Last week on Friends, the NBC situation comedy that has launched a thousand magazine covers, the star-crossed friendship between the cute nebbish Ross (David Schwimmer) and the adorable Jewish-American princess Rachel ( Jennifer Aniston) finally erupted into romance after almost two seasons of waiting. First, Ross loved Rachel, but Rachel had just fled from marriage with a suburban dentist and was more inclined to quickie affairs with Italian hunks who barely spoke English. Next, Rachel loved Ross, but Ross had given up on her and fallen for somebody else.

Ever since Moonlighting and Cheers thought it up simultaneously in the early 1980s, the most prevalent romantic arrangement on American television has been unfulfilled, unconsummated love. There have been literally dozens of sitcorns in which the lead characters are clearly wild for each other but never go to bed, and the plot device has turned up on literally every ensemble TV drama in the past 10 years. There have been more uncoupled couples on television than married couples. There have been more longing glances exchanged than deep-throated kisses. There has been more jealousy expressed when one of the two participants in these unfulfilled romances decides to date somebody else.