What Happens When Shows ‘Ship The Wrong Couples?

It seems that no matter if a show is a comedy or a drama, crime procedural or wacky sitcom, viewers inevitably gravitate toward a couple they want to see together. But what happens when the show itself puts two people together who don’t really click? Can the pairing grow on us, or is the show doomed to failure if the core couple doesn’t spark?

Cupid – The whole premise of this show was matchmaking, with Trevor and Claire at the center. For the first couple of episodes, I couldn’t see any romantic potential between them. Mostly, Claire just seemed irritated by Trevor and Trevor seemed more interested in making his 100 matches than pursuing Claire. Eventually, though, the relationship started to progress. Claire softened toward Claire a little, Trevor’s focus widened to include Claire. By the end of the series’ short run, I could see the beginnings of a good, two or three season long run of building toward them being together. Too bad ABC nipped that in the bud.

Royal Pains – In the series premiere we were presented with Jill, on paper the perfect match for Hank. Too bad they don’t have any chemistry. I’m hoping this is another case where the pairing will grow on me, but so far they’ve had a “meet cute”, bantered, helped each other out, had a fight, made up, and shared a dinner in a romantic setting, all with zero sexual tension. They’re good-looking people with shared interests, but sometimes the spark just isn’t there. I’m more interested in the potential with Hank’s fiery assistant, Divya. They’ve had very little screen time together thus far, but seem to have better chemistry than Jill/Hank. Did Royal Pains pick the wrong couple to ’ship?

Killer Hair – Speaking of no chemistry, how about Lacey and Vic in the Lifetime Movie Network adaptation of Killer Hair? As I said in my review, Vic does have the unfortunate obstacle of little character development in the book series on which the movie is based, so this is a ’ship that hits an iceberg across two media. Lacey and Tony, now there’s a sizzler! Will the movie series follow the books and force Lacey to stay with Vic? Or will it break away and give Tony a chance?

True Blood – Here’s another show based on a book series which complicates matters. Sookie and Bill are currently the show’s core couple, and boy do they have chemistry! Real-life couple Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer bring the heat on the series, but those who have read the books know that the relationship doesn’t last. If the series follows the books, we should expect to see Eric and Sookie heat up soon, with a couple of other boyfriends in the mix. Will Sookie/Eric have sparks equal to Sookie/Bill? Or will it feel forced like the Sookie/Sam pairing the show toyed with in season 1?

Can you think of any other current pairings that don’t feel right? How about in past shows? I’ll confess, the Ross/Rachel thing on Friends never seemed that profound to me, but I did think Claude and Kipp would be a spicy pairing on Less Than Perfect.

NGTV Radio: True Blood, Hawthorne, Cupid & More

Join us on Nice Girls Radio this week as we talk about the premieres of True Blood and Hawthorne, the end of Cupid and more! Plus, who will be our Nice Boy of the Week? WARNING: Spoilers!

Nice Girls Radio airs Thursdays at 12PM CT on Blog Talk Radio.

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, June 16

It’s another summer premiere day! Plus the series finale of Cupid. Trevor, we hardly knew ye.

Hawthorne – TNT 9/8c – SERIES PREMIERE
“Pilot” – The life of a headstrong yet empathetic chief nursing officer named Christina Hawthorne (Jada Pinkett Smith) is charted in this hospital drama. The series opens with Hawthorne trying to prevent a cancer patient’s suicide attempt. The widowed Hawthorne also deals with her rebellious daughter (Hannah Hodson) and her former mother-in-law (Joanna Cassidy). Meanwhile, Hawthorne helps a homeless woman and her ill infant. See our spotlight on Hawthorne here.

Saving Grace – TNT 10/9c – SEASON PREMIERE
“We’re Already Here” – Season 3 begins with Grace investigating an antigovernment faction and trying to form an alliance with a young female drug user (Yaani King) who shares a connection with angelic Earl. But Grace’s haphazard investigation goes awry, resulting in an injury to the woman. Meanwhile, Grace and Ham get caught in an embarrassing situation; and Butch offers surprising news. See Tiffany’s report from The Paley Center event for Saving Grace here.

