OUR TOP 10 LISTS

#10. Daria Morgendorffer and Trent Lane: DARIA

Author: Dayna Evans

If it was ever possible to have a crush on a cartoon character (which men do all the time, thus the existence of comic books), Trent Lane was my man. Essentially a carbon hand-drawn copy of Angela Chase and Jordan Catalano, the non-relationship between Trent and Daria was a familiar scenario for the "alternative girl" type of the 90s.

Her love interest was older, cooler, in a band (Mystik Spiral—lol), and had strategically placed messy hair and goatee. Though the two never officially dated, Daria could barely speak when Trent was around, and if you know anything about Daria, this was pretty unusual. She even attempted to turn off her sarcasm, thinking he might not find it attractive.

Trent was the only thing Daria wasn't cynical about, which warmed our cold, cold hearts. Not to mention, the Trent-Daria situation served as a necessary inverse to the Kevin-Brittany relationship. Do you remember them? A cheerleader/quarterback couple that reinvented idiocy and then mastered it to its fullest. And yet, they were amazing.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

Author: Dayna Evans

#9. Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti: THAT 70'S SHOW

In the act of full disclosure, I have to admit that I actually hated That 70s Show. There was almost nothing worse to me than a show based around people wearing ugly fringed clothing and sitting in a basement.

Unless that show was Freaks and Geeks, which was made infinitely more tolerable by, like, every single actor. However, it's hard to deny not just the sweetness of Donna and Eric's relationship, but the sheer impossibility of it.

Donna, in case you haven't noticed, is a 6-foot redhead who looks great in high-waisted pants. Eric is a nerd. I think that I have a better chance of scoring with Donna than Eric did. But they survived the 70s together, which means they survived bad fashion, disco, and glamour drugs.

And in the series finale, their relationship is rekindled and nerds everywhere rejoiced, while everyone else wished this show had been about the 60s instead.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#8. Clarissa Darling and Sam Anders: CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL

This one is a total wildcard, but I invested so much energy in the potential relationship between these middle school/high school best friends that I didn't do my homework for at least 6 years. I was too busy praying for their matrimony.

Sam and Clarissa have the perfect setup for a romance—he has access to her room via ladder, she has a Zack Morris-esque tendency to break the fourth wall. A better match-up couldn't be made in heaven.

They did have one date on an incredibly awkward episode that proved they could only be friends, but in my dreams, there would be an episode flash-forward of them 10 years later, producing children born wearing bike shorts and flannel.

And when the children come out of the womb, there would be the signature guitar whammy sound that Sam made so popular. Needless to say, some things are too good to be true.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#7. Joey Potter and Pacey: DAWSON'S CREEK

One of history's greatest misgivings is that Katie Holmes did not have the same romantic success in her real life than her character of Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek. Who would you rather have fighting for your love? Tom Cruise—complete nutjob and owner of giant mouth—or Dawson Leery and Pacey Witter, resident hotties of Capeside, Massachusetts?

The entire basis of Dawson's Creek, despite its direct homage to the blond best friend of Joey, is girl-next-door Joey's battle between two romantic choices. Is the struggle a polarizing topic? Yes. Did I always secretly hope she'd end up with Dawson? Yes.

But as all high school series end, Joey has to choose and her choice is Pacey, whom she ends up living with in New York five years later (the apparent graveyard for all characters on high school dramas). And that leaves me as a preteen shrouded in darkness, crying in my Rocky Road hoping that a spin-off would reverse her decision. It didn't.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#6. Angela Chase and Jordan Catalano: MY SO-CALLED LIFE

During their high school years, girls look for a few standard qualities in their boyfriends: smoldering stare, mop of greasy locks, the ability to lean, and illiteracy. No, wait. That last one is only the unfortunate crutch to Angela Chase's relationship with 90's sexbomb Jordan Catalano.

Though it is easy to see what Angela saw in Jordan (we all thought the Frozen Embryos might actually make it big), we also knew what was inevitably to come. There wasn't much there behind those Visine-ridden eyes except for some teenage brooding.

And when Jordan sleeps with Rayanne, all teenage girls everywhere learned that these mysterious jerkoffs cannot be trusted. But man, did we love them anyway.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#5. Liz Parker and Max Evans: ROSWELL

As I'm sure your experience has proven, most high school relationships begin with a near-death experience that may or may not be related to an underground extraterrestrial cover-up that involves four "normal" high school students who are called the Royal Four of Antar.

Liz and Max begin their romance under these pretenses and, in a very damsel-in-distress way, Liz falls for it. What if your boyfriend had a future version of himself, a child with another alien, a clone, and a sexy-but-serious face?

We would all fall for it. With the patience of Job, Liz puts Max's alien life ahead of their relationship for most of the series, until the finale when the two get married and move away with their best friends. Are you sensing a theme here?

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#4. Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence: BOY MEETS WORLD

Ah, young love. Besides mango lassis, there is almost nothing sweeter. Cornelius "Cory" Matthews had his first kiss with Topanga "What A Weird Name" Lawrence in the first season of Boy Meets World and by the seventh season, they've married and moved to New York with their two best friends because that's what always happens when you fall in love in sixth grade.

Though the name of the show might deceive you, Boy Meets World is not about a boy's intergalactic meeting with the planet earth. It's about love. When Topanga is accepted to Yale, she doesn't go in order to stay with Cory. Because when you really love someone, you must shatter your goals and dreams for them.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#3. George Michael Bluth and Maeby Funke: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Kissing your cousin is wrong—unless you're trying to teach your soulless family a lesson. What starts with a vindictive kiss inevitably turns into insatiable desire, which then results in a "fake" marriage that is actually real. And you know what rules?

Nobody cares. The family barely notices and personally, I was rooting for them (whatever, you were too). I eagerly await the day that Les Cousins Dangereux is made for wide release . . . and stars Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat. One can dream.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#2. Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris: SAVED BY THE BELL

A.C. Slater had a tan body and a funky way of sitting in chairs. Zack Morris had a gigantic cell phone with which he ordered pizza in class. It was clear who would be the victor of Kelly Kapowski's heart.

Through the years, the couple were on-again, off-again, but only because Zack was a hornball with women in the wings and Kelly was clearly too big of a babe to be off the market.

Despite their trials (many where Kelly dates older men—I told you she was a fox), they eventually married, post-Bayside High in an elaborate classic wedding paid for by their parents. And A.C. Slater gets nothing. Time out.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.

#1. Lindsay Weir and Nick Andopolis: FREAKS AND GEEKS

Though Lindsay Weir is not prone to making mistakes (besides dabbling in pot and buying a fake ID from Jason Schwartzman), one of her biggest was the decision to break up with Nick Andopolis, the tall, lovable Neil Peart-ophile of McKinley High.

Yes, he was kind of an overemotional stalker. And yes, he smoked too much weed to have coherent thoughts. But he did write a song about her called "Lady L" and he was the only person that Lindsay's dad ever seemed to like.

When Lindsay's mom accidentally broke up with Nick before Lindsay had a chance to, Nick rendered the 2nd saddest face ever to grace network television. The first, obviously, was Nick's face when John Bonham died: devastation in its truest form.

Revisit 80s teen romance! Don't miss FREAKS AND GEEKS weeknights at 7p.