Scarecrow and the Romance

At the Untethered conference, one of the more thought-provoking presentations was from the founder of College Humor, who talked about how and why videos go viral. One of the major factors in encouraging someone to connect with and pass along a video is the “candy corn” factor-  that common nostalgia centered on an object, moment, or common experience that you probably haven’t thought about in years.

I had a “candy corn” moment earlier today when I was thinking about tv shows that I saw early on which fed my interest in romance, specifically Scarecrow and Mrs. King. This was definitely one of my “romance foundation” shows, and I haven’t thought about it for years until the other day when the quote from the show popped into my head and I tweeted it later: “You can’t just walk into my life, hand me a package, tell me to give it to the man in the red hat, tell me you love me, & walk out again!”

Imagine my joy that the first season is available on DVD or via Netflix and iTunes.

I used to set the VCR to tape each episode as it ran in reruns at a time way past my bedtime. I figured out how to program the VCR, set it so it would use as little tape as possible, and fit nearly six episodes on each tape. I saw the first episode where they meet a LONG time after I found the show, and was shocked at how distant and rude Lee was to Amanda compared to how affectionate and eye-rolling tolerant he was in later episodes. Then once her family knew about him, it was a completely different dynamic compared to those early episodes where her even knowing him is a complete and utter secret.

The interesting thing about shows like Scarecrow, Moonlighting, Remington Steele, and the like is that they weren’t as satisfying for me once the couple resolved the tension and got together – “They Did It” pretty much killed the tension (and it jumped the shark) between Maddie and David, and it wasn’t as satisfying for me either once Scarecrow and Mrs. King emphasized that “and” between them. It was the little moments of tempting possibility that kept me watching – once her family knew about him and they were a couple, it wasn’t as … tense. And the reason to watch dissipated.

(Also, is it me or was it rather different at the time that Amanda was as single divorced mom heroine? I loved Amanda – she stood up for herself and followed her instincts and was unashamed and unabashed about being a mom, a housewife, and a smart woman. “Yes, yes, I’ll wait in the car,” and then she never did.)

Constrast that to my reading habits, where an extended series of will they-will-they-come ON ALREADY in a romance novel series drives me haywire batshit. I expect more resolution and faster development between protagonists in my romance fiction – which makes sense given the format differences even as I question my patience with television and my lack of patience with series that don’t develop as fast as I’d like. Maybe I’m too hard on my books.

Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series worked so well for me, though, backwards and forwards, by which I mean that once I read the book that featured the greatest romantic payoff and solidified my suspicions about who Mercy would end up with, I went back and reread the previous books to read more into the sparse moments between those two characters. Once I know where the romantic thread is going, I like to see it develop again with – which is why I rewatched early seasons of the X-Files while referencing a “shippers guide” that has since been taken offline, so I could watch for moments in the series between Scully and Mulder that reveal that gaspy-oh-yes-it’s-true feeling.

Then there are those shows that followed a couple who were already together, like Hart to Hart. Did you like those shows as much where the “couple” was already together, or Was the tentative smidgen-by-smidgen romance part of the fascination? I was a big fan of secret-couple series, where the circumstances surrounding the partners require that their connection be kept a total secret –
Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Beauty and the Beast being the two major examples in my entertainment nostalgia-journey. I was damn near obsessed with those shows.

What shows fed your romance habit? I know we’ve talked about romance on tv and in movies before, and MERCY STUDMUFFINS did I spend money on DVDs after those threads, but in this case, I want to know which tv shows about slowly-developing romances were your candy corn, the ones you look back on and think, “OH, I LOVED that show!”

Also, does anyone else have the theme to Scarecrow & Mrs. King stuck in their heads? Because it’s been the soundtrack of my day for hours now. Oy. Wait, let me help. MWAAAAHAHAHAHA.

Is there anything hotter than flying Bruce Boxleitner with a beige sweater tucked into his pants? No. No, there is not.

