Coupling - The Complete First Season

This British television show was made a little before or at the time of Friends and is very similar. I think it is much more witty and complex in writing style. The series writer was also a head producer of Doctor Who several years later and sprinkled some references of that show and other science fiction along the way. Still all the characters are very different as he weaves them around historical interpersonal relationships.

BBC just has a bit more inappropriate humor than here in the US.That's what make 'Coupling' so darn funny.It's the show 'Friends' was based on but with an edge.Same type of likeable characters & awkwardly funny situations but in bar vs coffee shop.So your Ross & Rachael are Susan & Steve.Only Susan has job, a clear picture of who she is, what she wants & Steve is the comedic fool.Joey is Patrick who is a loveable, player with a high powered job & again different dynamic & so on.What makes Coupling Brilliant, and dare say more engaging, is the humor.'Sex, Death & Nudity', an episode about the "Giggleloop" laughing at the wrong time, like a funeral.'Flushed' having all your friends show up on a 1st date & will only leave if you flash them a breast.'Inferno'. Oh 'Inferno'. Won't give it away but be warned you may spit out a drink howling hysterically.It gets better but this is why Season 1 is my Favorite. Six Classic, quotable episodesWhy I bought it even though it was Free on Prime.'Friends' will always have a place in our hearts but there's always room for 'Coupling'.

I was a fan of Coupling from the first time I saw it on Public TV those many years ago. It is fair to think of it as Sex in the City mixed with Friends, but Coupling is the better. Coupling still entertains, which is why I can recommend owning the disks sets of Coupling, while Friends is too thin for replay. Sex in the City is stronger than Friends, but by the end sympathy for the characters becomes a problem.Coupling Season I, introduces us to six unmarried 20 somethings. They pretty much have work under control, but the funny business of dating, not so much.There are a number of clichés among them; the men are all horny buggers with little clue about women. None are predators but the degree to which each has style varies, widely, wildly.The women are generally savvier but range between the near delusional to the too wise for her years.Perhaps this is a good time to mention that the series is written and produced by a husband and wife team and based on theirown experience.Much of the humor derives from words rather than plot. Which makes funnier an episode pitting the pitiful Jeff and an interested, beautiful, non-English speaking tourist. Well played is that the scenes of the clearly drowning Jeff failing to understand the lady of his dreams, and that same scene from her POV, with her only able to imagine what her would be suitor is saying. The extras tell us that Jeff was given no script for this part and had to invent a language to go with what he had just said in English.It is all in good fun but be warned, British television can be a tad rawer and the language at once better and less polite than the more constrained world of corporate suits based American Television.

If you haven't seen this show aired on BBC America (via digital television or satellite), what on earth are you waiting for?!This show packs so many burst-out-laughing scenes that it's strange that it remains a highly coveted secret by those who are aware of it. I, personally, tell everyone I know about it and have successfully managed to get five of my friends loyally addicted to it. Even my friends, who previously loathed British comedies, got sucked into this show and now watch every week.It's that good.Coupling has the outrageous not-afraid-to-be-crazy humor that Sex in the City is missing; and the blatant sex that Friends lacks. By outrageous humor; imagine two female cast characters talking about the endowment of one of the male friends, and immediately afterwards the one female decides her previous indifference to him can be chucked for a good roll in the hay. Now imagine her in agony because his politics doesn't mesh with hers -- to the point that she insists one of the other male characters go with Mr. Super Endowed to the bathroom to ensure he truly has been blessed. Eh, you have to watch it, it's hysterical.There's too much on this DVD to go into, but you're guaranteed a good couple "oh my God did they actually say/do that?!" kind of laugh.The show revolves around six friends; Jeff (clumsy around women, bizarre ways of looking at the world), Patrick (let's see how many women I can get into bed, confidence guy), Steve ("normal" good guy), Susan (centered female, sexually confident, lots of ex lovers), Jane (bisexual crazy woman, lives in own fantasy world) and Sally (age obsessed, moisturizing, liberal princess type) -- each with their own unique view of relationships, sex and living life in their late 20s, early 30s in London.British comedies tend to push the envelope and this show is no exception. You'll be delighted, shocked, and intrigued by Coupling ... and this DVD offers the beginning of your addiction with it. (And, it's a great deal, where else could you find the entire first season of a show for this kind of price?!)So get it, get caught up, then tune your television to BBC America. You can thank me when Coupling becomes your newest "must see" television.P.S. If Jeff (Richard Coyle) ever finds himself in the Big Apple, martinis on me. Woo!

