The Proof Is in the Wedding

Yesterday you probably read that Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer — costars on "House" — recently got engaged. If they get married before "House" leaves the airwaves, they'll join a select group of spouses with recurring roles on scripted TV series together.

I'm not talking about reality, variety or DIY shows. The upcoming series, ''Rob & Amber: Against the Odds'' (1/11/2007, Fox Reality), doesn't count. In the past we've seen couples that are:

• repairing homes together, like Natalie & Wally Bruner on ''Wally's Workshop'' (1972)
  
• cooking together, like Caprial & John Pence on "Caprial and John's Kitchen: Cooking for Family and Friends" (PBS, 2004)
  
• singing together, like Cher & Sonny Bono on "The Sonny and Cher Show" (CBS, 1976)
  
• entertaining together, like Dale Evans & Roy Rogers on "The Roy Rogers Show" (NBC, 1951)
  
• doing magic together, like Nani Darnell & Mark Wilson on "The Magic Land of Allakazam" (CBS, 1960)
  
• playing wordgames together, like Betty White & Allen Ludden on "Password"
  
• getting married, like Britney Spears & K-Fed on "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic" (UPN, 2005)
  
• starting a new life together, like Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey on "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica" (MTV, 2003)
  
• growing old together, like Sharon & Ozzie Osbourne on "The Osbournes" (MTV, 2002)

There are just too many shows like these to name them all; so I won't.

And I'm not counting couples who appeared on a series and then got hitched after the series left the airwaves.

• Meredith Baxter & David Birney from "Bridget Loves Bernie" (CBS, 1972)
  
• Delta Burke & Gerald McRaney (guest star) from "Designing Women" (CBS, 1986)
  
• Alyson Hannigan & Alexis Denisof from "Buffy" (WB, 1997)
  
• Laura Leighton & Doug Savant from "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1992)
  
• Suzanne Pleshette & Tom Poston from "The Bob Newhart Show" (CBS, 1972)
  
• Emma Thompson & Kenneth Branagh from "Fortunes of War" (1987)

To name just a few.

And I'm definitely not counting the always-popular, one-time guest appearance during Sweeps to pump up the ratings.

The couple has to be married in real life while the show is on TV. The characters have to be on the series more than a few times. And it has to be scripted. Here's the list:

• Bettye Ackerman & Sam Jaffe on "Ben Casey" (ABC, 1961)
  
• Gracie Allen & George Burns on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (CBS, 1950)
  
• Barbara Bain & Martin Landau on:
  • "Mission: Impossible" (CBS, 1966)
    
  • "Space: 1999" (Syn, 1975)
• Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz on "I Love Lucy" (CBS, 1951)
  
• Roseanne Barr & Tom Arnold on "Roseanne" (ABC, 1988)
  
• Bonnie Bartlett & William Daniels on "St. Elsewhere" (NBC, 1982)
  
• Bonnie Bartlett & William Daniels (5 eps) on "Boy Meets World" (ABC, 1993)
  
• Bernadette Birkett (voice of Vera) & George Wendt on "Cheers" (NBC, 1982)
  
• Josie Bissett & Rob Estes on "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1992)
  
• Connie Booth and John Cleese on "Fawlty Towers" (BBC2, 1975)
  
• Sophia Bush & Chad Michael Murray on "One Tree Hill" (WB, 2003)
  
• Nanci Chambers & David James Elliott on "JAG" (NBC/CBS, 1995)
  
• Susan Clark & Alex Karras on "Webster" (ABC, 1983)
  
• Sarah Clarke & Xander Berkeley on "24" (Fox, 2001)
  
• Jill Eikenberry & Michael Tucker on "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1986)
  
• Valerie Harper & Richard Schaal (3 eps) on "Rhoda" (CBS, 1974)
  
• Mary Healy & Peter Lind Hayes on:
  • "The Peter Lind Hayes Show" (NBC, 1950)
    
  • "Peter Loves Mary" (NBC, 1960)
• Harriet Hilliard & Ozzie Nelson on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (ABC, 1952)
  
• Benita Hume & Ronald Colman on "Halls of Ivy" (CBS, 1954)
  
• Julie London & Bobby Troup on "Emergency" (NBC, 1972)
  
• Ida Lupino & Howard Duff on "Mr. Adams and Eve" (CBS, 1957)
  
• Daphne Maxwell-Reid & Tim Reid on
  • "Frank's Place" (CBS, 1987)
    
  • "Snoops" (CBS, 1989)
• Catherine Oxenberg & Casper Van Dien on "Watch Over Me" (MyNetworkTV, 2006)
  
• Kelley Menighan & Jon Hensley on "As the World Turns"
  
• Paula Prentiss & Richard Benjamin on "He & She" (CBS, 1967)
  
• Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos on "All My Children" (ABC)
  
• Brett Somers (5 eps) & Jack Klugman on "The Odd Couple" (ABC, 1970)
  
• Mary Steenburgen & Ted Danson on "Ink" (CBS, 1996)
  
• Jessica Tandy & Hume Cronyn on "The Marriage" (NBC, 1954)
  
• Andrea Thompson & Jerry Doyle on "Babylon 5" (Syn, 1994)
  
• Nana Visitor & Alexander Siddig on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (Syn, 1993)
  
• Maura West & Scott DeFreitas on "As the World Turns"
  
• Patricia Wettig & Ken Olin on "thirtysomething" (ABC, 1987)
  
• Colleen Zenk & Mark Pinter on "As the World Turns"

If you know of any more, please leave a comment.

Update (10 Jan 2007, 08:34PST): added Catherine Oxenberg & Casper Van Dien on "Watch Over Me" (MyNetworkTV, 2006)
Update (14 Jan 2007, 22:49PST): based on reader comment: added Nana Visitor & Alexander Siddig on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (Syn, 1993)
Update (14 Jan 2007, 22:57PST): added the following for ""As the World Turns"

• Kelley Menighan & Jon Hensley
• Maura West & Scott DeFreitas
• Colleen Zenk & Mark Pinter

Update (22 Jan 2007, 10:38PST): based on reader comment: added Nanci Chambers & David James Elliott on "JAG" (NBC/CBS, 1995)
Update (5 Apr 2007, 16:17PDT): added Bonnie Bartlett & William Daniels (5 eps) on "Boy Meets World" (ABC, 1993). They even got married on the show.
Update (7 Apr 2007, 15:58PDT): based on reader comment: added Josie Bissett & Rob Estes on "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1992).
Update (5 Jun 2007, 01:13PDT): based on reader comment: added Connie Booth and John Cleese on "Fawlty Towers" (BBC2, 1975).