There’s nothing like living vicariously through the white-hot smooches of our favorite TV characters.
Below in no particular order are just some of our favorite first kiss moments on TV, as selected by the A Love So True staff using a very rigorous and highly scientific curation process. But there's no shortage of electrifying small-screen smooches to choose from. Did we miss your favorite smackeroo? Share it with us in the comments!
Leslie and Ben (Parks and Recreation)
These two nerds had my heart from the moment they first laid eyes on each other, so I couldn't not include them. Leslie and Ben’s first kiss comes after a long time spent denying their mutual attraction, due to a strict mandate against inter-office romantic relationships. Even though they never really hated each other, it's pretty gratifying to see this relationship work out after Leslie tells Ben that "the only thing I'll be waving is your decapitated head on a stick on a stick in front of your weeping mother." Smooth, Leslie. The mantra they later develop for each other, “I love you and I like you,” is apparent even in this first locking of lips.
Lyla and Riggins (Friday Night Lights)
Lyla Garrity, Tim Riggins, can't lose. When Lyla’s boyfriend Jason Street is in the hospital with a devastating injury, she becomes frustrated that Street’s best friend, bad boy Tim Riggins, won’t work up the courage to visit him. Overcome with anger at Tim, and at the entire heartbreaking situation, she eventually allows Tim to comfort her in the only way he knows how. Lyla and Tim's relationship was messy and began from a place of selfish helplessness, but their chemistry in this scene is undeniably electric. Lyla and Riggins forever.
Related: 19 Reasons We Still Love Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights
Mulder and Scully (The X-Files)
After seven seasons of waiting, Mulder and Scully shippers finally got the smooch-ola they’d been waiting for, and it was well worth the wait. This is the tender first smackaroo of people who have cared for each other and respected each other as equals long before exploring their romantic potential. There's something intimately casual about the kiss after urgent cases and high-pressure situations throughout the seasons. Because really, is there a romantic trope better than the FBI agent and the alien chaser? I don't think so.
Jamie and Claire (Outlander)
I’m not counting Jamie and Claire’s chaste first kiss at the altar. To my mind, that wasn’t their true first kiss. No, the real unbridling of their passion comes during their sweet, intimate wedding night, when Jamie gives Claire a kiss to show that although he's a virgin, he's no monk. While their wedding night may not be the uh... steamiest... encounter we get to see, I think there's something magical about a first kiss, a first time, and a first real love all wrapped into one. Wait, am I attracted to kilts?
Related: Men in Kilts: 13 Steamy Scottish Romance Novels Featuring Hunky Highlanders
Mindy and Danny (The Mindy Project)
Listen, a plane wouldn’t be my first choice for a passionate kiss. I do not feel remotely sexy on planes, but my congratulations to people who do. Thankfully for television, Mindy and Danny Castellano make mile-high makeouts look great. After an emotional trip to L.A. during which Mindy helps Danny confront some of his feelings about his father, Danny finally makes his affection for Mindy explicit by pulling her into a loving embrace, right by the airplane bathrooms. If Mindy Kaling says it's right, I'm definitely not going to argue with her. We'd take a Danny Castellano bathroom makeout any day.
White Josh and Darryl (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
White Josh (WhiJo, to his friends) and Darryl share a first kiss that’s chaste, but oh-so-meaningful. Recently divorced Darryl Whitefeather invites some younger acquaintances over to watch sports, and is desperate to entertain them, even calling an escort line to make sure his new young friends see him as a peer. When WhiJo, who Darryl vaguely knows from the gym, stays to help Darryl clean up, Darryl is shocked to get a meaningful goodnight kiss from him. Thus launched the sweetest representation of bisexuality on TV. I can't find a clip of their first lip-lock, so enjoy this beautiful anthem from Darryl instead.
Veronica and Logan (Veronica Mars)
We love to LoVe this couple, and their first kiss does not disappoint. Logan and Veronica might be the ultimate enemies-turned-lovers couple, and this moment in the first season really cemented that the two had a meaningful future together. Veronica's tentativeness, Logan's decision to pull her back in and show that he returns the feelings—this kiss is legendary. With a couple name like LoVe, their first kiss was destined to be special. From the surprised lean in to the longing stare from a distance, this scene promises more kisses where the first one came from.
