Top 20 TV Love Triangles
- More on 'Peyton Place'
- More on 'LA Law'
Love is a man and a woman ... and often on our favorite prime-time shows, another man or woman thrown in to add some drama, passion and intrigue to the mix.
From one of the first night-time soaps ('Peyton Place') to one of the most popular sitcoms of all time ('Friends'), TV series have kept us watching by keeping true love from running its course -- in the most entertaining (and treacherous!) ways.
We count down the 20 hottest love triangles in TV history. -- By Liane Bonin
20. Gil/Sara/Lady Heather, 'CSI'
History: Forensic examiner Gil Grissom (William Petersen) isn't exactly lucky with the ladies. Dominatrix-turned-therapist Lady Heather (Melinda Clarke) only comes into his life when she's a murder suspect, when her daughter is murdered and when her kinky past is helpful to Grissom in solving a case. As for his subordinate Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), their relationship is only hinted at until he proposes in season 8.
Outcome: Sara gets cold feet, fleeing town and leaving behind little more than a note. Not surprisingly, Grissom turns to Lady Heather for ... support.
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19. Ally/Billy/Georgia, 'Ally McBeal'
History: Legal eagle Ally (Calista Flockhart) is horrified when she accepts a job at a law firm, only to find out her ex-boyfriend Billy (Gil Bellows) works there -- and so does his wife, Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith).
Outcome: Billy has lingering feelings for Ally, but it's a kiss with another woman that tears apart his marriage. Still, he admits in open court he loves Ally before dropping to the floor, dead. Talk about the final word.
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18. Allison/Rodney/Betty, 'Peyton Place'
History: Allison McKenzie (Mia Farrow) falls in love with Rodney (Ryan O'Neal), the older brother of a classmate. Not surprisingly, this is not appreciated by Rodney's girlfriend, Betty (Barbara Perkins), whom Rodney dumps after discovering his father is having an affair with Betty's mother. After Betty discovers she's pregnant, though, Rodney agrees to marry her-- and Betty doesn't reveal her miscarriage until after they take their vows.
Outcome: Betty and Rodney get divorced, but Rodney doesn't return to Allison, as Mia Farrow left the series in 1966 at the request of her husband at the time, Frank Sinatra.
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17. J.D./Turk/Carla, 'Scrubs'
History: J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) may just be buddies, but their bromance is closer than the connection between most married couples. So when Turk proposes to Carla (Judy Reyes), it's no surprise that Carla sometimes feels like a third wheel.
Outcome: Even though J.D. and Carla share a drunken kiss, her marriage stays strong, and J.D. and Carla discover there's enough Turk for everyone.
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16. Val/Gary/Abby, 'Knot's Landing'
History: Married couple Gary (Ted Shackelford) and Val (Joan Van Ark) discover their new neighborhood is full of troublemakers in this 'Dallas' spin-off. One of them is Ted's car dealership co-worker Abby (Donna Mills), who lures Ted away from Val and convinces him to marry her, but only after he unknowingly impregnates Val.
Outcome: After ups, downs and a case of psychosomatic amnesia (Val forgets who she is after her twins are stolen), Gary and Val actually get back together, only for Abby to move back into the neighborhood in the season finale. We'll never know, but we can expect more trouble was in the works.
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15. Jim/Pam/Roy, 'The Office'
History: Everyone knew Dunder Mifflin paper salesman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) was perfect for receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer) -- except for, unfortunately, Pam. Engaged to Roy (David Denman), a thick-headed warehouse worker, she seemed determined to stick it out with the wrong man.
Outcome: Even after Jim kissed Pam at an office off-site, she wasn't ready to jump. By the time she comes to her senses and dumps Roy, Jim's already moved on to a job in Stanton and a cute co-worker, Karen. But when a merger brings Jim and Pam (and Karen) into the same office, Karen's quickly history, and the biggest drama becomes: Will he propose already? He finally does -- at a convenience store, where they meet halfway between Scranton and NYC, while Pam's in art school.
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14. Grace/Victor/Michael, 'L.A. Law'
History: Deputy district attorney Grace Van Owen (Susan Dey) is torn between tall, dark and handsome Victor Sifuentes (Jimmy Smits) and idealistic lawyer Michael Kuzak (Harry Hamlin), who woos Grace in a gorilla costume after Grace jokes he'd have to be a monkey for her to date him.
Outcome: Grace dumps Michael for Victor, with whom she's about to have a baby. 'L.A. Law: The Movie,' Grace and Michael, now a restaurateur, cross paths years later when he's called out of retirement to defend an old client and must go head to head with his old lover Grace.
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13. Noel/Felicity/Ben, 'Felicity'
History: Talk about a crush. Felicity Porter (Keri Russell) decides to go to the fictional University of New York to pursue Ben Covington (Scott Speedman), a classmate she hardly knows. Good thing she has her resident advisor Noel (Scott Foley) to talk to.
