TV Couples that "Cross The Streams"

Any child of the 80's knows that there are a few rules you should always follow:
1. Never feed a Mogwai after midnight.
2. Don't say "Candyman" 5 times while looking in the mirror.
3. Don't take One Eyed Willie's treasure.
4. Never hate your baby brother or else David Bowie will kidnap him.
5. And finally...Whatever you do, DO NOT cross the streams.

Either we will explode, or save NYC!

We could collectively write an entire blog about these rules and more. But I just finished catching up on Gossip Girl, and I really need to talk about what I have found to be the television equivalent of crossing the streams.

In Ghostbusters, crossing the streams is what happens when the streams from the proton packs (that trap the ghosts) cross each other and create havoc on all things around them. Egon vaguely warns that crossing the streams "would be bad." He goes on to say that it would ruin life as we know it and our bodies would explode. Get the point? It's bad to cross the streams. They are not meant to be crossed.

You want us to what?

In Season 5 of Gossip Girl (now when I start a sentence like this it means I am going to give spoilers) Dan, the good boy from Brooklyn, and Blair, the Queen Bee of the UES end up together. As a couple. Together. Did I mention they get together? It's weird. It's unnatural. It's CROSSING THE STREAMS!

Dan's hair is too curly and he is a writer, and Blair is in love with Chuck and born to be a mean girl. She has never even spoken a kind word to him! It's a horrible match, but I couldn't help but watch. When they kissed the first time, I stared hoping that the actors would crack a smile at this obvious joke they were playing on the audience. But nope. No smiles. We were just supposed to forget everything we have known for 4 seasons and go with it. I hate it when writers think their audiences are stupid. But it happens a lot.

Here are some other TV couples that were dangerously close to ruining some of our favorite TV shows by crossing the streams with incompatible couples.

Like this.

Friends-Monica and Joey
OCD Monica and clueless Joey would have NEVER gotten together in real life, but through flashbacks/flashforwards we get to learn that Monica had a huge crush on Joey in the beginning and down the road could have ended up together. It's hard to pair Joey with any of the girls because he takes such a brotherly role with them. But I think we can all agree that if this particular couple had manifested, it would have been hard to watch even if they were fat and happy.

Not this.

Glee-Puck and Santana
Before Santana comes out as a lesbian, she makes the rounds though the guys in Glee, but her relationship with Puck is the one that lingers. Even when they are not dating, Santana makes whoever Puck is with, the target of her galactic bullying. It's obvious that they have a great connection, even if it is just physical, but there's no heart here. If anything this is a classic case of two people being too much alike, having too much in common. It doesn't stretch their characters the way that their other relationships do. Santana eventually softens up with Brittany and watching Puck's love for Lauren is just too much fun!

Santana + Puck = Suck.

Grey's Anatomy-George and Callie
It's fair to say that George with ANYONE is a horrible pairing, but this particular couple (if you can dig back and remember it) just never felt right. My personal thoughts? The writers were never sure up front if they were gonna keep Callie around. So they decided to get her into a relationship, knowing that when that relationship ended, they would have a chance to get rid of her if her character had not caught on. But when the actor playing George decided to go off the show, the Grey's staff found that Callie had some staying power and was actually a fan favorite. The couple itself never made much sense to me. Callie was so clearly a rebel, proved to us through her long sleeved hippie shirts sticking out from under her scrubs and untamed hair. George was an insecure dork who never quite cured his crush for Meredith. Let's not even analyze the facts that in real life the actor playing George is gay, and Callie ends up being a lesbian (or bi?) on the show. When George was killed off, it was more of notch in Callie's belt of tragedy, and only made us like her more. Poor George.

Awkward Anatomy.

30 Rock-Liz and Dennis
He's her comfort zone; the place Liz always returns to. But Dennis is the only beeper salesman left in New York (maybe the world), and was seen on Dateline and not for good reasons, not to mention, his pet name for our beloved Lemon is Dummy. And yet until recently, Liz just hasn't been able to stay away from Dennis, or keep him away from her. We adore Liz for her quirky habits that are way too similar to our own at times, but there's something about watching her be demeaned by someone as stupid and annoying as Dennis, that their relationship stopped playing as funny to us years ago. Liz, here's some advice...if he's the beeper king, you do not want a ring. SHUT IT DOWN.

Dealbreaker.

Of course, the thing about crossing the streams is that sometimes...it saves the world. In all of Egon's concern over not crossing the streams he forgot to tell us up front that sometimes, it works. So here is my vote for the couple that crossed the streams and managed to save the TV show in spite of what could have been an obvious mismatch.

Moonlighting-David and Maddie
It's the classic Taming of the Shrew storyline. Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) is a type A, independent former model and celebrity, accustomed to living well, that is until she loses everything except her detective agency. David Addison (Bruce Willis) comes along with his crazy antics and careless attitude and the two begin a business partnership and eventually a romantic one as well. The show itself is a classic in that it was the first to do a few things that we see all the time now on TV. It broke the fourth wall before most people had ever even heard of a fourth wall. The writing was excellent and combined drama and comedy, practically giving us the genre we now call, "dramedy." And of course it created a building tension between David and Maddie that audiences could NOT get enough of!

So much sexy.

The theory before Moonlighting was that having two characters on a show like this finally hook up would ruin the show. But the social campaigns (promoted through magazines) for David and Maddie to "do it" were so substantial that the writers eventually gave in. The episode where the two have sex was the highest rated in the show's history. In an unfortunate turn of events, David and Maddie did not stay together and thus viewers lost interest. This directly disproved the idea that having two main characters hook-up would kill the show and instead it proved the exact opposite, keeping them together might have saved Moonlighting. People wanted to see them together! With decreasing viewership, writer's strikes, Willis' booming movie career, and Shepherd's unwillingness to work the long hours, the show did die shortly after. But it remains one of the greatest TV romances of all times, even if they did cross the steams to get there.

What are some TV relationships that "cross the streams" to you? Sam and Diane? Elaine and Jerry? Angel and Buffy? 

I left out quite a few, state your case as to whether the relationship ends life as we know it, or saves the world!