8 TV Love Triangles That Worked (And 3 That Didn't)

2. Lana, Clark & Lois - Smallville

Clark Kent may be destined to end up with Lois Lane in the Superman comic books, but it certainly didn't feel like this was the case in TV series Smallville. The WB show had all the components necessary to nail this, with both Tom Welling and Eric Durance proving to be the perfect actors to provide us with real-life iterations of the comic characters, but the execution of their relationship wasn't great, and the whole thing was overshadowed by Clark's first love, Lana Lang.

For years, the young farm boy was madly in love with Lana, and the feeling was mutual. But the writers made us wait many seasons before the pair would address their obvious chemistry. And when they did, their happiness was short-lived. The big problem was that the showrunners were obligated to make Clark fall in love with Lois, which proved difficult after they'd practically friend-zoned Lois in the fourth season.

But with the show nearing its conclusion, the creators had no other choice but to end Clark and Lana, in favour of Clark and Lois. However, the way in which the relationship was ended also proved problematic, as it was written into the narrative that Clark physically couldn't be near Lana because she had ingested Kryptonite. Therefore, it made it look like the future Superman was simply settling for Lois because he couldn't be with the woman he truly loved. Moreover, by this stage in the game, viewers had been championing Clark and Lana for years, so some were left disappointed when they couldn't be together.