Follow TV Tropes

Following

Betty And Veronica / Live-Action TV

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarah_chuck_lou.png
Deli owner or superspy? Take your pick!

  • Reality TV dating shows in which a host of women try to win a man's heart will often set up the final two female candidates for the male's affections as this. Examples are Trista (Betty) and Amanda (Veronica) on the first season of The Bachelor and Paige (Betty) and Erin (Veronica) on the first season of For Love or for Money.


  • 30 Rock plays this trope straight for the second half of the fourth season with Jack (Archie) trying to choose between Nancy Donovan (Betty), a devout Irish Catholic and single mother who was his high school crush and Avery Jessup (Veronica), the fast-talking host of a political talk show who begins her relationship with Jack as a one-night-stand. There's even an explicit reference to this trope when Nancy doesn't think it's possible to be in love with two people at the same time, and Jack says, "It's possible. Haven't you ever read Archie comics?" Jack chooses Avery after learning that she is pregnant and they get married. They eventually divorce, and Jack is seen getting into a "group relationship" with Nancy and Elisa (another ex-girlfriend) in the Series Finale.
  • The 100 has several:
    • The Clarke/Finn/Raven Love Triangle is very much an example of this, with Clarke as Veronica, Finn as Archie, and Raven as Betty. An interesting example, since Clarke is the blonde do-gooder and Raven the snarky brunette, but Raven is the childhood friend and Clarke the newcomer to whom Finn is drawn.
    • Meanwhile, Finn is the Betty (as the familiar friend) to Lexa's Veronica (as the powerful leader with unclear alliances), with Clarke as Archie.
    • Jasper/Octavia/Lincoln with the younger, friendlier, fellow 100 member Jasper as Betty, O as Archie, and the brooding, mysterious Grounder Lincoln (the clear winner) as Veronica. Plus Harper/Jasper/Octavia with Harper as Betty, Jasper as Archie, and O as Veronica.
  • Ace Lightning has Heather and Sam who both date Mark at one point or another and have seemingly conflicting personalities and yet are best friends. Kind of like the original Betty and Veronica, really.
  • Done Aborted Arc style in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. where the pilot introduces both the scholarly Amanda Wickwire (Betty) and saloon girl Dixie Cousins (Veronica) in what would seem to be an obvious set-up for a series love triangle. However, the chemistry between Brisco and Dixie was so immediate and obvious that the production team dropped Amanda for the rest of the series, even though her inventor father would appear throughout the series.
  • Every third episode of Ally McBeal had this plot, either for Ally or one of her clients.
  • Alta Mar:
    • With the female Archie, ironically, being called Verónica. She is torn between nice, friendly Dimas, a servant who is in love with her from the start, and Dimas's master Sebastián, who is out of her league and The Casanova. As of the second season's finale, she has decided to just stay single for the time being.
    • The sweet and kind Carolina and the wilful, impulsive Rosa for Fernando. He loves both (he says) but would have stayed with the latter, had she not been killed.
  • On American Horror Story: Coven, Nan is a nice girl with Down Syndrome and Madison is a beautiful—if drug-addled—teen movie star. Both are attracted to Luke, their cute new neighbor, and welcome him in their own ways: Nan bakes him a cake (using her empathy powers to know that yellow is his favorite) and Madison shows up in a skimpy dress and aggressively flirts with him ("He's so repressed, all I have to do is say 'panties' and he'll jizz all over himself"). Interestingly, he barely even notices Madison and is instantly smitten with Nan.
  • The Mexican telenovela Amigas y rivales has this, with Luis as Archie, Irene as Betty, a fat, friendly, adorable and sweet girl; and Tamara as Veronica, a sensually exotic girl and a complete Ms. Fanservice. Irene has black hair and Tamara is blonde. Luis chooses Irene in the end
  • A gender-flipped Angel example: Fred (Archie) had to choose between the tough, street-smart former gang leader Gunn (Veronica) and The Smart Guy bookish, nerdy Wes (Betty). (Ironically in Seasons 4 and 5 these roles are reversed, due to Wesley talking a level in badass and Gunn getting a brain implant in the latter season). Eventually, she chose her Veronica, then broke up with him, turned to her Betty, died, became an ancient goddess, nearly killed both of them (one inadvertently), then Wes died. Long story.
    • Wesley had this vibe with his Dating Catwoman relationship with Lilah Morgan, versus his crush on Fred. Eventually he dumps Lilah for Fred, only to have his chances killed prematurely when Fred finds out about Lilah. Wes starts a brief relationship the following year, only for Fred to get killed.
    • Angel's complicated relationship with the noble, heroic Buffy (Betty) and Lovable Alpha Bitch Cordelia (Veronica). He picks Buffy over on her show, breaks up with her, and falls in love with Cordelia...but things being what they are, she's possessed by a demon, falls into a coma, and dies.
  • Apple Tree Yard features a gender-flipped version, with Gary as the Betty and Mark as the Veronica for Yvonne. Gary is the dull, mild-mannered college professor she's been married to for decades and while he's not unkind to her, their relationship resembles that of roommates more than anything. Mark is the charming, mysterious Secret Service agent who sweeps her off her feet. Mark turns out to be a seriously unstable womanizer and throws Yvonne under the bus when his murder trial isn't going in his favor. Gary fully supports Yvonne throughout the whole ordeal, vehemently defends her and stands by her even after learning she had an affair with Mark.
  • Bates Motel has a textbook example, with Norman as Archie, Emma as Betty—Just Friends and openly crazy about him to no avail, as was often the case with the trope namer; and the popular, unattainable, and more conventionally sexy Bradley as Veronica, going hot and cold on him (as the original Veronica was apt to do).
  • Battlestar Galactica (2003) has a triple version:
    • Starbuck (Archie) is torn between resistance fighter Sam (Veronica) and golden boy Lee (Betty)
    • Then, Lee (Archie) has daredevil pilot Starbuck (Veronica) versus responsible Dee(Betty)
    • Finally, Dee (Archie) is faced with the more tortured Lee (Veronica) and sweetheart Billy (Betty)
  • The original Beverly Hills, 90210 had Dylan (blend of Johnny Depp and James Dean) choose between Brenda (Betty) and Kelly (Veronica). He dated both for some time, until he finally choose Kelly. Some seasons later Kelly had to choose between Dylan and Brandon (Mr. Nice Guy).
    • Also done a lot in the new 90210, where love triangles abound: Ethan has to choose between his on-again-off-again girlfriend Naomi and the newcomer Annie; when he chooser her, it's Annie's turn as she's torn between Ethan and her ex- from Kansas; later on, Ethan develops feelings for Rhonda (the new Betty) and finally for Erin Silver, who in turn has to choose between him and Dixon (the white WASP jock with a newfound sentimental side vs the black official boyfriend who's also the new kid in town). During the second season, it's Adrianna choosing between Teddy and Navid (the blond jock womanizer vs the Iranian-American brunet nerd with a crush on her since childhood), and later on it's Silver choosing between Teddy and Dixon (the former having become a Betty and the latter now being manipulative and Machiavellian). Liam was also Veronica in season one (with Ethan being Betty and Naomi being Archie) and became Archie in season 2 (with Naomi being Veronica and Ivy being Betty).
