JamesG
02-14-2010, 12:26 AM
1. Sam and Diane on "Cheers"
Ex-baseball pitcher Sam Malone and writer/grad student Diane Chambers had a love/hate relationship for six years on the sitcom Cheers.
At the end of the sixth season, the two of them were engaged to get married, but then Diane's ex-fiancee showed up and offered her a book deal. She left, breaking off the marriage.
Diane promised to return to Sam in a few months, but it was all a lie. In fact, Diane didn't return to the show for six long years. And even then, she only returned for the final episode of Cheers, where she and Sam get engaged again, and then break up again.
It's an absurd protracted double-gut-punch break-up the likes of which we have never seen. To be honest, we're still kind of reeling from the whole thing.
2. Angel and Buffy on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
What if your boyfriend was a vampire, and it was your sworn duty to defend the world from him? Even worse, say you started dating him, and then learned that he was suffering from a gypsy curse than would cause him to turn evil if he ever experienced a moment of perfect happiness?
That's the situation that Buffy Summers faces with her boyfriend Angel. After the two of them sleep together, Angel experiences a moment of perfect happiness, and turns evil. Then Buffy kills him. Then Angel returns to life. And then they break up again.
The whole situation was left unresolved when Angel received his own spin-off show, and departed the Buffy universe forever. But all in all, the high drama and pain of the Buffy-Angel relationship makes 'Twilight' look like, well, child's-play.
3. Kirsten and Charlie on "Party of Five"
The theme song to the show ended with the words "Everyone wants to be... closer to free," which seemed to embody the difficulty of lead character Charlie Salinger, who suffered from major commitment-itis. Did Charlie want to be free or tied-down in a relationship?
He got engaged to babysitter Kirsten Bennett, then panicked at the last minute, repeatedly flipping a coin to decide if they should get hitched or not. Charlie left Kirsten at the altar, and raced through a series of relationships afterward - but he never really got over her, either.
In the series finale (tellingly entitled "All's Well That Ends Well"), Charlie and Kirsten do get back together, and get married. But it never totally felt right, and seemed more like a last-minute attempt by the show to make amends for the original horrific break-up.
As they say, the first cut is the deepest.
4. Andy and Angela (and Dwight) on "The Office"
Sometimes it's painful to see even a really bad relationship end.
In The Office, uptight accountant Angela Martin begins dating salesman Andy Bernard; even though it generally seems like she hates him in every way.
Meanwhile, she's cheating on him with with rival salesman Dwight Schrute. Quite naturally, the whole thing explodes, with both men simultaneously dumping Angela.
But most of the pain of the whole experience came from watching Andy, who was pouring so much love and devotion into a relationship that was so obviously wrong for him.
5. Carrie and Berger on "Sex and the City"
There are pretty established procedures for how you're supposed to do a break-up. The best way is in person (preferably in a crowded restaurant, so that the person being dumped can't cry or freak out).
After breaking up in person, the next most acceptable way is over the phone, followed by snail mail, e-mail, Facebook message, or, ugh, Twitter.
But in the sixth season of Sex and the City, boyfriend Jack Berger broke up with Carrie Bradshaw via Post-It Note -- surely the worst, and most demeaning method of all. (For the record, his Post-It said: "I'm sorry, I can't. Don't hate me.")
What makes it even worse is that Berger was a novelist. Dude! At least write her a letter or a poem or something. Geez.
6. Angela and Jordan on "My So-Called Life"
Sometimes, relationships aren't ended by bad decisions or hormones or cheating or lying. Sometimes, relationships are ended by cancellation. This was the case with the cult show My So-Called Life.
Despite receiving nearly unanimous praise from critics, the show was dropped by NBC after only a single season. And the worst part was, we never found out what happened with Angela and Jordan!
In the show, Angela repeatedly rejects nice (nerdy) guy Brain Krakow for cool (dumb) guy Jordan Catalano. Then, Angela and Jordan break up after he sleeps with Angela's best friend. And then, in the final episode, Jordan -- who is nearly illiterate -- sits down and writes a letter as part of an effort to win Angela back.
What happens next? We'll never know. Why? Because the show got freakin' canceled, that's why.
7. Kevin and Winnie on "The Wonder Years"
For six years, Kevin Arnold was desperately in love with girl-next-door Winnie Cooper. The pair dated, then broke up. Then they fell in love again.
