We can't always control who we fall in love with, and age isn't always a factor when it
comes to picking a partner.
Even scientists agree that the idea of the perfect age difference in a couple varies
by culture and changes over time.
But there are some age gap relationships that we see on our favorite TV shows that kind
of take it one step too far.
Here are the most cringe-worthy, and sometimes even criminal, small screen character couples
yet.
Monica and Richard from Friends
Relationship ups and downs were always a central theme to Friends, and the second season saw
Monica hooking up with a much older man.
Sure, it's Tom Selleck, but their age difference was an elephant in the room from their first
date.
When he starts showing her pictures of his grandchildren and comments that he's "a whole
person who can drink older than her," they debate just whether or not it was nuts.
Behind the scenes, the Richard and Monica relationship wasn't meant to last as long
as it did.
Executive producer Scott Silveri told Vulture, "With Courteney [Cox] and Tom Selleck, if
I'm not mistaken, there was no sense that this was going to become a relationship with
a capital 'R.' They went into that, and it was going to be one episode, two tops.
And then they had such good chemistry, the producers and the writers at the time decided
to explore it a little more."
Even as weird as it was that she dated her dad's best friend, nothing compared to her
season one hook-up with young Ethan.
"You're not a senior?"
"Oh I'm a senior… in high school."
Paris and Asher from Gilmore Girls
When Paris and Asher first met on Gilmore Girls, they were introduced by Rory's grandfather.
Considering Asher was his former classmate, it's not surprising that it was the age difference
that made this one more than a little uncomfortable to watch.
Not only was he old enough to be her grandfather, but he was also a notorious womanizer, and
Paris was barely of age at the time.
According to actress Liza Weil, she not only liked the storyline, but believed that the
relationship was a major turning point for her character.
She talked to Cosmopolitan about the Gilmore Girls revival and said, "I think it warmed
her for sure.
It was very well-handled as well.
I'm a fan of that relationship, too."
We'd take Paris and Doyle over Paris and her professor any day of the week, though.
Puck and Shelby from Glee
Just when fans thought things weren't going to get any more complicated for the love-struck
teens on Glee, Puck set his sights on a new lady: teacher Shelby Corcoran.
The whole thing was made even more complicated by Shelby's adoption of the baby Puck had
with Quinn.
Actor Mark Salling told The Hollywood Reporter that was a big factor in driving forward a
relationship that crossed some serious boundaries.
"I think his feelings for Shelby right now are pretty intense and pretty overwhelming.
The fact that she has his baby now is a pretty strong bond.
[...] Puck really thinks he can be in that baby's life and be Shelby's man.
He could be in it for the long run; it could be the real deal."
And let's not forget that Puck had originally been teaming up with baby mama Quinn to get
Beth removed from Shelby's care.
There's literally no part of this love triangle that's a good idea, in spite of Puck's insistence
that Shelby is the one that makes him feel like the family man he always wanted to be.
Pacey and Tamara from Dawson's Creek
Some shows let their characters grow a bit and become audience favorites before putting
them into an awkward relationship that viewers might need some background to understand.
But Dawson's Creek jumped right into it in the pilot episode, showing 15-year-old Pacey
Witter having a fling with his thirty-something teacher, Tamara.
There are several reasons this one is incredibly uncomfortable: he's underage, and they're
crossing the student-teacher boundary.
It's a shocking way to start a series, and when experts weighed in on the plot line,
they were afraid of some fallout from fans of the show.
Kevin Dwyer, the assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists,
told the Chicago Tribune, "Having this behavior on television is a grand mistake.
You're talking about a freshman in high school.
A teacher who responds is committing abuse, in my opinion."
Of course, it wasn't the last time such a dangerous precedent would be set on the small
screen.
Aria and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars
Even though the show is set in Pennsylvania where the legal age of consent is 16, viewers
of Pretty Little Liars found out that teacher Ezra and his student Aria had their first
fling when she was just a sophomore in high school.
At the time, he was fresh out of college, so he wasn't that much older than her.
But in just about every way that matters, their affair was way over the line, and they
both knew it.
What's even weirder is that he targeted her specifically because of her long-standing
friendship with the missing Allison.
Even though the two would rekindle their romance several years later, when everyone was actually
legal, the these two characters' relationship is still totally tainted by the illegal nature
of their earliest days together.
Rosita and Abraham from The Walking Dead
The ages of Rosita and Abraham are never explicitly said.
But when they joined the show — already a couple — actor Michael Cudlitz was twice
Christian Serratos' age.
Their relationship was always a weird sort of "friends-with-benefits" situation, and
when Michael Cudlitz talked to The Hollywood Reporter about just what was going on between
the two characters, he said, "I think he loves her, but it's also a relationship of convenience
for both of them.
