50 TV Couples Who Had No Chemistry, No Passion, And No Business Being Together
Some on-screen couples have such electric chemistry they could power a city. Others, however, have all the spark of a wet matchstick, and no amount of money could fix it.
Curious to see the worst of the worst, one woman on Threads asked the internet to share the most painfully mismatched TV couples. And of course, the responses were brutal. Check out their picks below and let us know if you agree—or if you have your own to add!
This post may include affiliate links.
hmmm harry potter and ginny made zero sense from the movie POV
Agreed. The movies did a terrible job of setting things up romantically for anyone.
Should have been Harry and Hermione, especially after their dance!
Well they didn't make much sense in books either. Ginny had crush when she was younger, but grew out of it... then boom, they started dating
Unfortunately, she didn't grew out of it. She openly says (in book 6 or 7, I'm not sure) that she mostly started to be more courageous around Harry and dating other people to get his attention. He even admits that it was a good idea. I like the books but this scene always creeped me out a bit
Load More Replies...I mean. They didn't make much sense in the books either. The people didn't have a lot to work with.
Only in the movie. In the book the chemistry is very intense. I was hoping for it in the end.
In the books Ginny was this young gchild who had a crush on Harry. She'd continuously go red and run away. Harry mostly ignored her.
Load More Replies...
Rachel & Joey weirded us all out for a season
I don't get this one. I guess I'm alone. Their fake date he takes her on because she isn't dating while pregnant. They had a great time and great chemistry, and they had a lot in common. There was the book swap episode. That was cute. I always thought they were a good match when they're at Ross' speech in Barbados and they're both childishly laughing at Homo Erectus. They make way more sense than Ross and Rachel. Ross never respected her or took her seriously.
Phoebe and Joey should have been a thing -- always seemed like they'd have a lot in common.
There wouldn't be any drama because they would just be a fun happy couple - good couple but boring TV
Load More Replies...Rachel and Joey made perfect sense, as f**k buddies. Two roommates deciding to enjoy each other sexually is totally fine, but the network could NEVER have done that. Even in the early 2000s, you could ABSOLUTELY NOT show two close friends deciding to have a sexual relationship outside something that was destined to either result in an inflammatory breakup or heterosexual marriage. Those were the two choices. So instead, they tried to force them together in a crappy long term relationship that the show could not write its way out of
Unpopular opinion: I think they were a better match than Ross and Rachel.
Well I REALLY hope Monica and Ross never hooked up.......
Load More Replies...
For me Ron and Hermione….I wish they just stayed friends.
I think the actors said that their IRL relationship was more like siblings instead of a romantic one.
Load More Replies...Even in the books there were more than enough reasons why they wouldn't be a good couple. I can believe that Ron & Hermione got together in a spur of the moment when they were both stressed and strunged out because of war. But I cannot believe that it would last. Hermione, while extremely intelligent, had tendencies to get prissy and overbearing. Ron has a long history of being jealous of other people, but he is somewhat lazy and not very ambitious. She'd be frustrated of him not being hard working enough, and he'd became jaded and jealous of her achievements. I think that they may work out as friends, but in a relationship they'd quickly start to despise each other.
I buy the relationship in the books. In fact, I predicted it from the very start. But yeah, in the movie it just felt really forced. As good as the movies were on many levels, they were really, really bad at romance.
I can see why Ron would fall for Hermione, and I can see why his devotion would recommend him to her. But let's be honest, Ron's a bit of a gawdelpus, and Hermione doesn't suffer fools gladly, how long is it going to last?
Load More Replies...
I’m still angry they sent Jaime crawling back to Cersei (Game of Thrones) like he had no growth at all 😩
I hated Jaime at first but then he kinda grew on you a bit. I was so disappointed he went back to Cersei
Yet another example of what went horribly wrong in the last season. Jaime actually had character growth, and then they chose to throw it all away.
I disagree. Character growth is also admitting your flaws. He still loved her, even though she was a terrible person. That's just reallity with family.
Load More Replies...
Jackie and Fez (That 70s Show)
I think this was intentionally written. Jackie was only with Fez to get a rise out of Michael.
Ross and Emily on Friends. So annoying.
She was hard work, but then we weren't supposed to like her were we?
Followed by "I take thee Rachel". That was the moment the series irreparably jumped the shark into a subsequently nuked fridge. Never watched a single episode afterwards.
