There are quite a few shows where the guy and gal fall in love but usually they don't care for each other at first and are annoyed but that's just sexual chemistry. I was a bit flummoxed by friends becoming love nuts. Wandering through the Shelves made me put my thinking cap on so here are my 3...
1. M.A.S.H.-1972-1983
To say that I love this show would be an understatement and I was one of the millions who tuned in to watch the final episode which is still the biggest viewed episode ever when you take into account the # of TVs less channels etc... This show is about an army surgical hospital that must do meatball surgery on the young men wounded during the Korean War. It started off as a very funny comedy but as Alan Alda got more control over the series, it became more of a dramedy. Alda played Hawkeye Pierce, a gifted surgeon who hates authority and is often in conflict with his higher ups. Margaret Hoolahan is a Major who, at first, was a nasty character often at odds with Pierce and his best friend, Trapper John and, later, BJ Hunnicutt. Over the years, Loretta Switt, was given the chance to develop her character. Along the way, she and Hawkeye became more friendly which culminated in a 2 part episode where the 2 are stuck in a hut, bombs going off and they fall into each other's arms. Needless to say, it doesn't work out and they become good friends. Mind you...the finale still showed they had more than just a friendship. I will use this show other times because it's just too good.
2. FRAZIER- 1993-2004
Another brilliant show with Kelsey Grammar as Dr. Frazier Crane who moves from Boston( Cheers) and reunites with his dad and his brother. He has a great job as a radio psychiatrist and his producer, man hungry, sexy Roz ( Peri Gilpin deserved an Emmy). They develop a strong friendship as does his brother, Niles with their dad's physiotherapist, Daphne. Actually, Niles loves Daphne from the beginning but Daphne looks at him as a nice friend. Finally, Niles and Daphne do get together and stay together. Frazier and Roz flirt and finally have a one night stand but realize they love each other as friends. A great show with their relationships only a small part of a much grander show.
3. FRIENDS- 1994-2004
This will be popular this week, I believe. 3 boys and 3 girls are all friends living in NYC. You have Rachel and Ross who were the big couple for the day, along with her hair. Finally, they get together which was a big to do back in the 90s. Their relationship went up and down and sideways. When Rachel screwed up Ross's wedding, everyone was shocked until we saw Chandler in bed with Monica! That shocked me when I saw that episode. This pairing turned out to be one of the best and funniest at times. I have to say I enjoyed watching that show.
What shows can you think of that involves friends becoming lovers?
Hi, Birgit & Harley!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thankful Thursday to you, dear friend!
I like this week's movie theme and your picks. I didn't recall that in M*A*S*H, Hawkeye and Hot Lips hooked up romantically, albeit temporarily, in one special episode. Remember your theme "forced proximity"? It is a common device in soap operas and prime time series for two characters with sexual chemistry that have never before acted on it before to be trapped in a room, hut, etc., develop a bond and make whoopee.
Mrs. Shady and I were regular viewers of Frasier throughout its run. The character Roz is especially significant to me for a reason I might have shared with you in the past. Texas born Peri Gilpin is the daughter of Jim O'Brien, the famous, much loved veteran TV news and weatherman for ABC Action News - WPVI Channel 6 in Philadelphia. In September, 1983, "Jimbo" died tragically in a skydiving accident, sending shockwaves throughout the Delaware Valley and Central PA where I was also working in TV news at the time. The previous year, I had been interviewed for a producer's job at Channel 6. While there at the station, I stood in the control room and watched Jim do a newscast. I idolized Jim O'Brien and, as you can probably tell, have still not fully recovered from the loss. For the last three seasons or more, Jane Leeves, who played Daphne on Frasier, has been a regular cast member on the medical drama The Resident.
Mrs. S and I were also regular viewers of Friends, and especially liked Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing. Matt Perry has not done as well post-Friends as have Jennifer Aniston and a couple of the other regular players. Mrs. Shady and I watched his mid 2000s series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip which was based on SNL. We liked the show and were upset when it was quickly canceled. We also appreciated Perry's guest appearances in story arcs on Ally McBeal, West Wing and The Good Wife. We did not follow his series Mr. Sunshine.
