In the honor of the season, in anticipation of the Oscars, and in the grand tradition of TheFourthVine who writes the most delightfully funny fanfiction recommendations, I am devoting this week's rant to a celebration of the best kisses ever to grace genre television and movies, so spoilers abound. Be warned.

Since "the best" is always subjective, a single category cannot encompass "best kiss" or even "hottest non-kissing moment between two people." Instead, these kisses are all in a class of their own. And if you realize your own favorite smooches aren't listed, feel free to nominate your own categories in the comments!

Captain Jack Harkness / Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood, "Captain Jack Harkness"

I have a particular weakness for clonefic which we will not be discussing at the present time. Suffice it to say, I've got a particular attraction to stories that feature characters having a particular attraction to themselves, only eviler. This is not that case. In the TW episode "Captain Jack Harkness," we meet the man who unwittingly gave Jack his name, and then we watch as Jack falls for this doomed not-version of himself. Jack's locked a lot of lips, but so far, the best snog has been with someone named like him.

Willow/Tara, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, "Restless"

One of the most annoying dictates the WB ever came up with was that Willow and Tara could not kiss onscreen. Considering what kind of ratings boost lesbian kisses probably would have given the network, it's a damn shame this kiss took place where no one could watch it but Xander. Still, the reaction shot, the sounds in the background, and the viewers' imaginations all meshed to make one incredible invisible smooch.  And when they moved to UPN, they got to kiss as much as they wanted.

John/Aeryn, Farscape, "Green-Eyed Monster"

Very few couples in genre television have had the urgency and passion of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun. The show's "will they or won't they" twists and turns included splitting him into two identical clones, and we won't even touch the question of whose baby Little D was. Ben Browder, giant fanboy that he is, wrote this episode that ended in a lovely little snog as their lips met on the star John named after Aeryn.

Matt/Cathy, "Alien Nation: Dark Horizon"

The much-mourned series Alien Nation was our very first example of why you shouldn't trust FOX with a genre series, and also why we thought we could. The series ended on a cliffhanger, resolved five years later in the made-for-TV movie "Dark Horizon." Matt and Cathy spent a year (and then the years in limbo) dancing around their attraction for each other. Other lovers, silly plot twists, the formula was set. And then, at the end of the film, they stand at the opposite ends of the bridge where Albert and May have just been married.  Cathy and Matt walk towards each other, and the music swells in Tenctonese, and the symbolism is as subtle as a brick, but it doesn't matter because the moment is absolutely perfect.

Uhura/Kirk, Star Trek, "Plato's Stepchildren"

It was groundbreaking. I get that. But kissing forced by wacky pseudo-Roman mind-control is deeply unpleasant as a concept, and honestly, Uhura totally could've done better than Kirk. The script originally called for her to kiss Spock, and as we all know, Spock's the real hottie. So I'll acknowledge the kiss that was for what it was, and wish we could've seen the other one instead.

Autolycus (Xena)/Gabrielle, Xena: Warrior Princess "The Quest"

In one sentence, the moment every fan of the show had been waiting for since the series began. While we didn't see Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor lock lips (this time), it was Xena in Autolycus's body when it happened, and it totally counted.

Laura (Rodney)/Carson, Stargate: Atlantis, "Duet"

This kiss was played for the laughs. But the laughs were well worth the kiss. Laura Cadman and Rodney McKay are sharing a body which may or may not be about to be destroyed, and Cadman takes one last moment to act out her attraction to the good Doctor Beckett. It never becomes not funny.

Rose (TARDIS) / Ninth Doctor, Doctor Who, "The Parting of the Ways"

Rose Tyler may have been the Bad Wolf who created herself, but she was filled with the heart of the TARDIS when she and Nine smooched at the end of his run. Angel did the whole "transfer power with a kiss" thing with Cordelia and Doyle, but Nine did it knowing he'd die in Rose's place. Whatever your opinions about the Doctor and Rose, the self-sacrifice and tenderness of this one last action really nail home how much he cares for her, even if he is kissing his ship.

Luke/Leia, "Star Wars: A New Hope"

George Lucas later claimed he had it all worked out in advance about Luke and Leia being twins. George lies. Leia's quick little smooch "for luck" with her later-to-be-revealed sib was sweet, and it launched a thousand fangirls (okay, me) into holding wee little weddings for the two of them with the handy action figures, at least until "Return of the Jedi" made it all weird.

Han/Leia, "The Empire Strikes Back"

There's just something about the despondency that runs through the last half hour or so of "Empire" that makes it such a great movie. The heroes are getting more and more desperate, and the audience is starting to catch on that maybe they won't pull out a last-minute save after all. Han and Leia on Bespin, moments before he's frozen in carbonite (and as far as they know, probably killed), are rendered down to their cores. No time for arrogance, or flirting, or mockery. There's just one kiss, and then he's gone.

Cordelia/Wesley, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, "Graduation Day Part 2"

They were cute. They were awkwardly flirty. They shared not one but two of the most fumbling first kisses in history, and mutually decided seconds later that maybe they shouldn't date. Cordy and Wesley will never make anyone's top ten cutest couples list, but they did at least end it on a funny note.

Elisa/Goliath, Gargoyles, "Hunter's Moon Part 3"

If you're a Star Trek fan who wasn't a Gargoyles fan, you missed out on a two-year plus dead dog party for the Next Gen cast. You also missed out on a sweet and lovely interspecies love story that culminated in a single, unexpected kiss just before the sun came up (turning the hero to stone with a big grin on his face). The series built up the pairing believably and slowly, and also with the inevitability that only works with good storytelling. (Alas, then there was the third season. We don't discuss the third season. We read the comics instead.)

As an aside, I would also like to make an honorable mention for a particular kiss by my current 'ship: Green Lantern/Hawkgirl, Justice League, "Wild Cards." I am so very squeeful about this pairing that I can't be even remotely objective, and so I cannot in good conscience call them the "Best of" anything. If you ever have a chance to see it, this particular episode and this particular kiss are well worth the viewing, and unlike most cartoon kisses, this one continues to the fade out. V. nice.

So here is my very incomplete list of awesome (and less than awesome) kisses. What are your favorite genre kisses?