 

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Random Musings

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  1. Ann says:

    At Nadia

    And now I can’t get “Holding out for a Hero” out of my head.

    Now it’s in my head!!!! I’ll have to buy it for my ipod…  I wonder if they have Cover Up on dvd?  And Gargoyles… And Lois & Clark…  Can you tell I’m going on a long flight?

  2. Betsy says:

    Oh, The X-Files was the ultimate example for me.  I found seeing them as a couple in the second movie depressing, because I missed the will-they-won’t-they tension so much!

  3. Oh, lord.

    I was very much a Remington Steele groupie back in the day, and at least aware of S&MrsK; Moonlighting, though, I never understood—partly because they seemed to be trying way too hard to make it funny, and partly because Bruce Willis as a Romantic Heartthrob never made sense to me.  The one episode I rather liked, despite myself, was the Maddie-and-Dave riff on Shakespeare’s Shrew.

    Incidentally, it was pointed out to me awhile back that Laura Holt and Maddie Hayes are obviously half sisters (or something) because both their mothers on those shows are played by Beverly Garland….

    The Elisa/Goliath relationship on Gargoyles definitely has a place in the continuum, too, although (for completely logical reasons) it was way underplayed onscreen.  Also worth mentioning in this context is the animated theatrical feature Anastasia, which is totally a stealth Tracy/Hepburn romance as well as an old-fashioned caper movie and a better classic Disney musical than some of Disney’s own features.

    The current descendant-series to all of this is, of course, Castle, which in its best moments is just sparkling.  I have some hope, given the writing to date, that the scripters for that one will manage to write their leads successfully through the resolution of the UST—but we’ll see.

  4. Pam says:

    Remington Steele, yup!  Mostly because Pierce Brosnan was so gorgeous.  Ghost and Mrs. Muir—I loved that show, too.  Also loved The Avengers, again because of the tension between the two main characters.  Steed and Mrs. Peel weren’t exactly what I think of as romantic, but the relationship sizzled. 

    When I was a little older, I fell in love with Flickers when it ran on Masterpiece Theater.  The marriage of convenience plot between two ordinary looking protagonists yielded some major awwwww! moments.  Also loved To the Manor Born.  Again the main characters were not heavy on glam, but seemed real enough to care about.  Also, their interactions were hilarious without being demeaning.  Though I’d never describe Peter Bowles as hot, I loved his character on that show.  Loved him in The Irish RM as well.

    I actually like that type of plot line in books as well as on film.  It all depends on the writer’s skill.  In a television show, the skill of the actors is a major factor in making of the sexual tension/reluctant attraction work.  There needs to be real chemistry to sustain the will-they-or-won’t-they tension over the course of a series.  And once they do, the series usually does need to end.  Part of the reason might be that when the relationship becomes the central focus, other plot elements often become proportionally skimpier, and there’s not a lot to maintain the interest once the central conflict is resolved.  In a book, it’s all about showing rather than telling.  Clichés, static characters, and repeating variants of the same scene throughout the story can wreck this type of plot.  However, when an author has a subtle touch and a sense of humor, I can definitely enjoy this type of relationship in a novel.  Oddly enough, I think of Heyer in this context.

  5. fifi trixibelle says:

    I’ll agree on Brucie (still breaks my heart that he married Melissa Gilbert)

    and raise you Jon-Erik Hexum

  6. Lyssa says:

    Okay I remember the Remington Steele led to Moonlighting story. (Basically the writers of RS were told to write very boring stuff, so they quit and became writers for Moonlighting…which you had to admit tried for that “His Girl Friday” verbal war style.) But that is why I loved that show, RS was well not only the romance, but also who was RS really…then yes the story went downhill.  But I don’t know if it was that the story went downhill because the characters “did it” or if it went downhill because the “ROMANCE” became the plot, rather than a sub-plot device.