But in the series finale, Kevin catches Winnie making out with an older lifeguard. Even as they break up for the last time, Winnie is still crying, while standing in the rain. "I don't want it to end," she says.
The worst part: the entire series is narrated by an older version of Kevin himself. So older Kevin must have known the whole time that he and Winnie would never work out, but still told the story anyway. So sad.
8. Dave and Lisa on "NewsRadio"
Most TV shows play an endless game of "will they or won't they" with their romantic leads. (See, for example, Cheers) But the sitcom NewsRadio bucked this trend by having its two main characters start dating in the second episode ever.
In the middle of the second season, Dave and Lisa broke up over a misunderstanding, and though the show continued for three more years, they never really reunited.
It was a surprising end to a surprising relationship, although the sadness was somewhat redeemed by the comedy that followed. (For instance, Dave's break-up letter to Lisa being simultaneously faxed to every member of the office.)
9. Fry and Leela on "Futurama"
For the entire run of Futurama, hapless delivery boy Fry was in love with one-eyed pilot Turanga Leela. Unfortunately, Leela can't stand him.
Throughout the sci-fi cartoon's five seasons, the writers kept coming up with ever more ingenious ways to humiliate Fry and deprive him of his one true love.
In the show's most haunting episode, 'Time Keeps on Slipping,' Fry actually gets married to Leela -- then instantly has his marriage annulled through the magic of time travel. But because time has already skipped ahead, Fry doesn't even know how he managed to make Leela fall for him.
At the end of the show, he learns the secret: he rearranged entire constellations in order to spell out the words "I LOVE YOU" in the sky, with... stars. But it's too late. Time has moved on, and Leela already doesn't love him (again).
10. Conan O'Brien and "The Tonight Show"
There are all kinds of TV break-ups. Among them, the break-up of a performer with his show.
O'Brien had a whirlwind seven-month romance with a creature called The Tonight Show. But that romance came to an abrupt end when an ex-boyfriend (a Mr. Jay Leno) came back into the picture.
And so, in the end, Conan lost his one true love. But we'll always have our (all-too-brief) memories of his whirlwind affair. Conan's final speech to his audience is a good reminder that television shows come and go, but that pure love lasts, well, forever.
http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/02/12/tv-break-ups-10-devastating-tv-couple-splits/
Ex-baseball pitcher Sam Malone and writer/grad student Diane Chambers had a love/hate relationship for six years on the sitcom Cheers.
At the end of the sixth season, the two of them were engaged to get married, but then Diane's ex-fiancee showed up and offered her a book deal. She left, breaking off the marriage.
Diane promised to return to Sam in a few months, but it was all a lie. In fact, Diane didn't return to the show for six long years. And even then, she only returned for the final episode of Cheers, where she and Sam get engaged again, and then break up again.
It's an absurd protracted double-gut-punch break-up the likes of which we have never seen. To be honest, we're still kind of reeling from the whole thing.
2. Angel and Buffy on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
What if your boyfriend was a vampire, and it was your sworn duty to defend the world from him? Even worse, say you started dating him, and then learned that he was suffering from a gypsy curse than would cause him to turn evil if he ever experienced a moment of perfect happiness?
That's the situation that Buffy Summers faces with her boyfriend Angel. After the two of them sleep together, Angel experiences a moment of perfect happiness, and turns evil. Then Buffy kills him. Then Angel returns to life. And then they break up again.
The whole situation was left unresolved when Angel received his own spin-off show, and departed the Buffy universe forever. But all in all, the high drama and pain of the Buffy-Angel relationship makes 'Twilight' look like, well, child's-play.
3. Kirsten and Charlie on "Party of Five"
The theme song to the show ended with the words "Everyone wants to be... closer to free," which seemed to embody the difficulty of lead character Charlie Salinger, who suffered from major commitment-itis. Did Charlie want to be free or tied-down in a relationship?
He got engaged to babysitter Kirsten Bennett, then panicked at the last minute, repeatedly flipping a coin to decide if they should get hitched or not. Charlie left Kirsten at the altar, and raced through a series of relationships afterward - but he never really got over her, either.
In the series finale (tellingly entitled "All's Well That Ends Well"), Charlie and Kirsten do get back together, and get married. But it never totally felt right, and seemed more like a last-minute attempt by the show to make amends for the original horrific break-up.
As they say, the first cut is the deepest.
4. Andy and Angela (and Dwight) on "The Office"
Sometimes it's painful to see even a really bad relationship end.
