Coupling - The Complete First Season
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DVD details
Actor: Jack Davenport, Sarah AlexanderBrand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Sue Vertue
Writer: Steven Moffat
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
DVD Reviews of Coupling - The Complete First Season
DVD Review: Hey! The British are more preoccupied about sex than we are!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yeah, "Coupling" is "Friends" set in England, but then "St. Elsewhere" was "Hill Street Blues" in a hospital and that worked out okay. Besides, with all the attempts to duplicate the success of "Friends" on this side of the Pond it is nice to see that somebody pulled it off. So just take it for granted that you will watch the first couple of episodes from the first series (what we in the Colonies would call a season) you will be figuring out which character on "Coupling" matches up with which character on "Friends." But that is pretty obvious:
Steve Taylor (Jack Davenport) is Ross, without the Ph.D. in paleontology, who has just started dating Susan Walker (Sarah Alexander), who certainly is more confident about living in the real world than Rachel. Jane Christie (Gina Bellman) is decidedly quirky like Phoebe, but without the loveable cuteness, and Sally Harper (Kate Isitt) is psychotic about her appearance the way Monica is about cleanliness. Jeff Murdock (Richard Coyle) thinks about sex as much as Joey without any of the success with women, which makes it odd that Patrick Maitland (Ben Miles) ends up being the Chandler figure since he is apparently a sex god (or sex "donkey"). When you get to the point knowing that Patrick is Susan's "ex" and it becomes impossible to translate that into Chandler being Rachel's "ex," then you are capable of watching this situation comedy on its own terms.
Now, the biggest difference between "Coupling" and "Friends" is the preoccupation with sex. "Coupling" only had six episodes in its first series and I was wondering if you took the first season of "Friends" and selectively cut it down to only six episodes would it be as much about sex? I have to say that the answer is probably not, even if you culled the choice moments from the first two or three season of 'Friends." Even when a subplot is about a job interview or a funeral, it still ends up about being sex. To be honest, "Sex in the City" is not as much about sex as "Coupling," which, you have to admit, has a more specific title in that regard.
The six episodes from the first series are as follows: "Flushed" has Steve trying to break up with Jane, once again, and having problems because not only does Jane refuse to hear what he is saying, she reveals another side of herself that catches Steve's attention. Then there is one of the most unusual circumstances for arranging for a date you have ever seen as Steve and Susan hook up. "Size Matters" has Sally seeing Patrick in a new way, or, to be more accurate, hoping to see Patrick in a new way. "Sex, Death and Nudity" has the gang showing up en masse at the funeral of Jane's aunt, although exactly who is with whom and what their relationship is for public consumption is not clear. Bonus: The boys do their "Reservoir Dogs" bit. "Inferno" is about the elephant in the living room at Steve and Susan's dinner party, namely the porn tape that Susan discovered in Steve's magazine. Fortunately, Jane has brought her ex-therapist, although everybody assumes the newcomer is gay. That is okay because she thinks Patrick is gay (because of his new hair style). "The Girl with Two Breasts" has Jeff successfully having a conversation with a beautiful woman who still likes him. That is probably because she is from Israel and only speaks Hebrew. The comic highlight of the season is when Jeff has a second conversation with her; we hear it first from his perspective and then again from her perspective. The first series comes to an end with "The Cupboard of Patrick's Love," where it seems one of his collection of videotapes of his bedroom activities has the name "Susan" on it. You do not need to be told this is not a good thing as far as Steve or Susan are concerned (although Jeff and Sally like the idea of it).
Actually, the first series almost ended on a rather sweet note, but then they went for the gag, which is the whole object of "Coupling." The show only tosses in one tag scene at the end of the credits, for "Inferno," but it is a perfect capper to the episode and the issue of "converting" someone. I am not surprised that the American version of "Coupling" failed because when the British talk about sex it tends to be funny, while when Americans talk about sex it tends to come across as smutty. Talk about two people separated by a common language. Anyhow, if you can get past the strong similarity with "Friends" and stop thinking of the show as a rip-off, you should be able to enjoy this raunchy and ribald little show.
Description of Coupling - The Complete First Season
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/22/2005 Run time: 175 minutes Rating: NrThis witty, instantly addictive British series could also be called Chaps or Squelchy in the City. Coupling charts the tangled sex lives of a close-knit group comprising "exes and best friends": womanizer Jack, hapless nice guy Steve, "strange and disturbing" Jeff, uninhibited Susan, neurotic Sally, and manipulative Jane. Coupling may inspire feelings of déjà-view. The obvious frame of reference is Friends (Steve and Susan are the Ross-Rachel equivalent), but this series also echoes Seinfeld in its coinage of catch-phrases (although it's doubtful that "the boyfriend zone" will replace "master of your domain") and plotlines (in episode one, Steve tries to dump Jane, who refuses to accept). But Coupling has its own fresh and provocative takes on relationships. At one point, a furious Susan discovers that Patrick not only had a videotape of the former couple having sex, but that he also taped over her. An American remake is reportedly in the works. Didn't the Fawlty Towers knockoffs, Amanda's and Payne, teach us anything? --Donald Liebenson
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