    In books I like when a romance comes to a normal progression point, even if that progression is breaking up. I have read mystery series where the female protagonist went through 3 different boyfriends before she met the ‘right one’. And that story worked. The problem with Ranger/Joe/Stephanie is again the attempt to have the sub-plot override the need for a plot. Laurell K. Hamilton also suffers from this problem. Forgetting to have a solid plot, and deal with the romance/relationship. (With her she has almost left having any mystery plot, to deal with the soap opera drama of her musical bed characters).  Still, same problem, same result. You loose viewers, readers, because the DRAMA of the Romance replaces any other plot.

    When the Ilona Andrews writing team bluntly wrote about their dealing with the ‘romance issue’ in the Kate Daniels series, it made me happy. They decided to allow the slowly developing romance to have a strong subplot in book 4 of the series. And they did not allow for a HEA at the end…instead the protagonists will go on to deal with the next set of problems.  What made me happiest, was that the ‘romance’ itself will come with new problems, does not solve old ones, and did not replace the plot line within the book. Actually the romantic tension just added more issues to be dealt with in the 300 pages. And when the book was over…I was looking forward to the next one.

    Which is why I think books like the Eve Dallas, Kate Daniels, Miller’s Kill series work. They don’t replace plot with ‘romantic tension’ but allow that tension to add subtle shadings to the plot unfolding in the story. But I digress from the initial question.

    Where did telly lead my romantic heart? A little before I ever watched Remington Steele, or Moonlighting, I watched Westerns. Terrible shows like “Bonanza” and “Big Valley” where men where men, women were women, and love equated loss. ((I think everyone of the Cartwright sons got married only to have their wives die. And well Ben himself with his 3 wives, all who died when the boys were young.)) But it made for great falling in love with a different person each week story line.  Then there was MacMillian and Wife, a very silly show, but so much fun to watch. (I dislike how the writers had Sally be so dimwitted that she could barely tie her own shoes. Note in the westerns Women ran ranches, did almost every job a man could do, and looked good when they cleaned up!

    spamword= series43 I think I have started and given up on 43 series that fell into formula-ic writing with no character development.

  7. queenaeron says:

    Amen to the Laurel K. Hamilton comment. I loved her stuff until she found porn and then it was all about sex with a little plot thrown in for the die-hard fans. I’m not that die-hard.

    I’ve been having the same issue with the Evanovich series. I can get that she lusts after Ranger, but Joe’s the normal stable guy who does get crazy when she does stupid stuff, he’s basically learned to support her and let her be “Stephanie” My bigger issue has been that until the last book or so, she never seemed to get any better at being a bounty hunter. She seemed to keep making the same mistakes and that gets boring and isn’t realistic at all. I’m okay with crazy things happening to her (my favorite was the trash truck falling on Ranger’s Porsche) but after a while, especially if she’s making her living being a bounty hunter, you have to get at least decent at catching the bad guys. Not Ranger “Bad Guys” but the minor criminals. I haven’t ready 14, 15 or 16, but 13 did seem better.

    One of the things I liked with the Undead series was that with the Undead and Unworthy (I think that was where she made the change), Betsy herself gets tired of things being so out of control. I liked the way she handled the werewolf situation in the last one. It was like she was growing into her role as queen and sort of leader of their little band of merry paranormals. She seemed to take a few steps back in this novel. I haven’t finished it (I know, I cheated and read the end, I can’t help myself). But the last chapter is a doozy and if MJD is planning on going that road, I’m outta here. I don’t like it at all. But I’ll give it one or maybe 2 more novels and if things are still headed in that direction, I’m done. It was way too dark and disturbing and while I can see how the characters might end up there, I don’t want to be along for the ride.

  8. Ciara says:

    Oh, I’ve been searching youtube for scenes from Scarecrow and Mrs King since I read this post. I agree with all of the above shows and while I adore Bones, I need a resolution.

    My favourite John and Aeryn from Farscape. Love them!!

  9. library addict says:

    I loved Remington Steele and was always rooting for them to get together, too.