Ted Mosby and every girlfriend on How I Met Your Mother, esp Robin
I loved Robin. I felt so sorry for her that she ended up with Ted, who when they previously dated asked her to get rid of all her dogs and she did because that’s something that isn’t crazy.
Dogs were cut out from the show because actor who played Ted was a terrible allergy
Load More Replies...The only chemistry Ted has with anyone was Tracey, which ultimately makes sense. The show should have just ended with them being together instead of her dying.
George and Izzie on Grey’s!
I liked Izzie up until the moment George started dating Callie. Izzie bullied Callie for no reason and then because George had a girlfriend she suddenly realised she loved him? And after Denny had just died? The writers that season were really bad. Did they want us to hate Izzie?
Load More Replies...
Grissom and Sara on CSI. Very forced.
To me they made perfect sense, but their relationship was handled in an extremely subdued way in the series. Like they didn't even show so much as a look between them, then suddenly at the last 2 seconds of an episode they are basially in bed together, presumably being together for a while by then. Even later, never a real "so how did they end up together" , or "how is their relationship going" , it was just a tiny side note. I think THAT made it weird, not the pairing itself.
George O’Malley and Callie (Grey's Anatomy)
George O’Malley has two relationships in the top ten. Maybe they should have let the gay actor T. R. Knight have a gay relationship on the show rather than making him play a straight man with no chemistry in his relationships. Like many shows they think it’s okay to show a lesbian relationship way before they’re brave enough to have a gay one.
I agree. He couldn't convincingly portray a heterosexual love interest. The lesbian relationship was forced, too.
Load More Replies...Wasn’t she a lesbian in a relationship with Arizona? Been years since I’ve seen it
Yes to the relationship, clearly no to the sexuality. She was bi.
Load More Replies...
Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones)
It was a terrible match. I remain convinced they wrote that specifically because weird step-relation c**p was a thing on Pornhub amongst heteros and incels.
GRRM really likes writing incest. But, to be entirely fair to GRRM, so did literally all European royalty for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. So it's at least historically relevant incest.
Load More Replies...THAT'S what kept you from it? I was put off by everyone I might like dying so I didn't want to start before I knew in whom I could invest my emotions safely. Never got around to watching it at all, because everyone kept complaining about the end and ... well. But the brother-sister-thing, while absolutely creepy (I read the first three books), was not that bothersome to me. Unhealthy, absolutely. But they sent children all over, shoved the little kid to some horse-lord who would "marry" her, beheaded Eddard Stark right in front of his children, threw little boys out of a window... all the r*pe, of course... In comparison, the two siblings having a go at each other was mild.
Load More Replies...
Booth & Hannah on Bones 🥶
Has anyone else noticed that once the sexual tension is gone (satisfied) that the show goes down hill in a season? Bones and Booth, Castle and Beckett?
This kind of reasoning is why shows stretch out romantic storyline so long the audience gets tired of watching. The problem isn't the end of the sexual tension, it's because the show has been on the air for so many years they're running out of decent stories. And on Castle, the 2 leads hated each other. The surprise is they worked together as well as they did.
Load More Replies...
Deb and Dexter 🤢
I thought that was the point? They're both broken and unable to show real affection/love.
Wait, I stopped watching before the end. They forced Dexter together with his adopted sister?
She declared her love for him. He did not feel the same. At all.
Load More Replies...Yeah, this was really didn't achieve anything at all and was very creepy.
Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak in Arrow
I read that they originally weren't supposed to end up together, but the fans shipped them so much that they wrote it that way.
Hulk & black widow. Her & hawk eye had more chemistry. They even went to vomir & she sacrificed herself to get the stone (which I thought you could only do if you sacrifice the one person you love the most? Hmm 🤔)
I really loved her and Hawk Eye were great friends. Not every friendship between a man and a woman has to end romantically.
Not the "most' just love. Hawkeye was her family by choice. And her and Bruce shipped each other because it was complicated and guaranteed to fail so they could suffer. Their God complexes were more important than happiness. Otherwise The Avengers would had f*****g therapists
But just because you are in a relationship with someone doesn't mean that they are teh one you love most. I was pretty weirded out by the idea of Widow and Hulk, but I never thought they were really in LOVE-love. Hawkeye was her ... well, her brother, I guess. He was the most important person to her, and that doesn't need to equal s*x.
