Well, the British TV series Coupling is obviously derived from the long-running US sitcom Friends. But when we get scripts as fresh and wittily outrageous as this, who cares where the inspiration came from!
Coupling follows the loves, friendships and misfortunes of six current and former lovers and friends, who battle out the war of the sexes in wonderfully pointed and pungent dialogue and situations.
The scripts deal with relationship issues, but the serious side comes a long way after the laughs. And the laughs are many, care of the carefully crafted characters. If there is a central character, it's probably the eternal barfly Geoff, whose crazy theories on sex and life seem to be a fulcrum point for most shows. Or is it Jane? Or new lovers Susan and Steve? There's a character here for everyone.
The show's risque humour is so uninhibited that at times it seems amazing that this could be used as broadcast television, both here and in the UK. We've come a long way in what is seen as acceptable everyday television fare. And we're none the worse for it.
I wouldn't say Coupling is a better comedy series than Friends, which has a believability and a charm the British show lacks. But Coupling stands level with it by virtue of its sheer cheek and outrageousness. It's Friends caught with their pants down.
This is a great anamorphic widescreen transfer of a modern television program, with no annoying faults present at all.
If only all television series' were filmed with this much care and clarity. The BBC (and our own ABC in DVDs such as Kath and Kim) seem at last to realise what a commercial asset programs such as this become after their free-to-air incarnation.
I'd class this as a series to own rather than rent, if only because this comedy is best viewed an episode per week, to keep its freshness.
The series does pall if more than one or two episodes are viewed in a stretch - anyway, it just wasn't intended to be viewed that way.