    Personally, I loved the later seasons of Scarecrow and Mrs King when they were married just as much as the earlier episodes when her mother kept wondering why she was outside so late at night.

    And I thought Lois & Clark worked better when they were together.  It was all the stupid, she-has-amnesia-no-she’s-a-clone-he-can’t-be-with-her-because-it’s-too-dangerous-then-has-to-leave-to-save-the-universe ridiculous scenarios and stunts to keep them apart for two seasons that killed the show IMO.

    I quit watching Criminal Minds when Aaron and Haley got divorced.  Later got caught up on the DVDs, but quite permanently when they killed her character off last season. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves that people are so rarely allowed to be happy in a relationship/marriage on TV unless they are sitcom parents with rambunctious children.  Hart to Hart and McMillan & Wife are about the only shows I can think of where the leads were happily married.  Oh, and the short-lived Jack & Mike and Under Cover.  Hopefully, Brenda and Fritz will stay together on The Closer.  I love their relationship on that show. 

    I would love to watch a drama series with a successful on-going relationship that isn’t all about will-they-won’t-they and totally disagree with the mindset that UST is the be-all-end-all of tv drama.

  10. cmm says:

    My early adolescence was in the early 80s and I was definitely a fan of Remington Steele, although I liked the first season supporting cast the best.  And it got me interested in watching a lot of classic movies!

    Thursday nights were the best, with the Magnum/Simon & Simon block.  Huge crush on Tom Selleck, huge crush on the preppy boy who played A.J. (but noticed later on rewatching S&S in 90s reruns that grown up me found Rick with his rougher edges much more interesting.)  One thing I like, outside of relationships (neither Magnum nor S&S ever seemed to have any lasting romances) was that when shows last multiples seasons, there’s so much more chance to flesh out the characters’ relationships with each other, fill in their backstories and such. 

    One that hasn’t been mentioned was a little noticed one-season wonder that aired in 1982:  Tales of the Gold Monkey.  Pre-minister Stephen Collins as a South Seas seaplane pilot in the 1930s.  Roddy MacDowell ran the bar/hotel where the main characters lived and hung out.  Several characters were secretly doing intelligence work for various powers that were about to get into a World War with each other.  And there was a will-or-won’t-they between Jake and the innocent American girl (and secret spy); supposedly he was still in love with an ex-fiance or something, but there were a few kissy moments at least.  I loved the setup and the main characters of Jake, his mechanic Corky and Roddy MacDowell, but the “good girl” was too screamy and cream puff to be a very satisfying match, and the “bad girl” (the Eurasian princess who may or may not be working for the Japanese) was, for an 8:00 show, scary sexually aggressive, and Jake was too innocent for her! 

    The show recently came out on DVD and I’ve been enjoying rewatching it, although the ethnic stereotypes of various random “tribes” and civilizations showing up in the South Pacific are squirmy-uncomfortable.  Between being made in a less PC time period AND harking back to 1930s serials, which traded even more in ethnic stereotypes, that’s a problem.  But nostalgia still makes me love this show, and still be sad that it only got one season and never got to the point where they could really start digging into those interesting characters….

    Nowadays?  The other ones mentioned—Doctor Who, Bones, and lately, Lie to Me, where there is couple potential all over the place between the main guy and his ex-wife, the main guy and the main female in his firm, and the two younger proteges.  Oh, and Burn Notice, which is just flat out fun.

  11. Tina C. says:

    I remember Scarecrow and Mrs. King, but I don’t actually remember ever seeing it. 