Cupid – ABC 10/9c – SERIES FINALE
“My Fair Masseuse” – It’s the last episode of the 2009 reboot of the 1998 dramedy as ABC burns off the series finale of Cupid tonight. In this episode, Claire hires a dialect expert to glean information about Trevor from his speech patterns. Trevor, in turn, uses the man to help refine a Queens masseuse (Kerry Butler) so that she’s a better match for her sophisticated beau. Meanwhile, Lita and Felix discover a long-overdue library book in Trevor’s room that may provide a clue about his identity.

Nice Boy of the Week: Hart Hanson

My head was so full of True Blood last week, and throughout the weekend, that I completely dropped the ball on posting our Nice Boy of the Week. Not such a nice thing to do, for a Nice Girl. Apologies.

As announced on last Thursday’s Nice Girls Radio Broadcast, our new Nice Boy is writer/producer, Hart Hanson.

Hanson is a Nice Girl favorite around here, being the creator of Bones, and showrunner for Joan of Arcadia, Cupid, Judging Amy, Traders, Road to Avonlea and more. Winner of four Gemini Awards and being a fellow Twitter fiend and all around cool guy, makes Hart our choice for Nice Boy of the Week.

Upfronts 2009: ABC – Castle, Ugly Betty Return; Cupid Canceled

ABC unveiled their 2009-2010 schedule today, although the bulk of it had already been revealed. Here’s the scoop as it pertains to the Nice Girls:

Staying

Castle – Thanks to burgeoning ratings for the last couple of episodes of season 1, we get at least another 13 episodes of Nathan Fillion next season.

Ugly Betty – Will we finally get to see Betty lose those braces in season 4?

Coming

Cougar Town – This sitcom starring Courtney Cox (wasn’t she in a sitcom a while back?) as a newly divorced mom who is launched back into the dating scene looks both funny and sweet.

Eastwick – An adaptation of the movie and the book, The Witches of Eastwick, this series stars Nice Girls’ faves Lindsay Price (Lipstick Jungle) and Rebecca Romjin (Ugly Betty), plus newcomer Jamie Ray Newman as three witches in a small New England town. Bonus casting: Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect)!

Going

Cupid – Well, at least ABC aired all of the episodes this time around.

Samantha Who? – We were surprised to hear that this show was on the chopping block, but figured ABC would find a way to save it. Apparently not. ABC still has four episodes from this season in the can; watch for them to be burned off over the summer.

ABC’s 2009-2010 Schedule

Perhaps Thursdays won’t be the logjam we thought after Fox announced their schedule yesterday. Ugly Betty moves to Fridays at 9/8c, giving us a little breathing room. On the other hand, Flash Forward is supposed to be really good…

ABC’s fall primetime schedule is as follows (all times listed are Eastern):

MONDAYS
8-10 pm: Dancing with the Stars (two-hours)
10-11 pm: Castle

TUESDAYS
8-9 pm: Shark Tank
9-10 pm: Dancing with the Stars Results Show
10-11 pm: The Forgotten

WEDNESDAYS
8-8:30 pm: Hank
8:30-9 pm: The Middle
9-9:30 pm: Modern Family
9:30-10 pm: Cougar Town
10-11 pm: Eastwick

THURSDAYS
8-9 pm: Flash Forward
9-10 pm: Grey’s Anatomy
10-11 pm: Private Practice

FRIDAYS
8-9 pm: Supernanny
9-10 pm: Ugly Betty
10-11 pm: 20/20

SATURDAYS
8-11 pm: Saturday Night College Football

SUNDAYS
7-8 pm: America’s Funniest Home Videos
8-9 pm: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9=10 pm: Desperate Housewives
10-11 pm: Brothers & Sisters

N.B.: The Bachelor will air Monday nights from 8-10 pm following the run of Dancing with the Stars, and Scrubs and Better Off Ted will air at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively, following the run of Dancing with the Stars Results Show.

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, May 12

Fringe’s first season finale leaves a lot of loose ends while The Mentalist and Cupid try to tie things up before their finales next week.

The Mentalist – CBS 9/8c
“Blood Brothers” – The team investigates the death of a student in a wilderness program of troubled youths.

Fringe – FOX 9/8c
“There’s More Than One of Everything” – The first season finale features the appearance of William Bell (aka Leonard Nimoy), the disappearance of Walter, and the reappearance of David Robert Jones. That should give us plenty to ponder over the summer.

Cupid – ABC 10/9c
“Left of the Dial” – Trevor’s latest match involves a radio DJ and one of his listeners, while Claire seems to be making her own match with the statistician helping her develop an eHarmony-like questionnaire to match people based on commonalities. Which will bother Trevor more: a man moving in on Claire, or a man moving in on his matchmaking abilities?

