—————————————————— TV's Most Unbelievable Couples | Art Attack | Houston | Houston Press | The Leading Independent News Source in Houston, Texas

Film and TV

TV's Most Unbelievable Couples

If you've been watching the new break out HBO dramedy Girls this past season you've seen Lena Dunham's awkward yet refreshingly real relationship with wannabe actor Adam Sackler (Adam Driver). These two can't seem to get it right, but their relationship makes sense. She's a glutton for punishment; he is often the punisher.

Last week it was announced that Season Two would feature a potential new lover for Dunham's character Hannah Horvath. There are a million twenty-something New York hipster-looking actors that come to mind when casting a new beau for Dunham or the show could follow its current route of using relative unknowns, but Dunham's casting choice went in neither of those directions. It's been reported that Patrick Wilson will appear on the show as Dunham's neighbor and love interest.

If you are not familiar with Wilson, he has been in a number of indie films including Evening and Little Children, in addition to some blockbuster type movies such as Watchmen and The A-Team. Most recently he showed up for a hot minute in Prometheus as Doctor Shaw's father. When I say he showed up for a "hot minute," I literally mean he was in the movie for a minute and he is ridiculously good looking.

Surely as the director and creator of the show Dunham has some liberty to cast whomever she wants as her lover and more power to her for casting Wilson. Who wouldn't want to pretend to make out with him? Have you seen him in his swim trunks in Little Children? That being said, there is no way this coupling is realistic. No offense to Dunham, who is adorable and wonderfully quirky, but Wilson would never be her boyfriend. The universe just wouldn't allow it.

This is nothing new; television is always pairing up couples that are completely unbelievable. Here is our top 10 most unbelievable couples.

10. Fred and Wilma, The Flintstones

This is an obvious odd pairing. In terms of cartoon ladies, Wilma is hot, and Fred is so the opposite of that. Unlike Barney, who also has a looker of a wife, Fred is not even a nice person. He's loud and brash and full of bad ideas. Wilma would have been much better off with Mr. Slate; he probably makes a good living.

9. Doug and Carrie Heffernan, The King of Queens

There was a period in 90s television that featured fat, balding men married to thin, attractive women, and it never seemed to make much sense. Kevin James and Leah Remini, Mr. and Mrs. Heffernan on The King of Queens, were one such couple that when you watched you couldn't help but wonder what in the hell she saw in him. He's a schlub, and she's stunning. He's always making poor choices and she's a legal secretary. None of what happens in this show is believable solely based on the fact that she would never marry him. She dated Zack Morris!

8. Detective Daniels and Marla Daniels, The Wire

This coupling may be on the more obscure side, but if you were a fan of the HBO crime drama The Wire than you know what I'm talking about. Marla (Maria Broom) not only acted like Daniels' mother, but she looked the part too. There's nothing wrong with a little reverse-gendered cradle robbing, but when a wife looks like she could have spawned her own husband, something isn't right.

7. Carla and Eddie LeBec, Cheers

What in the same hell was going on with this couple? Carla is a short, obnoxious barmaid and Eddie (Jay Thomas) was a hockey player for the Boston Bruins. Also, Carla is played by Rhea Perlman and as much as we love her, no one would ever give her a trophy for being a looker. When the show aired hockey wasn't as popular as it is now and hockey players weren't notoriously getting with stunning actresses, but still, Eddie could have done a lot better for himself.

6. Ruth Fisher and Arthur Martin, Six Feet Under

These two were certainly an unmatched union. It's difficult to say who was more undeserving of whom, Ruth (Frances Conroy) or Arthur (Rainn Wilson). In general there is little to say about this couple other than, "what the f...?" 5. Worf and Deanna Troi, Star Trek the Next Generation

During the last season of Star Trek the Next Generation an odd and far-fetched love affair blossomed between the good-looking half-human/half-Betazoid, Troi, and the grotesque Klingon, Worf, Son of Mogh. Sure, Riker, Troi's mainstay man, may have packed on a few pounds in the end there, but was she that disgusted with him that Worf's bumpy head looked better? It made no sense, and did he talk dirty to her in Klingonese?

4. Tara and Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

People change and for Willow to up and swap teams is not that shocking, especially given that prior to her switch she was dating a werewolf. Willow becoming a lesbian is not a hard pill to swallow, but Willow becoming a lesbian with Tara is. Willow is adorable, smart, funny and a witch. She could have scored a really smoking girlfriend if she wanted to, as college is crawling with experimental girls. Or better yet, why didn't Willow just cast some type of hot spell on Tara?

3. The Tenth Doctor and Rose, Dr. Who

Rose was fine and all when the Doctor was being portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, but the quick-talking, floppy-haired boyish Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant, was way too cute for Rose (sorry). He's the Doctor for God's sake; can't he travel around and find someone like Elizabeth Hurley to take with him on his adventures?

2. Peter and Lois Griffin, Family Guy

Peter is disgusting. Lois is, by cartoon standards, a knock out. Everyone on the show talks about how hot Lois is, yet no one finds her attraction to Peter out of the ordinary. She was a model; he eats his own snot.

1. Jay and Gloria Pritchett, Modern Family

I'm sorry, but there is no way on this planet that Sofia Vergara would have anything to do with Ed O'Neill. Even if Vergara's character is in it for the money, as it is sometimes alluded to on the show, there are plenty of men in the world to gold-dig that are not as slovenly unattractive as Ed O'Neill. Not buying it at all.

KEEP THE HOUSTON PRESS FREE... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
Abby Koenig
Contact: Abby Koenig