Skip to main content

The 5 best romantic relationships on TV right now: Our top picks

We can't get enough of the tension of these couples, even the ones that aren't really together yet

It’s the season for romance, and is there really a better place to look for some relationship drama than our favorite shows? Television’s long-form storytelling allows for romantic relationships to develop, grow, or even decline in satisfying ways. When a romantic pairing is well-written and the actors bring a realistic chemistry to the partnership, it makes us think about our own love livesin completely new ways.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’ve decided to look at the five best romances on TV right now. Some of these couples are complicated, others are awkward, and some aren’t even together yet (and may never be). We think they’re still the best TV couples anyway.

Gregory Eddie and Janine Teagues (Abbott Elementary)

"Should we go out there and be normal together?" Gregory & Janine S02E10 [4/7] | Abbott Elementary

The 1990s had Ross and Rachel. The 2000s had Jim and Pam. Now the 2020s have Greg and Janine. There’s nothing quite like a “will they, won’t they” relationship to draw TV viewers to the edge of their seats every week, patiently awaiting the first kiss or “I love you” from a couple. These two elementary school teachers are spectacularly cringy yet adorable when they interact every week with the sexual tension seeping through their dialogue and their actions. Workplace romance adds yet another layer to the proceedings, as it’s always an interesting decision to date a coworker. Here’s to hoping Greg and Janine admit their feelings for each other sooner rather than later!

Mike Wheeler and Will Byers (Stranger Things)

stranger things: 4x04 mike and will heart-to-heart scene

The adorable friendship from the early seasons of Stranger Things between Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has started evolving into something potentially much deeper in the most recent episodes of the Netflix mega-hit. If it wasn’t already clear that Will was gay after watching him awkwardly fawn over Mike for much of the fourth season, the actor confirmed Will’s sexuality to the public in the aftermath of it airing.

Will is constantly hanging off of Mike’s every word, desperately seeking a deeper friendship than ever before and even creating elaborate paintings of Mike as a hero. The interesting wrench in this pairing is Mike has been in a relationship with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) for much of the show’s run. Barring a gay sexual awakening from Mike, it seems this romance might end up being unrequited. Regardless, that Netflix and creators Matt and Ross Duffer are even exploring a potential same-sex relationship in a show of this magnitude and popularity is vital. It has a chance to push the boundaries of LGBTQ+ storytelling and open doors for more mainstream queer representation on TV in the years to come.

Prince Wilhelm and Simon Eriksson (Young Royals)

Prince Wilhelm's Life-Changing Speech | Young Royals | Netflix Philippines

The most intimate, daring, and sensual relationship on TV belongs to a tiny production from Sweden. Young Royals tells the story of a crown prince and his lower-class schoolmate, two teenagers just trying to overcome their social divide to live happily ever after. The fact that theirs is a same-sex relationship is often secondary to the commentary on rich and poor, pulling back several layers on the struggles couples have when they come from different parts of the civic hierarchy. Prince Wilhelm’s coming out scene at the end of the second season is also one of the best in recent memory, a highwater mark for all other queer characters to strive for.

Hughie Campbell and Annie January (The Boys)

Hughie And Annie (Starlight) Singing Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire | The Boys (2020) Scene

There’s nothing that feels all that genuine in Amazon Prime Video’s hilariously dark superhero satire, but the love between Hughie Campbell and Annie January is as real as it gets. Hughie immediately saw that Annie wasn’t like the rest of the superheroes employed by Vought, and Annie was thrilled to be treated like a normal person rather than a commodity for the first time in her life. The playfulness and innocence to this partnership is something that will continue to flourish when The Boys returns to our screens because Annie has officially dropped her role as Starlight and joined Hughie’s team of vigilantes once and for all.

Tom Wambsgans and Shiv Roy (Succession)

Tom finally confronts Shiv - Succession S02E10

The cut-throat, despicable world of Succession isn’t much of a hotbed for warm, fuzzy feelings between the main characters, yet toxic marriages are just as compelling as healthy ones on TV. When we look at a couple like Tom and Shiv, it allows us to contemplate the ways we use our own partners for selfish reasons. Shiv is the daughter of a multi-billion-dollar corporate stiff, and Tom is desperately trying to keep his head above the quicksand of the Roy family dumpster fire. After three seasons of a façade, Tom finally fought back against Shiv’s two-faced love in the third season finale, siding with her father in a battle for the family company.

Editors' Recommendations

Shawn Laib
Shawn Laib is a freelance writer with publications such as Den of Geek, Quote.com, Edge Media Network, diaTribe, SUPERJUMP…
The 19 best true crime documentaries on Netflix right now
These true crime documentaries will keep you up at night
Netflix logo on TV with red backlighting

For the last 10 years, few things have been guaranteed to reel in more viewers than true crime documentaries. Netflix has been in on that wave of true crime fascination since the beginning, and in the years since, it has developed a vast library filled with revelatory documentaries on cases you may be familiar with, and a few you've never heard of before. Because Netflix has produced so many over the years, it can be hard to determine which are the best true crime documentaries.
We've got you covered with a rundown of the Netflix documentaries you definitely shouldn't skip. These are the documentaries most likely to keep you trapped on the couch all day, eager to start the next episode, or furiously searching the internet to find more information on which details are true. In short, these are the Netflix true crime documentaries that are most worth obsessing over.

If you're eager to find other types of content on Netflix, be sure to check out our lists of the best Netflix shows, and the best Netflix movies.

Read more
The best competitive cooking shows to watch right now
From Nailed It! to Chopped, here are the top cooking contest shows
The scene from the show American BBQ Showdown

Food Fight! No, not the messy one of your youth that involved hurling lunch across the room and subsequent detention. We're talking about the competitive cooking show, television's greatest culinary challenge.

These shows have come a long way. From the early days of Food Network to today, we've seen a tremendous growth in this food-tastic style of game show. Now, a good showing on one of these popular programs can land you a serious role at one of the best restaurants in America.

Read more
The best anime series on Netflix to watch right now
From Carole & Tuesday to Cowboy Bebop, these are the best anime on Netflix now that you should add to your watchlist
One Punch Man

Japanese anime and the many Western series that were influenced by the genre continue to get more and more popular. As they do, every streaming site is eager to lockdown plenty of exclusive anime titles that will draw fans of the format to their services. Netflix has long had a stockpile of great action movies, but it turns out that the streamer also has a pretty excellent library of anime series as well, which is in addition to their great animated shows. The best anime on Netflix draw from a wide array of influences, but should give every fan of the form something to chew on.

While there are plenty of great action series on this list, anime is home to a wide array of different kinds of stories, and all of those stories are represented in one form or another on this list. Netflix is even moving into adapting some of these anime into live-action, although opinions are mixed on whether that strategy is going to work out. Whatever you think about that venture, though, this list is full of titles that are sure to make every anime fan happy.

Read more