Top Five TV Office Romances

Photo by: j-No

Common sense tells us that office romances are best avoided. The flirtation might seem like a great idea at the time but it could quickly become an awkward, career damaging nightmare.

Imagine being forced to spend time with your ex every day of the week. Not a pretty picture. Despite this well-known consensus, sitcoms cannot get enough of office pairings. Here are five of the most dysfunctional.

 1.       Ugly Betty- Betty and Henry

The (untrue) point of this American show (that Betty is supposed to look like the back of a bus) is slightly undermined by the fact that she pulls Henry. A man who clearly looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model underneath his glasses. Henry works in the accounting department, and therefore he must be a nerd. Obviously. This means that Betty, the ‘odd ball’ of the fashionable magazine office, stands a chance with him. Alas, the pairing is not meant to be. Henry knocks up his morally suspect, on-off girlfriend Charlie, and decides to move with her to Tucson.

2.       Mad Men- Don Draper and Megan Calvet

Advertising executive, Don Draper has no shortage of female love interests until he falls for his secretary Megan Calvet. Given Draper’s past history of extra marital affairs and liaisons with prostitutes, you suspect that this may not be the best move for Megan. Young and naïve, she is an easy target for Draper, and accepts him despite his flaws. The happy union is quickly undermined by Draper cheating. Again. Bad move Megan.

3.       Scrubs- JD and Elliot

Possibly two of the most annoying characters in sitcom history, JD and Eliot Reid seem to be made for one another. However, this of course would be too simple for sitcom land. Perhaps the combined force of their annoyingness would be too much for their fictional co-workers to cope with? Instead they begin on the time-honoured sitcom journey of will they won’t they. A few attempts at starting a relationship end in disaster, as they realise that they are both far too dysfunctional too make it work. Terrifyingly they are married in season nine, and even worse procreating. Fortunately season nine was the final series of the program.

4.       The Office- Dawn and Tim

Tim and Dawn’s will they won’t they storyline had us all on the edge of our seats. Dawn’s childhood sweetheart Lee is, frankly, a bit of a pig. On the other hand Tim is everything that Dawn needs; funny, kind and supportive. Cue at lot of gazing longingly through glass office dividers at each other.  Watching the two of them blunder along and fail to turn their obvious mutual attraction into a relationship is incredibly frustrating.  In the final series Dawn leaves with Lee for Florida, dashing the hopes of the shows’ viewers. Luckily, a convenient Christmas special was drafted in to bring them back together, and keep us all happy.

5.       The American Office- Jim and Pam

America’s answer to the Office has its own office romance. Jim and Pam are yet another will they won’t they pairing, and are very similar to the UK version’s Dawn and Tim. Like Dawn, Pam is engaged, and her long running engagement is a constant source of jokes throughout the sitcom. Unlike Dawn and Tim however, Pam and Jim manage to get it together, and shock horror, get married.  There’s hope for office romances after all.

There are definitely more sitcom office romances out there. Can you think of any to share?

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