Recently watched Stir of Echoes for the first time and I thought the two leads in that had a likably realistic depiction of a married couple and especially as their marriage comes under strain.
Most TV/Movie depictions of a stressful marriage make me just want to shake and/or slap the partners and tell them to get a grip but Stir of Echoes was quite well done.
The couple in Mad About You were good the first season or two. After that, horrible.
What about Fred & Wilma?
The Ingalls’ on Little House on the Prairie (Michael Landon and his wife, Laura’s parents).
Not only could you tell, but a few episodes had very subtle dialogue that was clearly a euphemism for “We are going to fuck like rabbits later!”
Charles and Emma Darwin as played by Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly in the movie Creation.
I was already struck with how much of a married couple they seemed and then the movie got to a bedroom scene (no explicit sex, sorry Darwin fetishists) that ended with them snoozing back to back with Paul Bettany’s arm flung backwards to stay in contact with Jennifer Connelly. This was so intimately familiar…it’s what me and my husband do when we want to stay in contact but simply must roll over…I was thinking “Wow, these people are so married!”
Watching the extras I found out Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly are married! Who knew? I didn’t know.
Hank and Peggy Hill in King of the Hill. Their dialogue always struck me as incredibly believable (in a zany cartoon kinda way).
Thanks for reminding me of that. Terrible movie overall but that scene is just so beautifully/horribly observed. I’ve been there a couple of times, and watching something relatively innocuous spiral out of control was as uncomfortable for me as watching a horror movie. I did appreciate that they didn’t get back together at the end, though.
From what I heard… it’d be Lester & Carolyn Burnham
Early Al & Peg Bundy. First season, maybe a few episodes in season two they were a very realistic couple who stuck together because they couldn’t imagine doing anything else, but didn’t really like to be with each other. By season 3 they had turned into cartoon characters of course.
Homer and Marge Simpson. For all they go through, their reactions and relationship are very realistic.
I like Bob & Helen Parr in The Incredibles. The way they relate to each other, their arguments about parenting, the effect his career has on their relationship, and of course their fight about correct driving directions - “You asked me how to get there, and I told you!”
Another vote for Dan and Roseanne.
Also, from Cagney and Lacey, Marybeth and Harvey were VERY down to earth.
~VOW
My wife and I recently watched the 1953 British comedy Genevieve, about the London-to-Brighton Run (Genevieve is a 1904 Darracq), and the relationship between the hero and his wife was just pitch-perfect, especially an early-movie quarrel about whether she’d be coming along on this year’s Run. I have had disagreements exactly like that with Mrs. R.
Oh, yes, definitely. Helen’s grappling with her suspicion that he’s cheating on her is also terrific, considering it’s a kid’s movie. "Honey, I just want you to know I love you so much…"
The parents in Phineas and Ferb. Loving, but not cloyingly so. P&F has a fair few realistic characters for a show about genius kids who find mummies and unicorns.
The parents in The Wonder Years seemed pretty realistic to me even though the father was kind of a dick.
The movie *Two for the Road *with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney struck a chord for me. They have their up and downs, their celebrations and their regrets, but ultimately end up with each other. To paraphrase Danny Peary, how you feel about their relationship says a lot about how you feel towards marriage.
I like the couple on the new NBC show Up All Night.
If I was Marge and my husband was Homer, he would have had a terrible, fatal “accident” about six months into our marriage.