Starting this autumn, “Coupling” will air 9:30 p.m. Thursdays (after “Will & Grace” and opposite “CSI,” “WWE Smackdown,” “The O.C.” and “Extreme Makeover”). It’s an American version of the “Friends”-ish British hit about three men and three women who find themselves coping with a long history of intra-group relationships. It’s overseen by well-regarded writer-producer Phoef Sutton (“Cheers,” “Newhart”) and stars Rena Sofer (“Ed,” “Just Shoot Me”), Jay Harrington (“The Division”), Colin Ferguson (“The Opposite of Sex”), Lindsay Price (“View From the Top”), Sonya Walger (“The Mind of the Married Man”) and Christopher Moynihan (“The Fighting Fitzgeralds”).
NBC, fast losing its decades-long Vulcan death grip on Thursday nights (and down to its last 16 or so episodes of “Friends”), is said to have a lot riding on this baby, as very few expect “Whoopi” or “Happy Family” to emerge as the next “Seinfeld” or “Cheers.”
The news from the Coaxial News spies is not all good. The insanely hot “Liscious” says:
The news from the Coaxial News spies is not all good. The insanely hot “Liscious” says:
coupling! made me dry.....
herc
i forgot to write earlier-- but i saw the pilot for "coupling " a month or 2 ago-- and HATED IT!!!! you've probobly already seen it,so you know what im talking about but its not funny at all!! and its gotten so much press and heat about , how its soo hot and funny and edgy... the new "friends", only naughtier...... so i was really expecting to enjoy it and was excieted to preview it...... so, i was very disappointed NOT sexy, NOT edgy, NOT FUNNY!!!!!!
no character differentiation-- all the guys were the same guy! i couldnt distinguish which was who, who was which!!!--- boring!!--- stupid, unfunny, forced, predictable, sit-com antics and plots....... with a smattering of " edgy subject matterial" thrown in to try and disguise how old, and already done a million times, the whole mess is. (like gravy trying to cover up the stink of last weeks festering meatloaf) didnt care about the characters
i was bored, bored, bored, and didnt laugh once NOT EVEN CLOSE TO FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not even close to being friends's k-mart knock-off wearing cousin!!!
i predict the show will bomb, bomb bomb..... (unless of course it manages finds that same brain dead audience that keeps that horrible neighboor/ cousin show on the air..... the one thats so bad i cant ever remember the name..... the one with the sloppy family that lives in the back yard of the neat-nik sister/ cousins? family??) thats how bad it is!!!!
xoxoxox
“Nate” says:
The Plot: Steve and Susan are both having relationship trouble, but will soon fal for each other, but they bring along the baggage, creating a six-some just like Friends. Let It Be Stated I Loathe Friends and All It Stands For!
The Good:
The Exes: These two really steal the scenes they're in. Lindsay Price as Steve's ex who keeps trapping him back into the relationship is quite funy towards the end of the episde, as is Colin Ferguson as Susan's Ex. They both are the only ones to show anything really promising about this show.
The Mediocre:
The Best Friends: Sonya Walger is better the Christopher Moynihan, but none of them really shine. They play what they're meant to play, a second banana to the star.
The Bad:
Steve and Susan: What can I say. The star of a NBC sitcom is never as good as the others. See Seinfeld, Will and Grace, and various other NBC sitcoms.
The Writing: Ok. The beginning gave me a mild chuckle, and a few one liners did too, but overall the writing was about a 2.2 out of 10. Overall Score:
The Exes: 9/10
The BFs: 5.5/10
The Stars: 2/10
The Writing: 3.5/10 (Thanks to the various one liners)
Average: 5/10
“The Pickler” (don't know him; could be a plant!) is far more generous:
Hey there Hercules,
If you choose to publish, you may call me The Pickler. Please insert the usual “Long time reader, etc,” paragraph here.
Anyhow, I just watched the pilot episode of NBC’s remake of BBC2’s Coupling and I thought you might appreciate a few words. For the record, I’m a big fan of the original show. For my money it’s the best Britcom since Father Ted, so like many others, when I heard a remake was in the offing, I was sceptical.
US television has a long history of remaking classic British comedy; some successfully translated, some less so. For every All In The Family (Till Death Us Do Part) or Sanford and Son (Steptoe and Son) there has been a Major Payne (Fawlty Towers) or a Cybil (AbFab).
On the whole Three’s Company (Man About the House) debate, I think the jury is still out.
The remake traffic hasn’t always been one way either. There was some dreadful British take on Who’s the Boss? a few years ago. And when Coupling itself first premiered on the BBC, there were those who found the premise uncomfortably close to Friends.
So now this show, a remake of Coupling, which was an apparent remake of Friends, was ordered by NBC to replace the original Friends (which had been due to end this year) and which now isn't ending. So now Friends finds itself scheduled to play alongside a remake of a remake of itself..
Wha?!?
But enough background - On to the show itself – I had a real feeling of déjà vu watching this program. The script, penned by the original British writer, Steve Moffat, was an almost word-for-word transcription of the original episode. (Gus Van Sant would be proud) Some of the more obvious British references were expunged and a very few Americanisms peppered in to replace them.
I know there are a lot of Brits out there who are going to want to hate this show but I’m here to tell you, it is going to take a lot of effort to do so. Certainly on the basis of the pilot episode, this show has potential.
Possible problems? Well, obviously a question mark must hang over future scripting of the series. Given the voracious US production schedule, it won’t take long for NBC to mine the first three series of the BBC original. Will Andrew Moffat be able to pull an Aaron Sorkin, and pen every word himself, 22 times a year? I doubt it.
On the whole, the cast is good, with plenty of equal opportunity eye-candy to go round. I’ll admit I was a little confused for the first few minutes trying to figure out who was Susan and who was Sally, given that they’ve apparently swapped hair colours for this version of the show.
I guess I’m a little superficial that way.
Of the six, I only recognised one, the delectable Rene Sofer, who played the prosecutorial sparring-partner and supplementary love-interest of Tom Cavanagh, in the first season of Ed. She more than comfortably fills Sarah Alexander’s shoes as an excellent (though strangely brunette) Susan.
So, OK, once again I admit I’m a tad superficial.
Two more comments about the cast. The woman the have playing Jane, Lindsay Price, is just fantastic; a real comedic find. As much as I love the BBC version’s Gina Bellman, Lindsay is funnier. And hotter to boot.
Did someone say superficial?
Finally, Breckin Meyer as Jeff. Ahem. I’m sorry, but Mr Meyer is no Richard Coyle. Although given Coyle’s recent star turn on the BBC’s supernatural thriller series Strange, it’s hard to imagine the US producers finding anyone as uniquely talented to take on the role.
IN SUMMATION: I give NBC’s Coupling remake an A-. I would have given it a B+ for its brilliant, though recycled, script and its (on the whole) first rate cast. I’ve upped that rating a smidge because the new show uses CAKE’s fantastic version of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps as its theme song.
In case you hadn’t guessed, Cake are one of my top 5 fave bands.
Ciao kiddies.
I am – Hercules!!
