The trend is as hot as ever with odd pairings on such shows as "Boston Public," "Roswell" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

The characters are different, which creates a natural tension. Watching how the odd couples deal with those differences is what lures channel-changing viewers back to see what will happen. What they discover is that sometimes the couples thrive. Sometimes they fall apart. Either way, they are fun to watch.

Take these examples of successful odd pairings:

The apartment-sharing Oscar and Felix on "The Odd Couple" in the late 1960s and early 1970s waged a constant battle of divergent housekeeping approaches.

A man-and-machine odd couple could be found in the action series "Knight Rider" in the 1970s.

Viewers watched from 1964 to 1972 while witch Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) had a wonderful relationship with the mortal Darrin (first played by Dick York and then Dick Sargent) on "Bewitched."

In the 1987-1990 series "Beauty and the Beast," Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) found true love in the sewers when she fell for the feline-faced Vincent (Ron Perlman).

Networks continue to put together extreme characters in hopes of creating enough friction to light a fire in the ratings.

Actor Seth Green shared the television screen with vampires, werewolves, and zombies during his stint on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Green will be hanging out with another odd co-star when he returns to television March 27 in the Fox series "Greg the Bunny."

This time, Green shares screen time with a talking stuffed rabbit and a rather dimwitted vampire who goes by the name Count Blah. The series looks at a world where the stars of the children's show "Sweetknuckle Junction" are not just puppets. They are living, breathing creatures capable of independent actions, thoughts and emotions. Greg and Green's character share an apartment.