  • Big Time Rush has Kendall involved in relationships with Girl Next Door Jo (Betty) and rocker chick Lucy (Veronica). He ultimately chooses Jo, and Lucy instead goes out with James. Carlos spent most of the show chasing the Jennifers (Veronicas) before ultimately settling on former Spy Kids star Alexa Vega (Betty), who the real Carlos would later marry. Logan's main love interest was Camille, who was mostly a Betty, while quite a few minor Veronicas came in the scene every now and then.
  • The Bold and the Beautiful has used this for years, most famously with Ridge Forrester (Archie), Brooke Logan (a blonde Veronica), and Taylor Hayes (a brunette Betty). Recently, the triangle has been Liam Spencer (Archie), Hope Logan (Betty), and Steffy Forrester (Veronica).
  • Bridgerton:
    • Daphne Bridgerton is the Archie to Prince Friedrich's nice, charming, perfect-husband-material Betty and Duke Simon Basset's Tall, Dark, and Snarky, Byronic, rougish Veronica. All three fit this dynamic down to the hair color!
    • A less clean-cut version sees Coling Bridgerton as the Archie to Nice Girl, Unlucky Childhood Friend Penelope Featherington's Betty and the wordlier, sexier, manipulative Marina Thompson's Veronica. Except Marina is really a romantic-at-heart country girl who schemes not out of malice, but only out of desperation to provide for her unborn child, while Penelope is both a nice and affable character, and secretly the famed gossipmonger Lady Whistledown, entirely willing to weaponise her alter ego against her rival for Colin's affection.
    • The Sharmas' sibling triangle with Anthony: the season's incomparable debutante Edwina is the shy Betty; perfectly ladylike and has aspirations to become a wife and mother, while her older sister Kate is the sassy Veronica; witty, spirited, and independent. His sister, Daphne, easily clocks that despite Anthony very publicly pursues Edwina's hand, he is not as excited about her as he should be, instead he seems more enthusiastic with Kate's presence, who shares the same traits with him. She tries to steer him towards acknowledging this, to mixed results.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer has quite a few examples. Willow was the Betty to Xander's Archie. She was a genuine love interest for Xander, but he was far more drawn, in different ways, towards two different Veronicas: Buffy and Cordelia. (This being Joss Whedon, when Xander finally started to return Willow's interest, it trashed his relationship with Cordelia, nearly trashed Willow's relationship with Oz, and did not lead to Xander and Willow living together happily ever after.)
    • Early seasons also have the gender-flipped version with Buffy as Archie, her friend Xander as Betty and the vampire Angel as Veronica.
    • Buffy and Faith had a strong Betty And Veronica vibe going, although the guy playing Archie changed regularly. Xander, Angel, Riley, Spike, and Robin all took turns - usually fairly brief - in the Archie seat. For those keeping score, Buffy was simultaneously the Veronica to Willow's Betty and the Betty to Faith's Veronica. There's probably a lesson here.
    • Also subverted in early seasons in that Cordelia, an obvious Veronica, was interested in a seemingly willfully oblivious Angel, who only had eyes for Betty: the "good girl" Buffy (who's actually much more physically dangerous at this point, being the Slayer and whatnot).
    • Willow was also Oz's Betty, as opposed to sexy werewolf Veruca. Betty wins, but then Oz leaves, realising that he's a danger to people and has to go figure out his condition before he can be around her.
    • In season 8, Willow's girlfriend Kennedy was her Betty, with Willow's mentor/lover Aluwyn, the snake demon lady from a magical dimension, as Veronica.
    • In the Season 7 episode "Him" Dawn and Buffy fall in love with the same guy due to a love spell. Dawn tries to kill herself because she doesn't think she can compete with her big sister who slays demons and has rough sex with vampires.
    • There's a genderflipped version for Angel-Buffy-Spike; the quiet, mysterious vampire who used to be the greatest monster the Buffyverse had ever known that Buffy falls so hard for, and Spike; the brash arrogant sired by Angel love interest who falls so hard for Buffy that he goes to great pains to reform. The two also have an ongoing love/hate relationship, and the season 9 comics addresses this.
    • Interestingly, Angel and Spike's roles started out reversed back in Season 2 when Angel loses his soul and gets involved in the Spike-Drusilla-Angel love triangle. While souled Angel is quiet and thoughtful, Angelus is outgoing, charismatic and one of the most sadistic vampires who ever existed. Spike, while also evil, has a few drops of humanity (according to The Judge), clearly loves Drusilla and is an extremely doting boyfriend, making him the clear Betty to Angelus' Veronica.
    • Season 4 has Willow choosing between ex-boyfriend Oz (Veronica) and Tara (Betty). Both are very kind and soft-spoken, but Oz is a cool guitarist who has a somewhat uncontrolled werewolf side and Tara is a shy and insecure good witch. Willow chooses Tara.
    • Riley is the Betty to both Angel, Buffy's dark, mysterious vampire ex-boyfriend who sometimes turns evil, and Spike, the evil and hotheaded punk vampire. Riley gets the short end of the stick in both cases.
    • There is also a very short-lived love triangle in Season 5 when Drusilla (Veronica) comes back to Sunnydale. At first it seems like the Buffy-obsessed Spike is returning to her, but it turns out he chooses Buffy (Betty) and offers to kill his ex to prove his love.
    • Season 2 sees Buffy play the Betty to Drusilla's Veronica and Angel's Archie, though Angel shows no real interest in Drusilla.
  • Charmed:
    • Early season one episodes have Piper (Betty), and Phoebe (Veronica) vying for Leo's (Archie) affections, he chooses Piper.
    • Season two has Piper (Archie) torn between Leo (Veronica), and her new boyfriend Dan (Betty), though in this case both of them are nice guys, the reason the trope applies is that Dan is a normal guy and Leo is "The Charmed One's" whitelighter, who are forbidden from pursuing a romantic relationship with their charges, making him the more "risky" of the two options. This problem is temporarily solved when Leo has his powers taken away in the middle of the season, now human, he steps up his efforts to win Piper's affections. This forces Piper to finally make a choice between him and Dan, she ultimately realizes Leo is the one she really loves, and even after he gets his powers back, she still chooses him.
  • Chuck: For one or two episodes, Chuck has to choose between CIA Action Girl Sarah (Veronica) and sweet deli owner Lou (Betty). Later, there's a Gender Flip example when Sarah has to choose between Chuck (Betty) and her spy ex-boyfriend Bryce (Veronica).
  • Community episode "Pascal's Triangle Revisited" ends with Jeff (Archie) struggling to make a decision after both Britta (Betty) and Professor Slater (Veronica) confess their love for him. He ends up taking a Third-Option Love Interest in Annie (Cheryl).
    • Jeff as the Archie to Annie (Betty) and Britta (Veronica) in Community season 2.
    • Jeff himself is a Veronica to Troy's Betty where Britta (Archie) is concerned.
  • Control Z: Helpful Javier is the Betty to troubled Raul's Veronica for Sofia's Archie.
  • Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:
    • At the start of season one, Josh is the Archie. Valencia, his current girlfriend, is the cold, sensual and rude Veronica, while Rebecca is the fun, quirky, lovable Betty. Late in the season, however, Rebecca notices that this is only her own take of the situation, she later realizes that in Veronica's eyes, she herself is the Betty, being Josh's girlfriend for the last 15 years, while Rebecca is the exotic and attractive Veronica.
    • In season 1, Rebecca is also torn between the nice and loving Josh and the sarcastic and cynic Greg. That being said, they also blurry the lines between Betty and Veronica, as while Josh is nicer, he is also the prize Rebecca is after, while Greg is much closer to her and more approachable.
    • In Season 2, Rebecca is the Archie to Josh's Betty, the Nice Guy who she is currently dating, while she now meets the cold Amoral Attorney Nathaniel.
  • Danger 5's Multinational Team includes blonde proper English by-the-book spy Claire, in contrast to the sexy Russian Hard-Drinking Party Girl spy, Ilsa. Although the contrast between them is pretty clear, they're never really set up as opposing sides of a love triangle, however.
  • In Dark Shadows, the original supernatural soap opera, Friendly Neighborhood Vampire Barnabas Collins is torn between the memory of his fiancee, Josette du Pre, a Betty type, and the Veronica type (to the max) Angelique, the witch who gave him the vampire curse. At the end he gets over his torch for Josette, and avows to Angelique that he loves her. She is then killed (albeit not for very long), and Barnabas ends up with neither.
  • Dash & Lily: The contrast between Dash (Archie)'s love interests, Sofia and Lily. Sofia has many traits of the Veronica — a sophisticated and well-traveled foreigner who does all the socializing for him. Lily is Betty-like: an awkward and upbeat girl who has lived her whole life in New York City and who instantly connects with Dash on a deep level. The only trait that flips is their familiarity with Dash: Sofia is the ex-girlfriend for whom he still has nebulous feelings for; Lily is the mysterious new girl whom he hasn't met yet.
  • In Dawson's Creek, Joey was at first the Betty to Dawson's Archie, while Jen was the Veronica. Later on the gender roles switched, and Dawson became the Betty to Joey's Archie, with Pacey as the Veronica.
  • Degrassi: The Next Generation has a gay (male) Betty And Veronica played straight — one boyfriend is a timid neat freak, and the other one is clueless and selfish.
    • Later on, KC is stuck in a Love Triangle with his girlfriend Clare (prudish and low-key) and new girl Jenna (upbeat and perky).
    • JT had a discussion with Toby about whether he should go back to Liberty who's like oatmeal or stick with new flame Mia who's as exciting a meatball sub. Unfortunately, we never got to see how this would have played out.
    • The Katie/Drew/Bianca triangle fits this. Katie is the Betty to Bianca's Veronica.
  • Dexter has sensible, kind (and blonde) Rita as Betty to dark-haired, dangerous, manipulative former addict Lila as Veronica. Interestingly, as he is a sociopathic serial killer, he'd likely be just as happy without either of them - but he needs them as cover.
  • The fourth season of A Different World has Dwayne (Archie) torn between his new girlfriend Kinu (Betty) and the snobby, occasionally stuck-up, and previously unattainable Whitley (Veronica). In an aversion of the usual outcome of this trope, Veronica wins.
  • Doctor Who has Amy between dorkily cute Rory (Betty) and the adventurous Doctor (Veronica). This is also a take on the trope where Veronica happens to be an active Shipper on Deck for Archie and Betty, mind you.
  • Dollhouse: Mellie (Betty), Paul (Archie), and Echo (Veronica). Subverted in that Mellie turns out to be a sleeper active planted by the Dollhouse.
  • NBC's Dracula:
    • There's Mina Murray as the Betty and Jayne Wetherby as the Veronica to Dracula's Archie. Mina is the reincarnation of Dracula's long lost love and Jayne is a seductive vampire hunter. Though he begins an affair with Jayne he falls in love with Mina. Interesting to note that in this case the Betty is the unattainable one as she is the fiance of a man who is working for him. And the danger element of the Veronica is taken up to 11 as she would kill him if she knew who he was. Indeed she does try to kill him when she finds out his secret.
    • There is a gender-flipped example: Mina (Archie) is torn between her reliable fiancé Jonathan Harker (Betty) and the mysterious and seductive Mr. Grayson (Veronica) — Dracula in disguise.
  • In Emily in Paris, French chef Gabriel (Archie) has to choose between his current girlfriend Camille (Betty) and his new American neighbor Emily (Veronica).
  • In Family Matters, Steve Urkel ends up in a love triangle with Laura and Myra, which can be interpreted in two ways. Either you can see Myra as the Betty (she's a fellow nerd, who loves him no matter what) and Laura as the Veronica (she's the popular and shallow girl, who will not date him until he gives himself a make-over), or you can see Laura as the Betty (she's a more normal and less seductive Girl Next Door, who has been Steve's "big love" since Kindergarten) and Myra as the Veronica (she's a more sexually aggressive new-comer, who is there to mess with Steve's emotions). But anyhow, Steve chooses Laura in the end.
  • Fellow Travelers:
    • On Fire Island, Timothy Laughlin is the responsible Betty and Craig is the hard-partying Veronica who are both rivals for Hawkins Fuller's affection.
    • In 1957, as Hawk's male mistress, Tim is the Veronica to housewife Lucy's Betty.
  • Any time Frasier has more than one woman to decide between (eg Faye & Cassandra; Lana & Claire), they'll tend to have dramatically contrasting personalities which appeal to different sides of him.
  • The third season of Friends has Ross choosing between Rachel (Betty) and Bonnie (Veronica). They're both blonde, but the trope still applies as Rachel was his best friend, on-again-off-again ex-girlfriend and the woman he'd been in love with since his teenage years and Bonnie was the exotic hypersexual newcomer. Subverted in an early episode where Phoebe has to choose between a bulky fireman and a sweet schoolteacher, only to find out both of them were both athletic and sensitive (i.e. not too different after all).
    • The second season love triangle between Ross, Rachel and Julie. Rachel (Veronica) is the ex-cheerleader, more convetionally attractive one, whereas Julie (Betty) is the nerdier, less confident, more reliable one.
    • Season 6 has Monica (Archie) choosing between self-doubting, long-time best friend Chandler and sophisticated, ex-boyfriend Richard. Apperance wise, its fits, as Richard is Tall, Dark, and Handsome and Chandler is fairer haired and not considered very attractive. Monica still picks him.
    • During seasons 8-9 between Rachel (Archie), Joey (Veronica), and Ross (Betty). Although lines are more blurred as Joey is very sweet, nice and protective of Rachel, while Ross and Rachel's relationship is very rocky and tense.
    • During seasons 9-10, the triangle between Charlie (Archie), Joey (Veronica) and Ross (Betty). Charlie and Joey share nothing beyond physical attraction while both Charlie and Ross are paleontologist. Charlie hooks up with Joey at first but eventually chooses Ross. Later brought up again with Benjamin Hobart who becomes the Veronica to Ross' Betty, being more successful and more confident, compaired to Ross' "average-Joe PhD".
  • On Fringe, Peter was the Archie to Fauxlivia's Veronica and Olivia's Betty. Fauxlivia only became a love interest for Peter because she was pretending to be Olivia, but she was definitely the more exotic option.
