TV series often play up a variety of plot devices and formulas to keep viewers tuning in on a regular basis. This can be anything from weekly murder mysteries to drawn-out revenge stories or season-based “big bad” villains. When it comes to comedy particularly, the will-they-won’t-they device is a tried and true way of getting viewers to fall in love with the show. The general idea is to tease audiences that two characters might end up together, which could form the basis of one season’s story or the entire show.
The will-they-won’t-they plot device has been used in some of the most successful, longest-running TV shows of all time, especially when it comes to sitcoms. However, the idea can be applied to anything from crime to science fiction, and it remains one of the best ways of driving a fandom’s passion for a series. While some of these took years to come together, others constantly teased audiences by having the characters get together and break up, leaving things ambiguous until the very end.
10Penny and Leonard’s Relationship Was an Emotional Roller Coaster
| Series | The Big Bang Theory |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 2007 – 2019 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.1/10 |
| Episode Count | 280 |
The Big Bang Theory begins when two nerdy roommates, Leonard and Sheldon, meet their new neighbor, Penny, an aspiring actress who works as a waitress in the Cheesecake Factory. At first sight, Leonard is smitten, and begins his attempt to woo the young woman, even agreeing to confront her ex-boyfriend to retrieve her TV. For the first two seasons, the scientist makes several efforts to take Penny on dates and impress her. It wasn’t until the first episode of Season 3 that they officially started dating, a relationship that later ended in the same season.
The Big Bang Theory managed to keep audiences guessing whether Leonard and Penny would stay together, even in the seasons where they dated. After all, the couple went through multiple break-ups and were on shaky ground until their wedding. When the series ended with Penny announcing an unexpected pregnancy, fans could finally rest easy knowing they would stay together. That said, the series’ execution of the teased romance wasn’t without its flaws, and it seemed the showrunners would introduce a new and awkward source of friction any time they could. However, with Leonard’s intelligence and Penny’s down-to-earth nature, the pair made for the show’s most beloved couple.
9The Doctor and Rose Brought Romance to Doctor Who
| Series | Doctor Who |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 2005 – 2022 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.6/10 |
| Episode Count | 175 |
The original Doctor Who series followed the adventures of a time-traveling Time Lord alien, the Doctor, and his human companions. Whenever a Doctor reached the end of his life, he would regenerate into a new person, marking distinct eras of the show that would usually be followed by the protagonist finding a new companion. In 2005, the series rebooted and the hero was joined by Rose, a young woman from London. While the first season played up the idea of a possible romance, the arrival of the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) made it more obvious.
The execution of the Rose-Doctor romance was left ambiguous when the companion was trapped in an alternate dimension with her family, leaving audiences to wonder if it would ever be revisited. Their story was finally concluded when a human-doctor hybrid was created, allowing Rose to live out her days with a mortal version of the man she loved.
Doctor Who
8Batman and Wonder Woman Remains DC’s Most Shipped Couple
| Series | Justice League |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 2001 – 2004 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.6/10 |
| Episode Count | 52 |
The DC Animated Universe adapted some of the franchise’s best superheroes into their own series, culminating in Justice League. The series included a variety of romances, such as John Stewart and Hawkgirl, but the possibility of a “WonderBat” couple stole the show. Beginning in the episode “Maid of Honor,” audiences picked up on the chemistry between Batman and Wonder Woman, something that became a source of friction and laughs as the universe progressed.
One of the very few well-executed will-they-won’t-they relationships in a kids’ cartoon, the flirtations between Batman and Wonder Woman in the DCAU’s Justice League remains a fan favorite. However, to make matters frustrating, fans were never given a definitive answer about whether the heroes would become a permanent couple. That said, the popularity of this pairing has made its way to the comics in some continuations of the DCAU.
DC Animated Universe
The DC Animated Universe (DCAU, also referred to as the Timmverse series by fans) is a shared universe centered on a group of animated television series based on DC Comics and produced by Warner Bros. Animation.