Coupling's first episode is a tremendous introduction to what we can expect guys and girls in awkward relationships to do in real life. The awkward dumping, the niceties, the emotional heartbreak and of course the importance of being in `the zone'.Shot mainly in a bar Coupling uses some tremendous trepidation in Jack Davenport's Steve gearing up for breaking up with Gina Bellman's Jane and Sarah Alexander's Susan's converse over her dumping with Ben Miles' Patrick spells some sharp cheeky comedy.For me the keystone to Coupling is it's ability to tell two different tales at the same time, interpreting different concepts. For example the opening in the first episode splits and cuts between Susan and Steve, allowing us to interpret one meaning when it means another. The method of two different stories continues throughout the show right up until its climax in series 4 and whilst a few of these stories are not the best they are a brilliant set up for what is to come.Whilst Steven Moffat depicts excellent real life situations that men and women would rather not admit to, it is down to a wonderful array of protagonists that bring all these ideas to a vivacious surrounding.The three men, Jeff, Steve and Patrick are all typical blokes who enjoy watching porn, like their fast cars and work a steady day's work. Encoded are glorious puns about women, drinking and general day to day activity that has a constant upbeat mood that never hinders on the dramatic moments of the series, whereas there actually are not many. Do not expect a soapy collection of love and lust this thanks to the writing, feels renewed and appreciative of the environment.Jeff (Richard Coyle) is a revelation in this show. A character who over analyses everything and has the humour of a true comedian, No hyperbole here, Coyle creates a barbaric and catastrophically flamboyant protagonist with his material. His interpretation of "The giggle loop" is a series highlight whilst the section regarding his confrontation with the Israeli woman is a charmingly energetic affair.Bellman, Alexander and Kate Issit (Sally) are equally profound in their respective roles, generating that feeling of closed off emotions and an annoyance as to why men simply don't get them. Kate Issit's constant analysing over her appearance has developed her character into the image of today's modern culture that will speak volumes to female viewers.This series is consistently brilliant, analysing the trials and tribulations of everyday coupling that has zippy humour, physical and dialect, that will make you laugh for time on endOther series are better, especially series 2 and 3 but this is where the magic started.9/10

I love this series. If you haven't heard of it give it a try. Very funny. You'll laugh at the stupid things that happen. Do you want to know what a giggle loop is? One of my favourite series. I bought this because I have the set of all 4 series but lost the first disk. Definitely worth watching and I have plenty time to sit at home just now.

I love Coupling both for its ceasless invention, pushing at the boundaries of comic technique (eg. rerunning the same conversation in English and Hebrew was pretty clever), and the use of that severely devalued format, farce. And also because critics peer down their noses at it!Among many winning moments in the first series is the brilliant episode where Patrick and Jane's therapist each believes the other is gay, with endless potential for misunderstanding and double entendre, while Steve performs a priceless monologue in defence of his porn video. Tears rolled down my face the first time and still to this day. If you've never come across the series, watch it as soon as you can.

Very funny to begin with but then became rather irritating; the Welshman I could have done without - over-acted and omnipresent. The girls were brilliant throughout. Their sexual adventures and fantasies were titillating, if far fetched (I think).

I consider this show the British answer to friends and i love it, its full of classic British humour and can rewatch the show over and over. Buying this as a back up after someone went away with my copies.