  • Frontier (2016): Michael Smyth starts the series attracted to Clenna Dolan, an Irish girl he knew in London who is unaccustomed to the new world, but after he joins up with Harp's band he grows closer to Sokanon, a native warrior, hunter, and tracker. Appropriately, the Betty and Veronica in this case are a blonde and brunette, respectively. Michael seems to choose Sokanon after Clenna says that she cannot live in the wild with him, but soon after Sokanon leaves him when she realizes that he will not choose the Cree cause over the Black Wolf company/gang.
  • An interesting version on the Soap Opera General Hospital (a very standard Soap Opera plot, as a matter of fact), which had Jagger being torn between Karen (The Betty) and Brenda (The Veronica). However, in this case, the trope is subverted, because (a) not only is the Veronica more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold than an outright bitch, it's she who futilely struggled to get Jagger's attention while the Betty had Jagger's undying love and devotion. Furthermore, the rebellious bad boy Jagger himself was the Veronica while Karen was undecided between him and golden boy Jason (the Betty), and this time, the trope is played straight, as Karen eventually dumped Jason for Jagger.
  • Gilligan's Island has the perennial question of "Ginger or Mary Ann?", where Ginger is the Veronica and Mary Ann is the Betty. However, this one didn't involve an actual love triangle between the characters; it was more of a perennial debate among viewers/fans of the show, although it was also the subject of the Beauty Contest episode "Beauty Is As Beauty Does" (which threw Mrs. Howell into the mix as well).
  • Gilmore Girls lives on this trope, with Rory playing Archie to the following Betty vs Veronica dyanmics:
    • First, it's Dean (Betty) vs rich jerk Tristan (Veronica). Second, it's Dean (Betty) vs Jess (Veronica), a bad boy intellectual. Third at College, it's Marty (Betty) vs new rich jerk Logan (Veronica). Finally, Jess returns, for reformed Jess vs Logan.
    • Lorelai also plays Archie a few times, with her long-time, best friend Luke acting as Betty to Max, Alex, Jason and Christopher. He wins... eventually.
  • In Girl Meets World, Riley is:
    • The Betty to Maya's Veronica and Lucas' Archie. Riley wins.
    • In "Girl Meets Sneak Attack", she is the Betty (again) to Missy's Veronica and Lucas' Archie. Riley wins again.
    • The Betty (again), to Maya's Veronica (again), Smackle's Cheryl Blossom to Farkle's Archie. Smackle wins.
    • The Archie to Farkle's Betty, Lucas' Veronica and Charlie Gardner's Cheryl Blossom. Lucas wins. Charlie and Farkle are okay with it as they display the I Want My Beloved to Be Happy trope.
    • In turn, Lucas is the Archie to Riley's Betty and Maya's Veronica. In "Girl Meets Ski Lodge", he realizes he only liked a Betty-fied (or Riley-fied) version of Maya and truly liked Riley all along.
  • Glee has Rachel as Betty and Quinn as Veronica to Finn's Archie.
    • This is subverted in the episode "Original Songs", when Quinn explains to Rachel that, however things might appear, she, Quinn, is actually the girl-next-door whom Finn will end up settling for, and Rachel is really the unattainable fantasy dream-girl.
    • Also Finn (Betty) and Puck (Veronica) to Quinn (Archie).
    • Rachel's Archie to Finn as Betty and (over the course of the series) Jesse, Puck, and Brody as Veronica.
    • Brittany has had a hand in quite a few of these. She was the Betty to Puck's Veronica when they both pursued Santana. She herself was the Archie when Artie (Betty) and Santana (Veronica) pursued her. She again was the Archie but with Santana as Betty when Brittany started dating Sam.
    • Blaine was briefly the Archie to Kurt's Betty and Sebastian's Veronica. He stayed loyal to Kurt, but never really turned down Sebastian's advances until the rock salt in the eye incident.
    • Artie (Betty) and Rory (Veronica) trying to woo Sugar.
    • Season Four has given us Ryder (Betty) and Jake (Veronica) vying for Marley. In a subversion of this trope, Marley chose Jake.
  • In Glue, Tina is torn between wayward boyfriend Rob and noble loner Eli. Eli's the Veronica - he's a serial killer by the series' end.
  • The Good Doctor: Dr. Shaun Murphy is Archie, the patient Dr. Carly Lever is Betty and his impulsive neighbor and roommate Lea Dilallo is Veronica. He ends up choosing Lea.
  • Gossip Girl has used this several times, most effectively with Blair having to choose between Nate (Betty) and Chuck (Veronica).
    • Quite ironically, during the first season, both Chuck and Nate were 50/50 Betty and Veronica: Chuck was the bad boy but was always there for Blair; Nate was the cute soulmate-type but in reality he'd cheated on her and was still in love with Serena.
    • An even more infamous Blair case occurs in seasons four and five with Dan/Blair/Chuck: Chuck once again playing the Veronica while Dan is Betty. Though the fandom would rather forget this one...
    • Perhaps a better example (though not nearly as popular) is the way Vanessa acted as Betty for Dan, while Serena, Georgina and the Hillary Duff character were Veronica's, the latter being the one who pointed out how Dan had developed feelings for Vanessa.
    • Serena is the Betty to Blair's Veroncia, with Nate as their Archie during Season 1, considering that Blair is continuously the scheming mean girl to Serena's sunny, sweet do-gooder and their natures are constantly clashing. Plus strict adherence to color coding.
  • Male version as well in Grey's Anatomy: For a little while, Meredith (Archie) hesitates between dark haired McDreamy Derek (more of a Veronica) and the nice McVet Finn (a complete Betty).
  • Grimm: Looks like Rosalee is Monroe's Betty while Angelina was clearly his Veronica.
    • Conversely Juliette would be the Betty and Adalind would be the Veronica to Nick.
    • Rosalee's ex boyfriend and Monroe are her Veronica (brooding freedom fighter) and Betty (sweet clockworker with an interest in the strange music they both love).
    • In Season 2, when Renard used a potion on Juliette that made her amnesiac and gave them a mutual obsession, he became the Veronica to Nick's Betty.
  • H₂O: Just Add Water: The second season's conflict was caused by one such triangle, with Lewis as the Archie, his childhood friend Cleo as the Betty, and newcomer Charlotte as the Veronica. The triangle quickly falls to Cleo's side with Lewis prioritizing her over anything Charlotte wants, causing Charlotte to go to extreme measures to keep Lewis interested in her.
    • Mako Mermaids: An H₂O Adventure: Season one features a triangle between protagonist Zac, his established girlfriend Evie as the Betty, and the mermaid Lyla as the Veronica. Zac complicates things by trusting Lyla with his secret of being a merman even before he learns she's a mermaid, but not Evie, who jumps to the logical conclusion that her boyfriend is cheating on her with this strange new girl who keeps showing up wherever he goes. The triangle ends with Lyla leaving Mako after the first season, leaving Zac and Evie to stay together for the rest of the series.
  • HEX did this with both of its female protagonists.
    • Cassie had the choice of Lovable Jock Troy who comforts her after Thelma's death as the Betty, while fallen angel Azazeal, who wants her to give birth to the Anti-Christ, is clearly the Veronica. Cassie falling under Azazeal's control quickly puts an end to the triangle as a heartbroken Troy decides he's had enough and leaves the school.