Not a fault of the characters at all, but I was squicked out by the age gap between Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson. He's literally old enough to be her father (it's the same as the age difference between my spouse & his mother).
Jackson Avery and Maggie Pierce (Grey's Anatomy) 😤
Penny and Leonard on Big Bang Theory was so forced 🙄🤣🤣
Im not sure how they had no chemistry when they were together in real life at the time too
Never a good sign when the lead character literally has to wear down his SO into dating him, and is proud that he did so.
Barry & Iris (The Flash)
ABSOLUTELY. I actually stopped watching The Flash because of her.
see this is what annoys me. in the comics they are together but for the show they couldn't seem to make it work. a big downgrade for that
Scott and Melia from teen wolf. He only worked with Allison
Yeah this was totally cringe! Like Scott was just moving around their group of friends screwing everyone. The only one he didn't bone was Lydia. Plus the actor who plays Malia is absolutely awful and had no chemistry with anyone.
Zach and Lane in Gilmore Girls
Ray and Debra on everybody loves Raymond
Heaton had a more believable relationship in the series "the middle:
To me, this show typifies the distinction between mainstream sitcoms with slow dialogue and fast paced shows. It’s so meh. I, too, do not love Raymond. He’s such an a*s on the show. It’s hard to believe anyone loves his schtick.
Rory and Dean (Gilmore Girls)
ALL OF RORY'S MATCHES WERE BAD!!! I say this as a gay man with 5 f*****g sisters! I watched every single time as Rory and my sisters went for guy after guy because they liked his looks! Never once did I hear "He shares my passions, he's empathetic, and he's smart with diverse interests." Instead it was always about a guy with vaguely adjacent interests who was hot. Just as Rory chose.
I think Rory's only bad match by the screenwriters was Logan. Especially, that after 20 years got pregnant with his baby. Dean and Jess are in every teenages young adult girl's/women's life. Dean, your average home-nice guy, and Jess, the quite opposite. From 15 till 23 years old, every woman experience their Dean and Jess. What was really weird, was Logan. Okay in prestige universities one met money-kids, and for a while it's easy to be charmed by their world. But as the characther was build -with Rory rejecting Logan's proposal - is more than weird getting pregnant with his baby 20 years later.
Load More Replies...
Britta and Troy. They actually had amazing potential with the dice episode in season 3. But they totally screwed it all up in season 4. They didn’t even have a plan for their relationship. They could have not been a couple and it wouldn’t have made a difference in the story
Anne and Tom (Parks and Rec)
The f*****g 50 shades of grey people. Absolutely slaughtered the entire book casting those two
Don't you DARE come into a serious discussion and try to defend the abominably written low quality p**n that is 50 Shades of Grey! I can read better p**n on any free Erotic Story website in the known universe (for free!!!) than I can by purchasing one of those garbage f*****g books!
Given it was originally Twilight fan fic, what more could you expect?
Blair and Dan Humphrey (Gossip Girl) 🤢
Yes and it was bad. Like, 'oh, who didn't I fùck yet ? Ah, ok, let's try, just in case'.
Load More Replies...
Okay, I know it's a movie but Newt and Tina from Fantastic Beasts. Shoehorned that in meanwhile Queenie and Jacob are adorable.
they were a terrible pairing. their modes of communication were on strictly different wavelengths & the whole ‘we’re both oblivious idiots’ shtick to justify it gets very old. Newt is an eccentric that would drive any levelheaded sensible woman looking for something calm absolutely insane and Tina would be…not a lot of fun personality-wise long term for someone who thinks like Newt.
Yes a movie so not strictly legit but yes, honestly Jacob should have been the lead character, Newt is such a drip.
Those movies from the harry potter universe shouldn’t even exist. JK discovered people will consume anything related to harry potter and that are the movies that make her the real money so she’s skipping the books.
Load More Replies...
Probably going to have to hide for this, but Kurt & Blaine on Glee had best friends chemistry, not great lovers chemistry. *ducks tomatoes*
Emily and EVERY MAN ON THE SHOW on “Emily in Paris”
Ugh that “relationship” with the British guy was so unbelievable. I didn’t buy it from either perspective.