    The first romantic relationships that I followed on tv were Joanie and Chachi on Happy Days (who knew he’d grow up into SUCH a Chachbag!) and Mork and Mindy.  Later, there was Moonlighting—the first show that I really loved and the first to really disappoint me.  The common reason given for why it went to hell so quickly is because they got the protagonists together.  I say that’s pretty simplistic and doesn’t even address a lot of issues.  Yeah, they rushed the relationship with those two—mostly, from what I understand, because Cybil Shephard got pregnant and they didn’t want to write her out or shut down production.  From then on, it seemed like the writing alternated between mostly crap and complete crap.  It didn’t help that Cybil told any number of people that she hated Bruce Willis.  Meanwhile, Willis gotten famous and very popular and didn’t really want to be there any more, either, and it showed.  Boy, did it show.  Through necessity, desperation, and wild hope, the Powers That Be tried to cover for the stars’ lack of interest (and physical presence) by making the show increasingly about the goofy secretary and her weird boyfriend—the sort of Bizarro-land David and Maddy—and it just sucked all of the fun and interest (at least for me) right out of the room.

    Currently, I’m rolling my eyes at the contrivances that they come up with to keep Bones and Booth apart and hoping they don’t do the same sort of thing for a multitude of years on Castle.  I was so very disappointed with how the season finale ended on that show this year and thought that what Rick Castle did at the end was so out of character (and just another way to keep the characters apart for that much longer) that if they don’t come up with a really good reason for it in the season premiere, I might not watch anymore.

  12. Tina C. says:

    Oh, forgot Doctor Who!!!  I LOVED The Doctor and Rose!  (And they made me cry not once, but freaking twice, over the two of them!)

  13. Carrie Lofty says:

    Tina, I still can’t hear the “Doomsday” theme and not break down. Gah!

  14. Angela James says:

    I’m pretty sure the Doctor and Rose storyline broke me.

  15. Sarapencil says:

    Delurking to submit my Will-they-or-won’t-they favorite TV show.  *deep breath*…
    Who’s the Boss.
    There, I said it!  The tension was good, but they had little mini payoffs with dream sequences or other goofy gimmicks that didn’t ruin the tension but gave me a little satisfaction.
    Relurking now.
    couple32: about 32 times this couple dreamed about kissing!

  16. Carrie Lofty says:

    Coincidence! Old Spice Guy has been responding to Twitter and YouTube comments via personalized videos and just did one for Alyssa Milano about Who’s the Boss. If this ad campaign doesn’t win awards for OMGBESTEVAH, there is no justice.



  17. cmm says:

    Oh! forgot to mention one of my favorites of the last few years, another one-season wonder:  Moonlight.  I hope that CBS is still kicking themselves for cancelling this show *just* before the sexy vampire wave truly crashed into the larger (outside of romance reader/sci fi geekdom) popular culture.  Great chemistry between the two main characters, and another potentially sinister yet attractive male vampire to both flirt with the girl and add that slash-friendly vibe with the main male character….

  18. Any Doctor and Rose junkies had better be watching the current season.  Especially the two season finale eps that will be playing this Saturday and the next on BBC America.

    Not Rose anymore, of course.  Just naughty, Amy Pond. 

    But OMG!!!!!  Romance alert!!!!!!  Chance of sniffling and big wet sighs. 

    I love that show.  Just a little.  Is it obvious?

  19. One that fed my love for romantic tension was a show called Silk Stockings.  Anyone remember it?

    It was on a cable network, I think, and may have been set in Florida somewhere.  Maybe it was in the Miami Vice era.  Anyway, it was a cop show and the “will they or won’t they” couple were, of course, partners. 

    I still laugh thinking about that set.  Aren’t all police squadrooms covered in neon? 

    But the sexual tension was drawn out, built up and divine.  Everytime one or the other of them would date someone else, I’d groan… and wait some more. 

    Fun question – thanks for inspiring the memory!

  20. Mia says:

    I know they’ll never get together and probably should never get together, but I just love Jack and Liz on 30 Rock.  Whenever they’re together there’s a sizzle.  I used to like the thought of House and Cuddy, but so far the reality of it has left me cold and I’m now on Team House/Wilson. 😀

  21. Angela James says:

    I remember Silk Stockings though I would never have thought of it without someone reminding me of it. It was on USA, wasn’t it? And it brings up one I should have mentioned right away. A show where you were dying for the main characters to get together and find a HEA…La Femme Nikita. Michael and Nikita had some smokin’ sexual tension that sustained through a number of seasons but the show did lose momentum once they got together. I’m worried that the remake that’s being done won’t be able to compete with that same sexual tension.

