Successful show/toons with an official couple. Anime and Comics also count)

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Brawlio

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The general believe when it comes to entertainment and romance is simply entertaining and compelling if the two characters who have a thing for each other dance the "will they/won't they?" dance. Get them together (or even starting the show with a regular couple) and the series is on a one way ticket to dullsville.

So the point of this thread is to ultimately prove or disprove said belief. I myself tend to be in the camp that it's the poor handling of the relationships if anything and because some writers lack the ambition to exit the comfort zone.

That said, here are the series which to me disprove the belief:

Disney's Aladdin- Aladdin and Jasmine were already together at the end of the first movie, thus there is no tease throughout the series. Despite that, the show made it up to 80 episodes (which while it's not impossible, is still an impressive feat for cartoons).

Friends- Okay I'm cheating with this one here. Yes, Ross and Rachael were for all intents and purposes the main couple of the series, but Chandler and Monica became a significant focus in the later seasons. The show wasn't headed for cancelation when they made their relationship official, and still had three more seasons after the marriage episode.

I count it as a valid example since it means that the show could no longer do stories where Chandler is having trouble finding the right girl/Monica is having trouble finding the right guy. Which tends to be the reason why writers like to prolong an unofficial couple from getting together.

Boy Meets World- Cory and Topanga get together at the beginning of the 3rd Season, and well the show was still doing well enough to merit 4 more seasons. And at the same time this show in my mind is the perfect example of to incorporate romance into a show which isn't a pure romance series, and how not to.

While Season 6-7 made the mistake of changing the premise of the show (From being about two boys who learn about the ups and downs of the world to the show about Cory and Topanga), Season 3-5 handled it right. Their relationship in those 3 seasons got a good amount of C/T centric episodes while episodes not centering around their relationship kept their relationship as background material (a hand hold there, a kiss here).

That's my examples. How about yours?
 
I don't think you have to look too far for examples, considering there are tons of shows that start with a married couple who stay married throughout the series, from the Honeymooners to the King of Queens, that work just fine.
 
I was never a fan of the "will they or won't they?" dance motif. It pains me when a ship is unnecessarily stretched out and the path gets laid with roadblock after roadblock when you already know the result. When you stretch "will they or won't they?" out too long, by the time the couple finally do get together, viewers have lost interest and people tend to believe that the couple in question is only interesting when their facing a crisis of some kind. You can only dangle a carrot in front of someone's nose for so long before they get bored and decide to go for a Twinkie instead.

I'm probably in the minority, but I prefer my fictional romances to be low-key and drama-free. Plus, like Shawn already mentioned, you only need to look at all of the successful married couples on TV to see how well stable established fictional couples work.
 
Chuck-Sarah and Chuck finally got together after the last episode. Took Hmm Three seasons before they did.

Darkwing Duck-Darkwing Duck and Morgana got together. I think got together in the first or second season, I thought she was a great adition to the cast.


I'm ok with the teasing and stuff, as long as the couples finally become a couple. I just hate when they take so long with becoming a couple is all.
 
I certainly agree that the "will they/won't they?" is overplayed, but I wouldn't do away with it, but wouldn't be so reliant on it at the same time either.



Of course, and while I do welcome examples of the couple already together, I'm also looking for ones with start with the "will they/won't they?", but evolve into a full relationship in the middle of the series.
 
Does Kevin and Winnie for the Wonder Years count? They actually hooked up in the first episode and were on again off again through out the show. I guess what made this relationship so endearing was that even though they didn't end up together romantically in the end, they were still there for each other. It wasn't really a "will they won't they" thing, it was just realistic and completely touching development. Definitely one of the best i've seen.
 
You know, I just have to disagree with using Friends as one of your examples. It may have limped along for several more seasons but creatively it definitely went downhill, steeply downhill after Monica and Chandler got married. Putting them together helped re-energize the show.All we had left for a core romantic relationship after the marriage was the frustrating gymnastics of keeping Ross and Rachel apart until the series finale, mostly by dragging Joey into it and getting Rachel pregnant.

And I don't really think romance is the main draw in Aladdin. I mean, it's not exactly a nuanced look at relationships. Aladdin and Jasmine are about as likely to break up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Having them hook up at the beginning, like in Wonder Years, doesn't disqualify a show from "will they, won't they" hijinks if they don't become a steady couple and stay that way. You find out in the first episode of "How I Met Your Mother" that Robin isn't the mother, but Ted still chases her around and they come back to the relationship at points and there's still tension.

Scrubs did okay with it, though. Elliott and JD got together and fell apart and the show stayed interesting.

But if you ask me, you're sort of proving that sometimes defusing the primary relationship does hurt a show, and I don't think it's always the fault of lazy writers. Situation comedies don't grow or change because the humor is meant to come out of the situation. Upsetting one of the carefully constructed elements can sometimes send the whole Jenga tower crashing down. Think of the opposite example, instead of putting two of the main characters together, taking them apart. Taking Dan out of Roseanne completely ruined it. Made it unwatchable. And it was more of a bromance, so to speak, but even Andy Griffith admits taking Barney Fife out of the mix undid that show.
 
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