The 7 Best TV Couples of All Time 

There’s nothing quite like when two friends get together. Having gone through the motions of back-and-forth flirting–leaving us all in suspense over their blossoming romantic attraction–we can’t help but jump for joy whenever we see our acquaintances finally start dating, signifying the start of a relationship we can’t wait to see flourish over time.

Like our closest friends in real life, seeing two characters finally reciprocate their romantic feelings is a pleasure unto itself. After spending months–perhaps even years–pondering their romantic compatibility together, the day these prospective TV couples decided to make their relationship official felt like a pay-off we’d spent several seasons anxiously awaiting.

Monica and Chandler (Friends)

Fans might have spent the bulk of Friends wondering whether Rachel and Ross might one day end up as a couple, but true fans know that Monica and Chandler were the heart and soul of the show. Perhaps the most stable and forward-thinking members of their New York friend group, Monica and Chandler personified the changes that come with adulthood, including the dream of settling down, pursuing a successful career, and starting a family in the suburbs. Yet, even with all their responsibility and pragmatic plans for the future, the Bings also proved themselves capable of having a great time, never losing the spark they held for each other in Friends’ earliest seasons.

Jim and Pam (The Office)

Almost everyone has had an office crush at one time or another–that secret workplace best friend who you occasionally stole glances at, passed notes to, and ate lunch with during your midway break. Embodying that concept perfectly, viewers waited with bated breath to see whether Jim and Pam might one day end up as an official couple on The Office. Although the odds never seemed in their favor, like all things in life, good things typically take time to come to fruition, with the eventual marriage between Dunder Mifflin’s most lovable employees worth all the seasons of build-up audiences had to plod through.

Lucy and Ricky (I Love Lucy)

It’s not an exaggeration to describe Lucy and Ricky Ricardo as the archetypal sitcom duo. The eccentric co-stars of the revolutionary sitcom I Love Lucy, Lucy and Ricky broke all kinds of rules when it came to the ultra-conservative 1950s, none more so than the fact that they were the first interracial couple to appear on national TV. Aside from this inspirational accolade, Lucy and Ricky also billed themselves as a comically immature couple, as depicted with their unending adventures and non-stop bickering. Despite their constant arguments, however, the love they held for each other is beyond question, giving viewers one of the most cherished comedy teams in all of pop culture.

Sam and Diane (Cheers)

Years before audiences wondered whether Ross might end up with Rachel on Friends, viewers tuned in on a week-in, week-out basis to see whether Sam and Diane might finally admit their long-stifled romantic feelings for each other on NBC’s Cheers. Polar opposites in their temperament, backgrounds, and individual personalities, Sam and Diane nevertheless displayed peak chemistry together in every one of their shared scenes. Disguising their romantic attraction as playful insults and witty banter, Sam and Diane’s relationship forced viewers to wonder when (or rather if) the two might one day become an official couple, influencing later will-they, won’t-they sitcom relationships like Jim and Pam, Eric and Donna, Ted and Robin, and so many, many more.

Eric and Donna (That ‘70s Show)

High school comes with all kinds of trials and tribulations, from struggling through dead-end, minimum-wage jobs to agonizing over what to do whenever the weekend rolls around. For as many challenges as teens face during this pivotal moment in their lifetimes, teenage relationships make it all worthwhile, as seen through Eric and Donna’s endearing romance in That ‘70s Show. Growing from childhood best friends into an on-again, off-again romantic couple, Eric and Donna’s gradual maturation into responsible adults formed the crux of That ‘70s Show’s narrative journey, allowing the two to transform from withdrawn high school sweethearts into patient, understanding adults.

Marshall and Lily (How I Met Your Mother)

The spiritual successors to Friends’ Monica and Chandler, Marshall and Lily appeared as the long-standing, well-adjusted couple at the center of How I Met Your Mother. Having developed a mutual romantic attraction since their earliest days in college, Marshall and Lily thrived as a couple throughout HIMYM, typically dispensing words of advice to their lovesick friends. Unlike Monica and Chandler, though, Marshall and Lily’s relationship was not without its ups and downs, illustrating that–more often than not–healthy marriages take an extraordinary amount of work to sustain (although, as seen with Marshall and Lily, it’s well worth the effort).

Jess and Nick (New Girl)

As New Girl routinely makes clear, everyone has their specific set of quirks and eccentricities, be it an offbeat sense of humor (like Jess) or an irrational anger over otherwise trivial inconveniences (like Nick). When it comes to potential relationships, then, it becomes a question of whether these quirks can coexist together–something that happens to be the case with Jess and Nick’s relationship in New Girl. Though struggling to admit their attraction to one another throughout the show’s initial seasons, Jess and Nick consistently displayed a comedic and romantic rapport whenever they were paired on-screen, hilariously arguing like an old married couple whether they were loft-mates, close friends, or a young couple on the verge of marriage.