Potential spoiler warning, but nothing too crazy.
Count down my favorite sitcom couples of all time with me this Valentine’s Day! If you haven’t seen any of these shows, consider this is my enthusiastic recommendation for ALL of them. Watch with your boo, your friends or all alone with some wine and chocolate. Happy love day!
6. David and Patrick from Schitt’s Creek
I was only going to do five, but then I remembered how much I love David and Patrick and I decided to add them to the list. Their chemistry is so fun to watch and I love the way they balance each other out. The episode where Patrick proposes actually had me weeping. S tier witty banter, perfect flirting. Also, this show is just simply amazing, if you haven’t seen it yet what are you doing?
5. Janine and Gregory from Abbott Elementary
I, along with everyone else in the world, am obsessed with the tension between these two incredibly awkward cuties. The actors have such sweet chemistry and I’m obsessed with how Gregory looks at Janine like she lights up the whole room! They’re too sweet. The only reason they’re closer to the bottom of this list is because they’re not technically a couple yet—but I have high hopes for this season! It’s going to happen guys, trust me.
4. Leslie and Ben from Parks and Recreation
Parks and Rec kept me sane during COVID lockdowns, during which I binged the entire show with my sister. Every morning for months we had a routine: make iced coffee, toast bagels with cream cheese and sit down to watch these two idiots fall in love. It was amazing. Leslie and Ben are a perfectly executed example of a sillier brand of enemies to lovers that I absolutely eat up. It’s almost more “rivals to reluctant friends to friends to lovers” if we want to be really specific about it. Their personalities are perfect matches and although their love story is really fun and important it doesn’t take away from the show as a whole. They have great chemistry and although they don’t get together right away they aren’t a horribly long slow burn either.
3. Winston and Aly from New Girl
Comfort couple! They’re such a comfort couple for me it’s crazy. It’s all “CeCe and Schmitt” this and “Jess and Nick” that—understandably so because every New Girl couple is great—but we simply don’t talk about Winston and Aly enough. I loved watching their partnership slowly blossom from a reluctant coworker friendship into something more. It felt so organic and genuine. I also absolutely adore straight couples where the woman is the grumpy one and the man is the sunshine-y one. These two have perfect comedic timing together and like others in this list, they just really balance each other out. It also helps that they remind me of me and my girlfriend (I’m Winston, obviously).
2. Jake and Amy from Brooklyn Nine Nine
I was skeptical about Brooklyn Nine Nine at first, but my girlfriend indoctrinated me. Now I’m a full-blown fan of the series and easily one of the best things about it is this couple. Amy is uptight, work-oriented and by the book, while Jake is the opposite in almost every way. I love this dynamic. They’re also kind of a “rivals to friends to lovers” situation. At the beginning of the show they get on each other’s nerves a lot, which helps bring that tension before they finally actually get together. One thing that’s really special about Jake and Amy is the fact that their romance doesn’t lose momentum after they get together like some other sitcom couples do. Somehow these actors find a way to keep developing their dynamic throughout their marriage and struggle to get pregnant. These two are just perfect. Hilarious and painfully sweet. Title of your sex tape.
1. Jess and Nick from New Girl
The slow burn to end all slow burns. Best friends and soulmates. The YEARNING! New Girl is my favorite sitcom of all time and honestly one of my favorite shows of all time. Everything about the show is perfect, and the axis it rotates around is the confounding relationship between “new girl” Jess and “deadbeat” Nick. There’s a reason why this couple is at the top of so many lists like this. These two embody everything a good sitcom romance should. The characters work just as well as friends as they do lovers. The chemistry is palpable through the screen even (and especially) when they’re not together, and the yearning they have for each other sustains viewers through multiple seasons of waiting. They have lots of ups and downs and their relationship never feels too comfortable. They actually fight—their differences are not just fuel for the relationship dynamic, they cause disagreements. Their relationship feels realistic, and when they decide to break up that decision feels painfully genuine. I’ll never not love these two to death. The elevator scene to Green Light by Lorde? Cinema.