Give the People What They Want: Five Super (Un)Couples

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August 10th, 2009 - (917 days ago)

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No-No #3.  The Other Woman (or Man). The audience may be willing to wait for a recalcitrant partner to come to his or her senses but they will not tolerate a placeholder.  The leads belong together and any serious relationship with an interloper is a guaranteed way to draw the viewers' wrath.

It's fine if the scarlett character lasts for a handful of episodes but a long-term relationship breaks all kinds of unspoken promises.    JAG's Harm Rabb and Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie didn't take the leap until the series finale but Sarah's long engagement to an Australian naval lawyer left fans waiting impatiently for the storyline to end.  A character who finds love in all the wrong places can leave the audience feeling as betrayed as the cheater's partner.

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4.  Kate Beckett and Rick Castle, Castle.  She's not about to take a world-famous flirt seriously but this best-selling mystery writer knows it's all about the chase until the final chapter.

About
Featherlite is a Canadian writer who graduated from UCLA's screenwriting program in 2010. When she isn't watching procedural crime dramas, she wonders when she became a sci-fi geek and how she can overcome her addiction to SPACE channel. In addition to contributing articles to TVOvermind, Featherlite is busy working her own television and movie scripts.
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(18) Comments - Add Yours!

  1. Guest says:

    Just had to comment that Mad About You is another show where, after the baby arrived, just wasn't interesting enough anymore.

  2. Guest says:

    Just had to comment that Mad About You is another show where, after the baby arrived, just wasn’t interesting enough anymore.

  3. Featherlite says:

    I forgot about "Mad About You."nbsp; Yes, that is pretty much when I stopped watching as well.nbsp; That show had a good cast too.

  4. Featherlite says:

    I forgot about “Mad About You.”nbsp; Yes, that is pretty much when I stopped watching as well.nbsp; That show had a good cast too.

  5. Guest says:

    Hello, y Canadian buddy and comrade in arms ;)
    Great article, and an absolutely stunning picture of Bones and Booth.

    You know me, all about wanting certain couples to get together…Fringe's Peter and Olivia, Booth and Bones (as a couple, not as a "here is the container, we have placed magazines and xxx dvd's in the room should you need some enticement" sort of thing ;)

    I am loving the chemistry between Pete and Myka on Warehouse 13- but I think as a couple they are doomed to fail.
    (Besides, I want Pete for myself)

  6. Guest says:

    Hello, y Canadian buddy and comrade in arms ;)
    Great article, and an absolutely stunning picture of Bones and Booth.

    You know me, all about wanting certain couples to get together…Fringe’s Peter and Olivia, Booth and Bones (as a couple, not as a “here is the container, we have placed magazines and xxx dvd’s in the room should you need some enticement” sort of thing ;)

    I am loving the chemistry between Pete and Myka on Warehouse 13- but I think as a couple they are doomed to fail.
    (Besides, I want Pete for myself)

  7. Featherlite says:

    Thanks, Pixie. Isn't that a fab photo? I grabbed it as soon as I found it.

    Do you really want them to actually be together and be lovey-dovey and all smoochy for 60 minutes a week? Or do you want to watch the tension and the angst and be able to moan and grumble about how they should be together and come back next time for more? Personally, I think the grumbling is oodles more fun.

  8. Featherlite says:

    Thanks, Pixie. Isn’t that a fab photo? I grabbed it as soon as I found it.

    Do you really want them to actually be together and be lovey-dovey and all smoochy for 60 minutes a week? Or do you want to watch the tension and the angst and be able to moan and grumble about how they should be together and come back next time for more? Personally, I think the grumbling is oodles more fun.

  9. msgwenniepennie says:

    Very nice! The writers definitely need a deft touch when handling these things. As you might have guessed, I think the writers of "Bones" could take a lesson (or 300) from the writers of "Burn Notice."

    • Featherlite says:

      Precisely. We want them to get together. They want to get together. But they don't get together and we keep watching. No wonder BN got renewed again.

  10. msgwenniepennie says:

    Very nice! The writers definitely need a deft touch when handling these things. As you might have guessed, I think the writers of “Bones” could take a lesson (or 300) from the writers of “Burn Notice.”

    • Featherlite says:

      Precisely. We want them to get together. They want to get together. But they don’t get together and we keep watching. No wonder BN got renewed again.

  11. Buhcula says:

    Is it always true that the couples can't work? Yeah the tension keeps you coming back but can't there be another thing too, please? The slow dance of attraction is great, realization and valuing of one's compatibility in the non-couple pursuits such as work and play, then could be the slow courting, then the decision to be friends or something else, with real discussion about how they are feeling without silly soap distractions…I want to see trust and love people! and then the slow savor of passion; these could take years. Smoldering is so much better than wham.

    Or can the excellent working relationship develop into friends of such depth that the audience comes back for that; true character stuff.

    In short, I want tv to be my escape, and to show me how to be better at relating to other people… now I am going to wave my wand fix that pesky world hunger problem.

  12. Buhcula says:

    Is it always true that the couples can’t work? Yeah the tension keeps you coming back but can’t there be another thing too, please? The slow dance of attraction is great, realization and valuing of one’s compatibility in the non-couple pursuits such as work and play, then could be the slow courting, then the decision to be friends or something else, with real discussion about how they are feeling without silly soap distractions…I want to see trust and love people! and then the slow savor of passion; these could take years. Smoldering is so much better than wham.
    Or can the excellent working relationship develop into friends of such depth that the audience comes back for that; true character stuff.
    In short, I want tv to be my escape, and to show me how to be better at relating to other people… now I am going to wave my wand fix that pesky world hunger problem.

  13. Mandy says:

    I liked Fi and Michael the first two seasons but now they're boring, putting them together would be a total bust.

    Bones and Booth are so hawt there's no way they'll get together and not still remain popular and they'll keep the sexual chemistry.

    I don't think Bones and Booth are going to get married but if they have a baby that'll be totally awesome.

  14. Mandy says:

    I liked Fi and Michael the first two seasons but now they’re boring, putting them together would be a total bust.
    Bones and Booth are so hawt there’s no way they’ll get together and not still remain popular and they’ll keep the sexual chemistry.
    I don’t think Bones and Booth are going to get married but if they have a baby that’ll be totally awesome.

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