4. Friends - Chandler & Monica
By time Chandler and Monica got together, Friends was heading towards the end of its fourth season and was still going strong. Despite this had the two not hooked up I believe that a lot of plotlines within the show would have become a real source of frustration, predominantly the on again off again relationship between Ross and Rachael. Chandler and Monica first got together in London where they were attending Rosss disastrous wedding to Emily, despite saying Rachaels name at the altar and a couple of season later having a child together, Ross and Rachael wouldnt truly reunite until the series finale. To prevent the slow burn nature of Ross and Rachaels reunion from irritating and possibly alienating the viewers, the show needed a fully functioning and stable relationship. Ross and Rachael were obviously out of the question, at this point Phoebe hadnt found a character to click with romantically and it would have been silly to tie down Joey- that left Chandler and Monica. Monicas main love interest was Richard but that relationship had come to its natural conclusion, for Chandler there had of course been Janice but she was more of a joke than viable, long-term girlfriend material. In short the two of them sucked at relationships. They both had confidence issues related to their childhoods, for Chandler it was his farther leaving the family for the houseboy and Monicas stemmed from her childhood obesity, but together they made up for each others faults, they were perfect. In some shows putting two friends into a relationship is considered a cheap ploy to keep things alive. Some might argue that the almost hook up of Rachael and Joey in the later years was one of these storylines. But this was different, it was the stability that the show needed. Chandler and Monica offered the opportunity for a relationship and a marriage that might last longer than the few episodes that Ross and Emily managed. I dont have a magic ball so I cant say for sure that the show would have ended sooner without them getting together, but in an odd way Chandler and Monica made sense. Who else but the obsessive Monica could get Chandler to have an actual adult relationship? Despite Ross having been married three and Phoebe divorcing a formerly gay ice dancer, it was Monica and the unlucky in love Chandler that set the example for the rest of the Friends.