The 20 best Valentine’s Day TV episodes

It doesn’t get much better than Niles’ vignette this episode (“A Valentine For Niles”), a farcical silent film performance from David Hyde Pierce to kick off a half-hour sitcom. The Frasier and Daphne/Martin vignettes also make for a solid Valentine’s Day episode, but the first one is, of course, the one people remember this episode for.

You know which "O.C." character surprisingly didn’t love Valentine’s Day? Sandy Cohen — Mr. Romantic, himself — of all characters. But he says it right there in the opening teaser: “Valentine’s Day is not a holiday. Rosh Hashanah, that’s a holiday. Memorial Day, yes, a holiday.” Instead, it’s Kirsten Cohen who’s all-in on V-Day —  an atypical giddiness for the character. This is also the episode where Seth and Summer lose their virginities to each other — awkwardly — and Luke and Julie start their inappropriate affair. This is an all-time classic "O.C." and Valentine’s Day episode.

This is one of the funniest "Buffy" episodes ever and one of the best of the second season (and series as a whole), as Xander’s botched love spell gets every girl and woman in Sunnydale (except for the target of his spell, Cordelia) to fall for him. Plus, Buffy gets turned into a rat! Happy Valentine’s Day.

Yes, this is a Valentine’s Day episode, but it’s also the episode in which an argument over the Barenaked Ladies leads to Jeff leaving the study group. But on the Valentine’s Day front specifically, Troy and Abed both fall for the same woman (a librarian named Mariah), and Britta accidentally dates a “lesbian.”

If not for this episode, we’d never know — OK, we probably could’ve guessed — which "Friends" characters the "Happy Endings" gang actually are. Max is “fat Joey,” by the way. Max also finds love in this episode, with James Wolk’s perfect character, Grant.

Obviously, this classic episode has things like Michael’s quest to find “Hermano,” Lindsay realizing she wants to divorce Tobias and Lucille dancing to “Rose’s Turn.” But it also introduces Carl Weathers’ in-depth knowledge of how to get a stew going. That’s true love.

“Happy Valentimes!” The original "30 Rock" Valentine’s Day episode is the beginning of the Liz/Floyd relationship — as she gets the flowers he meant to send to his girlfriend, Liz Lemler — Jenna trying to prove to Frank that she’s not “phony,” and Jack’s post-divorce depression spiral on Valentimes…er…Valentine’s Day.

"Modern Family" has been on the air now for approximately 100 years, but that first season was pretty great. And one of the most memorable moments came from that first season, with Claire Dunphy (well, her coat) stuck in a hotel escalator as the result of attempted Valentine’s Day sexiness.

Season 5 is the best "Boy Meets World" season for numerous reasons — it is the season that allowed us to challenge the power of the Cory/Topanga relationship on several fronts, after all — and an episode like “First Girlfriends’ Club” is an episode that serves as a reminder why. "Boy Meets World" was never a great series when it came to continuity, but this episode — bringing back three of Shawn’s ex-girlfriends, two of whom were likable in their original appearances — proves it wasn’t because the show couldn’t do it. Teenage girls kidnapping their reformed player ex-boyfriend on Valentine’s Day is a big-time move.

Schmidt plays Jess’ wingman on her first Valentine’s Day as a single person, leading to her almost sleeping with an attractive stranger played by Ryan Kwanten. But Schmidt also begins his relationship with Cece in this episode…after all the shenanigans to come from her high-out-of-his-mind Valentine's Day date, the Green Arrow himself, Stephen Amell.

Technically this is a “day before Valentine’s Day” episode, but Galentine’s Day is one of the most important concepts to come from "Parks and Recreation," so it deserves respect among these other episodes. Not all Valentine’s Day episodes have to be about romantic love: Sometimes it’s all about friendship (and the beginning and end of certain romantic loves at this point in the series).

This Valentine’s Day, maybe you’ll see fit to acknowledge one universal truth "Friends" doesn’t want you to know: Janice is actually great, and she never deserved all of the guff the friends of "Friends" gave her. Janice went from being the earliest example of Chandler’s hang-ups about commitment to just being an ex he dodged a bullet with because she was annoying. But you know what? Janice deserved so much more. To Janice!

Hehehehe. If you want a traumatic experience — because Valentine’s Day is a sham, baby — this is the episode for you. If you don’t — because it’s Valentine’s Day — sorry about that.

Technically, this is actually a Christmas special…but you gotta watch the thing to find out how. It’s definitely worth it, especially for Maya Rudolph’s “Key Change” song.

The early ‘90s truly were a simpler time — a time when a young teenage girl could have a crush on a local weatherman. A local weatherman named Flip Fontana. This is also the rare (only?) Valentine’s episode that is also a season premiere.

Say what you will about the last couple of seasons of "That ‘70s Show" — because they weren’t good — but early-season "That ‘70s Show" had a nice earnestness attached to its genuine funniness. With this was the early days of the show. Hyde and Eric were both vying for Donna’s affections, but this is the episode when it becomes Eric/Donna 4eva. (Well, until Topher Grace finally left the show.)

Poor Ralph Wiggum. Lisa’s the only kid in the class who gives him a Valentine’s Day card, and so begins his crush on — or obsession with — her. Poor kid.

While this episode takes place over the span of an entire year at Childrens Hospital (and it aired in October), one of the holidays it hits to mark the passage of time is Valentine’s Day — so it counts! It’s also just an impressively directed episode of the series (by David Wain, who also wrote this one), even if it’s not the most romantic on the list. Actually, it kind of is one of the most romantic episodes on this list in a weird way: It’s strangely all about love, on top of the hospital’s budgetary woes.

Because Johnny Bravo’s life was always just one big cosmic joke, Valentine’s Day just so happened to be his birthday. So even on Johnny Bravo’s birthday, no woman would ever say yes to dating him. This is the realest Valentine’s Day episode on this list.

Poor Sam has a standing Valentine’s Day date, but this time around, he throws his back out (after slipping on some ice outside the bar). Is he going to let that stop him from making his date? Painfully, no.