Specifically, I’m looking for examples that involve women. (Not “girls,” so let’s pre-emptively reject “She’s Dyna-Girl to her Electra-Woman.”)
Hermoine to his Harry? That’s halfway there.
There are better examples, though, right?
Bertha Cool to his Donald Lam
Felicity to his Oliver
Abby to her Illana? http://www.cc.com/shows/broad-city
Themla to her Louise?
Does it need to be a crime-fighting or genius duo?
Thelma to her Louise?
Patty to her Selma?
Christina to her Nicole?
Juliet to her Pauline?
ETA: Ninja’d on one. I assume any female duo will work, otherwise I got nothin’ else.
Gabrielle to her Xena
Ophelia to his Hamlet?
Rogers to his Astaire?
Hillary to his Bill?
Myrna Loy to his William Powell?
Yoko Ono to his John Lennon?
Eve to his Adam?
Rosemary Boxer to her Laura Thyme? (That was a fun TV show!)
Ethel to her Lucy?
Tommy to her Tuppence.
She’s the Eleanor to his Franklin
She’s the Marie to his Pierre
She’s La Malinche to his Hernan
She’s the Pepper Potts to his Tony Stark
She’s the Karla to his Paul
Okay maybe that last one wasn’t a good combination.
Bess & George to her Nancy
Or, if you prefer, Ned Nickerson to her Nancy
Ariadne Oliver to his Poirot
(I’m not really clear if you want both to be women, the sidekick to be a woman, or the main character to be a woman)
Peel to his Steed
Gabriel Webb to her Jennifer Mays
Eames to his Goren
Stabler to her Benson
Cagney to her Lacey (or vice-versa)
Isles to her Rizzoli
This is my favorite.
Willow to her Buffy;
Nanny Ogg to her Granny Weatherwax;
Anne Perkins to her Leslie Knope;
Queen of Flowers to her Margery Tyrell;
Kayleigh to her River Tam;
Fairy Godmother to her Cinderella (a more lopsided arrangement);
Susan to her Lucy
Anna to her Elsa
Some great picks! Does not need to be crime-fighting or superhero/fantasy – in fact, the more widely known the better. I love Willow to her Buffy, Susan to her Lucy (is that the right order?), and Nanny Ogg to her Granny Weatherwax, for example, but suspect that the audience that understands those references is a smaller one. And I was blank myself on La Malinche to his Hernan.
Looking for a support role to primary type dynamic.
Gabrielle to her Xena is great, but, again, limited to a certain cultural audience.
And if there’s any male support : female primary, that would be awesome.
Etta Candy to her Wonder Woman
Mammy to her Scarlet
Nell to her Hetty
Man to her Woman
Steve Trevor to her Wonder Woman
Jimmy Olsen to her Super Girl (maybe not actually, but the implication works)
Hoke to her Miss Daisy
Sonny to her Cher
Tom Arnold to her Roseanne
Jarvis to her Agent Carter
Toto to her Dorothy
Flying Monkey to her Wicked Witch
Ferdinand to her Imelda
Jim to her Tammy Fae
Anna to Elsa is excellent.
Susan and Lucy could go either way, but as Susan ultimately falls and deserts Narnia I put her in the subordinate role (although this may not be the image you want!)
If you want Male < Female then:
Prince Philip to QEII;
Mad Max to Imperator Furiosa;
Jamie to Cersei.
How about Marcie to her Peppermint Patty?
Marcie to her Peppermint Patty
Eta Ninja-ed
At the risk of falling foul of your common knowledge criterion:
Roger Mortimer to her Isabella of France;
Robert FitzHenry to her Queen Matilda;
Rizzio to her Mary Queen of Scots (NB, that ended badly for Rizzio).