# "Will they or won't they" couples...who didn't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118 "2009-11-03T01:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/61 "2009-11-03T21:50:39Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Luke and Leia. Yeah. Luke didn’t accept a gratitude fuck from Leia after the Battle of Yavin. Tell me another one. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/62 "2009-11-03T21:53:05Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I would say they were out of “definitely platonic” by S7. > > They had a child together. There were several episodes where a sexual relationship was implied. The first time Mulder sees her in the series finale he kisses her like she’s the love of his life and he never thought he would see her again. At the end of the series, they essentially run away together. And also they’re very clearly a committed couple in the recent film. Oh. Woops. I stopped watching after S6, so I clearly shouldn’t have offered this up as an example. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/63 "2009-11-03T21:58:55Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I thought it was pretty clear that it did happen. It was abundantly clear that it was going to happen, but it happened off-camera and after the credits started rolling. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/64 "2009-11-03T23:15:42Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > They did hook-up at the end of one episode. > > I don’t think I ever actually saw the last episode but I always kind of assumed that they’d end up together eventually. It wasn’t a regular episode, but the Christmas special and it’s just the best hookup ever, IMHO (not even a kiss IIRC but WOW!) “I’d be the penguin…”. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/65 "2009-11-03T23:17:34Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > They were never really presented as a “sexual tension” pairing, though – coworkers only, no personal interest in each other. I don’t know, I thought they had their moments a few times… ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/66 "2009-11-03T23:28:20Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It was abundantly clear that it was going to happen, but it happened off-camera and after the credits started rolling. But the OP says “didn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/67 "2009-11-03T23:51:22Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Luke and Leia. This is a great example, and I’m disappointed in myself for not thinking of it! Especially since the famous plot twist makes their “No, they won’t, not EVER” status more definite than other cases where the potential couple just decides it wouldn’t work or at least one marries someone else. > [@Beadalin](#): > > Oh. Woops. I stopped watching after S6, so I clearly shouldn’t have offered this up as an example. Especially since Scully and Mulder are in the second sentence of the OP as an example of a couple who “did”. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/68 "2009-11-04T00:18:50Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > But the OP says “didn’t.” Sorry if I came across like I was simply disagreeing with you. I meant it more in the “I can see both sides of this” vein. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/69 "2009-11-04T00:24:41Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Joel & Maggie DID indeed ‘do it’ - but it was a few months before Fleischman left Cicely. Maggie blamed it on whatever weird quasi-Native American mystical mojo was happening in that week’s episode (and she was still going out with ‘bubble boy’ Anthony Edwards at the time.) They got engaged to be married just shortly before Joel took off for the deeper wilderlands. So, it’s a hard call on that one. They had sex, but with no real intimacy, and aborted their plans to really hook up. Joel eventually left for New York, and in the last few episodes, Maggie and Chris hooked up. I always thought it felt contrived and forced, like the writers wanted both of them in a happy relationship on which to end the series. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/70 "2009-11-04T00:37:22Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Here’s an older than TV example: Jo and Laurie in _Little Women_ and _Good Wives_. These books are often published together as a single volume, but were originally written and published a year apart. (As a kid I had a copy of _Little Women_ alone and didn’t read _Good Wives_ until I was a teenager, so I always think of them as two different books.) Many fans of the first book wrote to Louisa May Alcott asking for a sequel in which Jo and Laurie got married. Alcott would have preferred for Jo to remain a “literary spinster”, but decided the fans wouldn’t be satisfied with this…and also decided to make it very clear that Jo would never wind up with Laurie. Jo refuses his proposal in _Good Wives_, and both marry other people. When I read the two books as a child, I never found Jo’s refusal of Laurie’s proposal all that surprising. It always seemed clear to me that they were not meant to be together as husband and wife - just very close, lifelong friends. I did, however, find Laurie’s relatively swift transferral of his affections to Amy a little odd. It smacked of a tying up of loose ends in the plot by Alcott. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/71 "2009-11-04T02:09:23Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Of course, Ted and Robin differ from the classic “will they or won’t they?” scenario in that it’s explicitly stated in the _first episode of the show_ that they won’t end up together. The show is narrated by Ted twenty years in the future, and is structured as a story he is telling his future kids (hence “How I Met Your Mother”). And FutureTed almost always refers to Robin as “your Aunt Robin” - including within the first episode. Is there any reason you must assume that Ted and the mother wind up staying together? From your post, it seems you are assuming that based on the premise of the show. I didn’t see the first episode–does it flat out say the mother character and he are still in a relationship together? (And I hope I didn’t just spoil the show’s twist ending…) > [@Chronos](#): > > So far as I know, Bob the Builder and Wendy. All the episodes I’ve seen (and what with two single-digit nieces and a nephew, I’ve seen a lot of them), Wendy clearly has feelings for Bob, but he seems to be completely oblivious. It’s the type of kids show where character development doesn’t happen. I don’t think the audience is expected to wonder if they’ll wind up together, and, per the OP, a one-sided relationships don’t count. > [@dangermom](#): > > Stargate: O’Neill and Carter. Yes, I know he’s 20 years older than she is, but I still wish! (I am a lame geek.) I’d always assumed they did, seeing as they often did in parallel realities. I haven’t seen anything to indicate that they definitely didn’t. Oh, and if O’Neil is 54 or older, then, according to the half-your-age-plus-seven rule, it’s perfectly fine. