Daily Gusto: In Defense of 'Coupling'

June 01, 2004

In Defense of 'Coupling'

I will admit I'm a bit of an obnoxious Anglophile. I have been known to, on a particularly bad day, stop in to A Salt and Battery on 2nd Ave. for a dinner of sausage and chips just to hear the cute accents of the counter help. I am also a big proponent of BBC America, it's one of the biggest reasons I spend stupid amounts of money each month for digital cable. You may think you know about Brit comedy because you've seen a few episodes of the award winning The Office, and if this is the case bully for you, or even if it's not that's okay, but I implore you to take a look at the sitcom Coupling.

[Here's the part of the review where I occasionally lapse into British slang to express myself.] This brilliant programme is entering its fourth series, and though it was feckin' butchered by NBC last year as they tried to translate it into the newest Friends replacement, don't let this deter you. The dreaded Friends similarities are sorta striking — six friends obsessed with relationships and who are sexually interconnected sit around to chat over liquids. But for some reason the distinction between beers versus coffee makes all the difference in the world. Or maybe its just the frequency of laugh until it hurts, so bloody humiliating you can't watch but still you must moments. Writer and creator Steven Moffat began writing the scenarios based on his relationship experiences with producer Sue Vertue, and his signature rants written for the character Steve on everything from lesbian porn and throw pillows to locks on the bathroom door pepper the show splendidly. Another style distinctive to this show's sensibility is the way particularly off the wall characters can deliver a line about sex and love that is strikingly bizarre, but say it in a way that seems the most natural attitude in the world. Coupling is the Truth Snake of sitcom television — achingly comedic but also very real at the same time. And jolly good tellie as well, mind you.

Series One thru Three are available to rent on DVD at Netflix and also probably your local good video store. Series Four begins on BBC America this Sunday, June 6 at 9 and 10:20 pm. Pip pip!

Posted by at June 1, 2004 08:37 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Did you ever see the American version? Horrific. But I think I'm enough of an Anglophile to appreciate this...

Posted by: Jennifer at June 2, 2004 06:33 PM

i watched episode one out of curiosity and deep love for the original, but was totally shocked at how they used literally the same script AND STILL it was so not funny. i'd recently turned my friend lisa on the brit version and she had exactly the same reaction. i guess the actors in the original are just superior or it could be the accents just make it funnier, i'm not sure.

i can't offer this to the whole GUSTO community but if you want to borrow the dvds, jennifer let me know.

Posted by: karen at June 2, 2004 08:44 PM

I had a chat with my co-workers about this, and we all agreed that the American Coupling featured people who were too pretty - as in, they were so fake and made up looking that we couldn't really connect with them. Whereas the British Coupling has people who are attractive, but not in a scary clone way. They look like NORMAL good looking people, which I know is something of a hard concept for American prime time TV to grasp. Anyhow, the British Coupling's comedic timing and rapport is genius as well, and that is always hard to replicate, especially once you've a taste of the real thing.
PS Hey there, CineCultist, don't be dissin' The Office, all I gotta say is: "I was just thinking, will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark..." HA HA!

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I think that the American series didn't work because it is hard to believe that Americans would use the dialog that the "Coupling" characters use.

Even though the story and dialogue were nearly identical, something just didn't seem right.

I don't really think that the acting on the original is that more superior, or the actors and actresses are any less fitting for the roles. Americans just don't act and talk like that, so the premises were unbelievable.

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