    • Ella had the well meaning but bumbling Leon as the Betty and the charismatic Malachi, who she's supposed to kill because he's the aforementioned anti-Christ as the Veronica. Having sex with Malachi however de-powers Ella and turns her into a succubus. Once Thelma frees her from Malachi's control, Ella makes it very clear she doesn't appreciate what he did to her and she returns to Leon.
  • How I Met Your Mother has had several Love Triangles involving this trope.
  • Interview with the Vampire (2022): For Lestat de Lioncourt (the "Archie"), the black-haired, dependable Louis de Pointe du Lac is the "Betty" (he's basically a "Househusband" — as much as a man can be in the early 20th century in a same-sex relationship — who's happy to raise their vampire daughter Claudia, although his brooding can put a damper on Lestat's enthusiasm) while the blonde, sultry Antoinette Brown is the "Veronica" (Lestat deems her as the fun one because "You're like me, you like to laugh"). Lestat wants to have his cake and eat it, too, so there's no reason for him to choose between them, so he cohabits with his boyfriend at his townhouse, and retains Antoinette as his mistress, whom he visits when things are difficult at home. In the Season 1 finale, Lestat decides to elevate Antoinette (who has been his lover for 23 years and is now a vampire) to his second wife while Louis will be his male Top Wife in a Vampire's Harem. Even in this scenario, Louis is marginally the "winner" because Lestat loves him a lot more than Antoinette, but Louis certainly doesn't feel like he has won because he despises his romantic rival and wishes she was dead. Louis was already conspiring with Claudia to murder Lestat for his Domestic Abuse, so the latter imposing this outrageous new family arrangement makes it even more unbearable for Louis, so to be free from Lestat's control and to protect Claudia's life (Lestat plans to do away with her to make room for Antoinette), the "Betty" kills both the "Archie" and the "Veronica."
  • Jake 2.0 starts off with Jake (Archie) having a crush on Sarah, his college friend, while Diane, his Doctor, starts to like him. Though he knew Sarah for years and met Diane recently, Sarah is portrayed as the unattainable beauty (Veronica) and Diane as the nerdy friend (Betty) who knows his secret. Jake then starts to have feelings for Diane as well. The triangle is resolved when Sarah starts to have feelings for Jake but gets Put on a Bus after thinking he is lying about his secret; With Sarah gone it reverts to regular UST.
  • Jane the Virgin: Being an Affectionate Parody of romance stories and telenovelas, the show of course has this.
    • Michael/Jane/Rafael: The main triangle for the first two seasons casts sensible writer Jane as the Archie, her nice-guy cop fiance Michael as the "safe" Betty, and brooding, rich, married accidental sperm donor Rafael as the "dangerous" Veronica. When Jane gets tired of the triangle in season 2, she has a Cheryl in her professor, Jonathan.
    • Jane/Rafael/Petra: Rafael is the Archie, but while his wife of five years Petra would normally be the Betty, she's actually the Veronica as she's a manipulator with a shady past. While already-engaged accidental babymama Jane would normally be the Veronica, she's the Betty because she's sensible, down-to-earth, and represents the familial ideal that Rafael is chasing.
  • Kamen Rider:
    • Kamen Rider Kiva gave Otoya Yuri (Betty - although more "troubled" than most examples) and Maya (Veronica) in 1986, while in the present day Mio is torn between old friend Wataru (Betty) and her foredestined husband Taiga (Veronica.) In both cases, the "Archie" figure dies.
    • Kamen Rider Double gave Akiko Ship Tease with both Shotaro (Betty) and Ryu (Veronica.) Veronica won.
    • Kamen Rider Ryuki tried to imply this at times with Shinji as Betty and Ren as Veronica to Yui's Archie. It never worked out; Ren was already engaged to another woman, Shinji gained Miho as a love interest in the Episode Final movie, and Yui was doomed from the beginning anyway.
  • Killing Eve: Eve is the Archie in the equation, and starts the show already married to Niko — a pacifistic, loving, and protective, but also boring and sometimes condescending Betty. However, she attracts the attention of Villanelle, who is a wealthy, exciting, and passionate Veronica... and also a psychopathic Professional Killer. (Which actually isn't a complete turn-off, as far as Eve is concerned, believe it or not.)
  • There's a clear example in Kyle XY with Amanda, Kyle's neighbor who's easy to talk to and plays the piano in a way that touches Kyle, compared to the heartless and ruthless Jessi.
    • Also Charlie is the Archie who cheats on his virginal girlfriend with the vivacious blonde and thus ends up losing both Betty and Veronica.
  • In the Leverage season 3 episode "The Boost Job" this trope is hinted at, though it's attributed to two cars. In this case, Veronica is car salesman Penzer's exotic and Betty Eliot's slightly pimped muscle car, piloted by Nate.
    Penzer: Veronica's not for sale!
    Nate: Veronica? So Betty was the fast one. Who knew.
  • Lincoln Heights has the love triangle involving Charles (Archie), with Cassie as the (Betty) and Sage as the (Veronica). Also featured was Johnny Nightingale (Betty) and Devon (Veronica) for Lizzie (Archie).
  • Lost: Jack (Betty), Sawyer (Veronica), and Kate (Archie). But in season five, it becomes: Juliet (Betty), Kate (Veronica) and Sawyer (Archie).
  • Lost Girl has a bisexual version with female succubus Bo (Archie) having to choose between Dyson (werewolf and Veronica) and Lauren (human and Betty). That's at the start. Lines become more blurred as the season progresses.
  • Love Me if You Dare has a mild version of this, given that Jian Yao's two potential love interests are Li Xunran, her wholesome, kind, boy-next-door childhood friend, and Bo Jinyan, her rich, aloof, eccentric genius of a boss.
  • Mad Men has shown instances of two such pairings. At work is the non-relationship version with simple, hardworking Peggy (Betty, or Mary Ann, if you prefer) contrasted to sultry, flirtatious Joan (Veronica, or Ginger). Outside of the office Don Draper's relationships tend to follow this pattern as well with wife Betty being cut more from the Veronica mold (cold, emotionally distant, former model) while most of Don's mistresses are typically more Betty-like.
  • The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis had the slightly tomboyish Brainy Brunette and childhood friend Zelda Gilroy as the Betty while a revolving cast of pretty, money-hungry girls, most notably Thalia Menninger from Season 1, served as the Veronicas for Dobie's Archie.
  • On Merlin, Lancelot du Lac (aka Lancelot brought back from the dead) is the Veronica to Gwen's Archie, with Arthur as Betty.
  • The first season of Mork & Mindy had Mindy (Betty) vying for Mork's affections with former high school classmate Susan (Veronica).
  • In My So-Called Life, Brian Krakow is the love-struck, blonde boy next door (Betty). The protagonist Angela Chase (Archie) just can't see him because she's too busy lusting after bad boy Jordan Catalano (Veronica). Luckily, Brian and Jordan are Color-Coded Characters.
    • Given MSCL's unusual complexity (for a teen show), there was another, even more subtle one with Brian himself, with Sharon as Betty and Rayanne as Veronica. This essentially went nowhere as Sharon already has a love interest and Rayanne is a little too complicated for Brian to handle.