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Janeway & Chakotay from ST: Voyager. The way that was handled was really hated in the Voyager fan community (yes, one exists. The one thing that seemed to keep them apart was their duty. Almost every show where their rank is removed, they get quite intimate. So it only seemed natural, that, once the mission was over, they’d get together. But Kate Mulgrew (Janeway) had other ideas. She hated the pairing. Rather than letting the show end without resolving it, she decided to get the writers to put Chakotay with Ms. Fanservice herself, Seven of Nine. She also had a couple pairings that had been forming from the beginning, and Chakotay was not on the list. Fans felt it was completely out of character for both of them. They didn’t even have any chemistry in their romantic scenes which took up way too much of the finale. Almost every fan-fiction breaks them up. > [@Omniscient](#): > > Sees to me that the “will they or won’t they” couples refer to potential relationships and if they’ll ever give it a try. **Listing all these couples where they gave it a try and found out that it wasn’t meant to be and eventually fell apart misses the point.** The _Cheers_ couples definitely fall into that “They Did” camp even though they didn;t stay that way because the plot needed to move along. > > Examples where there’s tension and a ongoing question about it and they end the show without ever actually doing anything at all and always wonder are much more interesting. (bolding mine) I think you are mistaken here. Like in real life, breakups are often temporary. Just because they tried it and it didn’t work right then, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work in the future. Many shows rely on this. They resolve the sexual tension by letting them get together, break them up, and then recreate the sexual tension. Plus, there’s the fact that the sexual tension doesn’t have to last the whole series. And the OP never says that the question must remain unanswered until the end. That’s just an example. > [@xizor](#): > > What about Frye and Lela from _Futurama_? Well, Futurama isn’t over. They’ve renewed it. And since they’ve already undone one sad ending to appease the fans, (the death of Fry’s dog) I don’t see why they couldn’t do it again. The fans really want Fry and Leela to wind up together. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/72 "2009-11-04T02:23:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So far as I know, Bob the Builder and Wendy. All the episodes I’ve seen (and what with two single-digit nieces and a nephew, I’ve seen a lot of them), Wendy clearly has feelings for Bob, but he seems to be completely oblivious. And of course there’s Handy Manny and Kelly. Kelly is obviously crazy about him. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/73 "2009-11-04T02:23:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I think you are mistaken here. Like in real life, breakups are often temporary. Just because they tried it and it didn’t work right then, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work in the future. Many shows rely on this. They resolve the sexual tension by letting them get together, break them up, and then recreate the sexual tension. > > Plus, there’s the fact that the sexual tension doesn’t have to last the whole series. And the OP never says that the question must remain unanswered until the end. Right, I am equally interested in “Will they or won’t they” couples where the answer was a definite “no”. And I did specifically say in my OP that I’d count couples who after some period of romantic tension did date but later broke up for good. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/74 "2009-11-04T04:41:14Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I thought it was pretty clear that it did happen. It’s been a long, long time since I saw Remington Steele. Maybe they were kissing or something while the credits rolled. I don’t recall. Did Maddie and David Addison hookup on _Moonlighting_? I only saw a few episodes during the first season. Never could stand Cybill Shepherd. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/75 "2009-11-04T05:22:53Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **Wonder Years,** Kevin and Winnie. Did it in the final episode. Then the narrator (the voice of the adult Kevin) described how Winnie went to Europe to study and when she finally came back, Kevin met her at the airport, accompanied by his young son. The son’s voice calls to him (the only other voice to ever be heard in the narrative) to come play catch and adult Kevin does. The end. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/76 "2009-11-04T05:24:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Did Maddie and David Addison hookup on _Moonlighting_? Yep, and it’s widely believed that the breaking of the sexual tension led rapidly to the death of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/77 "2009-11-04T05:37:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@xizor](#): > > > > What about Frye and Lela from Futurama? > > Well, Futurama isn’t over. They’ve renewed it. And since they’ve already undone one sad ending to appease the fans, (the death of Fry’s dog) I don’t see why they couldn’t do it again. The fans really want Fry and Leela to wind up together. Fry and Leela DO get together in the fourth movie, Into the Wild Green Yonder. This is part of canon since the movies will bridge pre- and post-cancellation. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/78 "2009-11-04T06:58:24Z")
Never mind, didn’t see the 2nd page, as usual. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/79 "2009-11-04T07:49:14Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher on TNG. The final episode don’t count because it didn’t really happen Riker and Troi did finally get together in the last film. And Picard and Crusher get together in one of the novels. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Lois & Clark are examples. Lois and Clark got married and even had a baby (sort of). > [@xizor](#): > > What about Frye and Lela from _Futurama_? They finally got together at the end of the last DVD (and Fry’s alternate timeline self had a romance with her in an earlier DVD). But the series has been renewed so I’m sure they’ll encounter new obstacles. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Did Maddie and David Addison hookup on _Moonlighting_? They sort of did, but then it wasn’t quite working out, and in the finale the secondary characters berated them for not having gotten their shit together yet. My contribution: Ally McBeal - she was about to get together with her long standing true love but then he died. At the end of the series she basically ditched the idea of romance and decided her ‘true love’ was her daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-or-wont-they-couples-who-didnt/516118/80 "2009-11-04T08:20:25Z")
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