Shows like Moonlighting and Who’s the Boss? were clearly set up for the hero and heroine to fall in love (or at least into bed), but the Chandler and Monica affair and marriage on Friends was more of a surprise.
On Frasier Daphne and Niles may or may not have been slotted to end up together, but Frasier’s hookup with Roz late in the series was a surprise.
There was an episode of Taxi in which Alex (Judd Hirsch) and Elaine (Marilu Henner) had a one night stand. I don’t believe it was ever referred to again.
What are some other shows where main characters have become lovers (either permanently or for a brief affair) where it wasn’t obvious from the first episode that’s where it was going?
Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel weren’t intended to become a serious couple as they were for many years.
FTM, Smithers’ unrequited crush on Mr. Burns started as a one-off throwaway gag, and somehow it stuck to him well enough that it became a defining personality trait.
Way back on WKRP In Cincinnati, Baily Quarters had a crush on Dr. Johnny Fever, which it was implied led to occasional dating, and possibly other things. But never developed further than that.
Worf and Deanna Troi on Star Trek: TNG had a brief, unexpected thang going near the end of the series. It didn’t last, as Worf wound up with Jadzia Dax on DS9, while Deanna wound up back with Will Riker in the movies.
Apollo and Dualla on Battlestar Galactica were a pairing I didn’t expect, though it was clear that his heart was always with Starbuck (and, it became clear to Dualla, too).
Going way, way back to Petticoat Junction the producers brought in the character of Steve to court and eventually marry the oldest daughter, Billie Jo. Everything went along in typical sitcom fashion until Steve suddenly proposed to the youngest daughter, Betty Jo. On top of that, Betty Jo was supposedly a tomboy who was more interested in playing baseball and driving the train than she was in boys.
It turned out that the actors who played Steve and Betty Jo wound up having a real-life romance and got married, so the producers decided to rewrite the script – leaving viewers wondering what they hadn’t seen in the previous 25 or so episodes.
Another World’s super-couple Mac & Rachel. She was a young bitch and he was an older millionaire. When they had a scene together, head writer Harding Lemay “noticed sparks” and put them together.
Aside: Did that actor (one imdb consultation later- Mike Minor) have a singing career in the 60s (or did he try to launch one)? I’ve seen few episodes of PETTICOAT JUNCTION but it seemed to be guilty of “The Linda Lavin Syndrome”- the producers working in any excuse for him to sing; his voice was, to quote Simon Cowell, “pleasant enough but completely unremarkable small town karaoke champion”. Since he was the boss’s son-in-law though I’m sure if he wanted a singing career Paul Henning would have helped him.
According to the episode guide, the Steve/Betty Jo romance started on-screen at the beginning of the 1967-68 season. Betty Jo didn’t have her baby until the 1968-1969 season. And even if the pregnancy thing is true, it would have been easy enough to have Steve continue to court Billie Jo and limit Betty Jo to the traditional behind the counter/talking on the phone/trapped from the neck down contrivances that sitcom producers have traditionally used to hide pregnant stars.
By the end of PJ, the producers were so bereft of ideas that EVERYONE was singing. Mike Minor had been singing professionally since he was 14, but I think the producers’ real push was to have Meredith MacRae sing.
