A couple people have mentioned Clark and the Clex...though for me it works as it does for you; I don't like Clark as he is in the show now, but I like Clark as he used to be, as he is supposed to be (considering he's supposed to be a hero!) So I can't really say that I hate Clark, only that I hate how Clark is written. Which is somewhat different, at least to me...

But it's an interesting point, that idea of disliking Clark except when he's with Lex, because he's better for being with Lex. I wonder if sometimes what people dislike about a char is that they're refusing to love one's favorite char? So if they pair them up, then the reason to dislike them goes away, and they become a liked char. ...Or something like that!