I would say that the 1980s Cybill Shepherd - Bruce Willis series Moonlighting is a good example of sexual tension between a "frictional" couple, although I can't remember them actually ever consummating, except perhaps in one of their trademark fantasy episodes. As I mentioned earlier, couples trapped in room, bank vault, elevator, etc. on soap operas typically rip each others clothes off and go at it to pass the time until they are rescued. Inevitably, a baby is the result of their steamy encounters.
Enjoy the rest of your week and have a safe and happy weekend, dear friend BB!
Another great example, I believe, is Helen & Joe on Wings, the scene in which two "friends" with undeniable chemistry park on lovers lane and try kissing each other for the first time to see what happens. It's one of the best scenes of the series.
DeleteWings is classic..I loved that series and loved Tony Shalhoub as the taxi driver. You are so right about Soaps and its so teal life that, whenever I am in a dangerous situation and cod die, I naturally get turned on and do the mambo dance with the guy trapped with me. I did not know that about Peri's dad.what a horrible way to go. It must have devastated her. I wish you a happy weekend and Harley gives you a good ruff to you.
DeleteM*A*S*H! Good choice. Although they never got together, there was certainly sparks along the way.
ReplyDeleteThey never got together except for this scene. They did end up good friends and, in the finale, had one of the longest and best kisses ever.
DeleteI've seen episodes of all these shows, but never committed to watching them. I know, that's weird for someone my age to not love Friends. lol
ReplyDeleteI think of friends as belonging to my Era since they are all around my age. I love MASH and Frazier is so intelligent, witty and I laugh out loud to this day.
DeleteI did watch MASH, but not Friends and only saw a few episodes of Frazier. I believe, if my memory is correct, that Scully and Mulder actually conceived a child on the X-Files. Co-workers with benefits?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct about Scully and Mulder. Funny, I had no idea the actor's didn't like each other.
DeleteLove your choices!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if MASH fits completely since Hawkeye and Margaret had that attraction (which they did act on once) but weren't strictly romantic partners but it's such a great show I'm glad to see it. I just discovered last week when I was reading about Stella Stevens's passing ☹ that she was offered the role first but passed on it, much to her later regret. Loretta Swit was inimitable in the show, but I think Stella would have been great had she accepted.
Frasier's slow burn romance between Niles and Daphne was so brilliantly done thanks to both the writing and the expert playing of both David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves. Perhaps the best use of the trope ever.
Ya, Friends is the first one that came to my mind as well. I know the pull was always the perpetual ying and yang between Ross and Rachel but Chandler and Monica's ultimate coupling made more sense if you stood back and looked at the pairs.
As I said Friends occurred to me first but my other two came quickly after.
Friends (1994-2004)-Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and Monica Geller (Courtney Cox) are two within a group of six longtime friends with more quirks than you can shake a stick at who over the ten years of the series grow in ways that make their ultimate pairing believable.
Castle (2009-2016) Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is a best-selling novelist who convinces the mayor of New York to let him tag along on an investigation with homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) who is unhappy about the situation. Eventually Castle become a sort of consultant and partner to Beckett, and they progress from flinty friends to romantic partners.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021) -Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) started as police partners who had a jokey camaraderie that hinted at attraction and slowly grew to love (and eventual marriage and parenthood).
I haven never seen Brooklyn Nine-Nine but I feel bad I never gave it a chance. Hell, if I gave Copland, that musical, a chance, why not this one.
DeleteFriends fits perfectly for this, I thought.
I almost went with Castle because I loved that show! I just thought I was like Remingston Steele and Moonlighting that they didn't like each other at first or the one tolerated the other but the sexual friction was undeniable. Dunny...all 3 were great but, behind the scenes, the actor's couldn't sta d each other.
