# Partners with great onscreen chemistry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941 "2013-08-11T16:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/21 "2013-08-12T19:25:57Z")
Mulder and Scully from **the X-Files** , y’all. From the very first episode, it was magic. Just watch the way David Duchovny speaks to Gillian Anderson most of the time. They could be talking about the likelihood of aliens being silicone-based rather than carbon-based, but his voice is hushed, he’s bending into her personal space, and he’s looking at her with incredible fondness. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/22 "2013-08-12T19:52:57Z")
The Beatles in\*\* A Hard Day’s Night\*\* and **Help!**. The Marx Brothers. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward in **Doctor Who** ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/23 "2013-08-12T21:56:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Sheldon Cooper & Amy Farrar Fowler. More than that, Sheldon and Penny ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/24 "2013-08-13T00:29:56Z")
Debra Messing and Eric McCormack …as well as… Megan Mullally and Sean § Hayes (Though pairing the guys and pairing the girls wasn’t usually quite as funny) Bill Bixby & Marriete Hartley (some TV commercials) Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams – often considered the Lucy & Ethel of the 1970’s (Though I’ve heard they didn’t really like each other off-stage) …speaking of which… Lucy Arnaz & Vivian Vance Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman (Unforgiven; Million Dollar Baby) seem to have a great relationship on- and off-screen. They both have this tremendous presence about them but never seem to occlude each other. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie seemed to be authentically intimate as Mr. and Mrs. Smith – but, then again, they were authentically intimate, weren’t they? —G! Kevin Bacon: Man if I had a dollar for every jock strap my stalker stole from me… Jack: You’d have $187!.. [Kevin Bacon looks at him strangely] Jack: …[nervously] It’s just an expression. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/25 "2013-08-13T00:35:19Z")
I recall watching some episodes of Family Ties with Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan and thinking the emotion between them was palpable; turns out I was right. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/26 "2013-08-13T00:35:50Z")
Speaking of Morgan Freeman, Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, who have been in a couple of movies together. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/27 "2013-08-13T00:54:04Z")
Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg Robert Culp and Bill Cosby ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/28 "2013-08-13T01:09:38Z")
Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in the X-Men movies. I’m looking forward to seeing them live on stage Wednesday night… [http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/No-Man-s-Land-review-The-stars-are-in-alignment-4726413.php](http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/No-Man-s-Land-review-The-stars-are-in-alignment-4726413.php) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/29 "2013-08-13T01:23:45Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > James Kilpatrick and Shana Alexander. Every time their names come up, I can only think of “Jane, you ignorant…”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/30 "2013-08-13T01:26:24Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Bill Bixby & Marriete Hartley (some TV commercials). Wasn’t that James Garner and Mariette Hartley? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/31 "2013-08-13T01:35:32Z")
Nobody so far has mentioned Shatner and Nimoy from _ **ST: TOS** _? It took while for it to click (Spock was never intended to rival Kirk in popularity), but once it did it changed the nature of the whole series, and both were much better when they were playing off of each other than they were individually. I could extend this to DeForest Kelley as McCoy and James Doohan as Scott, and ultimately to the whole _Enterprise_ bridge crew. They may have had their squabbles and feuds offscreen, but onscreen they were always magic. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/32 "2013-08-13T01:40:57Z")
Laurel and Hardy was another duo that just clicked and were much better together than they were individually (though each man had already built a successful career in comedy prior to being teamed). While they got along together well, they didn’t socialize much offscreen: of the two, Stan was the workoholic who oversaw the production of their films, while Oliver couldn’t wait to leave the studio and hit the golf links. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/33 "2013-08-13T01:46:56Z")
Going into sports but: Summerall and Madden ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/34 "2013-08-13T01:50:32Z")
Two who had absolutely no chemistry together as far as I was concerned: Blair Brown and John Belushi in _ **Continental Divide** _, even though some besotted critics were comparing them to Tracey and Hepburn at the time. I hated the movie, and agreed with the reviewer who said that the “chemistry” between them wasn’t enough to light a match (or words to that effect). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/35 "2013-08-13T02:21:37Z")
Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. They couldn’t even do their skits on the Carol Burnett Show because they kept cracking eacher up. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/36 "2013-08-13T02:33:34Z")
I don’t know how many Dopers this will apply to, but Hockey Night In Canada’s Ron MacLean and Don Cherry have a perfect love/hate chemistry that has endured for a couple of decades now. I think the chemistry between them is perfectly balanced and a joy to watch on occasion. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/37 "2013-08-13T02:42:33Z")
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and John. Listening to the writers’ comments track in my DVD, they said that the chemistry of the two was instantly apparent. They didn’t have to audition Cumberbatch, as they had selected him even before starting to build the series. Then they started to look for their John Watson, and auditioned many good actors, but Martin Freeman clicked immediately. I wonder if this same chemistry will be evident when Bilbo and Smaug interact? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/38 "2013-08-13T03:06:17Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and John. Speaking of Brit duos, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry; loved them as Jeeves and Wooster. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/39 "2013-08-13T03:10:08Z")
Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941/40 "2013-08-13T03:13:08Z")
Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell when they were on TDS [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partners-with-great-onscreen-chemistry/665941.md?page=3)