13 TV Girlfriends I Still Have A Crush On

When I was a kid, aside from my parents and my friends, television was the biggest influence in my life. Maybe that’s because I watched hours of it (let’s hear it for the latchkey kids!), or maybe it’s just because I had way more time for watching TV when I was kid, but the characters on those shows felt like real people that I loved, hated, and totally crushed on. And plenty of my firsts happened while watching or because of some of my favorite television shows. My first crushes on TV show girlfriends, for example, definitely happened because of them. And who could blame me? Some of these TV girlfriends I still have a crush on. All it takes is one night with Netflix, a short stroll down memory lane, and I am right back in my initial feelings of simultaneously wanting to be best friends with these girls and wanting to be just like them.

These are the girlfriends that taught me the first lessons I would ever learn about betrayal, about breaking hearts, about missed chances, and about finding the one. These are the TV girlfriends everyone had major crushes on, even you. And even though they were totally fictional characters, they probably made you feel so many feelings as you sat in front of your television set and dreamed about them being yours.

1. Jill Goodacre (Friends)

She didn’t end up becoming Chandler Bing’s girlfriend, but they’ll always have that one night in the ATM vestibule.

2. Winnie Cooper (The Wonder Years)

Dream of dreams. Winnie was the girl we all loved from the time we were in pigtails.

3. Aunt Becky (Full House)

Have mercy. This brunette bombshell wasn’t just gorgeous, she was fierce enough to steal Uncle Jesse’s heart and to go head-to-head with Danny Tanner on their morning talk show.

4. Lisa Wilkes (The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air)

And to think, she could have been the Princess of Bel Air.

5. Pamela (Louie)

Dark and terribly twisted, you were probably never sure if you wanted to love Pamela or run screaming from her sight. That’s the best kind of crush, though, isn’t it?

6. Ann Perkins (Parks And Recreation)

It feels like sacrilege to refer to Ann Perkins just as someone’s girlfriend, but that’s how she started on Parks and Recreation, as Andy’s girlfriend. And man did we love her for it.

7. Holly Flax (The Office)

Never has there been a woman more perfect for one man than Holly was for Michael. Still, that didn’t stop us from crushing on her hardcore.

8. Kelly Kapowski (Saved By The Bell)

The star of your childhood dreams, Kelly was the first crush every child of the ‘90s remembers having.

9. Toni Marchette (Beverly Hills 90210)

I don’t know where I loved her more: As Dylan’s tragically deceased young wife, or as the girl in all of those Noxema commercials.

10. Jen Lindley (Dawson’s Creek)

Initially introduced to the show as Dawson’s love interest, Jen Lindley was the ultimate girl next door. And it didn’t hurt that she had a bad girl past to make the appeal even greater.

11. Betty Draper (Mad Men)

OK, I know. She wasn’t a girlfriend. She was Don Draper’s wife. Still, marital status isn’t going to stop me from crushing all over January Jones in this breakout role.

12. Julie Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

She was more than just Matt Saracen’s girlfriend. She was also the coach’s daughter, which made her all the more attractive to audiences everywhere.

13. Jane Margolis (Breaking Bad)

It’s hard to even talk about this one with choking up (no pun intended, I swear), but Jane Margolis, the love of Jesse Pinkman’s life, will always be in our hearts as the girl we all could have saved and could have loved. If only Walter White weren’t such a heartless thug.

Be still, my heart. All of these TV girlfriends have me aflutter. Time to go binge watch and revisit those first feelings I had for them way back when.

Image: ABC (3); NBC (6); FX; FOX; The WB; AMC (2)