Daily Crack - “Coupling” And Its Complexities
“Coupling” the BBC British sitcom is a little like an English “Friends.” It’s about 3 women and 3 men, all in their late 20’s early 30’s, their love relationships and the mishaps and incidences they both incur and endure.
The show aired for 4 seasons in England and airs presently on BBC America in the states, in syndication elsewhere, and is available on DVD. “Coupling” remains very relevant and very funny and I always try to catch it if I can. But I find few people outside of the UK are familiar with the series, and I would still be unfamiliar with the series if not for an Anglophile friend of mine who turned me onto it this past winter. “Coupling” covers subjects we all think about but rarely talk about except perhaps on occasion with our best friend, while also broaching on subjects we all discuss and encounter thus creating its universal appeal.
Created by writer Steven Moffat, and his wife, producer Sue Vertue, who also named two of the main characters Steve and Sue. The sitcom is loosely based on the real life meeting of Moffat and Vertue and the issues that arise in new relationships. It’s a story of present relationships, prior relationships, and best friends delving into such subjects as their sexual adventures, a mans “private” video collection and when and if he should dispose of it, how far one should go to get a date, the “melty man”, commitment, aging, etc. Something that I also find very funny in the series is the way the show displays six people discussing the same subject or the same event, and each of them is experiencing it entirely different.
The main characters are the sure of herself Susan, who was having casual sexual relations with the promiscuous lady’s man Patrick and ends up in a serious relationship with the more conventional unsure of himself Steve, who use to be in a relationship with the hilarious and somewhat crazy Jane, allowing Patrick to eventually get “somewhat” involved in a relationship with Susan’s terribly insecure best friend Sally. Then there is the completely self doubting Jeffrey who works with Susan and once had a casual sexual encounter with her only to become best of friends and companions with Patrick and then Steven. And in season 4 we see the departure of Jeffrey to be replaced by the equally socially inept idiosyncratic Oliver who eventually wins the heart of Jane. If this sounds like a lot, it is, but it is equally as funny and entertaining.
I’m not certain why it only ran for 4 seasons in Britain, but all four seasons are worth watching and I get very excited when I note an episode that is airing that I haven’t yet seen. You can see “Coupling” on BBC America, Tuesdays at 8pm and 11pm, and Wednesdays at 1am. It also looks like BBC America is going to run a “Coupling” marathon on Sunday August 24th starting at 2pm and will be airing 6 episodes back to back. Check your local listings.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
It basically finished because they decided they had told all there was to tell. There were plans for a final Christmas special to wrap everything up, but in the end they couldn’t get the cast back together with their varying work commitments, so the idea was abandoned.