TV's Worst Couples: 40+ Pairs We Wish We Could Forget Ever Happened

Yahoo

16-02-2025

As Valentine's Weekend winds down, we're realizing that not every TV couple deserves flowers and candy. Far from it, in fact!
Though television has given us plenty of swoon-worthy romances over the years, it's also delivered quite a few duds. From the yawn-inducing (Riverdale's Archie and Valerie) to the out-of-left-field (Parks and Recreation's Tom and Ann) to the downright wrong (Game of Thrones' Jaime and Cersei), there's been no shortage of small-screen relationships that probably shouldn't have happened in the first place.
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In the list below, we've thrown a little anti-Valentine's Day party, recognizing more than 40 TV pairings that just didn't work. And though we've included some couples that are out-and-out toxic — we're lookin' at you, The Oval's Hunter and Victoria! — most of the duos on our list suffered more from lack of chemistry and/or romantic expectations that simply weren't met.
Keep scrolling to see all of our picks for TV's worst mismatches, then drop a comment below with the couples you'd add. (And if you're in the mood for something a little more lovey-dovey, go here to see the TV characters we're hoping will couple up soon. We're hopeless romantics, too!)
There's no denying that the clueless Tariq brought laughs when he was first introduced, but as a boyfriend, he failed on so many levels. Janine deserved so much better than someone who took advantage of her — and, thankfully, she got it in new beau Gregory, while Tariq has evolved into an amusing side character.
We don't begrudge Vaughn for moving on after Sydney's 'death,' but… actually, you know what, we do take issue with that.
Sex and the City fans were not happy when Miranda ditched her marriage to Steve for a steamy affair with the non-binary stand-up comic played by Sara Ramírez on Max's sequel series. They certainly had passion (just ask Carrie's kitchen), but it was so out-of-character for Miranda to be that reckless and impulsive that it just rang false. Miranda and Che tried to make it work as a couple, but ultimately went their separate ways in Season 2 — and fans breathed a sigh of relief.
Not only did they 'meet not anything close to cute' — the Channel 52 news reporter made herself known by publicly trashing his mayoralty — but their eventual hook-up was colored by the fact that she was snooping into his possible secret identity. In a season that also gave us Felicity/Billy, it was a bridge too far.
After getting rejected by Brennan, Booth rebounded with a beautiful, award-winning journalist and — this just in! — the whole relationship felt like the contrived plot device it was.
Simply put, self-proclaimed 'brat' Kennedy was a poor excuse for a follow-up to Willow's epic romance with Tara.
Is anyone surprised that a character played by Nick Lachey didn't turn out to be the love of Phoebe's life?
Jeff and Lester had more romantic chemistry than these mismatched spies, whose relationship was nothing more than a plot device to drive yet another wedge between the series' central couple. We were so relieved when Shaw finally broke bad and Chuck and Sarah got together in Paris.
He's violent, impulsive and sadistic. (Remember the choking… and the gun?) She's manipulative, superficial and deceitful. (Remember the lying about blacking out during the pool sex?) Together, these two popular kids make for one of the most co-dependent, dysfunctional, quite frankly frightening couples at East Highland High School.
Beyond the fact that the King's Landing duo was brother and sister — and yes, we understand that's a big fact to get past — the Lannister twins' lifelong affair caused nothing but heartache, destruction and at least one attempted murder.
The only thing more stomach-turning than watching self-absorbed Marnie hump and dump Ray time and time again was watching the besotted chump volunteer to let her do it. At least she and Desi had narcissism in common.
For those of you who tuned out when the Fox comedy moved to Fridays in its final season, this is what you missed. This right here.
In the end, the docs realized they didn't like each other any more than viewers liked them together. But at least we'll always have those jokes about the step-siblings' awkward romance to snicker over.
'Til death do us part' took on a whole new meaning when the vow was exchanged by the Harringtons on Tyler Perry's primetime soap. David meant that he wanted to grow old with Veronica. And the homophobic harpy? She meant that if her better half dared to call her a 'delusional simple bitch' — and you bet he did — she'd set their house on fire while he slept inside it!
Originally retained by House to spy on Wilson, private eye Lucas Douglas soon enough set his sights on Cuddy. What followed can best be described as a 'placeholder courtship,' since we, and eventually Cuddy, knew that her feelings for House ran deeper than she cared to admit.
Ted went through his fair share of failed relationships before meeting the show's title character, but this one was a mismatched disaster from the start.
When the CW series paired up the do-gooder with Hawkgirl… well, the relationship was so unmemorable and lacking in chemistry that we've pretty much blocked it out of our memory. Thankfully, the show course-corrected and moved on from the ill-conceived romance.
The idea to flesh out and give names to some of the 'background' castaways was a logical one, but to make Nikki and Paulo work, we needed to buy into their well-tested romance from go. But there wasn't nearly enough chemistry there to give their warmed-over con artists backstory any sort of charge.
As The Next Big Obstacle for Deckerstar, Lieutenant Pierce never gave fans cause for concern. Before we knew his true identity (i.e. Cain), he came off as reserved and by-the-book, almost stuffy. Plus, there was the whole 'Chloe's boss' factor, which we can't dismiss with a hand-wave. Then, once we knew his true interest in Chloe (to make him killable), any half of a hint of attraction was tainted.
What happens when a long-running primetime soap completely runs out of characters to pair together? You're lookin' at it, folks.
