History FanPreferredCouple / LiveactionTV

* Jeff and Annie from ''Series/{{Community}}'' evoked this reaction. The various DVD commentary overdubs indicate that this was ''planned'', when the fandom pieced together evidence that clearly showed that the final episode of the season was produced well in advance of the rest of the later-season episodes due to the availability of one of the secondary cast members. Although the writers would not have expected just how batshit insane and numerous the the Jeff/Annie shippers became.
** This goes so far that Jeff/Annie won the best couple in a TV Guide poll... despite not even being a couple.

** The preferred hetrosexual pairing is the main character Tori with Andre in a JustFriends romance.
** The preferred hetrosexual BetaCouple is Cat with JerkassWoobie Robbie. These two pairings keep the OfficialCouple Jade and Beck together, form a fleet of ShipMates, and only leaves Tori's older sister Trina who is more like a guest character than a main character unpaired.

* Despite a 27-year age difference between the characters, 73 percent of "Foyle’s War"-related fanfics found on FanFiction.net as of the beginning of 2012 romantically pair Christopher Foyle and his driver Samantha Stewart. Many fans argue that their relationship on the show is more father/daughter, but Foyle on occasion gently lets the audience know he finds Sam very attractive, and although he initially thinks her somewhat intrusive (and over time is often amused by her youthful exuberance), he quickly begins to admire her ingenuity and allows her to be involved with the solving of cases, treating her for the most part in an egalitarian manner unusual for a man of his generation and time. Add to that a lot of chemistry among the two actors, and fans want RST.

* Within Doctor Who - as it's 50 years old and all - there's been a few of these. Though early Doctors were seen as mostly asexual, [[InterspeciesRomance Rose and Nine]] or [[MayflyDecemberRomance especially Ten]] is prevalent amongst the fans on fanfiction.net. However, Doctor/Rose is blitzed by, of all things [[FoeYay Doctor/Master]] which turns up over seven hundred thousand google results, over Rose/Doctor's one hundred thousand. Three, Four, Five and Ten with their respective Masters are most common, and the age of both characters goes a long way to explaining their popularity.

* ''{{Passions}}'': At one point, many fans of Ethan and Theresa got so disgusted with Ethan's behavoir, they began actively clamoring that Theresa be paired with his brother Fox.

* While Ally from ''Series/AustinAndAlly'' has a huge crush on [[ShallowLoveInterest Dallas]], fans overwhelmingly prefer her with Austin, even though they're JustFriends.

* Lilly and Scotty from ''ColdCase'', who had a clear UnresolvedSexualTension in the early seasons (even lampshaded by John Smith, who bluntly asks Scotty, "You get a piece of that? Bet you think about it from time to time.") [[MayDecemberRomance Lilly and Stillman]] also have their fans.

* ''Series/TeenWolf'' fandom sometimes seems to ship one and only one thing. Stiles and Derek, the dorky sidekick EnsembleDarkhorse and the tall, dark and handsome older werewolf mentor. The cast and crew are vastly amused by this.

* ''Series/LostGirl'' has the LesYay pairing of Bo/Lauren.

* Harry/Nina from ''ThirdRockFromTheSun''. One episode demonstrated their potential, but they broke up before they ever got together due to a OneDialogueTwoConversations misunderstanding.

* Most fanfiction you see about the show ''ShakeItUp'' will be Cece/Rocky.

* Tommy and Kimberly from ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', who were a fan favorite and the OfficialCouple. Later on when Kimberly retired from the Rangers, she picked [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Katherine/Kat]] as her replacement. Tommy and Kimberly later ended([[OffscreenBreakup by letter]], much to the irritation of the fans). Then Kat and Tommy got together and were even [[FlashForward shown to be married in the future]]. A lot of fans [[DieForOurShip HATED this]], and loudly sounded their preference for Tommy/Kimberly.

** Amy/Doctor was also briefly but extremely popular in the Eleventh Doctor's first season, despite the fact she's now married to [[BadassNormal Rory.]]

* In the new ''Series/HawaiiFive0'' fandom, Steve/Danny is the most popular pairing by far, despite the fact that [[spoiler: the almost universally despised season finale have Danny get back together with his ex-wife, Rachael.]]

* In the new ''{{Hawaii Five-O}}'' fandom, Steve/Danny is the most popular pairing by far, despite the fact that [[spoiler: the almost universally despised season finale have Danny get back together with his ex-wife, Rachael.]]