    • Far more blatant was Brian's dynamic in "Life of Brian", between the new girl Delia (Betty) and his long-held lust with Angela (Veronica). In true MSCL fashion, he ends up killing any chance of a relationship with Delia for just a whiff of a notice from Angela.
  • The Nanny is a show told from the point of view of a Veronica. Fran is the wild, lower-class "risky" option that Maxwell falls for, whereas his business partner, C.C. Babcock, is the "safe" Betty option. The Love Triangle only exists in C.C.'s mind, but that's besides the point.
    • C.C. herself is the Archie in a triangle with Maxwell (Betty) and Niles (Veronica). Like Maxwell, she eventually chooses the Veronica; the Betty wasn't the least bit interested, so that was probably a factor.
  • Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: Ned had Moze (Betty) and Suzie (Veronica). Moze had Ned (Betty) and Seth and Faymen (Veronicas). Cookie had Lisa (Betty) and Vanessa (Veronica). Although each one also had a Stalker with a Crush in the mix: Ned had the Huge Crew (Seasons 1-2) and Missy (Season 3), Moze had Loomer, and Cookie had Evelyn (Season 3).
  • Lampshaded in an episode of Neighbours, when Donna is working through her feelings for Ringo (Betty) and Andrew (Veronica). She and Kate mention several examples of this kind of triangle, including Blair, Nate and Chuck, Buffy, Riley and Angel, and Archie, Betty and Veronica. Amusingly, Kate doesn't recognise the last one.
  • Nevertheless: Na-bi has two love interests: her kind childhood friend Do-hyeok and the intriguing casanova Jae-eon.
  • At the end of season 2 of New Girl, Schmidt (Archie) has to choose between Cece (Veronica) and his old college girlfriend Elizabeth (Betty). Unable to choose between them, he dates both of them without the other's knowledge, unsurprisingly, it ends horribly.
  • Unusually The O.C. had Seth end up with popular, beautiful, initially uninterested Summer (Veronica) while the seemingly kindred spirit Anna (Betty) was quickly dropped.
  • Season 3 of The Office had Pam (Betty) and Karen (Veronica) vying for Jim's affections.
  • Once Upon a Time plays with this interestingly; initially, it looks as though Emma's Betty is Neal, her ex who wants to get back together with her, while her Veronica is Captain Hook, the flirtatious, revenge-driven pirate. However, Neal has a Veronica streak in him, as he abandoned Emma without a word of explanation after being convinced this was the only way Emma could be reunited with her parents, while Hook's Betty streak comes from his surprising courtesy towards Emma. Despite this, Hook and Emma don't get together until well after Neal commits a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • One Tree Hill has a similar situation among three of the main characters. Lucas(Archie) continues to flip between Peyton(Betty) and her best friend Brooke (Veronica).
  • Our Miss Brooks: Miss Enright was another, more glamorous English teacher who competed with Miss Brooks for Mr. Boynton's affections.
  • Parade's End has an interesting variant. Lively Valentine is the Betty personality-wise and Sylvia is Veronica, but Christopher is married to Sylvia, making Valentine the "dangerous" one.
  • The love triangle between Andy, Ann, and April in the second season of Parks and Recreation could qualify, however in this case the women exhibit traits of both the Betty and the Veronica. Personality-wise, Ann is the Betty and April is the Veronica. Ann is also Andy's ex-girlfriend (meaning he has had a history with her), while April is the snarky, apathetic, and cynical newcomer who is 8 years younger than him, making her the slightly more "dangerous" option. However, Ann is by far the more outgoing of the two and is considered by many characters to be one of the most attractive women on the show and a lot of guys have expressed an attraction to her, and while April is also very pretty, she is very much a loner. April is also the one who secretly develops feelings for Andy while he spends most of the season trying to win back Ann, who has moved on with someone else and is not the least bit interested anymore, he eventually ends up with April.
  • Power Rangers RPM has a gender flipped version: Action Girl Summer is torn between Hero and by-the-book Scott (Betty) and the brooding cyborg Lancer Dillon (Veronica).
    • This is also Lampshaded outright by Dr. K (of all people):
      "I understand your dilemma. You find Ranger Series Red attractive because he represents the guy who can give you solid security: the boy next door, trustworthy, responsible, the kind you'd take home to mother. At the same time, you're hopelessly drawn to the excitement and danger of Ranger Series Black: the tortured and mysterious bad boy you think you can save."
  • Pretty Little Liars has a few examples:
    • Emily (Archie) in the most recent season, caught between long-suffering, loyal girlfriend Paige (Betty) and her lost love, the sexy and once unattainable Alison (Veronica).
    • In season 2, Aria (Archie) must choose between her clean-cut, earnest boyfriend Ezra (Betty) and the darker and more troubled Jason (Veronica). As far as her parents are concerned, it's her babyfaced childhood friend Holden (Betty) vs. Ezra (Veronica), the much less appropriate option.
    • More than once Spencer finds herself the Archie between her devoted boyfriend Toby (Betty) and older, handsome British doctor Wren (Veronica).
  • Private Practice has also used this often, most obviously with Violet as the Betty, Charlotte as the Veronica, and Cooper as the Archie.
  • Subverted on Pushing Daisies. In the pilot it seems like Ned will be the Archie to Chuck's Betty and Olive's Veronica, but it's pretty quickly shown that now that Chuck is permanently in the picture, Olive doesn't really have a chance with Ned.
  • In the Mexican series Rebelde, Max is Archie, Celina is Betty, the fat, sensitive and adorable girl, and Sol is Veronica, the sensual, cold girl and Ms. Fanservice. Celina has red hair and Sol is blonde. Max chooses Celina in the end.
  • RFDS (2021): Gender-Inverted in season 2. Taylor is in an ongoing relationship with near-literal "boy-next-door" Darren, who is working at the RFDS base in Dubbo for most of the season. In his absence, she is pursued by a cocky, charming cowboy named Cameron whom the RFDS does a rescue on in the pilot. She tries to keep it professional since he's also a client of Chaya's mental health clinic where she's working, but ends up taking him as her date to a party in the penultimate episode.
  • Riverdale: Given that they're versions of the Trope Namers, Betty and Veronica play this every which way, for multiple triads.
    • For Archie, Betty is of course the Betty, while Veronica is his Veronica; Betty is the friendly and safe Girl Next Door, while Veronica is the more dangerous seductress. Though there's a case to be made that Miss Grundy is his Veronica, Veronica is his Betty (as the safer alternative), and Betty is just an Unlucky Childhood Friend.
    • For Veronica, Betty is her Betty, while Archie is her Veronica, as he's far more mercurial, interesting, and dangerous compared to Betty.
    • For Betty, Archie should be her Betty and Veronica her Veronica, but Archie's secrets make him less safe than Betty expected, while Veronica is unfailingly kind and supportive, which would mean that Archie is the Veronica and Veronica is the Betty.
    • This seems to have been the case for Archie and Veronica's parents, with Veronica's Mother Hermione Lodge as either the Archie who picked Veronica (the wealthy Hiram) over Betty (Archie's father) or as the Veronica who dumped Archie's Father (Archie) so he ended up with Archie's mother Mary (the Betty).
