Product Description
-------------------
Complete collection of this popular BBC comedy box set about a
group of six friends - three men and three women - and the ups
and downs they encounter playing the 21st century dating game.
The first series' episodes include: 'Flushes', 'Size Matters',
'Sex, Death and Nudity', 'Inferno', 'The Girl with Two s'
and 'The Cupboard of Patrick's Love'.
The second series' episodes include: 'The Man with Two Legs', 'My
Dinner in Hell', 'Her Best Friend's Bottom', 'The Melty Man
Cometh', 'Jane and the Truth Snake', 'Gotcha', 'Dressed' and 'The
End of the Line'.
Episodes from the third series include: 'Split', 'Faithless',
'Unconditional Sex', 'Remember This', 'The Freckle, the Key and
the Couple Who Weren't', 'The Girl with One Heart' and 'Perhaps,
Perhaps, Perhaps'.
Whilst the fourth series includes the episodes: 'Nine and a Half
Minutes', 'Night Lines', 'Bed Time', 'Circus of the Epidurals',
'The Naked Living Room' and 'Nine and a Half Months'.
.co.uk Review
-------------
This 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, hess nice guy Steve, "strange and
disturbing" Jeff, uninhibited Susan, neurotic Sally, and
manipulative Jane. Coupling may inspire feelings of déjà-vu. The
obvious frame of reference is Friends (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Friends ) (Steve and
Susan are the Ross-Rachel equivalent), but this series also
echoes Seinfeld (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=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.
In Steven Mof's second season, theres a brilliant
consolidation of all the neuroses, small deceits, obsessions, and
personality ticks that struck such a resonant chord when Steve,
Susan, and their four friends were first unleashed on us. The
success of this is due to the magical combination of Mof's
very funny scripts and the talents of six extremely likeable
actors, including Jack Davenport (Steve) and Sarah Alexander
(Susan). But it's Richard Coyle's Jeff whose sexual fantasies
exert a compelling fascination that will really keep you watching
in disbelief. s, bottoms and pants are the basis for most
of the conversational analysis when these friends get together as
a group, as couples, as girlfriends, or as mates, invariably
becoming metaphors for the state of a relationship or situation.
Individual viewpoints and terrors are explored through respective
memories of the same event and what-if scenarios. Chain reactions
inevitably ensue, fuelling comedy that is based almost entirely
on misunderstanding.
The third series, first aired in 2002, takes fans into new realms
of engaging surrealism. The men are constantly in pursuit of a
basic grasp of the "emotional things" that make women behave the
way they do. The women analyze everything to death. But again
thanks to Steve Mof's scripts, tighter and quirkier than ever,
these characters are living, breathing human beings rather than
cynical ciphers for comedy stereotypes. The performances are as
strong as you'd expect from an established team, with actors such
as Jack Davenport, Ben Miles (unreconstructed chauvinist
Patrick), Sarah Alexander, and Kate Isitt (neurotic Sally)
wearing their roles like second skins. But in the surreal stakes,
it's Richard Coyle as Jeff, wondering aloud what happens to jelly
after women have finished wrestling in it, and Gina Bellman as
Jane, musing on the importance of a first snog in identifying
what men like to eat, who really raise the laughter levels. All
things considered, this is superior comedy for all
thirtysomethings--genuine and putative.
Then we get to series four - feel free to insert your own
"four-play" joke, or for that matter, your own "insert" jokes!
Sex is still topic one for the intertwined group of "exes and
best friends," but in this pivotal season there are momentous
"relationship issues" that will upend all their lives (insert
your own "upend" joke while you're at it). Susan is pregnant,
inspiring nightmares in Steve about his own execution and
unflattering comparisons of the birth process to John Hurt's
iconic gut-busting scene in Alien. Missing in action is the
Kramer-esque Jeff (although he makes something of a return in the
season finale). Joining the ensemble is Oliver, who is more in
the Chandler mode as a lovable loser with the ladies. These
inevitable comparisons to "Sein-Friends" are no doubt heresy to
Coupling's most devoted viewers. Indeed, this series does benefit
from creator and sole writer Steven Mof's comic voice and
vision. He provides his ever-game cast some witty,
funny-'cause-it's-true dialogue, as in Oliver's observation that
"Tea isn't compatible with porn." A bonus disc takes viewers
behind the scenes with segments devoted to bloopers and
interviews with cast and crew.
This Britcom is less inhibited in language and sexual situations
than its American counterparts. In the cleverly-constructed
opening episode, in which the same "9-1/2 Minutes" are witnessed
from three different perspectives, Sally and Jane can do what was
left to the imagination when Monica and Rachel offered to make
out in front of Joey and Chandler. The birth of Susan and
Steven's baby ends the six-episode fourth season on a satisfying
and surprisingly moving grace note.
Plot Synopsis:
On average, men and women think about sex every six seconds.
Shorten that to every second, and you've got Coupling. It's more
than just a one night stand! When a couple gets together, it's
never just the two of them - they also bring baggage - and Susan
(Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport) are no exception.
Their baggage is a crowd of best friends and exes who talk about
all aspects of sex and relationships on their never-ending quest
to find true love.
Coupling has been honoured with the prestigious Silver Rose of
Montreux, Best TV Comedy Award, and was a winner at the 2003
British Comedy Awards.