  22. Ana says:

    I adored Remington Steele (and Laura!), and here Silk Stalkings (I think it was named like that) was rather famous among teenagers because it was right in the middle of the afternoon. But I quitted when he got killed and Sam left…
    Now I’m totally rooting for Bones and Booth, and HOTchner and Prentiss in Criminal Minds, though I’m sure the tension is better. However Chuck and Blair from Gossip Girl – even if they are more off than on – succeeded in getting the couple united and mantaining the tension

  23. Chicklet says:

    As a kid, the show I loved best was Hart to Hart, where they were already married. I watched Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Remington Steele, but I seem to remember that I gave up on both of them after awhile because it seemed like they would never get together, ever.

    Which should have been a warning. In the decades since, I’ve found that nothing drives me battier than a TV show drawing out the UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) for years without a payoff in sight. I believe that characters who are interesting individually continue to be interesting when they are together, and if you think marriage or long-term relationships are boring, I feel sorry for you, and you should be writing the teleprompter copy for the evening news instead of fictional programs.

    Right now, Bones is on probation with me, due to what happened at the end of last season. If the Fall Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly seems to indicate I’ll have another umpteen seasons of Booth and Bones being apart, I’ll quit watching.

  24. Woops – I Googled it and found out I got it wrong. 

    The show was Silk Stalkings……….. Silk Stockings must have been my “MaryAnne-ism.”  I twist names and words a lot!

    Sorry……..

  25. Lizabeth S. Tucker says:

    I adored Scarecrow and Mrs. King from the beginning to almost the last year.  The main problem with their marriage was that Kate Jackson was ill and wasn’t available to be on the series much as that time, meaning they scrambled to rework scripts to account for her absence.  It just didn’t work.

    I loved Pierce Brosnan, but never really felt much chemistry between he and Stephanie Zimbalist.  Plus the entertainment reports about her resentment of his suddenly being the golden boy may have tainted my enjoyment.

    I was captivated by Bruce Willis and Miss Dispesto, but not too much with Maddie.  Some chemistry.

    Loved, loved, loved Hart to Hart!  But I’ve been a fan of Robert Wagner since before It Takes a Thief and Stephanie Powers since she was the Girl from UNCLE.  Two wonderful people who were really friends.  Check out their appearance on the Brit show The Graham Norton Show, probably available on YouTube (isn’t everything?).

    My current fav in regards to romantic pairings would have to be Bones.  Not only Booth and Brennan, but Angela and Hodgins as well as Sweets and Daisy.

  26. edieharris says:

    Until the finale, I wasn’t sure about Kate and Jack on LOST. I mean, I knew he loved her—and I loved how up-front he was about those feeling—but that final kiss of theirs on the Island, when she realizes Jack’s staying…? Ultimate resolution of “will they/won’t they,” IMO. And the show, in general, managed to portray all sorts of different relationships: fidelity issues, separation, unrequited love/lust, myriad complications…the step-sibling incest bit from S1…

    Like I said, something for everyone, but Kate and Jack for me.

  27. EbonyMcKenna says:

    Geek alert – when Rose and The Doctor were separated by the time vortex (or whatever it was) and they were stuck on either side of the wall I BAWLED my eyes out.

    Also, Bruce Boxleitner was later in Babylon 5 and it was great to see him again. I think he’s in the reboot of Tron as well. Ooooh, spandex body suits!

    Something to remember about the earlier series like Scarecro/Moonlighting/Remington Steele – there was a writers’ strike which affected much of production. But yes, it did seem as if once they got together, there was nothing to keep the show moving forward. But to me that just shows a lack of imagination. I’m sure it can work. The problem with Moonlighting was also that Maddie wasn’t available as she was mega-sick with twins and on bed rest. Also, schedule problems with Bruce making movies on the side.