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, May 5

90210 and Fringe are officially renewed for a second season, and we’re sure The Mentalist is coming back, so enjoy the last few episodes of the season knowing that the stories will continue!

Fringe – FOX 9/8c
“The Road Not Taken” – Olivia’s visions continue, this time coinciding with a possible case of spontaneous combustion. Walter focuses on the ZFT manifesto and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get some insight into Peter.

The Mentalist – CBS 9/8c
“Miss Red” – The death of a software company CEO leads the CBI team to two suspects, so naturally Jane plays one off the other because he’s smarter than all of us.

90210 – the CW 9/8c
“The Party’s Over” – Adrianna and Navid’s respective bachelor/bachelorette parties which probably go as well as you’d expect for a couple of teenagers getting married. Naomi and sister Jen decide to move in together and try to get Naomi’s trust fund released (um, Naomi, you do remember Jen’s penchant for taking, right?), and Jen makes a date with Ryan.

Cupid – ABC 10/9c
“Shipping Out” – Trevor’s mission this week is matching up an Iraq vet with his high school crush. Claire’s mission is to overcome her fear of fast dancing in public. Ironically, I think Trevor has a better chance at success.

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, April 28

How amazing was the Chuck finale last night? We must have a third season! Our other shows are heading toward their season finales, too, with storylines heating up and guest stars taking over. Here’s what the Nice Girls are watching tonight:

The Mentalist – CBS 9/8c
“Red Sauce” – The CBI team investigate the murder of a mobster who was in witness protection. He should have had Mary Shannon on his case.

Fringe – FOX 9/8c
“Midnight” – A serial killer is draining his victims of their spinal fluid. Apparently the creepy factor on Fringe isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

90210 – the CW 9/8c
“The Dionysian Debacle” – Naomi’s older sister returns to town, and of course she’s a drama queen. Annie and Navid tell their parents their plans for the future, which I’m sure goes swimmingly.

Cupid - ABC 10/9c
“The Tommy Brown Affair” – Back on the schedule this week, Trevor tries to match up a reformed (?) jewel thief with his parole officer. Meanwhile, Claire’s apartment has been burglarized and she ends up turning to Trevor for support. Of course she does. Who could resist Trevor?

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, April 21

Tonight’s viewing is a bit light thanks to a rerun of The Mentalist and The Unusuals temporarily taking over Cupid’s spot (don’t worry, it will return next Tuesday). Here’s what we’re watching tonight:

Fringe – Fox 9/8c
“Bad Dreams” – Did you know that tonight’s episode was written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”)? That’s some serious star power! An actual suicide at New York City’s Grand Central station is witnessed by Olivia—in Boston—in a dream, kicking off a baffling series of nightmares that may be linked to the ZFT manifesto, the drug Cortexiphan and her own childhood.

90210 – the CW 9/8c
“Between a Sign and a Hard Place” – Donna (Tori Spelling) opens up to Kelly about her recent separation, and the two hunt for a site for Donna’s new clothing store. Meanwhile, Naomi and Annie try to work through their differences; Ethan and Liam continue to bond; and Adrianna interviews potential adoptive parents. Series star Rob Estes directed the episode.

NGTV Guide: Tuesday, April 14

We’ll be catching up with the Dr. Horrible crew tonight, but there will be a full night of good TV waiting for us when we get back.

Fringe – Fox 9/8c
“Unleashed” – An animal-rights organization’s rescue mission at a laboratory backfires when it releases a vicious beast, almost mythological in appearance with a lion’s body and eagle’s talons, and Charlie is in danger of being its latest victim.

90210 – the CW 9/8c
“Okaeri, Donna!” – Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) shocks Kelly and Silver with a surprise visit. While in town, Donna agrees to design a dress for Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (playing herself). Elsewhere, Annie and Dixon revisit Dixon’s past over spring break; and Ethan, Naomi and Liam volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Cupid – ABC 10/9c
“The Great Right Hope” – A teen (Colton James) asks Trevor to help match his liberal mom (Constance Zimmer) with his boxing instructor/sperm donor-father (Lee Tergesen), but the man’s Republican beliefs may stand in the way. In other events, Claire’s free-spirited mom (Julie Hagerty) moves in with her after a breakup with her boyfriend.

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