T.V. Recommendations for a Day of Romance
X-FILES, Season 4, Episode 13, “Never Again”
Scully has a weekend away and rebels against her character norms. She gets tattooed and has a one-night stand with a greasy, gloom-filled Rodney Rowland. Jody Foster’s voice stars as “Betty” aka the voice of the tattoo if that helps at all. —Suzanne Richardson
Killing Eve (2018—)
On one hand, some fantastic murders. On the other hand you can cut the sexual tension between Jodi Comer and Sanda Oh with a butter knife. Oh and third hand, Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote it. Boom.
(Looking for the opposite of a rom-com, but still want to enjoy the good looks of romcom charmer Hugh Grant? The Undoing on HBO is for you.) —M.M. Kaufman
Scissor Seven (2018—)
If I do one thing right in this life, it will be getting more people on board the totally underrated hype train that is Scissor Seven. An animated series from China's Sharefun studio, Scissor Seven follows an amnesiac hairdresser who offers contract killing for cheap. It spans genres - comedy, romance, wuxia, action, thriller - and is terrifically written, both for the native mandarin speaker and not. The sincere will-they-wont-they dance between two of the main characters is just one of the many compelling relationships in the series, speaking to just how well the series is written. We eagerly anticipate season three, but for now, you can stream the first two seasons on Netflix. —Jemimah Wei
Friends, Season 1, Episode 14, “The One With Candy Hearts”
I have fallen completely head over heels for Chandler Bing, in part because I am him: hopeless and awkward and desperate for love. This Season 1 classic finds him set up on a blind date with infamous on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice. Oh. My. Gawd.–Rachel A.G. Gilman
Rick and Morty, Season 1, Episode 8, “Rixty Minutes”
This is a classic episode of “inter dimensional cable” R&M, but you might have missed the actually affective love story in the background. Beth and Jerry watch all their alternate lives and notice they don’t stick together in most- but, well, let’s just say destiny seems to transcend realities. When the shoe drops, the reveal is truly poignant- between all the butts and ball fondlers, obviously. —Elliot Alpern
Frasier, Season 6, Episode 14, “Three Valentines”
I watched a LOT of Frasier growing up, and although plenty of the jokes went over my head, that show had something for everybody, and there was a time when the Marx Bros/Loony-Toons opening of the Valentine’s Day episode of Frasier was the funniest thing in the world. It’s on Vimeo, and for my money, it holds up. —Nathaniel Berry
One Tree Hill, Season 3, Episode 19, “I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me”
I love my bad TV like anyone else, and Pete Wentz's multi-episode arc on Season 3 of One Tree Hill was the source material for many a pre-teen daydream. In this episode, Peyton Sawyer—still in high school at the time—decides to visit Pete in Chicago. I don’t remember the exact conversation Peyton has with her dad (who, if I remember correctly, was initially played by Huey Lewis) but what I do remember is him referring to Fall Out Boy as “Get-Out-Of-Town Boy.” —Gauraa Shekhar
Gilmore Girls, Season 6, Episode 15, “A Vineyard Valentine”
I say with great shame that Logan Huntzberger defined everything I thought was worthy in a partner in my youth, and this episode where Rory and Lorelai go for a supposed romantic weekend at his family's Martha's Vineyard beach house was definitely part of the reason why. Even though things end in some dramatic, unpleasant fireworks, it'll take a few more episodes before Rory (and me) figure out that he kind of sucks.–Rachel A.G. Gilman