    But I digress. Were we talking about Doctor Who?

  28. avrelia says:

    I used to love Moonlighting very much – until they got together, that’s it. But not because they got together, because of how they gt together. Either writers messed up, or the animosity between leads seeped through, but it just didn’t work.

    But then everyone is talking about Moonlighting curse, and the remedy seems to offer is to prolong the sexual tension indefinitely? Sorry, I hate that even more.
    I love flirting and good sexual tension as much as the next person, but the main reason that I love it, that I like the characters and kind of want them to get together eventually. If I have no hope for that, and no meaningful reason for them to be apart, I am annoyed. Indefinite UST becomes bring and weathers off.
    Now, the characters don’t have to be together for me to be happy of course. I loved Buffy and Spike’s resolution, even though there are no fat grandchildren in store for them.

  29. How about the Doctor and River Song?  Particularly in those killer red heels she was wearing earlier this season?

  30. Miranda says:

    To bring in older sci-fi, I was a big fan of Crusher/Picard on Star Trek the Next Generation. Odo/Kira of DS9 had a nice tragic aspect to it.

  31. Lotta says:

    Wow, have I ever missed out on a ton!  I stopped watching telly shortly after Remington Steele started and had no idea they DID IT!  I’ve apparently missed out on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, never watched a single X Files and think of BBC when bitches type Dr. Who.  THAT SAID.  Did anybody catch 1998’s Cupid staring Jeremy Piven?  I ran to a friend’s house for all 15 episodes; sheer brilliance, therefore it only lasted one season.  Best URST I’ve ever seen.  Piven insists he’s Eros and therefore lands on the couch of a sceptical shrink: Psyche!

  32. Ashley JAM says:

    Right now I love Bones. (What an ending to the season! It makes you think they’ll never get together.)
    When I was in middle school, they played 4:00 re-runs of Remington Steele that I would run inside from school to watch. I also loved Loved LOVED I Dream of Jeannie: one of the best drawn out will-they-just marry-each-other-I-mean-they’re-living-together-and-she’s-flinging-herself-at-you-(literally)-already! shows (…and I had a thing for Major Nelson =)

    Also, I used to watch the re-runs of Dark Shadows on the Sci-Fi channel. I loved watching the romantic intrigues on that show, although most of them were doomed, and was constantly rooting for poor Barnabas and Josette to get together.

  33. Amy says:

    I loved Scarecrow and Mrs. King (SMK), Remington Steele, Moonlighting and Lois & Clark.  Oh, and another that just occurred to me, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (think that was the name, with Jane Seymour).  I have been watching SMK again since the Season 1 DVDs came out, and the subsequent seasons which are available online (on SlashControl).  I think SMK could have been great for a few more seasons after they got together, if Kate Jackson had been healthy.  IMO Lois & Clark carried out the URST way too long.  It got irritating after a while.

  34. Tina C. says:

    Mary Anne Graham said:

    One that fed my love for romantic tension was a show called Silk Stockings.  Anyone remember it?

    I didn’t until you mentioned it, but I really liked it alot. 

    Angela James said:

    A show where you were dying for the main characters to get together and find a HEA…La Femme Nikita. Michael and Nikita had some smokin’ sexual tension that sustained through a number of seasons but the show did lose momentum once they got together.

    I can’t believe that I forgot La Femme Nikita!!  Speaking of “smokin’ sexual tension”, do you remember the episode where they posed as married assassins and they had to “perform” for the pervert guy that they were trying to take down?  That was in the first season and one of the hottest episodes they ever did. 

    That show was the first show I ever sought out fanfiction for and the first time I ever went in search of message board dedicated to it.  Of course, that was so that I could rant about how incredibly pissed off I was about the original ending to that series, when Nikita told Michael that she’d NEVER loved him and that it had all been a cover—I wanted to punch a hole in my tv!!  I agree that the 8 episodes that the show’s producers created after that weren’t as strong as the previous ones, but it’s likely because they were made in response to the huge uproar that the “he betrayed absolutely everything he believed in for the love of her and she felt nothing but cold resolve and a bit of pity” ending caused.  (And while not as strong, I have to admit that the final 8 episodes still made me a heck of a lot happier than I had been before.)