7Sam & Diane Set the Groundwork For the Will They/Won’t They Trope
| Series | Cheers |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 1982 – 1993 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.0/10 |
| Episode Count | 270 |
Cheers begins in its Boston bar setting when a young grad student, Diane Chambers, enters with her fiance (also her professor), Sumner Sloane, on their way to get hitched. However, when he leaves to retrieve the wedding ring from his ex-wife, Diane is left alone. While waiting, her pompous personality clashes with the business’ barflies and owner, Sam Malone, an ex-baseball player. When Sloane returns and explains that he and his ex have reconciled, the young student decides to take up work in the bar to pay her bills until she can make it as an academic. Playing into the idea of opposites attracting, the series kicked off a tense potential romance between the two.
For almost half the series, Sam and Diane flirted, dated, broke up and reconciled on occasion, with the young woman often playing hard to get for the former ball player. Even when Shelley Long departed the series, Diane would be referenced by Sam and his friends as his true love — despite his later attraction to Rebecca. The arrival of Frasier Crane to the cast threw the psychiatrist himself into a similar dynamic with Diane, something that even continued into his spin-off. However, it was always Sam and Diane that fans wanted to see play out.
Cheers
The regulars of the Boston bar “Cheers” share their experiences and lives with each other while drinking or working at the bar where everybody knows your name.
6Brennan And Booth Merged Romance With Crime
| Series | Bones |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 2005 – 2017 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.8/10 |
| Episode Count | 245 |
Bones focuses on a forensic anthropologist, Constance Brennan, whose specialty in analyzing bones makes her the perfect consultant for tough-to-solve FBI murder cases. Throughout the series, she and her team partner up with FBI agent Seeley Booth, a charismatic, laid-back investigator who gives her the nickname ‘Bones.’ While audiences had a good idea the pair would end up together, it wasn’t until season six they finally broke the ice and started dating.
Brennan and Booth’s relationship was the central part of Bones, often overshadowing the mystery element of the series as the most interesting part of some episodes. Whether it was in stories that saw the pair solve cases overseas or shared near-death experiences that brought them closer together, most viewers saw their union as a question of when, not if.
Bones
F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth teams up with the Jeffersonian’s top anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, to investigate cases where all that’s left of the victims are their bones.
5Buffy and Spike’s Romance Is A Complicated One
| Series | Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 1997 – 2003 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.3/10 |
| Episode Count | 145 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer follows a teen monster hunter, Buffy Summers, who moves to Sunnydale, a town that is situated upon a Hellmouth, a portal to Hell. Due to its supernatural location, the town is besieged by vampires, demons, werewolves and even aliens — all of which Buffy is charged with defeating. During her slayer career, she meets Spike, a sadistic vampire who carries out a series of plots against the teen. However, when he gets captured by an elite paranormal military unit, the Initiative, the vampire is prevented from harming humans due to an implanted chip in his brain. In order to satiate his desire for violence, he begins teaming up with Buffy and her friends, sparking chemistry between them.
After the departure of Angel, Spike became Buffy’s primary love interest during seasons six and seven, albeit a very harmful one. When the pair do finally begin a relationship, it’s purely physical on the slayer’s part, while it’s hinted that Spike develops feelings for her. After being imbued with his soul by a demon, the vampire returns to Sunnydale, now repentant and hopelessly in love with his old enemy. Buffy and Spike have one of TV’s most complicated relationships, due to the inclusion of violence and both characters using the other. However, it captivated fans of the series for years.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
A young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
4Niles And Daphne Took Eight Years To Come Together
| Series | Frasier |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 1993 – 2004 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.2/10 |
| Episode Count | 263 |
Frasier takes place six months after the psychiatrist, Frasier Crane, left his home of Boston to return to his hometown of Seattle. There, he bonds with his brother and fellow psychiatrist, Niles, and is forced to take in their retired cop father, Martin, who has been left in need of a cane of after being shot on the job. To make things easier for both of them, Frasier hires a physical therapist, Daphne, with whom Niles is smitten from their first meeting. Married to the wealthy socialite Maris Crane, Niles is unable to tell Daphne how he feels. Where the doctor is an analytical albeit neurotic genius, Daphne is superstitious, something that makes them appear an odd pairing to everyone in the series.