Emma and Graham in Once Upon a Time !!! It was so weird bc they had no full proper conversations or anythin banter he got drunk and kissed her. She made it clear she wasn’t interested so many times so why did she suddenly decide different 😭😭
Ann Perkins and Chris Traeger on Parks and Rec
Stefan and Caroline from Vampire Diaries
Archie and Veronica from Riverdale
Guzman and Ari from Elite
I started reading Archie comics when I was five. I have such a big collection that my oldest ones are wrapped in unopened plastic. I am an avid Archie comics fan. When I found out they were making a show about the comic books, I was SO d**n happy. After I watched the first episode, I wanted to cry.
I hated this show. I managed to grind through 2 seasons and called it quits. Thankfully the comic collection I had replenished my childhood that was tarnished from that show. I thought the guy who played Archie did not, at all, channel in the character, and there was absolutely no connection there between him and Veronica. All the characters were just all wrong.
Totally agree! I’m someone who hates to abandon a series without finishing it off even if it’s terrible but Riverdale was the one that I couldn’t bear any longer to keep up my habit. Gave up on it in season 3 or so because it turned absolutely ridiculous. What were the writers even thinking?! Was their goal to make the show as terrible as possible?! Everyone I know who watched Riverdale never finished the series.
Load More Replies...I didn't watch "Riverdale", but a show that portrays Archie and Veronica as being incompatible sounds very true to the comic books. There can be no comic conflict without any conflict.
In Riverdale, there was very, very little comic relief. Archie and Veronica were in an intense relationship, but no Archie, Betty and Veronica triangle. Actually Jughead got into a relationship with Betty.
Load More Replies...
I almost wanna say Jay and Gloria from Modern Family😬 or even sometimes Mitch and Cam
I thought the show did a really great job establishing why their relationship actually worked even though it seemed like it should just be a cliche.
On this i absolutely disagree. Jay and Gloria were great together, Mitch and Cam on the other hand were mostly annoying and a realtionship like that i can not really see working in the real world. Way too much drama
Oh come ON! They were brilliant, sending up the stereotyped South American immigrant and son marrying old rich American!
This is a strange one. Gloria and Jay work so very well together. On the surface they are different people from different worlds, but they clearly love each other very very much. Mitch and Cam, on the other side - Mitch is a saint for putting up with Cam's s**t for that long. He's so d**n manipulative.
Totally disagree with this one. I thought they all had really good chemistry and worked well with each other.
Markle and that bloke Mike in Suits. So bad.
If they just STFU and got on with their lives and leaving the rest of us alone I think they'd be a whole lot happier.
Load More Replies...
Jonah Hill & Lauren London in You People. Love them both, just not as a "couple"
Ms Parker & professor Oglevee. She wanted him for years and finally moved on. About to get married then he shows up! And she actually takes him smh she should have stayed with the man who actually loved her. Professor only missed the attention she gave him he didn’t love her at all! He was repulsed by her now on her big day here you come.
Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond (This Morning)
Ghastly woman. Can't watch For The Love Of Dogs since she started presenting it. Nobody but nobody could replace the ineffable Paul O'Grady. I hope he's with Buster and Olga at rainbow bridge.
Load More Replies...
Kayce and Monica Dutton (Yellowstone)
Jack and Amanda/Emily (Revenge), her and Daniel had way more
No chemistry at all with Jack, it felt forced. But Emily Van Camp (Amanda) and Josh Bowman (Daniel) actually got married in real life and are still together
Was daniel the one that died falling off the boat. If so then yes she was better with him.
This is so niche but Ben and Adrian from sweet life of the American teenager
This is a guilty pleasure, watching this...But I think he was better with his Baby Mama.
Michaela and Asher on HTGAWM
How To Get Away With Murder. It just clicked now.
Load More Replies...
Spinner and manny, degrassi
Most of the relationships in Degrassi Next Gen were a trainwreck, especially in the later seasons. Paige and Alex were one thing. And then Fionna turned it into a triangle. The whole thing felt contrived.
Passenger and Jodie in The Agency.
Aang and Katara (Avatar the Last Airbender); she should have been with Zuko
Nah, I like this one. They balance each other, the characters had good chemistry and interactions. And besides, Zuko should have been endgame with either of his Earth Kingdom girlfriends. (the girl with the burned leg, or the girl that hit on him in the tea shop) rather than Mai. That's the relationship that doesn't work (and per LoK, it didn't in fact work for very long).
Peter Krause & Angela Bassett on “9-1-1”.