* ''TeenWolf'' fandom sometimes seems to ship one and only one thing. Stiles and Derek, the dorky sidekick EnsembleDarkhorse and the tall, dark and handsome older werewolf mentor. The cast and crew are vastly amused by this.

** Victoria, Ted's season 1 girlfriend who according to the writers was going to be revealed as the mother if the show wasn't renewed for a second season, was a ridiculously popular love interest, even more popular than Ted/Robin. She and Ted broke up when he (sort of) cheated on her with Robin. She suddenly turned up in an early episode of Season 7 for the first time in six years. AndTheFandomRejoiced. But that rejoicing turned into anger (at the writers, not her) when in the next episode she revealed that she got a new boyfriend almost as soon as she and Ted split up, had been with this new boyfriend ever since, and was now all but engaged to him. [[spoiler:Although Ted and Victoria do run off together in the Season 7 finale. Whether this sticks remains to be seen, and is unlikely unless Craig Thomas is a LyingCreator.]]

** In season three, [[spoiler: They upgraded to OfficialCouple. AndTheFandomRejoiced]]

* Fans of ''TheElephantPrincess'' prefer Kuru and Alex over Marcus and Alex or [[OfficialCouple Caleb and Alex]] by far.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Despite the writer's early plans for John/Teyla, stronger chemistry and dynamic between other characters and an unclear shipping agenda made John/Elizabeth and John/Rodney two of the most popular 'ships in fandom.
** Keller/Ronon is generally preferred over Keller/[[spoiler:Rodney]].
** Many fans later ''wished'' the writers had gone with John/Teyla, after [[spoiler:Elizabeth died]] and Teyla got paired ''off-screen'' [[StrangledByTheRedString with a character who'd never even been mentioned before]]. And who showed absolutely no chemistry with her (or acting ability for that matter) when he finally made an on-screen appearance. Made even worse when the writers passed on numerous opportunities to kill of the character; while nobody cared enough for him to get [[TheScrappy Scrappy-level hatred]], nobody liked him either.

* ''Series/LostGirl'' has the LesYay pairing of Bo/Lauren.

* [[FlirtyStepsiblings Derek/Casey]] and [[PlatonicLifePartners Edwin/Lizzie]] are this in ''LifeWithDerek''.

* ''DowntonAbbey'' has PlatonicLifePartners Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes, who according to WordOfGod have no romantic interest in each other but who are shipped voraciously by a significant segment of the fandom anyway.

* While [[TheChosenOne Nick]] all but engaged to his live-in girlfriend in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', the fandom loves to pair him off with [[WolfMan Monroe]] instead.

* ''{{Necessary Roughness}}'' fan writers prefer the shipping of Nico and Dani over Matt and Dani.

* Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sergeant Barbara Havers of ''[[InspectorLynley The Inspector Lynley Mysteries]]'' are shipped far and wide in the (admittedly small) fandom (including by the [[NathanielParker star of the show himself]], who once declared that he'd have liked to see the series end with [[ShipperOnDeck Lynley and Havers]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen holding hands and walking into the sunset]]. Although Lynley himself spent much of the series involved with [[spoiler:and even married to]] his university BFF Helen Clyde, when [[spoiler:she dies in series 6]], all sorts of possibilities are left ''wide'' open. Couple that with a not-insignificant amount of subtext - including the fact that Lynley's relationship with Barbara, despite its difficulties, is far healthier[[note]]for a given value of healthier, given [[LivingEmotionalCrutch how screwed up]] [[BrokenBird they]] [[DefectiveDetective are]][[/note]] than his relationship with Helen ever was, the fact that Lynley will leave Helen behind to go running off with Barbara without a second thought, that they call each other their reason to get up in the morning, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pN5KHK268 the hug]] - and there's a good reason [=Lynley/Havers=] is, quite simply, the ''only'' pairing in the fandom.

* ''{{Necessary Roughness}}'' fan writers prefer the shipping of Nico and Dani over Matt and Dani

* In a situation similar to that of Goren and Eames, Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sergeant Barbara Havers of ''[[InspectorLynley The Inspector Lynley Mysteries]]'' are shipped far and wide in the (admittedly small) fandom. Although Lynley himself spent much of the series involved with [[spoiler:and even married to]] his university BFF Helen Clyde, when [[spoiler:she dies in series 6]], all sorts of possibilities are left ''wide'' open. Couple that with a not-insignificant amount of subtext - most especially [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pN5KHK268 the hug]] - and there's a good reason [=Lynley/Havers=] is, quite simply, the ''only'' pairing in the fandom.