The romance between Daphne and Niles took a full eight years to finally come to fruition, after the latter split from his increasingly unreasonable and emotionally manipulative wife. However, by the time Daphne first learned of his love for her, she too was unable to act, having been engaged to the charming lawyer, Donny Douglas. In one of the more uncomfortable but welcomed get-togethers, Daphne breaks things off with Donny, flees her wedding with Niles in an RV — only to realize they both have to go back to their partners and face the music.
Frasier
A renowned radio psychiatrist, Dr. Frasier Crane, relocates to Seattle to rebuild his life and career. Living with his retired police officer father and assisted by his quirky physical therapist, Frasier navigates the ups and downs of family dynamics, professional challenges, and romantic pursuits.
3Mulder and Scully’s Relationship Could Have Gone Either Way
| Series | The X-Files |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 1993 – 2002, 2016 – 2018 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.6/10 |
| Episode Count | 217 |
The X-Files begins with the pairing of Fox Mulder, an open-minded FBI agent, and Dana Scully, an analytical medical doctor and agent, who seeks out the most rational answer to any problem. The pair are charged with investigating the bureau’s “X-Files,” cases of unexplained origin linked to paranormal phenomena. The agents travel America, taking on everything from werewolves and vampires to aliens and mind-controlling parasites.
The X-Files did a brilliant job at playing up the differences between Mulder and Scully, while also showing their changing relationship throughout the series. Despite the initial seasons feeling more platonic in nature, as the show continued, audiences began suspecting the two were destined to be together.
The X-Files
Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
2Jim And Pam Had a Wholesome Romance
| Series | The Office |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 2005 – 2013 |
| IMDb Rating | 9.0/10 |
| Episode Count | 188 |
The Office focuses on a group of employees of the fictional company Dunder Mifflin, each of who plays up a stereotype of different types of people working in an office. The two most “normal” characters are Jim and Pam. While Jim has a crush on Pam, she is engaged to Roy, though the two do enjoy a friendly, wholesome friendship at the office. When Pam and Roy split, the young man is finally able to ask her out. However, the relationship wasn’t without its ups and downs, and a brief reconciliation between Pam and Roy made things look uncertain.
The possible romance between Jim and Pam was such a driving force for The Office that, when they were finally settled down, the show ran out of steam. Their relationship remains one of TV’s more wholesome pairings, with the couple eventually starting the family audiences always wanted to see.
The Office
A mockumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium.
1Ross And Rachel Is TV’s Definitive Will They/Won’t They
| Series | Friends |
|---|---|
| Years Running | 1994 – 2004 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.9/10 |
| Episode Count | 234 |
Friends tells the story of six friends in New York City, each with their own jobs who are united through a local coffee shop, Central Perk. Two of the characters, Ross Gellar, an introverted paleontologist, and Rachel Greene, an outgoing woman from a rich family trying to make it on her own, form a romance. While it begins with Ross having unreciprocated feelings for Rachel, the pair begin dating during the second season when they realize the feeling is mutual. However, throughout the next eight seasons, audiences are constantly thrown for a loop through an endlessly off-again-on-again relationship. To make matters all the more uncertain, the pair repeatedly find new love interests throughout the show, including Ross getting married to an English woman, Emily.
Friends contained a variety of will they/won’t they romances, but Ross and Rachel’s complicated on-again/off-again relationship reeled in millions of fans who had to see how it ended. While the couple did reconcile several times before the finale, audiences weren’t truly satisfied that the pair would stay together until seeing the final credits for the last time.
