While in real life, Eva Longoria is never desperate for any kind of affection, her character on “Desperate Housewives” has a tryst with her gardener, John Rowland, played by Jesse Metcalf. His entire arc on the show is him pursuing Gabrielle.
While we’re always happy to see Gabrielle showing off when she’s with John, she’s a married woman nearing thirty, and John wasn’t even into his twenties. While the age gap wasn’t insane, the maturity gap was, with Gabrielle eventually realizing the affair wasn’t right, thanks to John’s immaturity. It was an interesting dynamic, but it wasn’t going to go anywhere.
Shelly and Holling on “Northern Exposure”
When a young doctor is forced to practice in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, we get a sitcom that is funny, memorable, and intricate. A lot of the characters are interesting, but few more than Shelly (Cynthia Geary) and Holling (John Cullum). While there is a wide age difference between them, the problems aren't as apparent thanks to the show's understanding of writing.
The two run The Brick Bar at the center of the show's small town, and there are plenty of questions that come up about their relationship during the show's run, but it works out, much to the delight of the characters and the show's fans.
Dan and Rachel on “One Tree Hill”
If you've ever tuned in to “One Tree Hill,” then you're familiar with Rachel Gatina (Danneel Ackles) and probably didn't like her. She goes through substance abuse and rehab multiple times during the show and at one point accepts money from Dan Scott (Paul Johansson) in exchange for her “company.”
The older Dan ended up being, the bigger man, breaking the marriage off when he realizes Rachel's feelings for him are false. Rachel was cheating on him and just using him to get illegal substances.
Hakeem and Camilla on “Empire”
The age gap is really nothing special between Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) and Camilla (Naomi Campbell) on “Empire,” but the ick comes from when we see them about to get intimate, and Hakeem calls Camilla “Momma.”
Camilla is nothing but malicious and thorny, and the relationship ended up damaging Hakeem, even ignoring the mother issues that seem to need a good dose of therapy and thought. When Camilla left the show, we were sad to see her go due to how interesting her character was, but it ended up being a good thing for Hakeem.
Sansa and Petyr in “Game of Thrones”
While these two were never actually a couple, Petyr Baelish (Aiden Gillen) was clearly trying to push it in that direction. Sansa (Sophie Turner) was the daughter of his old flame, Caitlyn Stark, and it looked like he was simply late a generation, which is a weird sentence I hope I don't have to type again.
Petyr is a creepy character the whole way through the show and is trying to force Sansa Stark into a relationship the whole time, even kissing her when they are at the Eyrie. While she doesn't pull away, she is a very broken bird by that time. She ends up manipulating Petyr, and before long, the producers end the relationship.