* ''TeenWolf'' fandom sometimes seems to ship one and only one thing. Stiles and Derek, the dorky sidekick EnsembleDarkhorse and the tall, dark and handsome older werewolf mentor. The cast and crew are vastly amused by this.

* ''UglyBetty'' has Daniel/Betty. They never [[MaybeEverAfter officially got together]], much to the frustration of shippers.

* ''{{Chuck}}'' fan writers occasionally ship up John Casey and Ellie, the title character's sister, even though Ellie is {{happily married}} to Captain Awesome.
* ''{{Smallville}}'' has two. The big one is Chlark, the pairing of best friends Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan, the only two characters to remain main cast members for all ten seasons. Though the characters have kissed, and both have shown to have feelings for the other at various times (often not at the same time), the inevitability of Clark Kent and Lois Lane being the OfficialCouple long before it happened (or Lois was even introduced) causes some fans to be convinced that Chloe Sullivan really ''was'' Lois Lane, and would be changing her name any day now. Though Clark's pairing with Lois became accepted eventually and even somewhat popular (much more so than Clark with his first love interest, Lana Lang) Chlark still seems to be the most beloved pairing of this show.

* Olivia and Peter on ''{{Fringe}}''. And while [[RomanticFalseLead Altlivia]] gets a lot of DieForOurShip attitude from fans, [[ShipMates most of us prefer her with Lincoln anyway]].
* [[{{Merlin}} Merlin/Arthur]]. No, really. The couple was popular from the very first episode and it grew more and more until hundreds of fans began to watch the show for the main reason that Merlin and Arthur looked really good together. On every youtube that the two appear together in, most comments are about the homoerotic subtext in their relationship, about how they are secretly lovers/married, etc. Not to mention there's another fanbase, almost as big as the Arthur/Merlin one, that is completely dedicated to [[ActorShipping shipping their actors]], Colin Morgan and Bradley James.

* Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson of ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Or, considering the fact that, for [[PlatonicLifePartners all intents and purposes]], Elliot and Olivia are the OfficialCouple, Alex Cabot and [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Olivia Benson]].
* Just watch the last ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' movie and you will see that even the producers have become [[BrotherSisterIncest Jalex]] fans (along with almost every fan of the show). Seriously, Justin and Alex act more like a couple than siblings. This is either due to the creators' inability to portray a "[[InnocentInnuendo clean]]" brother-sister relationship or [[RelationshipWritingFumble they just did it on purpose]]. Perhaps they realized that they made a great mistake when they made Justin and Alex brother and sister instead of best friends [[WhatCouldHaveBeen as originally intended]].

* Several examples from ''{{Glee}}'':

* Tommy and Kimberly from ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', who were a fan favorite and the OfficialCouple. Later on when Kimberly retired from the Rangers, she picked [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Katherine/Kat]] as her replacement. Tommy and Kimberly later ended([[OffscreenBreakup by letter]], much to the irritation of the fans). Then Kat and Tommy got together and were even [[FlashForward shown to be married in the future]]. A lot of fans [[DieForOurShip HATED this]], and loudly sounded their preference for Tommy/Kimberly.

* Dawson and Joey in the first season of ''[[DawsonsCreek Dawson's Creek]]''. For that matter, Joey and Pacey in the first two and a half seasons of the show. It's ultimately settled when [[spoiler: Joey/Pacey]] become the official couple in the series finale.

* Josh and Donna in the first season of ''TheWestWing'', so much that they eventually became the OfficialCouple.

* Most viewers wanted to see Kara and Lee together, but in the GrandFinale of ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' we find out they don't get together after all.

* Most ''BetterOffTed'' viewers ship Ted with Veronica over DesignatedLoveInterest Linda, despite the fact that Veronica is TheStoic who has no interest in a romantic relationship with Ted. It helps that they have already had sex without it getting weird, plus they get along well even though Veronica is Ted's boss and Veronica gets along well with Ted's daughter Rose.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'': JD/Cox is the most popular ship in the fandom, despite the fact that JD [[spoiler:and Elliot end up together]] and Dr. Cox has been in a stable relationship with his ex-wife since season 2. It's also kind of ironic because canon-wise, JD and Turk are the ones who have a lot of HoYay.