It's wartime, and every day could be your last."
In the scene when Abraham finally leaves her, their age difference is painfully clear.
While it's pretty straightforward for him, she needs a reason.
"Tell me why!"
"When I first met you, I thought you were the last woman on earth.
You're not."
As if that weren't cruel enough, he proceeded to parade his budding relationship with Sasha
right in Rosita's face until his dying day.
Rhonda Volmer and Roman Grant from Big Love
Daveigh Chase was 16 when she played 14-year-old Rhonda Volmer on HBO's Big Love, while her
love interest, Roman Grant, was played by the legendary Harry Dean Stanton who was eighty
years old at the time.
The show surrounded the polygamous family of Bill Paxton's character Bill Henrickson,
taking a very real look at how a family could be far from mainstream but still function
as a unit.
They also created Roman Grant as the patriarch of the more menacing type of Mormon compound
that Paxton and his wives had left.
But it's Rhonda — and her relationship with the so-called prophet — that's equal parts
fascinating and uncomfortable.
Embracing her status as wife to Roman, Rhonda walks the line between entitled and immature
to conniving and manipulative, finding pleasure in being his newest and shiniest wife.
And just in case you were wondering, their wedding night scene was completely unwatchable.
Lady Edith and Sir Anthony Strallan from Downton Abbey
Love her or hate her, the end of Lady Edith's May-December romance with the much older Sir
Anthony was sad, even if it was uncomfortable to watch.
Fans of Downton Abbey will know that it ended at the altar.
It was interference from the rest of the family — and Sir Anthony's inability to stand up
to them — that put an end to this happy ending.
Uncertainty about their age difference left Sir Anthony fleeing the church, and while
Edith might've been devastated, she was ultimately better off that this mismatched marriage never
happened.
Archie and Miss Grundy from Riverdale
The CW gave 1940s favorites Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica a 21st century update.
And for some reason, that included writing in an illicit — and illegal — relationship
between Archie and teacher Miss Grundy.
The one-time white-haired, spinster teacher of the comics was recast as a music coach
that every teen boy had his eye on, but it's Archie that she's interested in.
Even KJ Apa, who plays Archie, has said, "I guess that's a really inappropriate kind of
romance he has going on there."
It's not just a forbidden romance, though — it's a crime.
In fact, the show has been panned for promoting statutory as a point of intrigue.
Jughead actor Cole Sprouse said of the contentious coupling, "I think inherently because it's
a controversial topic, a lot of people are saying, don't do it — which I also think
is the wrong way to approach a controversial topic."
If you say so, pal.
Lord Walder Frey and his many young wives from Game of Thrones
Of the many disgusting and lecherous old men on Game of Thrones, Lord Walder Frey ranks
as one of the most heinous.
Not only was he the architect of the heart-wrenching "Red Wedding," but he also maintains a brood
of young wives who are portrayed on the show as being a half-step away from sexual slavery.
In one of his earliest appearances on the series, he introduces Catelyn Stark to his
newest wife, who stands meekly by his side, looking as miserable as any 15-year-old girl
who was just wed to a 90-something-year-old man would be.
"You see that?
Fifteen, she is.
A little flower, and her honey's all mine."
Obviously, Lord Frey is meant to be a loathsome character, if not the very personification
of evil.
George R.R. Martin, the author of the books on which the HBO series is based, has even
stated that he modeled the character of Lord Frey after real historical figures.
Martin based the character on stories of two Scottish clans who duped their enemies into
sharing a meal only to slaughter them immediately afterwards.
Martin also said, "No matter how much I make up, there’s stuff in history that’s just
as bad, or worse."
Hayley and Rainer from Modern Family
When Nathan Fillion kicked off his guest appearances on Modern Family as Rainer Shine, it didn't
take long for his relationship with Sarah Hyland's Haley Dunphy to venture into the
territory of uncomfortable.
It wasn't just a matter of the 20-odd year age gap between their characters, but it was
also uncomfortable because of her father's initial reaction to it.
Not only was Rainer her father's friend and hero, but her father also accidentally set
them up.
"If it's not crossing the line can I give you my daughter Haley's number?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, she's available and she actually expressed some interest."
He thought he was getting her a job as his makeup artist, but, well, whoops.
After that, he had to come to terms with the fact that she was dating someone much older
that he happens to admire.
Yeah, it's weird.
Fillion told The New York Post, "He is shocked and horrified but the reality is he kind of
set us up accidentally.
He hates it, but it's also all his fault."
Hayley's father wasn't the only one that wasn't a fan of the idea, and when the relationship
went sideways after a rejected marriage proposal, fans headed to Twitter to voice their relief
that Haley didn't become the new Mrs. Shine.
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