The 15 Worst TV Sitcom Couples of All Time

No sitcom on television can really survive without some kind of burgeoning romance. It’s possible to keep people interested with the right established couple, but the real gold is when a television show can chart the course of a new relationship. If that coupling is of the “will they, won’t they” variety, all the better. Of course, in the expansive history of the American sitcom, there are more than a fair share of awkward or forced couples who simply don’t work, no matter how much the creative talent behind the scenes wants them to. Join us, won’t you, as we take a look at 15 of these unfortunate mismatched couplings.

15. Penny and Leonard, ‘The Big Bang Theory’

The whole Penny and Leonard dynamic only works because they might be the two most shallow people ever to walk the planet. All he wants is a trophy and all she wants is security. Beyond that, these two people have absolutely nothing in common. They’re only together because he fawned over her obsessively for several seasons and she’s dim-witted and open to suggestion. It makes for good comedy, but these two would never work in real life.

14. Kevin and Winnie, ‘The Wonder Years’

In no way does this have anything to do with the fact that Winnie Cooper was the TV love my young life, but she and Kevin Arnold really stunk as a couple. Sure, your first love is rarely your last love, but was I the only viewer who thought Kevin Arnold was a thoughtless brat? She’s dealing with actual real world problems (her brother was killed in ‘Nam, folks!), and he’s just trying to get some. In short, she was the perfect girl next door and he didn’t know how good he had it. The nerd.

13. Ted and Stella, ‘How I Met Your Mother’

Poor Ted. Poor, poor Ted. At the point he met his dermatologist Stella, the guy was so desperate to get to his happy ending, he was willing to overlook a series of signs that they weren’t meant to be together. For example: her first impression of Ted was that he got drunk and got a butterfly tramp stamp. She turned him down for a date about ten times before agreeing. She basically forced him to move to New Jersey, a place he actively hated. She left him at the alter, then allowed her new husband to write a movie script in which Ted was made to look like the bad guy. In the end it was good that she left him, but it was still rough watching it happen.