  • The BBC series of Robin Hood had (in its third season) the aristocratic Isabella as the Veronica, and peasant girl Kate as the Betty. The twist? Robin ends up with the Third-Option Love Interest; Marian, who was killed at the close of season 2 and who he is reunited with after his own death in the series finale.
    • On the same show, in earlier seasons, Marian had the choice between Robin and Guy, who could fit into either trope. Guy was conservative and law-abiding (Betty) but also dangerous and tortured (Veronica), whereas Robin was an outlaw and a thief (Veronica) but also Marian's childhood sweetheart (Betty).
    • A final example: Djaq had her choice between amoral, thieving Allan-a-Dale (Veronica) and straightlaced, sensitive Will Scarlett (Betty).
      • In all examples, the Betty wins.
  • Schitt's Creek: Alexis is the Archie with Kindly Vet Ted as the Betty and the bearded Mutt the Veronica. She leaves Ted for Mutt, but when her relationship with Mutt fizzles, she realizes she made a mistake with Ted and eventually chooses him over Mutt.
  • Scrubs does this quite a few times. First Dr Cox has to choose between his pregnant ex-wife Jordan (Betty), and Julia, the young, desired pharmaceutical saleswoman (Veronica). Played again when JD chooses between Elliot, one of his best friends, who needs comforting when a truck filled with her belonging is stolen (Betty) and Lisa, the pretty gift-shop girl (Veronica). And again when Elliot chooses between JD, her nerdy friend, who she's had an on-again off-again realtionship with, (Betty), and her hunky, dolphin-trainer boyfriend, Shaun (Veronica). Also, Played for Laughs Turk continually has to choose between spending time with either; JD his dorky best friend (Betty) or his wife, Carla, the sexy Latina nurse (Veronica). He always picks JD.
  • Sex/Life: Billie is torn between Cooper, her kind husband, and Brad, her unstable ex-boyfriend.
  • Shadow and Bone: For Alina's Archie, Mal is the loyal, dependable, and protective childhood friend (Betty) while Kirigan is the mysterious, dark magic-using Veronica who catalyzes Alina's development into the Sun Summoner (Veronica).
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World: To Malone, Gladys is Betty and Veronica is... well, Veronica. With the exception of blonde hair and physical beauty, both couldn't be more different from each other. Gladys is a rich, spoiled, vain and materialistic young woman, who lives in London at the beginning of the 20th century, and demanded that Malone go on an expedition so that he could impress her and prove himself worthy of her love. Meanwhile, Veronica has spent her entire life in a forest, learning to survive, with a Fur Bikini and an affectionate, sweet and friendly personality, who loves Malone for her sensitive personality. and his courage.
  • In the early seasons of Smallville in a gender-switched version, Lana is Archie with Clark as Betty and Whitney as Veronica even though Lana didn't want Whitney because he was a great football star and couldn't seem to see just how dangerous he was.
    • However, this is soon overshadowed by a non-gender-switched but an unusual version, with Clark feeling attraction to both Chloe and Lana. At first glance, Chloe dresses less modestly, Lana is the literal Girl Next Door and Chloe lost her virginity when she was 15 while Lana remains chaste before Clark, so Chloe is more like Veronica and Lana more like Betty, but after some time it is clear that it isn't that simple. Lana is often described as the prettiest girl in school (being a part-Chinese adds to the exotic bit); Chloe has the first relationship with Clark; Chloe is deeply attracted to Clark while Lana is ambiguous and more difficult to get to; Chloe/Clark is natural being Just Friends (with her often being a help to A Friend in Need, even offering advice for Clark to chase after Lana a few times before and after she admits that she likes him too), Clark (at first) only has his eyes for Lana and is completely Oblivious to Love from Chloe, Lana is the unattainable one (at first) while Chloe is dying for his attention, and so on.
      • From late season four to six, Chloe knows Clark's secret but Lana doesn't. Which makes it more dangerous to hang out with Lana than with Chloe in a sense. Plus Lana being attracted to and later marrying Lex and Chloe being available from the beginning till season six. In season six and seven, while Chloe is dating Jimmy, it is pretty obvious that she still has great difficulty saying no to Clark, and Lana becomes a cunning, vengeful, lying Manipulative Bitch thanks to the Luthor teachings.
  • South of Nowhere is unique in that it features a "Betty" and "Veronica" lesbian romance - a blonde "girl next door" who falls for her troubled, petulant, dark-haired friend - with no "Archie" in the middle, after the first few episodes.
    • Season 3 features an interesting dynamic. There's a triangle between Spencer, Ashley and Aiden. Which is which is unclear.
    • There's also Spencer with Ashley (Betty) and Carmen (Veronica).
  • Early seasons of Star Trek: Voyager had Ship Tease between Tom Paris (Archie) and two female characters: the sweet, sheltered, nurturing doctor's aide Kes (Betty) and the aggressive, hot-tempered, half-Klingon chief engineer B'Elanna Torres (Veronica). The potential triangle is resolved when Kes gets Put on a Bus; shortly afterwards Tom and B'Elanna become the Official Couple.
  • The episode "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine both zig-zagged the trope and played it straight at the same time. Worf (Betty) pined after the conventionally beautiful (Veronica) but traditional (Betty) Grelka, but agreed to help Quark (Archie and Veronica at the same time) to woo her, while being helped by alien and nontraditional (Veronica) but caring and less conventionally beautiful (Betty) Jadzia Dax. Quark wins Grelka over with the help of Jadzia and Worf, and Jadzia seizes Worf when he is heartbroken over Quark's success.
  • Stranger Things has a Downplayed example, with Jonathan playing the Betty and Steve the Veronica to Nancy's Archie. It's downplayed because, while Jonathan is the quiet one who is very supportive of Nancy, he exhibits a few questionable traits, such as taking covert photographs of her at a pool party (something he's called out on later); while Steve, though on the surface a stereotypical Jerk Jock and Romantic False Lead, eventually rejects his friends' cynicism and apologises to Nancy for his various unpleasant actions, and becomes a loyal ally to her and Jonathan in the final showdown with the monster. In a surprising aversion of the usual way this trope plays out, Nancy ends up choosing Steve over Jonathan; though in Season 2 it's revealed that her relationship with Steve is a sham to keep up normalcy in reaction to the events of the previous season (which included her best friend going missing and turning out to have been killed by the monster) and Nancy soon sleeps with Jonathan and starts a serious relationship that goes on even to the next season.
  • Super Sentai:
  • Switched at Birth has set this up with Daphne (Betty) declaring her feelings for Emmett (Archie), who in turn professes to only want Bay (Veronica). Complete with original trope-maker hair colors.
  • In Teen Wolf, Scott is the Archie to Allison's Betty and Erica's Veronica, whereas in a gender swapped example, Lydia looks to be the Archie to Stiles' Betty and Jackson's Veronica.
  • While it never comes up as a matter of potential relationships the character dynamic is still in full swing and played straight in That '70s Show with literal the girl-next-door Donna (Betty) and Jackie (Veronica).
