Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ December 31 2010, 2:41 AM GMTI had this curious pseudo sitcom on as background some evenings. I refused to watch it properly
I refused to read the rest of your post properly but it appeared to resemble bollocks.
Coupling Page 3
...and cosy, twee and quirky, how could I forget quirky! Its stilted attempts at quirkiness I recall were some of the most embarrassing bits of TV I've half watched. It was never not gapingly apparent to me that this show was trying its hardest to be a British Friends, I don't think any court in England would find the show innocent on that crime.
And one of the women in it had a face I actually physically took swings at with my no.3 wood. One of the most fascinatingly bad sitcoms I have yet seen. I actually want to properly watch an episode now to see how they did it.
You are a strange one, Alfred. Such judgement, hatred and proclaimed "knowledge" for a programme not even "half-watched" cannot be healthy.
Coupling had a superficial premise not a million miles away from that of Friends - a group of friends in their 20s and 30s going in and out of relationships whilst living their metropolitan-ish lifestyles - but that was it. They were otherwise entirely different shows on every level.
Quote: Godot Taxis @ December 31 2010, 4:51 AM GMTPeople who think it wasn't pitched as a UK 'Friends' can't understand much about TV. That's exactly what it was.
I'm sure that's exactly how some people pitched it when they were trying to get it made, makes sense, but it's not how the writer pitched or conceived the show.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 31 2010, 12:28 PM GMTI'm sure that's exactly how some people pitched it when they were trying to get it made, makes sense, but it's not how the writer pitched or conceived the show.
Agreed.
Quote: chipolata @ December 30 2010, 11:50 PM GMTAlthough Pegg and Wright were both quite sniffy about the Coupling Resevoir Dogs reference at the start of the funeral episode.
I said shows LIKE Coupling. Ie Friends and other 20-someting sitcoms.
Coupling is wonderful and Spaced is f**king dire, it would make sense.
No, Coupling is just about passable. Spaced is one of the best shows of the last 20 years.
Quote: Badhead @ December 31 2010, 12:32 PM GMTNo, Coupling is just about passable. Spaced is one of the best shows of the last 20 years.
No.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 31 2010, 12:28 PM GMTI'm sure that's exactly how some people pitched it when they were trying to get it made, makes sense, but it's not how the writer pitched or conceived the show.
Just to clarify I meant pitched to the audience, not to the industry. F**k knows how it was pitched to production people - and f**k knows what Moffat thought he was writing - presumably something urbane, sexy and funny in a tall glass.
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ December 30 2010, 1:42 AM GMTI like it a lot. It used to be on BBC America all the time so I got into it in quite a big way.
Very inventively plotted scripts. Definitely got Moffat's fingerprints on them. If you liked the split-screen ep, check out "The Girl with Two Breasts". Even better.
The main problem with the show is Jack Davenport being a f**king appalling comic actor, obviously. Once you get past that, it's aces.
The Girl With Two Breasts is one of my two favourite episodes along with the second series last episode The End Of The Line. I'm sure Steven Moffat was proposing to pair off Jeff with Jane if Richard Coyle hadn't quit, which would have worked as they were the 2 oddballs of the sextet. Think my favourite Jeff line is where he relates how as a kid he got aroused every time his TV was switched on. 
Quote: Godot Taxis @ December 31 2010, 4:47 PM GMTJust to clarify I meant pitched to the audience, not to the industry. F**k knows how it was pitched to production people - and f**k knows what Moffat thought he was writing - presumably something urbane, sexy and funny in a tall glass.
Whatever he thought he was writing it certainly wasn't Friends and I really doubt that any of the show's fans thought of it in those terms, so I am not sure what point you think you are making.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000797E5/comedyguide-20/
Product Description
Known as the British "Friends", Coupling is a sexy, hip new comedy that gives you an insight into how the opposite sex ticks. Bold, hilarious and provocative, Coupling features six friends - involved, formerly involved, or looking to become more intimately involved with each other - who get down to the basics of love, lust and relationships. They find themselves in bizarre and compromising scenarios, revealing their deepest secrets, confusing the clearest issues and generally making their way through relationships. Seinfeld and Friends, meet Sex and the City!
I think this means the first line of the DVD cover says "Known as the British Friends".
Known as the "British Friends" by who? A bloke who wrote a DVD blurb? Yes, conclusive proof of, er, what exactly?
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ January 4 2011, 9:26 PM GMTI think this means the first line of the DVD cover says "Known as the British Friends".
Much as publishers try to flog books by saying "in the bestselling tradition of..." Marketing and product are two quite different things.
Quote: chipolata @ January 4 2011, 9:47 PM GMTconclusive proof of, er, what exactly?
Quote: Godot Taxis @ December 31 2010, 4:51 AM GMTPeople who think it wasn't pitched as a UK 'Friends' can't understand much about TV. That's exactly what it was.
Well of course that's how it was sold, makes sense.