Chuck and Blair (Gossip Girl)
With her relationship to longtime boyfriend Nate on the rocks, straight-laced Blair lets her wild side show during a raucous night at Chuck's burlesque club. The result is one of the most so-wrong-it's-right first kisses in all of Gossip Girl, as Chuck finds himself seriously falling for someone for the first time, and Blair finds herself flouting expectations in a way she hardly ever allows. Their relationship has its up and downs for sure, but this kiss tells us that they won't be able to cool down any time soon. #TeamChair?
Michonne and Rick (The Walking Dead)
These two. After seasons of having each other’s backs through the apocalypse and all the devastation that comes with it, in the relative domesticity of Alexandria, we see them kiss for the first time. As soon as their hands touch, it's pretty easy to tell that we're in for something great. Yes, sexual tension, we love it. Their obvious respect and admiration for each other is what makes this first kiss so heartwarming—and when the threat of death by zombie is always at your door, it adds an extra urgency to any make-out.
Rory and Jess (Gilmore Girls)
Listen, Jess is not on the top of my list as far as Rory’s boyfriends go. But I remember watching this scene as a young ‘un, my own first kiss still far in the future, and swooning for Jess Mariano. The best part? Rory, who initiated the kiss, looks even more alarmed than Jess when she backs away. The road of love is long and twisty for Rory and Jess, it's nice to take a moment and hope that things will work out for them after everything. But hey, young love is pretty confusing, even when you can talk it out like a Gilmore.
Shane and Carmen (The L Word)
This first kiss between Carmen and perennial player Shane might seem insignificant—just the start of a casual hookup—but it launched one of the most emotional, memorable relationships in all of The L Word's six season. When Carmen reveals something personal as they kiss, we know that there has to be more. With all the relationships in The L Word, this one shows us what we can learn from putting ourselves out there.
Booth and Bones (Bones)
Throughout their long work history, Booth and Bones’ respect, admiration, and affection for each other was enviable. They long denied their feelings for each other, but everyone—including those of us at home—knew a first kiss was inevitable. When it came, it was just as adorably awkward as we expected. While the kiss was really just for show, the look in Booth and Bones' eyes tells us that the kiss felt more real to them than they want to let on. Thank you, mistletoe!
Lexa and Clarke (The 100)
It's the end of the world as we know it when this kiss appeared on our screens. Clarke and Lexa deserved a happily ever after that they didn’t get. But we’ll always remember this sweet first kiss, in which the two powerful leaders allow their vulnerable sides to show. Don't mind me while I rewind this video about 100 times. You know, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Jess and Nick (New Girl)
After watching Jess and Nick develop an intense friendship and deny their feelings for each other for nearly two seasons, this first kiss was worth the wait. During the drinking game True American Nick and Jess are challenged to kiss (by everyone including Jess' then-boyfriend). But Nick refuses, saying 'not like this.' Later that night, he reveals his true feelings by sweeping her in for a big ol' smackeroo that's anything but playful. I'm pretty sure my breath actually caught when I watched this kiss for the first time. Nick and Jess may continue to dance around their feelings for a while after, but nothing made it more clear that they were meant to be together than the kiss to end all kisses. Nick might be a sloppy curmudgeon, but you wouldn't know it from this scene.
Pam and Jim (The Office, U.S. version)
Before Pam can even catch her breath, Jim takes it away with one of the sweetest kisses in first kiss history. The first kiss between Pam and Jim is a bittersweet but beautiful one, exchanged after Jim reveals his love for her for the first time. Since Pam is still engaged to Roy, her and Jim's kiss is fraught and a little sad. Still, considering we’d just watched the two deny their love for each other for two whole seasons, it was electrifying to watch this episode while it aired for the first time and see them finally make some strides towards becoming the couple we always knew they could be. This was the moment that truly started it all.
Related: 12 of the Greatest TV Couples Ever
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Featured still from "New Girl" via Fox
