Love, American TV style: Here are prime time’s 10 cutest couples

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Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) in a scene from "The Big Bang Theory."

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Updated: March 15, 2012 8:07AM

On this day devoted to romantic love, let’s turn our attention to the small screen to celebrate TV’s top couples.

My criteria were simple for what makes a winning TV twosome — or any couple, for that matter. They’ve got to have the three C’s: chemistry, communication and camaraderie.

Make that four C’s, says television expert Walter Podrazik.

“You’ve got to believe that they care for each other,” said Podrazik, a TV and media adjunct lecturer at University of Illinois at Chicago. He’s also the author of Watching TV: Six Decades of American Television.

I had one more C requirement for TV’s top lovebirds: They had to be current couples, no Sams and Dianes of the past. Unfortunately for “Chuck” fans, that also meant no Chuck and Sarah, since their series bid adieu last month.

Contenders also had to be actual couples, which meant no Castle and Beckett, who seem perpetually stuck in the latter part of the will-they-or-won’t-they equation.

In no particular order, here are my picks for TV’s 10 couples most deserving of Cupid’s arrow.

Leslie and Ben, ‘Parks
and Recreation’ (NBC)

These two small-town bureaucrats (Amy Poehler and Adam Scott) have shared some big-time lip-locks, starting with their first kiss last season. “They had that defining moment where it wasn’t the kiss,” Podrazik said, “it’s what she says after: ‘Uh, oh.’ That realization that something big just happened.” That kiss marked the start of a relationship that’s literally had its share of trials, like the one that resulted in a court reporter reading a transcript of Leslie professing her love for Ben while the couple smooched in the snow. And who can forget their touching makeup/makeout session in Pawnee’s Smallest Park?

Anna and Mr. Bates, ‘Downton Abbey’ (PBS)

The folks upstairs may have nicer clothes, but you’ll have to go downstairs to find the richest romantic relationship at Downton Abbey. Anna (Joanne Froggatt), a maid, and Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle), a valet, personify steadfast, selfless love. When Bates says that Anna deserves a white bridal gown and a proper church ceremony, she tenderly replies, “I’d rather have the right man than the right wedding.” Unfortunately for them, the honeymoon ended all too abruptly in Sunday’s episode when Bates was arrested for the murder of his late wife. Fret not, Bates. Anna will wait for you.

Cameron and Mitchell, ‘Modern Family’ (ABC)

Few couples have prompted fans to start a Facebook page like this one: “Let Cam and Mitchell kiss on ‘Modern Family!’ ” A rare example of gay domesticity on prime-time network TV, Cameron and Mitchell (Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) make a great match, no matter where you fall on the Kinsey Scale of Human Sexuality. They snipe, fight and get their feelings hurt like every couple, but they have Grand Canyon-sized soft spots for each other. Their devotion shines through in scenes such as the one at a gas station, where a jerk bumps into Mitchell and refuses to say he’s sorry. “What the hell are you?” the jerk says after Cam hops out of the car — in his clown costume — to jump to Mitchell’s defense. “I’m the ass-kicking clown that will twist you like a balloon animal,” Cam shouts, “so apologize to my boyfriend right now!”

Jim and Pam, ‘The Office’ (NBC)

Rihanna’s “We Found Love” should be the theme song for this pair, whose romance blossomed among the cubicles and fluorescent lights of a hopeless place, a.k.a. the Scranton, Penn., branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) quietly suffered through each other’s relationships with other people before finally fulfilling their destinies and becoming one. “They kept their almost conspiratorial impishness even after they officially connected,” Podrazik said. Pam also kept her mousy cardigan sweaters. But Jim loves her anyway.

Marshall and Lily, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ (CBS)

Only a teddy bear factory has more cuteness than this couple, who’ve been known to refer to each other as Marshmallow and Lilypad. Normally that kind of thing would give me the dry heaves, but this sincere pair of college sweethearts (Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan) pulls it off. We’ve watched them get engaged, break it off, reconcile and get married. Pretty soon, baby will make three — and you can bet they’ll have plenty of cute nicknames for it. “They’re one of those couples who’ve been together for a while now, but there’s still sexy affection between them,” Podrazik said.

Booth and Brennan, ‘Bones’ (Fox)

It’s a classic case of opposites attracting in this procedural starring Emily Deschanel as forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan and David Boreanaz as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. These partners in crime-solving clearly got over their differences enough to result in a very pregnant Brennan. She’s about to pop out Baby Booth when the show returns from its midseason break April 5. That they have been house-hunting and are expecting a child is a testament to how far this couple has come since season one, when Booth arrested Brennan. Good thing she doesn’t hold a grudge.

Jane and Brad,
‘Happy Endings’ (ABC)

Sure, this young, successful, Type-A married couple likes to bicker. And earlier this season they lied to each other so they could take separate staycations. But they hashed it out over lunch, which quickly ended up on the floor after the passionate pair flung their food off the kitchen table to make the beast with two backs. Jane and Brad (Eliza Coupe and Damon Wayans Jr.) can’t keep their hands off each other, and who could blame this slammin’ hot duo? This is a man whose dentist gave him a plaque for not having plaque.

Chris and Reagan,
‘Up All Night’ (NBC)

These rookie parents (Will Arnett and Christina Applegate) love their “f---ing beautiful” newborn. They also love each other despite their quirks and foibles. They’re determined not to let baby Amy completely destroy their carefree, childless days when Reagan would slam shots and wow the crowd with her high kicks on a pool table. “God, your beats are so tight after three Jaeger bombs,” Chris says wistfully to his wife while he feeds their infant in her high-chair. Sleep deprivation and spit-up aren’t enough to destroy this fun-loving couple who know each other better than they know themselves.

Amy and Sheldon, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ (CBS)

Nerdy physicist plus four-eyed biologist equals geek love at its finest on this CBS sitcom. It took Sheldon (Jim Parsons) a while to warm up, but he finally caved in and let Amy (Mayim Bialik) assume the title of girlfriend — as long as she agreed to a 31-page covenant outlining the terms of their relationship (i.e., hand-holding is permissible if either party is in imminent danger of falling off a cliff or one needs moral support during a flu shot). Sheldon may be a tool, but he’s the tool that bought this nerdy girl a tiara, making her feel like a pretty princess for the first time in her life.

Veronica and Kevin, ‘Shameless’ (Showtime)

Everyone on “Shameless” is a colossal mess, and the Gallaghers’ kinky neighbors are no exception. Kev (Steve Howey) makes extra cash hawking pot and beer to kids from an ice cream truck (at least he checks potential customers for underarm hair to make sure they’re old enough to buy). A jealous V broke out the garden shears to go all Lorena Bobbitt on Kev when she suspected him of cheating. Turns out the “other woman” was teaching him how to read, a task V has taken up by covering her va-va-voom naked body with words like “navel” written on Post-It notes. Kev and V might be crazy, but they’re even crazier about each other.