I’ll start:
Worf was so wrong for Dax on DS9.
Penny and Leonard. That would never happen in real life.
I always hated Danny and Mindy on “The Mindy Project”. He was such a dud.
Deb and Raymond on ‘Everyone Loves Raymond’. She was going to end up married to a big fat mommy-obsessed baby and have his family from hell barging in her house every day. What was she thinking? There were plenty of warning signs.
Ross and Rachel. I’ve developed the theory that the producers misdirected us on Ross and Rachel for years so they could sneak in the Monica/Chandler relationship while we weren’t looking.
Indeed, a lot of those warnings came directly from Ray, when Deb wanted them to buy the house across the street from Ray’s parents.
The only thing “right” abut Maddie and David on Moonlighting is that by pairing up they saved two other people from bad relationships.
Same with Joel and Maggie on Northern Exposure. It was just too forced.
Mulder and Scully aren’t so much wrong for each other as “inevitable”. They don’t know anyone outside of each other.
Alice and Ralph. Why would a beautiful woman like her stay married to that fat. lazy slob who threatens her with violence at every turn?
Same for Roger and Jessica Rabbit.
I thought that Julian and Ezri felt forced.
Joey and Rachel on “Friends”. Whose brilliant idea was it to pair those two?
There was a reason for that one and I don’t remember what it was. Was it during a time when there was no one else they could logically pair off maybe? I’m certain I’ve heard just about everyone involved in the show in any way say that nothing about it felt like a good idea. The whole thing was uncomfortable for everyone.
Obviously, the logical choice would have been Joey and Phoebe, but I think they didn’t want to ruin such an ‘innocent’ relationship.
How about Jackie (from Roseanne) and most of the guys she goes out with?
Ryan and Kelly? Probably one of my favorite clips from the show and a perfect example of their relationship.
Egad, those are among the episodes that I never watch when they come on.
Robin and Ted / Robin and Barney on How I Met Your Mother. I’ve not seen Cobie Smulders in anything else so maybe she was just miscast, but she appears passionless and devoid of chemistry with anyone (on that show anyway.
Samantha and Darren. What a complete twat he was (both versions). Samantha was smart, cool and gorgeous and she was a WITCH! Settling for a mortal is one thing but a douche like Derwood? I always wished Aunt Clara would turn him into a chimp permanently.
To be fair, that was kinda the point of her character. The way she was raised has taught her to always keep her guard up, way, way up and she’s never liked all that sappy romantic stuff (except the blue french horn, I guess). Couple her being pretty emotionless with her tending to be somewhat hung up on Ted and/or Barney and it doesn’t leave a lot of space for another romantic partner.
IOW, IMO, that was Robin, not Cobie.
Born in 1980, so I’m not sure if people looked at their relationship then the same way we do now. (Asking, not suggesting). If you took any sitcom now where the husband regularly forbid his wife from doing something that defines who she is as a person, the audience would have an issue with it if it wasn’t resolved somehow.
I guess we could fanwank it by saying that even though he forbid her to use magic, she did it behind his back nearly every chance she got and that was the premise of the show.
It would almost be like if Chandler forbid Monica to neurotically clean everything so she quit her regular job to become a house cleaner and had to hide that from him.
Well. . . except it did kinda. The actors were a couple in real life for a while.
After the show ended Barbara Eden said she never wanted her character and Nelson to get married, since essentially they were two different entities. (Larry Hagan was opposed because he knew that marriages between lead characters was a short-term ratings boast that soon killed the show.)
That was the actors not the characters
But he found her, so he got to keep her. Sometimes life ain’t fair.
Handsome astronaut and Air Force officer not good enough?
Samantha was definitely too hot for that dipshit Darren (either of them).
Oh the married couple on Hazel was a far worse mismatch.
Speaking of sixties TV, the most doomed one was gonna be Patty and Richard on the “Patty Duke Show”. The actors were ten years apart in real life, and the difference is even more obvious onscreen. They were more plausible as father/daughter than boyfriend/girlfriend. They regularly ditched each other for dates and nights out, with Richard even dating cousin Cathy in one episode. And in most episodes, Patty tries to hook up with any cute guy she sees (even with her French teacher). Her dad should have called the vice squad on him, not let him in their house.
