Small Screen Sadness

When you watch a sitcom or drama on television, you are in the privacy of your own home. You feel safe to feel emotions evoked by fictional characters inside this box in front of you. You come back each week, hoping to see some progress in the story of the two characters in love. Even in a sitcom, drama unfolds whenever love is introduced into the story. It's the fuel that drives a great show because everyone wants love and can relate to the starry eyed characters. We've all been there and every week, we get a chance to either hope for new love or relive past love. The moments that have you fixated and at the edge of your couch are always the break-ups. Who did who wrong? Will they get back together? We watch and sometimes even tear up for these fictitious lovers falling out of love on the screen. The most devastating break-ups affect the story line of the show forever, such as:
(In no particular order)

1) Rachel & Ross from F-R-I-E-N-D-S
Never was there a show as comical and hilarious as Friends. Each week Joey and Chandler would be up to no good, Phoebe would be off in her own little world, Monica would be cleaning up after everybody, and Ross & Rachel would be falling in and out of love over and over again. Those two had such trouble getting it right. Still, the first and most real break-up that shocked television viewers everywhere had Ross on a tangent afterward, always saying, "We were on a break!" Rachel had been working long hours and had a male co-worker, Mark, that Ross was jealous of. One night they get in a fight about her job and Rachel says, "Maybe we should just take a break." Ross thinks she means a break from fighting, that they should go get some fresh air and then Rachel packs a punch when says, "A break from US!" Ross goes to a bar, gets drunk, dances with the "copy girl", and ends up having sex with her. The second half of this two part story has Ross running all over town trying to keep his crazy night from Rachel who still wants to be with him. He fails, she finds out and one of the best acting performances by Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer ensues. They are in Rachel's apartment talking it over for hours while poor Chandler, Joey, Monica, and Phoebe are stuck in Monica's room listening through the door. Ross says, "this can't be it?" and Rachel says, "then how come it is?" That was the biggest breakup on television. Everyone was talking about it for days after.

2) Sam & Diane from Cheers
Sam and Diane became an institution in the 1980's. Their unlikely match, Diane a scholarly intellectual and Sam a foul mouth, sex crazed baseball player made their pairing so interesting. They were always breaking up and getting back together. Fighting over petty things and creating tension in the bar. Their first break-up was by far the most comical and most emotional for the viewers. Sam hurt Diane by letting Boston Magazine publish his name as one of the twenty most eligible bachelors. To make things right, Sam hires an artist to paint a portrait of Diane, but instead of it being a romantic gesture, it creates jealously in Sam. The artist is infatuated with Diane and also opens her eyes to the fact that she and Sam are mismatched. This break up has one of the funniest scenes of physical comedy. They slap each other back and forth and hold onto each other's noses. Then, they finally get ugly with each other when Sam says, "get the hell out of here!" Diane says, "if I go, I am never ever coming back." She goes and Sam opens the portrait that Diane had brought to show to him. That is all he's left with.

3) Dwight & Angela from The Office
In the tradition of all good sitcom couples, Dwight and Angela break-up and make-up over and over again. The most hilarious and memorable break-up for me was when Angela needs Dwight to watch her sick cat, Sprinkles. For those of you who don't watch the show, Angela is very close to all her cats and loves each and every one of them. When Dwight comes over to watch Sprinkles, he sees the cat and deems that he should be put out of his misery. So, instead of caring for the cat, Dwight feeds it a dozen antihistamine pills and puts the sleeping cat in the freezer. When she returns, she finds the cat and by the way it froze, it was clear that the cat was not dead before it entered the wintry vessel. Thus ending one of the most kooky and comical relationships on television. No, we weren't devastated per say, but it was sad to see the sneaky couple of The Office go their separate ways.

4) Carrie & Mr. Big from Sex and the City
The tissues were out in full force when this monumental couple broke up. Carrie, a free spirit and Mr. Big, a wealthy businessman seem to start out awkwardly, but then made the television sizzle. They, like every other couple, were on again and off again, but that morning when Mr. Big is packing for a business trip and casually tells Carrie that he may not be around in the summer, our stomachs all sank. Poor Carrie finally starts to get it right with him and again he is not ready to fully commit or include her in his big, no pun intended, life decisions. The wonderful acting by Sarah Jessica Parker at the cafe where she and her three friends usually dine, has her slamming the table and causing a scene, she asks herself, "when is enough, enough?" Though she never gets her answer. For Mr. Big and Carrie Bradshaw, enough is never enough...

