If “HIMYM”‘s Barney Can Do It: Other TV Characters I Want To Find Love

I’ve been obsessively watching “How I Met Your Mother” after discovering it late (super late) in the third season. Actually, I let it slip that I wasn’t watching it and then got harangued by everyone I knew for not knowing what it meant to be the married “Lily” of the group. Since then, I’ve been loving Neil Patrick Harris’ bad Barney. His Lothario-dude, who would be a creepy, sadistic psychopath in real life, is adorable on TV as he wham-bam-thank-you-ma’ams his way through the ladies of New York. Except, this season he is adorable in a brand-new way. He’s found love with Robin, an uncomfortable, wince-inducing, awesome, making-out and having-googly-eyed-Sunday-brunch kind of love. And I love that he’s in love. Which got me thinking about all the other fictional characters that I’ve wanted to watch fall in love. Or at least get kissed.

1. All the nerds on “The Big Bang Theory,” but most especially Sheldon: He’s prim, he’s smart, he’s adorably unable to deal with people. He might explode on smooch contact, but I still want it.
2. Peggy from “Mad Men”: She’s certainly not having any trouble in the kiss department—Peter Campbell, the one-night-stands, Duck (really, Duck?). But she’s had nothing like love or even like, and maybe it’s making for some good internal conflict drama, because I know I’m feeling it. She’s the girl with hardly any place to call her own and even a whirlwind of loved and lost would give her some footing the show seems desperate to deny me.
3. Lafayette from “True Blood”: After being chained up in the basement and suffering the hot, hot abuse from Eric, he deserves a honey. Not to mention, Lafayette in love would be a breeding ground for hysteria. He’d have to feel things!
4. Eric from “True Blood”: I know, I know. Eric in love would actually be awful. Bill is so boring and it is Eric’s Viking sadism that’s piqued everyone’s attraction, but a girl can dream. In the meantime, we’ve got all those Sookie dreams on TiVo to hold us through.
5. Ricki from “My So-Called Life”: So this is traveling in the way-back machine, but he’s stuck with me. Ricki was the first gay character that mattered to me. He was bigger than Ellen and way before kids in my small-time school started feeling safe to come out. Kind, generous, and so extremely sad and alone—I know he’s pretend, but I still want the best for him.

So that’s my list. Which unrequited lovers are on yours?