I thought MASH fit because there was always a slow burn between the 2 like that great kiss on the finale. It's like what might have been... I'm glad you love Frazier like I do. Hey anyone who puts in a reference to Esperanto must be a classic.
Yeah, enemies to lovers is much more fertile ground, I think, but this is still a good topic. I did watch MASH back in the day, but more because my mom did I was a kid. I never did see Frasier, but I caught episodes of Friends here and there.
ReplyDeleteI never watched Friends but loved both MASH and Frasier. In the latter i always liked the relationships with the father better than the romantic ones (although I did cheer when Niles finally got the girl).
ReplyDeleteGood pics. I especially liked Mash and Frasier.
ReplyDeleteTake special care.
I was a fan of all three shows, especially MASH. Chandler and Monica surprised everyone! ☺ The first show that came to mind is Seinfeld. Jerry and Elaine were lovers, then friends, then lovers again, then friends again. So, I guess that's the opposite, in the end.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard Frasier is making a comeback? I'm not sure it will be as good as the original, especially as it seems many of the original cast (apart from Kelsey Grammer himself) won't be back.
ReplyDeleteI’ve seen just about all of Friends. It is one of my favourite comedy series. There is always reruns of it and I still find the episodes funny.
ReplyDeleteI’ve seen quite a lot of Frasier too but never really commit to watching it on a weekly basis…but it is a really funny show.
BIRGIT ~
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I see "TV Edition" in the blog bit title, I'm always immediately ready to click away and not think about contributing a comment. Because TV & me, don't see eye-to-eye most of the time.
But when I scrolled down a wee bit o' space and saw you mention M*A*S*H, I thought: Yeah, wait. Maybe I need to look at this one further. Then I saw 'FRASIER' and I *KNEW* I had something to contribute.
>>... I was one of the millions who tuned in to watch the final episode which is still the biggest viewed episode ever...
Although I spent parts of 6 years working on MASH, it has never been one of my favorite shows. But I greatly appreciate the experience, the money (which still comes to me in the form of small "residual" checks), and especially many of the people I got to meet on the set.
It's weird to think about how many people have seen me on their TV screens, and yet wouldn't know me if they saw me in the grocery store, the liquor store, on the barstool next to them... or passed out in the bushes at the end of their block. Below are a couple stills of me from that final MASH episode. (They had a lottery to see which guy would get to sit at the table with all the gals, and I WON!)
[Link> M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell & Amen - 1
[Link> M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell & Amen - 2
I've never seen a full episode of 'Friends', just a couple of random scenes.
But my #1 choice for this category would have to be 'FRASIER', which, imo, was the funniest, most brilliantly written TV series of all-time. The writing & the casting on that show was beyond spot-on. 'Frasier' took TV to another level, and I own every single episode they ever recorded. (Admittedly, though, there's about 6 or so episodes that I thought were total failures. But for an 11-season run, that's a phenomenally great statistic.)
My #2 choice would definitely be 'MOONLIGHTING'. Granted, when they had David & Maddie "do the thing", it changed the tension on the show and it was doomed. Nevertheless, 3 of my all-time Top 10 episodes occurred in the 5th and final season, after they "got down with their bad selves".
'FRASIER' is my second favorite TV series ever, and 'MOONLIGHTING' comes in at #4.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
Friends was huge, but I just never warmed up to it as so many did. Hope you're enjoying your weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhile I found Frazier annoying, I was somewhat of an addict.
ReplyDeleteLove you, Birgit.
I liked all of these sitcoms. They surely don't make anything a tenth as good as the old stuff nowadays. I'm coming up blank on a TV show that fits this prompt.
ReplyDeleteStay safe, pain free and out of the weather.
ReplyDeleteI never watched either Friends or Frazier (I am not a big TV person) but was a huge M*A*S*H fan. I think I may have seen every episode and I have seen the one where Margaret and Hawkeye hooked up more than once. This week was the 40th anniversary of the final episode. Time flies.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm the only person on this planet who doesn't love "Friends" 😅
ReplyDelete