When Niles and Daphne finally hooked up is when, for me, Frasier jumped the shark. It legitimized Niles' hilariously creepy obsession with her and the show really lost something, IMO.
Jack and Kate (LOST) - Season 1 I was for it but since I just can't stand the idea they might end up together. I don't know why Jack still go after her given how poorly she treats him. Chatokay and Seven (VOY) - Seemed so out of left field. I could see her easier with Kim, the Doctor and even Tuvok before Chatokay. Julian and Ezri(DS9) - I think that was a mistake in the end and I find it hard to believe that Julian is after Ezri instead of the ghost of Jadzia.
All of Phoebe's relationships after Cole on Charmed (with the possible exception of Billy Zane, because A: he was only there for a few episodes and didn't have time to get annoying, and B: he was Billy fucking Zane) were awful, because she invariably went for witless pretty-boy douchebags. Mind you, by that stage she'd become a vapid, self-obsessed harpy, so they were on her level. Also, nthing the Starbuck hate. It wasn't enough that she'd already screwed up her own life, she had to ruin everyone else's relationships as well.
Granted how they handled/wrote Martha was crap. What I meant, was that Rose should have had a thing for Ten, and Ten shouldn't have noticed, period. Not the, didn't notice because he's pining over a teenager (Which I hated). In a way, I like season four the best, because there was none of the romantic stuff. I just needed a break from it (though the River stuff in the library two parter was great).
Okay, I have to disagree with this because I always liked Buffy and Angel together, and I would have liked to have seen them revisited when Buffy became more of an adult and trusted her own judgment. I really hated Buffy & Riley. There was only one other Buffy pairing I hated more... Damn skippy. I REALLY HATED Buffy and Spike. That was the deal breaker for me and I actually dumped the show. Willow and Tara. That always felt gimmicky to me. Darla and Angel. (Where's a vomit smilie when you need one?)
I'm not a big Gunn/Fred fan. For one thing, I think Fred & Wesley were just destined for each other and I hate that Gunn got in the way of that. Also, I think Gunn belonged with a woman that had more of an edge to her. I would have been more willing to believe Gunn/Cordelia. (And just as I never bought Buffy/Angel until "I Will Remember You," I didn't really buy Angel/Cordelia until "You're Welcome.")
Chakotay/7. Came from nowhere. *barf smiley* Gwen and Owen on Torchwood wasn't really a romance, IMO. It was just shagging. As wrong as it was (poor Rhys!), I always thought it was more Gwen's way of dealing with all the weirdness of working with Torchwood. Thank God the affair didn't last. Never bought Benton and Corday on ER.
I think it's easier for me to identify the bad relationships than the truly great ones: Gunn/Fred - Angel Lee/Dualla - BSG Tigh/Caprica Six - BSG Buffy/Riley - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rory/Logan - Gilmore Girls Lorelei/Christopher - Gilmore Girls Kate/Sawyer - Lost Juliet/Sawyer - Lost Worf/Troi - TNG Worf/Ezri - DS9 Chakotay/Seven - VOY
Clark/Lana for the win. Although having Clark interested in her, and her interested in him, satisfies comic contnuity the way Kreuk GOD was so damn vapid! She spoke like she had just done a shooter of vodka and Valium with a chaser of Xanax. And after about the millionth time she got all hollier-than-thou and judgmental Clark should've super-sped away from her! But he was just so damn obsessed with her! GOD! And why?! She was a bitch, self-centered and, frankly, not all that great looking compared to other girls around him and in his life. Next goes to House and Cameron, it was just icky. Oh, and the cherry on top is going to go to Joey and Rachel on Friends. I mean it just reeked of desperation that said, "What next couple can we put together? How about one that makes no fucking sense?!
Ugh. Let me say immediately that I have only seen the first 3 seasons of Buffy, so I can't say anything about Buffy/Spike (except that, knowing the characters, I bet they had better chemistry than Buffy and Angel) or Buffy/Riley (I don't even know the guy). But nothing, nothing could possibly be worse than Buffy/Xander, and what a relief that this did not happen, because Xander was the most annoying character on that show by far. Besides, I never bought the whole Buffy/Xander/Willow dynamic in the early seasons. A gang of best friends where they are all aware that one of them has an unrequited crush on another who has an unrequited crush on the third member of the gang, and their friendship still works wonderfully? How unrealistic. But then, the portrayal of relationships and teen life on Buffy TVS always was. (And before someone says something like, 'it's a show about vampires' and you want it to be realistic?': fantasy genre is no excuse for the lack of psychological realism.) Which is one of the reasons why I've never been a big fan of Joss Whedon. Frankly, I'm a bit annoyed with all the wisecracking and 'cool' behavior, too. Back on topic: The Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle is by far my least favorite romantic plot - it has been dragged on and it has been ruining an otherwise great show for 5 seasons already. And it only got worse when it became a quandrangle with Juliet. The behavior of the characters in the season 5 finale was beyond immature. Fifteen-year olds are more mature than that. It has hurt every character involved, and Kate in particular has been ruined by it as a character, and defined as a whiny, childish, wishy-washy, selfish bimbo who has no idea what she wants. The Lee/Kara/Sam/Dee quandrangle was also awful, the only good thing about it was that it lasted shorter and only ruined a few episodes. Thank gods that it wasn't dragged through the entire series. (And out of these, Lee/Dee was the worst couple by far.) Tigh/Caprica 6. What were the writers smoking?! Boomer/Cavil. Ewww. Kes/Neelix. No explanation necessary. Strictly speaking, not TV, but we're on Star Trek forum and it involved TV characters: Scotty and Uhura in ST V. Where did that come from and what the hell was that about?! Joey and Rachel on Friends. I had already found Friends unbearable for a few seasons by that point, but that was the low point. Finally... I don't know if it fits the definition of a romance, but they are a married couple, and supposedly are or were in love at some point... I really HATE mismatched comedy couples like Raymond and Debra on "Everybody Loves Raymond".
Man, why the Joey/Rachel hatred? He's dim, she's shallow, they both think they're God's gift to the opposite sex... it's a wonder it didn't happen earlier. And it was obviously going to be a temporary thing - did anyone honestly think they'd end the series with the Ballad of Ross and Rachel on a down note? Really, when you have six main characters in a light-hearted relationship comedy where none of them would ever do anything to really hurt any of the others and two of them have already been married off, you're limited to either mismatched pairings (if you hated Joey/Rachel, imagine Ross/Phoebe!) or bringing in randoms from outside that nobody watching really cares about (Mike).
Hey, I liked Mike! And Ross/Phoebe would have been awesome. They would both be gibbering wrecks by the end (at least Ross would), but it'd have been worth it.
I don't know. I have an unrequited crush on one of my married friends, something which can't be too much of a secret, yet it seems to work with all 3 of us.
I always think about this one while watching Bones and wondering if they'll ever shoehorn Booth & Bones together. And would the move doom the show like Moonlighting. Of course, they did a dream/coma episode, maybe just to see what would happen. Sometimes the chase is better than the catch.
One of my least favourite tv romances, that seems very popular in the other thread, is Monica and Chandler from Friends. I have no idea why, though. At first I thought it was because I didn't like Monica, but I really like her with Richard, so it can't be that.
It was real life Angel/Buffy. Just like her thing with Logan was real life Spike/Buffy. I hated Logan. Rich, spoiled, frat boy douche.