great chemistry on _Cheers_ and _Frasier_, but a later attempt to match him up with Mercedes Ruehl had none. Meanwhile his TV dad John Mahoney had great chemistry with Marsha Mason on the show but very little with the woman (his character) ended up with, Wendie Malick. Speaking of Wendie Malick- she was previously on _Just Shoot Me_ with David Spade, who I think is absolutely incapable of on-screen chemistry with any actress (at least in the movies I’ve seen). It’s not just his body-type: then rotund (since slimmed down considerably) Don Knight had oodles with his “legs up to her neck” co-star Kristen Johnson on _3rd Rock from the Sun_, which featured Lithgow and Curtin as a somehow strangely hot chemical duo. I can’t stand Adam Sandler in most things, but I thought he and the actress playing his Mexican housekeeper (too lazy to look up the name) had great chemistry in _Spanglish_. Maybe it’s just his comedies I don’t like- he was actually charming in that movie. An odd case of great chemistry is Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale as Perry Mason and Della Street. I remember a scene from one of the many 80s reunion movies in which Della is sleeping in a cold building and Perry wraps his (mammoth) overcoat around her; without waking she inhales, smells it, and wraps herself in it in a weirdly intimate and sort of touching/sexy scene for a senior actress and an obese old man whose characters obviously were very familiar with each other physically. (It never said they were a romantic item but it was implied.) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/67 "2007-06-13T00:11:07Z")
The main romantic-tension-couple from both the US and British version of **The Office** , namely Jim&Pam and Tim&Dawn – both couples had AMAZING chemistry. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/68 "2007-06-13T00:28:48Z")
Good: Sean Connery’s James Bond and Mrs. Moneypenny Katie Couric and Matt Lauer Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann (classic ESPN Sportscenter duo) Starbuck and Apollo (from both the classic and recent Battlestar Galactica series) Denny Crane and Alan Shore (Shatner and Spader from **Boston Legal** ) Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner in the first PotC Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp in **Tombstone** Not good: George Clooney and Michelle Pfieffer in **One Fine Day** George Clooney and Nicole Kidman in **The Peacemaker** Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed Princess Diana and Prince Charles (it’s harder to think of bad chemistry pairings for some reason!) ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/69 "2007-06-13T01:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] Good: …Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner in the first PotC… [/QUOTE] Good call. I also think Jack and Elizabeth had decent chemistry. They both seemed very into that kiss at the end of the second movie. Another “good chemistry” couple- Dan and Roseanne Conner. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/70 "2007-06-13T01:50:14Z")
[QUOTE=SaharaTea] Really? I thought Patrick Swayze had refused to do a sequel unless he could be reunited with the original cast, including Grey. Did they kiss and make up? [/QUOTE] Well - according to E! - they started spatting during the shooting and had to be pulled aside by the producer and director and were shown the original audition tape again - showing their chemistry After that it was fine but it made things tense for a while ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/71 "2007-06-13T02:02:36Z")
Bad chemistry: Woody Allen and every female lead since _Annie Hall,_ more or less. There may be a non-appalling one with Mia Farrow in there somewhere that’s slipping my mind, but I think in retrospect his relationship with her will make me too skeeved to notice any particular chemistry. A low point would be _Deconstructing Harry_ and the relationship between him and Elizabeth Shue. The only chemistry there is embalming fluid. Let’s toss in Ron Livingstone and Jennifer Aniston in _Office Space,_ I didn’t really see any sparks there. Good: Steve Carrell & Catherine Keener in _The 40-Year-Old Virgin._ I second Jim and Pam in “The Office” and toss in Dwight and Angela. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/72 "2007-06-13T02:16:35Z")
“Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston from \* The Bodyguard\*” is my final answer. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/73 "2007-06-13T02:22:12Z")
In the first couple seasons of Bones, Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) had amazing chemistry. It started seeming a little forced toward the end of this past season, but it’s still far from bad. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/74 "2007-06-13T02:24:31Z")
[QUOTE=Alice The Goon] “Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston from \* The Bodyguard\*” is my final answer. [/QUOTE] And the question would be “Who has the WORST chemistry?” ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/75 "2007-06-13T02:26:16Z")
ooh, I just thought of a bad one: the guy who played Dante (can’t be bothered to look him up) and Rosario Dawson in Clerks II… that’s a big fat NEGATIVE on the romance-o-meter. I felt bad for Rosario, man. I think if they paid me to kiss that guy I’d throw up in his mouth at least twice before I got the scene right. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/76 "2007-06-13T02:50:15Z")
Worst: Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in _Funny Face_. Runner up: Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron in _Daddy Long Legs_. As for “best”…hmmm… Saying “Hepburn and Tracy” is cheating, right? ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/77 "2007-06-13T08:21:00Z")
The cast of **Sports Night** with the rest of the cast of **Sports Night**. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/78 "2007-06-13T08:41:59Z")
I agree with those who say Wash and Zoe had no chemistry together in _Firefly_. If it hadn’t been for them periodically mentioning to somebody they were married (because even the characters in the show seemed to find their relationship implausible) you’d have never suspected they were a couple. I had hoped the flashback episode would shed some light on their relationship but it skipped back to their first meeting where it was clear that they didn’t like each other. No explanation was ever given of how and when this supposedly changed. I think Whedon finally realized this relationship was a mistake and “fixed” it in _Serenity_. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/79 "2007-06-13T11:56:20Z")
Best: Peter and Roger’s (the two Philadelphia SWAT soldiers) friendship in the original Dawn of the Dead. Fran and Stephen didn’t have chemistry at all, but their relationship was convincing. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694/80 "2007-06-13T12:25:23Z")
[QUOTE=nevermore] ooh, I just thought of a bad one: the guy who played Dante (can’t be bothered to look him up) and Rosario Dawson in Clerks II… that’s a big fat NEGATIVE on the romance-o-meter. I felt bad for Rosario, man. I think if they paid me to kiss that guy I’d throw up in his mouth at least twice before I got the scene right. [/QUOTE] Dante doesn’t have chemistry with ANY female. He had great chemistry with Randall in Clerks but not so much in the second. I think it has to do with the fact that Brian O’Halloran is a crappy actor. Jeff Anderson, on the other hand, is a much better actor and has better chemistry with all of Dante’s girlfriends than Dante did. Anyway, my picks: Worst Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in Easter Parade Best Rimmer and Lister in Red Dwarf [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-onscreen-chemistry/407694.md?page=5)