5) Felicity & Ben from Felicity
I remember racing home from my basketball class in college just to catch a glimpse of Noel Crane. I never did like Ben Covington very much. Felicity, at first seemed like an obsessive hormone crazed girl, following Ben from California all the way to New York just to go to the same college as he because she had a huge crush on him. At first, he doesn't warm up to her as anything more than a friend, but eventually love blooms. It was a very unique storyline with a fresh setting. The innocence helped the show attract viewers of all ages. It was about a lot of "firsts" in life and how to handle them and get through them with the help of friends. Very relatable. Felicity and Ben's relationship starts off rocky and continues on a slippery slope. They broke up many times and when Ben hears her most intimate thoughts on her audio tape, he breaks up with her for the first time. Feeling slighted and wanting another chance, Felicity takes the advice of a magazine column entitled, "The List." This "list" includes a red dress, wearing your hair down, and giggling for no reason. At a party, Felicity uses all those techniques and it works, Ben comes back. Feeling that she is changing too much of herself and bending too far over backwards, she breaks up with Ben. To rid herself of that past life, she cuts off her signature locks of wavy hair.

6) Dawson & Joey from Dawson's Creek
Since the dawn of time, Joey and Dawson have always been friends. Never had they thought about each other romantically until they hit high school and things started to change. After Joey performs in the town pageant, Dawson finally realizes the woman she's become and soon after Joey and Dawson share a kiss. Their relationship blooms and they become closer than ever, but Joey feels a little too close. She doesn't know who she is and has began to feel stifled. Just then, a new boy comes to town and one night while working late, she kisses him. She keeps it from Dawson, but at the school dance, Dawson finds out and they break up very dramatically. The tension and anger is so thick and you feel so badly for poor Dawson.

7) Dylan & Brenda from 90210 Beverly Hills
I remember the episode when Dylan comes to visit Brandon and Brenda, Brandon's sister first sees the man who would become her boyfriend. You had a sense that they would be an item, but instead we had to wait and watch it all unfold. Not only did they date, but Dylan was Brenda's first time. They were wildly in love, but could also fight as wildly. When their relationship started to fizzle, Kelly, Brenda's best friend makes a move on Dylan. Brenda and Dylan were still together and Kelly was seeing Dylan behind Brenda's back. Even when Brenda was away for the Summer to Paris, Kelly was with Dylan. After Brenda returns from her summer journey, nothing is the same between her and Dylan. So, they decide to break up amicably. Brenda never knowing what had gone on behind her back with Kelly. Kelly is feeling so guilty and so she and Dylan break it to Brenda. I will never forget the episode. It was pretty acurate emotionally. Dylan, Kelly, & Brenda take a walk. Brenda screams and shouts at them and vows that she will never forgive them. A pivotal moment on a very dramatic show. It was not only a break-up of a couple, but of a friendship.

8) Paul & Jamie from Mad About You
This is not actually a break up, but it was the most memorable almost break up. After four years of marriage, this lovable couple comes to terms with their flame flickering. When Paul has to attend an awards ceremony on his own, he almost kisses a colleague. Jamie actually does kiss one of her flirtatious co-workers. When she confesses, Paul is enraged, but he also confesses his almost infidelity. The amazing acting really makes you feel that they love each other so much, but just somehow they both went astray. For the first time, Paul walks out and doesn't come back. Jamie lays in their bed alone feeling so empty, until the best part of a break-up - the make-up, Paul comes home from walking around the city and they reconnect. So human and so real. That is why the world was mad about Mad About You.

9) Denny & Izzie from Grey's Anatomy
Doctor-patient relationships are to stay professional. Doctors are to be caring and concerned, but within reason. Well, when you're a doctor in a television series, all rules get tossed aside. Izzie Stevens fell in love with Denny Duquette while he was a patient at Seattle Grace Hospital. He was in desperate need for a heart transplant and throughout their relationship was never able to leave the hospital. When his condition worsened and he needed a heart transplant as soon as possible, Izzie cut his LVAD wires in hopes of worsening his condition even more so that his name would be moved up the list for a transplant. Drama ensues when Burke gets shot in the process of getting the heart for Denny. Denny's running out of time and the heart never makes it to him. There is a hospital party taking place and so Izzie is all dressed up the night Denny dies. She gets off the elevator on Denny's floor, thinking everything is going to be okay. When she gets to his room, she sees that he's not doing well. She crawls up into his bed and Denny dies in her arms. Not exactly a break-up, but one of the most heart-wrenching pieces in television history. This one scene is the reason Katharine Heigl received such acclaim for her role as Izzie. It was sheer emotion and heartbreak.

10) Monica & Richard from F-R-I-E-N-D-S
When Monica met Richard she was 9 and he was 30. So, it's no wonder they'd end up in a romantic relationship 16 years later, huh? Not likely and yet it happened. When Monica caters for her Dad's eye doctor friend Richard, she embarks on a year long relationship with a man 21 years her senior. Tom Selleck played Richard and he became a nice fixture on the show. When Monica and Richard began to talk about their future, we saw that they had one big difference - wanting to have children. Richard already had children and "didn't want to be sixty before they can start living their life together." They sweep the issue under the rug, but at a wedding as they danced, they knew it was over. Monica is crushed and tries to hide her tears as they dance.