In The Office, uptight accountant Angela Martin begins dating salesman Andy Bernard; even though it generally seems like she hates him in every way.
Meanwhile, she's cheating on him with with rival salesman Dwight Schrute. Quite naturally, the whole thing explodes, with both men simultaneously dumping Angela.
But most of the pain of the whole experience came from watching Andy, who was pouring so much love and devotion into a relationship that was so obviously wrong for him.
5. Carrie and Berger on "Sex and the City"
There are pretty established procedures for how you're supposed to do a break-up. The best way is in person (preferably in a crowded restaurant, so that the person being dumped can't cry or freak out).
After breaking up in person, the next most acceptable way is over the phone, followed by snail mail, e-mail, Facebook message, or, ugh, Twitter.
But in the sixth season of Sex and the City, boyfriend Jack Berger broke up with Carrie Bradshaw via Post-It Note -- surely the worst, and most demeaning method of all. (For the record, his Post-It said: "I'm sorry, I can't. Don't hate me.")
What makes it even worse is that Berger was a novelist. Dude! At least write her a letter or a poem or something. Geez.
6. Angela and Jordan on "My So-Called Life"
Sometimes, relationships aren't ended by bad decisions or hormones or cheating or lying. Sometimes, relationships are ended by cancellation. This was the case with the cult show My So-Called Life.
Despite receiving nearly unanimous praise from critics, the show was dropped by NBC after only a single season. And the worst part was, we never found out what happened with Angela and Jordan!
In the show, Angela repeatedly rejects nice (nerdy) guy Brain Krakow for cool (dumb) guy Jordan Catalano. Then, Angela and Jordan break up after he sleeps with Angela's best friend. And then, in the final episode, Jordan -- who is nearly illiterate -- sits down and writes a letter as part of an effort to win Angela back.
What happens next? We'll never know. Why? Because the show got freakin' canceled, that's why.
7. Kevin and Winnie on "The Wonder Years"
For six years, Kevin Arnold was desperately in love with girl-next-door Winnie Cooper. The pair dated, then broke up. Then they fell in love again.
But in the series finale, Kevin catches Winnie making out with an older lifeguard. Even as they break up for the last time, Winnie is still crying, while standing in the rain. "I don't want it to end," she says.
The worst part: the entire series is narrated by an older version of Kevin himself. So older Kevin must have known the whole time that he and Winnie would never work out, but still told the story anyway. So sad.
8. Dave and Lisa on "NewsRadio"
Most TV shows play an endless game of "will they or won't they" with their romantic leads. (See, for example, Cheers) But the sitcom NewsRadio bucked this trend by having its two main characters start dating in the second episode ever.
In the middle of the second season, Dave and Lisa broke up over a misunderstanding, and though the show continued for three more years, they never really reunited.
It was a surprising end to a surprising relationship, although the sadness was somewhat redeemed by the comedy that followed. (For instance, Dave's break-up letter to Lisa being simultaneously faxed to every member of the office.)
9. Fry and Leela on "Futurama"
For the entire run of Futurama, hapless delivery boy Fry was in love with one-eyed pilot Turanga Leela. Unfortunately, Leela can't stand him.
Throughout the sci-fi cartoon's five seasons, the writers kept coming up with ever more ingenious ways to humiliate Fry and deprive him of his one true love.
In the show's most haunting episode, 'Time Keeps on Slipping,' Fry actually gets married to Leela -- then instantly has his marriage annulled through the magic of time travel. But because time has already skipped ahead, Fry doesn't even know how he managed to make Leela fall for him.
At the end of the show, he learns the secret: he rearranged entire constellations in order to spell out the words "I LOVE YOU" in the sky, with... stars. But it's too late. Time has moved on, and Leela already doesn't love him (again).
10. Conan O'Brien and "The Tonight Show"
There are all kinds of TV break-ups. Among them, the break-up of a performer with his show.
O'Brien had a whirlwind seven-month romance with a creature called The Tonight Show. But that romance came to an abrupt end when an ex-boyfriend (a Mr. Jay Leno) came back into the picture.
And so, in the end, Conan lost his one true love. But we'll always have our (all-too-brief) memories of his whirlwind affair. Conan's final speech to his audience is a good reminder that television shows come and go, but that pure love lasts, well, forever.
http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/02/12/tv-break-ups-10-devastating-tv-couple-splits/