The latest issue of TV Guide contains an interesting list of the "Top 10 Most Annoying TV Couples." For the most part, we're down with their choices, which are as follows:
10. Rob & Amber, Survivor
9. Sara & Grissom, CSI
8. Ryan & Marissa, The O.C.
7. Trista & Ryan, The Bachelorette
6. Kate & Jack, Lost
5. Billy & Alison, Melrose Place
4. Clark & Lana, Smallville
3. Boris & Natasha, The Bullwinkle Show
2. Tom & Lynette, Desperate Housewives
1. "Gizzie" (George & Izzie), Grey's Anatomy
Sure, these are all pretty annoying. (Except maybe Boris and Natasha -- they may be outdated Cold War stereotypes, but we've got nothing against 'em.) George and Izzie, in particular, were the most nausea-inducing pairing since wine and asparagus, and they almost brought all of Grey's Anatomy crashing down with them.
And yet the magazine completely missed one pair, which we consider to be the most egregious example of all. Here's our choice of the decade's most annoying TV lovebirds:
Yes, it's (ugh) Ross and Rachel. When the producers of Friends decided this soulful nerd and recovering princess were made for each other, they couldn't possibly have imagined the tortures the couple (and the audience) would go through before their long-awaited, completely tacked-on "happy ending."
Separately, they were both likeable characters. Together? He was no picnic, but she was just awful. Here's what their relationship looked like, season after endless season: They'd fall in love and seem happy. Then she would always find a reason, sometimes good, sometimes not, to break up with him. Ross would fall into a deep depression, until finally, after some time, he'd meet someone new and seem happy again. Right at that point, Rachel would decide she still had "feelings" for him, and make sure he broke up with the new woman. (Wasn't it fun when she surprised him at his wedding and he blurted out her name, thus humiliating his bride's entire family?) And then the whole stupid cycle would start all over again.
Even worse, these immature jerks went and had a child together. Not that it helped their relationship any, seeing how she accepted what she thought was a marriage proposal from Joey just hours after giving birth to Ross' baby. Or how she barely thought twice about taking a job in Paris, almost completely removing the young child from its father's life. When she decided not to go, of course, it wasn't because either of them were considering little Emma, but because the audience demanded that they get back together before the show went off the air. We imagine that by now, a few years later, they would be divorcing for the third time, and Emma would be well on her way to becoming a teenage alcoholic.
Now, Monica and Chandler, that was a pair. They were funny together and had complementary neuroses, and they just about always supported one another, the way a couple should. Unfortunately, by the time the writers thought of putting them together, it was too late to do anything about their idiot friends.
So good riddance, Ross and Rachel. You were far worse than even George and Izzie, in every way but one: At least you weren't doctors.
Photos: ABC, NBC
Previously:
Top 10 Ways Gray's Anatomy Should Kill Off Izzie
Phew! Friends Movie Not a Go
Remake Me Over: We Make Old MTV Stars MTV-Friendly Again