* Despite being infamous for its DatingDoSiDo, Jimmy/Ellie was one of the more popular ships that never became official in ''DegrassiTheNextGeneration''. While writers {{ship tease}}d it for a season, they [[ShipSinking ultimately decided to keep Ellie in a love triangle with Craig and Manny]]. As of late, Sean/Emma are probably the most obvious example of this.
* Jackie and Hyde on ''That70sShow''. An interesting case since the writers actually made the two a couple in later seasons... only for them to break up and cause them to slip right back into preferred territory with even more fans then before.
* In the US version of ''TheOffice'', nigh everything involving Jim and Pam up until season 4 had been pretty obviously a shameless, cackling gambit to get this reaction out of the audience.

* ''{{Victorious}}'' as a Nickelodeon teen comedy is unlikely to end with canon lesbian or gay pairings. This has lead to a handful of FanPreferredCouple variations due to the Segregation rule:

* ''{{Leverage}}'': There are a ''lot'' of Eliot/Parker fics on fanfiction.net, despite Parker/Hardison being the OfficialCouple now and having had the [=UST=] massively pushed from at least season 2.
* ''TheMentalist'' had Lisbon/Bosco as a canonical one-sided romance, which, while having the small issue of ''Bosco being married'', also has the much bigger problem of being universally hated because most fans are Jane/Lisbon.

* In ''{{Psych}}'', [[FoeYay Shawn/Lassiter]] used to be the biggest pairing a few seasons back. But now that Shawn/Juliet is the OfficialCouple, it's lost some of it's popularity. Though sites such as LiveJournal still continue to have devoted [[PortmanteauCoupleName Shassie]] followings.

* Sheldon/Penny on ''TheBigBangTheory'' is the OneTruePairing, as far as the shippers are concerned. The breakup of the OfficialCouple, Leonard/Penny, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing invited some celebration]] on the part of more than a few fans. WordOfGod states it will never happen, however.

* Barney/Robin of ''HowIMetYourMother''. They actually became canon after more than a season of build-up... and then broke up after a few episodes, with Robin getting a new love interest [[TheScrappy universally hated by the fandom]]. [[spoiler:Although they are soon to be canon again, as they will get married in the future.]]

* ''NewGirl'': Jess/Nick.

* On ''{{Frasier}}'', Niles/Daphne was always infinitely preferred to Niles/Maris, even though Niles and Maris were married. To give you an idea of why: part of the reason Maris remained TheGhost throughout the show's run was because her actions were so horrible and psychotic, and her appearance so bizarrely described that the writers deemed it impossible to ever write dialogue for or cast a character of her level of monstrosity. (Niles and Daphne eventually became the OfficialCouple).

* Despite the fact they constantly date other people, Booth/Bones in the titular {{Bones}} is the fan preferred couple. Which is rather ''duh'' and just a matter of "''when'' will they?", but they have thrown in very likable characters as rival couplings.

* In ''{{Hannah Montana}}'' fanfiction Miley is rarely paired with Jake or Jesse, the guys she dated. Instead in canonical fiction (as opposed to falsely categorized stories about Miley Cyrus) she more often paired with Oliver, Lilly, or Mikayla.

* It did not take long for fans of ''TwoBrokeGirls'' to latch onto the pairing of Caroline/Max.

* While [[TheChosenOne Nick]] all but engaged to his live-in girlfriend in ''{{Grimm}}'', the fandom loves to pair him off with [[WolfMan Monroe]] instead.

* ''{{Warehouse13}}'''s fan preferred couple is without question Myka/HG, though there are Pete/Myka shippers as well.
* Go to FanFictionDotNet, and you will see that almost every ''RizzoliAndIsles'' story is Jane/Maura. It's not hard to see why these two are constantly being shipped, with all the heavy-duty LesYay and whatnot.
* For most of the fifth season of ''HouseMD'', fans preferred Thriteen and Kutner to the OfficialCouple, Thirteen and Foreman. This probably resulted from [[ShippingGoggles many fans' interpretations]] that Thirteen and Kutner were previously being set up as a potential couple, the common sentiment that the Thirteen/Foreman get-together [[AssPull came out of nowhere]], and just the fact that Foreman was easily the least popular character at the time. The pairing did eventually gain some popularity, especially once [[spoiler:Kutner died.]]

** There is a circulating theory that the writers' originally intended for Thirteen and Kutner to get together, but when they became aware that Kal Penn was planning on leaving the show, they [[RealLifeWritesThePlot stopped setting up Thirteen/Kutner]] and started setting up Thirteen/Foreman instead. This is supported by the fact that Thirteen and Kutner abruptly stopped having scenes together right around the time Thirteen and Foreman were starting to be set up.