    • You could argue Jackie is the Archie to Kelso (Betty) and Hyde (Veronica). Loud, cheating Kelso doesn't initially seem like a Betty, but he is still preppy, cheerful and naive compared to scruffy, cynical, and snarky Hyde. There was also Kelso, Jackie (Betty) and Laurie (Veronica), and an early and eventually abandoned love triangle between Donna, Eric (Betty) and Hyde (Veronica).
  • In Hong Kong comedy drama To Catch the Uncatchable, female lead Vivi was torn between choosing between her sweet, handsome but dull and clueless personal trainer Jim and Detective Mok, who's snarky, smart and enjoys teasing Vivi but incredibly loyal and always helps her out in a tight spot. She lampshades to Detective Mok at one point, comparing the two to food. Jim was a plain tofu while Detective Mok was a tofu with more filling.
  • Tomica Hero Rescue Fire had Ritsuka (Archie) caught between Tatsuya (Betty) and Tsubasa (Veronica). It's left open in the finale - the boys wrestle over Tama-chan's wedding bouquet so that one of them can marry Ritsuka, but Jun rescues the flowers and gives them to her. We then see that Tsubasa is still hung up on her and carries her picture with him, but Ritsuka is very happy when Tatsuya sends a letter.
  • Torchwood has one, involving Rhys Williams as the Betty: Gwen (Archie) has to choose between Jack (Veronica) and Rhys (Betty). (Owen might also be a Veronica.) By the end of series 2, she'd chosen Rhys/Betty and during series 3 and 4 the love triangle virtually ceased to be.
  • True Blood has at least one every season involving Sookie as an Archie. In Season 1 it was between Dogged Nice Guy Sam and vampire Bill where she eventually chose Bill. In season 2, it was between Bill (this time as Betty) and Manipulative Bastard Eric. Season 3 brought in Alcide to vie with Bill, and in Season 4, Alcide was up against an amnesiac Eric. In Season 5, Sookie is mostly in the background due to Anna Paquin's pregnancy, so she didn't have her usual harem fighting over her.
  • Ugly Betty:
    • Funnily enough, Betty is actually the Archie. In the first season, Betty is torn between her old boring boyfriend Walter (Betty) and sweet, charming Henry (a mild Veronica). In season 2, Henry undergoes a Betty and Veronica Switch to become the boring Betty to Gio's exciting Veronica.
    • A gay example, in "A League of Their Own": Marc St James meets Cliff who he clicks with but asks a nameless (very hunky but dumb) model out instead, before being confronted by Cliff who was trying to ask him out.
    • In season 4, Hilda is with her nice, normal, kinda boring boyfriend Archie, when her old flame Bobby comes back into her life.
  • The original V took this up to new levels with earnest blonde Resistance leader Julie (Faye Grant) and gerbil-swallowing brunette vamp Visitor leader Diana (Jane Badler).
  • In the teen drama The Vampire Diaries, there are quite a few love triangles. The main triangle is the one between the heroine Elena, the hero Stefan and the anti-hero Damon. Stefan and Damon are also brothers. In this scenario, Elena (Archie) is torn between her soulmate Stefan (Betty) and her unpredictable, wild friend Damon (Veronica). There's also numerous other love triangles which include Katherine (Archie), Stefan (Betty) and Damon (Veronica), Elena (Archie), Matt (Betty) and Stefan (Veronica), Stefan (Archie), Elena (Betty) and Katherine (Veronica), Stefan (Archie), Elena (Betty), and Caroline (Veronica), Caroline (Archie), Matt (Betty), and Tyler (Veronica), Caroline (Archie), Tyler (Betty), and Klaus (Veronica), Stefan (Archie), Elena (Betty), and Rebekah (Veronica), Jeremy (Archie), Bonnie (Betty), and Anna (Veronica), Bonnie (Archie), Jeremy (Betty), and Luka (Veronica), Bonnie (Archie), Jeremy (Betty), and Jamie (Veronica), Vickie (Archie), Jeremy (Betty), and Tyler (Veronica), Tatia (Archie), Elijah (Betty), and Klaus (Veronica) and the most tragic one of all, Silas (Archie), Amara (Betty) and Qetsiyah (Veronica).
  • In Veronica Mars, there's several instances of this throughout the entire series. Duncan (Betty)-Veronica-Logan (Veronica). Veronica (Veronica)-Duncan-Meg (Betty). Piz (Betty)-Veronica-Logan (Veronica). Even Wallace gets his brief moment of Love Triangulus. Weevil and a certain dead girl and their involvement in a past-tense love triangle, an example which is especially adequate for this trope.
    • Try not to be confused by the fact that the female lead's name is actually Veronica. The writers lampshaded the fact by having Veronica assume a different identity, using the name "Betty" as an alias when she needed to infiltrate a rival school (and claims to have come from a Riverdale High).
      • And ironically while as Betty she dresses preppy ala Veronica.
    • And all that doesn't cover the relationships of their parents. Between Celeste Kane(Veronica)/Jake Kane(Archie)/Lianne Mars(Betty), Jake Kane(Veronica)/Lianne Mars(Archie)/Keith Mars(Betty), and Lianne Mars(Veronica)/Keith Mars(Archie)/Alicia Fennel(Betty), you've got this trope everywhere in the series. Interestingly, All three of these were resolved by the single action of a 3rd party: Veronica(Mars) sending her own mother out of town to protect her father.
  • Victorious: Beck (Archie), his long-term girlfriend Jade (Betty) and the popular Tori (Veronica). Played with in that Jade is more 'dangerous' while Tori is sweet-natured. But the two years Jade and Beck have been together pushes Jade firmly into Betty territory. (Especially as Tori is an exotic new student, who everyone adores and Jade is more of a loner). Apart from a brief break up, and Almost Kiss with Tori, Beck remains committed to Jade and they end the series still together, happy and in love.
  • In The Walking Dead:
    • This defines the Lori/Shane/Rick Love Triangle. Lori is the Archie to Rick's Betty and Shane's Veronica. Rick is the devoted father and Nice Guy family man, whilst Shane is more of a loose cannon with a Hair-Trigger Temper and traces of the Green-Eyed Monster. Lori abandons Shane the minute she realizes her husband is still alive (Shane had previously told her Rick was dead), but Shane is so jealous that he can't let go.
    • Jessie and Michonne. Jessie is a wholesome Girl Next Door Non-Action Guy type, whilst Michonne is a Sugar-and-Ice Personality Action Girl. Rick ends up with both of them, albeit at different points. In an interesting variation, the Veronica is actually the long time friend, whereas Betty is the newcomer.
  • On The West Wing, Josh Lyman's assistant Donna (Betty) falls for him, while Josh (Archie) falls for political loose cannon Amy Gardner(Veronica). However, Josh is also a clueless Genius Ditz who has no idea that Donna is in love with him and is in denial about his own feelings, so he has absolutely no reservations about courting Amy, thereby making poor Donna's plight even worse.
  • The White Lotus: Portia gets the attention of friendly Albie and roguish foreigner Jack. Albie's nice and all, but he doesn't make her blood thrum the way Jack immediately does.
  • The Young and the Restless has been doing this for the past few years with Nick Newman (Archie) and his current wife Phyllis (a red-haired Veronica) and his ex-wife Sharon (Betty). Athough It appears Phyllis has left Nick for good because she's tired of fighting with Sharon over him.


Top