    Christine Merrill said:

    Any Doctor and Rose junkies had better be watching the current season.  Especially the two season finale eps that will be playing this Saturday and the next on BBC America.

    I’ll be watching, but I’m having the hardest time getting into Matt Smith and I’m not entirely on board with the feel of the show under Steven Moffat.  At first, I thought that it was because I missed David Tennant’s Doctor (I had a similar transition problem when they first switched from Christopher Eccleston), so I’ve tried to keep an open mind.  However, I was loving David within a couple of episodes and I’m really not there with Matt Smith, at all.  Over all, other than the episode with the Dream Lord, I’m still just “meh”, so far.  I have to say, though, that I love Amy Pond and River Song.  Both of them are great!

  35. Sycorax says:

    @Mfred
    I’m with you on Veronica Mars and the fangirly shipping of Veronica and Logan. I watched the first season in the space of a week. Pity the later ones didn’t quite measure up.

    I really didn’t like the romance plot between 10th Doctor and Rose. One companion shouldn’t matter more than all the others have.

    Do any other Aussies remember Seachange? I adored that show, but it annoyed me the way they wrote out Diver Dan (David Wenham) only a few episodes after the ST was resolved, and introduced a new romantic lead. I hated the dynamic with the new one, and stopped watching the show before there was any resolution.

  36. SB Sarah says:

    Oh this thread is going to make me download everything on itunes. I’m not even half way through the first season of Doctor Who (Thanks to Angie for mentioning it).

    Good thing I have a 6 hour plane ride tomorrow.

  37. Brooks*belle says:

    Oh I am such a nerd.

    I loved Scarecrow and Mrs. King so much that I wanted to grow up to be a SAHM mom who worked for the CIA part time.  I wore jeans like her, tennis shoes like her, and fixed my hair like her.  I was obsessed.

    I liked the name “Lee” so much that when I dated a guy in high school named “Lee” (who looked a little like Bruce Boxleitner, BTW) I got a secret little thrill every time I said his name.

    Oh and when Bruce Boxleitner showed up in the TV show Chuck playing Mr. Awesome, I squee’ed like a little fan girl.

    Candy Corn!!!!!!!

  38. Ryuden says:

    What a great discussion! I’m fans of most all the shows mentioned and I’d like to add NCIS to the list. I’m still confused on what happened (or didn’t happen) a few episodes ago! I need a support group.

    I think the very first show that I experienced this was with Hunter, police drama starring Fred Dryer and Stephanie Kramer! Ah, and a love of romance was born…

  39. Sherry says:

    Oh you made my day by mentioning SMK and Remington Steele.  (Sorry I hated Moonlighting because of the David character)  Don’t forget Who’s the Boss and Lois and Clarke.  Dr Quinn had IMHO the best ‘now they’re married and going to have sex’ episdoes!
    But of course, my all time fav is SMK.  Bruce was, and still is, majorly good looking and still has throngs of followers who write sexy smk fanfics in order that the romance never dies!

  40. Theresa says:

    Beauty and the Beast is also available on Netflix!  I’ve had it in my queue for a bit – I think you just inspired me to move this up the queue. But I do remember from that series that I loved the first season or two and then it got a little weird (ok, it was always weird, there was a beat) and had a poor ending.

    I get so frustrated with tv shows because of the pacing.  With a book, there’s a set length so the author can pace the action.  With a tv show, if its popular, it may stay on a for a while and just draw out the tension that was so good initially (i.e. Lois and Clark).  And even have silly situations just to keep the initial vibe going.  Then, sometimes the show is cancelled and there just isn’t enough time to really resolve the plot line (I think this is what happened to Beauty and the Beast).

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