Sunday, March 27, 2005

Will They? Won't They?

Before I go any further...I'm heading out of town this afternoon and won't be back until Tuesday. As such, I won't be able to watch my TiVoed Episode 3 of Mr. Romance until Tuesday night and won't have any sort of recap up until Wednesday. Sorry for the delay. And if I don't manage to get internet connection where I'm going (i.e., if I can't get my wireless card to work with my dad's router), I won't be able to blog for a couple of days. I'll be back!

Maili posted a very thought provoking column on Romancing the Blog, about sexual tension and the question of whether it is something that is missing in today's romance novels when so many heroes and heroines hop in the sack somewhere around Chapter 1.5. I'm a huge fan of well wrought sexual tension, but rather than waxing long-winded, I think I'll just limit myself to a list of my favorite couples who had oodles of sexual tension, IMO. Don't know if I have time to get to 10, so let's see...

1. Sam Malone and Diane Chambers - Cheers
Classic, classic use of heated argument turning into heated something else:
Sam: You are the nuttiest, the stupidest, the phoniest fruitcake I ever met!
Diane: You, Sam Malone are the most arrogant self centered son-of-a...
Sam: Shut up! Shut your fat mouth!
Diane: Make me!
Sam: Make you?... My God I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna bounce you off every wall in this office!
Diane: Try it and you'll be walking funny tomorrow... or should I say funnier?
Sam: You know, you know I always wanted to pop you one! Maybe this is my lucky day, huh?
Diane: You disgust me! I hate you!
Sam: Are you as turned on as I am?
Diane: More!
[They kiss!]

2. David Addison and Maddie Hayes - Moonlighting
David and Maddie introduced me to my most favorite of cliched sexual tension payoffs - the sweeping clear of objects in the way of flat surfaces. Too, David and Maddie set the bar as far as sexual tension in the world of television, and quite often they are used as a reference when writers ponder the positives and negatives of allowing two characters to consummate a long-running attraction.

3. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy - Pride and Prejudice
Classy sexual tension. Sexual tension with only an implied pay-off. Sexual tension that actually left the reader/viewer wanting more...*sigh*

4. Ross Gellar and Rachel Green - Friends
This was just such a fun thing. First Ross liked Rachel and she didn't know it. Then Rachel like Ross and he didn't know it. They kept missing the boat...until finally, wow. Best thing about this pairing - viewers only had to wait a season and a half before a big payoff and the writers were able to carry the show forward another eight and a half seasons without losing the chemistry between these two. Amazing.

Okay...I've run out of blogging time. I'll try to think of some more, but any ideas please do share. I just love walking down memory lane.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are some of my favorite couples, and you're right, that's why! The sexual tension.

Anonymous said...

You forgot Lois and Clark, Lynn! Who could forget all that wonderful sexual tension all through Seasons 1 and 2: the long looks, the awkward silences, the sudden changing of subjects? The kisses under the guise of something else. The almost declarations and sudden withdrawals or resets. The 'saving from the jaws of death' long, lingering looks. And so on and so on. Absolutely wonderful!