This flimsy relationship, which somehow evolved into an even flimsier marriage, was as much of a chore for the characters to endure as it was for us to watch.
We get that Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis (allegedly!) despised each other, but this was not the solution.
'Layna'? More like lame-a, right?
The writers spent more than three seasons trying to make this awkward pairing happen. But even though Erin sat in Pam's old chair, these two just never had that special Jim-and-Pam spark, did they?
The Season 7 'requel' was contingent upon us longing for these two to recognize their feelings for each other and share True Love's Kiss. Instead, the pairing delivered True Love's Miss.
It was Alex who ratted Piper out and got her sent to Litchfield in the first place. Then, in the final season, she went and cheated on Piper with CO McCullough. Suffice it to say, we were #TeamZelda.
Where. Do. We. Even. Begin. The very first episode of Tyler Perry's White House drama kicked off with a knock-down, drag-out brawl between POTUS and FLOTUS, and the animosity between them has only grown in the 100-plus episodes since. We've frankly lost track of how many times Hunter and Victoria have tried to kill one another over the course of the show, but we're pretty sure that once is too many, at least for married couples. These two really take 'til death do us part' to a whole new level.
Yes, this really happened: The angelic Ann Perkins briefly gave in and dated wannabe ladies' man Tom, even moving in with him in Season 5. Their chemistry was less 'passionate lovers' and more 'bratty brother and annoyed older sister.'
A sweet high school romance, rekindled later in life, became the destructive force that ruined the St. Patricks' marriage, destroyed Angie's career and ultimately was the driving force behind the assistant U.S. attorney's brutal murder.
The fans already hated Elliott for not being Emily — and that was before they found out he only married Alison to drive her crazy, steal her money and probably murder her. Hanna deserves a Purple Heart for accidentally killing him before he got the chance.
Amandily Tharke — as we like to call her — had some epic romances over the course of this ABC drama's four seasons. She also dated Aiden.
The CW's teen drama had plenty of romantic pairings in its seven-season run… and this one ranked right at the bottom. In Season 1, Archie and Valerie bonded over their shared love of music (remember when Archie loved music?), but there wasn't much of a spark between them, and we all knew it was just a matter of time until Archie ended up with Betty or Veronica anyway. These two split after just a few episodes — and Valerie vanished altogether midway through Season 2.
On a show where the worst thing a couple can be is boring, this pair was a major offender. Say what you will about Olivia's messed-up romances with Fitz and Jake — at least they kept things interesting.
George Costanza was always miserable, so why should his longest relationship be any different? After dating in Season 4, George and Susan got engaged in Season 7, but he instantly regretted his decision, scratching and clawing to find an escape while the perfectly dull Susan made him stay home and watch Mad About You. George finally did escape… when Susan shockingly died after licking too many cheap wedding invitations made with toxic glue.
We can't help but wonder: What could Carrie have been thinking at the time, seeing any bit of charm in the America-mocking art snob played by Mikhail Baryshnikov? Hell, the guy couldn't even make Paris seem a lick romantic.
Here is a case where the young, attractive leads shared a certain chemistry, but the years and years of trials and tribulations and secrets and lies that plagued the characters had erased, bit by bit, any sense of joy from their eventual union.
This marriage of convenience became awfully inconvenient. She openly mocked him and made him agree to have an open relationship on their wedding night (!). He wondered out loud if he'd be any more miserable without her than he already is with her (!!). And then there was the HBO drama's final season, which featured a blistering balcony argument between the two and, in the series finale, the most loveless hand-hold of all time after Tom took over Waystar Royco. We don't actually wish this particular pairing had never happened, though: Can you imagine a world without Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen's incredible performances?
Much of Season 8 felt like a fever dream, including this totally unbelievable pairing. Jackie had shown zero romantic interest in Fez before Hyde (who was temporarily married) and Kelso (in the wake of Ashton Kutcher's departure) were no longer viable options.
We were sold on these two at the beginning, but after seeing Sookie with Alcide (and Eric!), it was kind of hard to watch her go back to Bill. At least things worked out for the couple off-screen!
We don't even care that Alaric used to be Caroline's high school history teacher, as Mystic Falls was rampant with age-inappropriate romances. (Hello? This is a show about hundred-year-old vampires dating teenagers. Let's pick our battles, people.) No, our biggest issue with this pairing is that they simply had no chemistry whatsoever — which is wild, because Candice King could have chemistry with a houseplant. And let's be real, the only reason they got together in the first place was because Caroline was forced to carry Alaric's twin daughters in her own womb after his pregnant fiancée was murdered on their wedding day. That's not a relationship, baby, that's borderline Stockholm Syndrome.
Coming off more as acquaintances than even roommates, these sparks-free lovers only served to tick us off that the show sped through Gabriel's romance with Anne and, at least on screen, completely bypassed Rosita's fling with Siddiq.
We were all in on these two when the feisty barrel racer punched the ranch hand's V-card while he was laid up in the hospital. But the way that Mia pressured Jimmy to return to bronc riding, regardless of the fact that it was likely to kill him, made us not just relieved but [bleepin'] thrilled when he hooked up with sweet veterinarian Emily.
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