This one I disagree with…I think they have great chemistry and this is coming from someone 25 years married. They love and support each other, they also disagree often and resolve things, I like how they parent/step-parent together as well showing a healthy blended family dynamic. They even make a point to include the children’s father in the relationship and keep him actively involved in the family life. I think it’s beautifully written and acted by all parties.
It was surprising at first, but they seem to work well together, actually quite a realistic and good relationship, not just a peck on the cheek every episode and then separate plotlines for the two characthers. As actors they didn't seem to "feel" eachother at first, but in time their pairing became quite believable to me.
They had to figure out a some kind of relationship plot after the Angela Bassett divorce drama. As both the actors are co-producers of the show and so need something to do every episo, this was the easiest resolution. No real chemistry, but the plotline is cute!
Elena and Matt (The Vampire Diaries), I think alot of shows try to put together childhood friends just bc of history but usually it makes no sense
Chakotay and Seven of Nine in season 7 of "Star Trek: Voyager". The fact that the two decided to pair up seem odd. They had very little chemistry together and you can cut the tension with a knife whenever they had an intimate scene together. Seven would had a better chance with The Doctor or even Harry Kim.
Since it was cool to add cartoons, I'm going to say Serena and Darian, in Sailor Moon. I know there's a timeline twist, and a lot of back and forth. It made sense in the very, very beginning with those 2, when Darian was only Tuxedo Mask and he was the guardian of Earth, and Sailor Moon was the Moon Princess. But when it was Serena living on Earth, she's just a teenager, and meeting Darian, an adult, it just got weird when they started dating. Serena's dad had a right to chase off his property and down the street. It got weirder when Renee (Yeah, I know I'm using the American dub names, but that's what I'm used to) showed up from the future.
John Nolan( Nathan Fillion ) and Bailey Nune ( Jenna Dewan ) on The Rookie. They look like father and daughter. And she cant act ..at all.
omg thank you! She is like a chocolate confectionery commercial, so shallow and ugh. He is great :))
Load More Replies...Just my personal opinion: Daphne and Niles on Frasier. I absolutely love love love the show, but I cannot STAND Daphne >.< Can't stand her whining and throwing her weight around, and the way Niles drooled over her was ridiculous to me. And after they were married, when she read one of his patient's files (or something, it's been a while since I've done a watch-through of Frasier) I couldn't believe the writers kept them together. Niles has an acute respect for his patients, and I honestly don't think he would have tolerated that from her (sorry for the ramble!)
Also Bashir and Ezri Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was so stupid to me.
Load More Replies...I didn’t see the vast majority of these shows. I’m fine with that, but no shade to the people who did.
Load More Replies...Chakotay and Seven of Nine in season 7 of "Star Trek: Voyager". The fact that the two decided to pair up seem odd. They had very little chemistry together and you can cut the tension with a knife whenever they had an intimate scene together. Seven would had a better chance with The Doctor or even Harry Kim.
Since it was cool to add cartoons, I'm going to say Serena and Darian, in Sailor Moon. I know there's a timeline twist, and a lot of back and forth. It made sense in the very, very beginning with those 2, when Darian was only Tuxedo Mask and he was the guardian of Earth, and Sailor Moon was the Moon Princess. But when it was Serena living on Earth, she's just a teenager, and meeting Darian, an adult, it just got weird when they started dating. Serena's dad had a right to chase off his property and down the street. It got weirder when Renee (Yeah, I know I'm using the American dub names, but that's what I'm used to) showed up from the future.
John Nolan( Nathan Fillion ) and Bailey Nune ( Jenna Dewan ) on The Rookie. They look like father and daughter. And she cant act ..at all.
omg thank you! She is like a chocolate confectionery commercial, so shallow and ugh. He is great :))
Load More Replies...Just my personal opinion: Daphne and Niles on Frasier. I absolutely love love love the show, but I cannot STAND Daphne >.< Can't stand her whining and throwing her weight around, and the way Niles drooled over her was ridiculous to me. And after they were married, when she read one of his patient's files (or something, it's been a while since I've done a watch-through of Frasier) I couldn't believe the writers kept them together. Niles has an acute respect for his patients, and I honestly don't think he would have tolerated that from her (sorry for the ramble!)
Also Bashir and Ezri Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was so stupid to me.
Load More Replies...I didn’t see the vast majority of these shows. I’m fine with that, but no shade to the people who did.
Load More Replies...