Outcome: After graduation, Felicity picks her first choice, Ben, as her last choice. But because the WB needed more episodes, a wacky time travel plot was concocted in which she tries to go back in time and pick Noel, but he ends up dying in a fire, so she, um, goes back to her future with Ben. And yes, this would be called jumping the shark.
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12. Gaby/Carlos/John, 'Desperate Housewives'
History: Gaby Solis (Eva Longoria) seems happily married to her gruff businessman husband, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira). But when he leaves for work, she lures the cute 17-year-old gardener John (Jesse Metcalfe) into the house for some extracurricular activities.
Outcome: Though Carlos, suspecting Gaby is having an affair, beats up the wrong man, John eventually reveals the affair to Carlos. Gaby dumps John and returns to Carlos. Though there's a divorce, numerous affairs and even a second marriage for Gaby, Gaby and Carlos end up together -- even after an older, successful John tries to win her back in season 4.
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Reader Comments (13)
Michael at 6:34PM on Feb 6th 2009
I thought this would be about real love messes in history, shaping events on this planet. NO just TV junk, badly written and badly acted. Boooo !
Kat at 8:53PM on Feb 6th 2009
At the risk of coming across as an enormous geek (oh, wait, i AM one of those), the best TV love-triangle of all time has GOT to be Torchwood's Jack/Ianto/Gwen. Jack's interest in and affection for Gwen is obvious from the begining when he recruits her to be the heart of his team and challenges her to remind him what it means to be human again. Meanwhile, Ianto's dirty secret causes the two men to nearly kill each other early on. But, in the end, Jack is unwilling to risk Gwen's happiness by preventing her from having a normal life with a normal man (her fiance and eventual husband Rhys). He seems to have no compunctions about preventing Ianto from having a normal life however and, after a rocky start, the two undertake a serious and steady relationship (very much a deviation from Jack's normal mode of behavior). But Jack's continued affection for Gwen remains obvious (and sometimes painfully) clear. If you can handle the science-fiction and the bisexuality of at least two of the three players (the jury's still out on Gwen), it's the hottest love-triangle you'll see on prime time (unless you don't get BBC America, in which case you'll have to see it on iTunes instead). Not nearly as soap-opera as it sounds, it's actually rather sweet to watch. Mutual attraction aside, things never get complicated between Jack and Gwen and Ianto doesn't bear Gwen the least jealousy over her place in his lover's heart. A mutual tragedy at the end of season 2 brings the three closer together than ever before, and there's a beautiful scene where the three think they're facing death and Jack grabs both in a hug, kisses the tops of each of their heads, and then just hangs on for dear life.
ErikaBwitch at 7:41PM on Feb 10th 2009
At the risk of typing a novel-long post, I'll try to keep this short: the paragraph describing CSI's Sara/Grissom/Heather triangle (which was never a triangle at all) doesn't describe their relationship at all. The reason why Sara left Las Vegas had to do with the darkness of the job and her own demons relating to her father's death. It had nothing to do with Grissom; in fact, he was the reason she stayed as long as she did. Eventually, Grissom took a look at HIS demons, came to his senses and went after his fiancee.
Joop at 9:04PM on Feb 10th 2009
They are big stars! Some of them seems to have a profile at RichLoving com to meet hot singles there.
Sandy at 10:43PM on Feb 10th 2009
You left out all the daytime soaps. Who could forget Ed, Mike and Leslie on Guiding Light, Jennifer, Scott and Kathy on Search for Tomorrow, Tara, Phil, and Erica on All My Children, Mark, Laura and Jean on Love is a Many Splendored Thing and I could go on.
Sandy at 10:50PM on Feb 10th 2009
Jessie,Lee and David on General Hospital, Peggy, John and Roger on the Guiding Light, Ruth, Charles and Mona on All My Children - am I showing my age?
Susan at 11:37PM on Feb 10th 2009
Gosh people get a life!!!! Who cares about these people? I am dropping AOL because this is wht "their healines" are? The country is falling apart and this is all you have to discuss? How sad for us and %$#^ AOL.
Becca at 11:46PM on Feb 10th 2009
What about Peyton Sawyer, Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis--ONE TREE HILL baby!
Julie B. at 12:21AM on Feb 11th 2009
What, no scifi geeks here? What about Starbuck/Apollo/Anders from Battlestar Galactica? Now that is one hot trio.
Yep at 12:42AM on Feb 11th 2009
While we're naming soap triangles, let's not forget Reva/Josh/Annie on Guiding light, Harley/Philip/Beth on Guiding light, Carly/Jack/Julia ( both times) As the world turns, Simon/Katie/Brad As the World Turns, I could go on and on and on!!!!
P.S.
Not a directly romantic triangle, but Michelle/Danny/Carmen on Guiding Light