Television has been much kinder to the lesbian world in terms of being able to represent our relationships than the movies ever have. Here are some of my favourite TV couples of all time.
1. Willow and Tara. Any lesbian of a certain age will have no doubt watched every episode of the Cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer about 15 times. If you are a young little baby dyke currently I implore you to watch it. You will not regret it. Willow and Tara paved the way for the many lesbian tv couples as they were the first on a major network television show. Buffy’s lesbian relationship representation walked so that many other shows on the list could run. Thanks to them we currently get to watch youtube fan videos about so many other lesbian couples and for that they will forever be on my list.
2. Shane and Carmen from the Original L word. I don’t care what anyone says the Original L Word, it is a Masterpiece of television! Okay maybe not a masterpiece but it sure as hell served as a bible for a whole generation of queer women. Nothing like that show had ever existed on television and despite some parts of the series aging poorly the reality is that Sharmen will forever be in our queer little hearts. The new L Word Generation Q is even better than the original so I hope you are all watching. I am planning to start a petition to bring Carmen back to reunite with Shane. It has been ten years, sure Carmen is over the whole, getting left at the alter??
3. Callie and Arizona. Whilst they never got their happy ending they were a fan favourite on the long-running medical drama, greys anatomy.
4. Eve and Villanelle. Villanelle could hold a knife to my throat any day. Jodie comer plays the alluring blonde assassin and we are obsessed. The lesbian femme fatale story has never been so well done especially in the male-dominated spy genre. I am not sure why but lesbians seem to love dangerous women and villanelle is no exception. Can she and Eve just hurry up and run away together already?
5. Piper and Alex. What lesbian does not love a toxic drama-filled prison relationship where you both screw each other over so much eventually it cancels out all the bad deeds and you still end up together? *raises hand* This show won a load of awards for a reason and the queer representation was the best I had seen since the original L word which went off the air in 2009. Unfortunately, the real Piper and Alex never did end up together but we can all live in the fantasy prison world of OITNB.
6. Clarke and Lexa from the 100. Clexa was another extremely popular pairing that ended in tragedy. Not sure why Lexa had to get shot. (Spoilers if you have not watched it) It broke our little lesbian hearts everywhere. I remember when this happened people were so upset that it bordered on rage. I guess when you only get a few onscreen lesbian romances we become pretty attached. Needless lesbian deaths like Lexa really hurt our feelings and hell hath no fury like a scorned lesbian.
7. Dana and Alice. Another one from the archive of the original L-word. Again spoilers, if you have not watched the original please go and watch it. The new series is great and all but nothing will ever compare to the classic. Dana and Alice were the besties turned lovers turned besties turned lovers. I can not remember how many times, but there was a lot of drama. Ultimately this ship ended when Dana was taken from us all from cancer (in the show not real life). Every lesbian I know remembers the day they watched that episode. *tear rolls down cheek just thinking about it*
8. Cosima and Delphine from Orphan Black. The hottest clone was definitely Cosima. I know they were technically all played by the same person although sometimes the acting was so good that I am not convinced Tatiana Maslany could not possibly be all these different characters. It is mind blowing. The French scientist Delphine eventually steals our hearts once she chooses to be on the side of the clones instead of her crazy boss/crazy institution.
9. Emily and Alison. This one is a touchy one for me as a lesbian who had a serious straight best friend heartbreak. The fact that Alison actually chose Emily, in the end, was a little bit cray. After tormenting her for years and having numerous boyfriends and a husband I think it was pretty wild that they actually made emison cannon. But as always I am not going to argue with hot lesbian ships. Seeing as Shay Mitchell is the most gorgeous woman to walk the earth I can see why even a straight girl could not resist her charms.
10. Jamie and Dani. These guys were pretty short lived and didn’t really have a happy ending. Anyone else noticing a theme here? Why do we never get our lesbian happy ending? I guess that is a blog post for another day. Jamie and Dani have a cute but very PG romance in the Haunting of Bly Manor. It’s a nice little lesbian show but too short to really delve into their characters or relationship too deeply.
11. Bridget and Frankie. This is one you may not have heard of unless you are an aussie. Bridget and Frankie from the Aussie prison drama wentworth. (Yes, wentworth came out before OITNB and is just as good in my opinion) Frankie plays the hot but damaged inmate and Bridget is the prison psychologist. Forbidden romance anyone? Yes technically it’s illegal but she ends up quitting her job to be with Frankie so the ends justify the means. Amirite??
12. Ashley and Spencer from South of Nowhere. This couple is one of the OG’s of cute femme girl next door type lesbians. This show was an obscure show in the early 2000’s and definitely was before its time. Had it been released in 2021 I think it would have been huge. Spencer is a cute blond girl next door type and Ashley is the wild child bisexual with brown hair. Because of course tv lesbian couples must require a blonde and a brunette. I am yet to see two brunette lesbians as a couple but I will let you know the day I find this.
13. Gabrielle and Xena. Ahh last but not least. I purposely saved this couple until last due to the fact that technically it was official cannon but I think we can all agree that Xena and Gabrielle were definitely a thing. I mean, the jealousy, the cuddling, the intense love poems and longing stares. If that does not have lesbian written all over it then I don’t even know what does. They will forever be lesbian icons in my opinion and Xena is one show that I really feel would be amazing to reboot in 2021. Maybe if we rally enough lesbians we can make it happen?
So tell me who have I missed? Who is your favourite lesbian ship?