The SmarK DVD Rant for Coupling: Series 1
– So Friends is over and done with and I’m all like “What the hell am I gonna do with my Thursday nights from now on?”, but then a strange ray of sunshine came into my life, via PBS, as I stumbled onto a show I heard vaguely about from my e-mail regulars and general pop culture buzz Coupling. No, not the crappy US version with losers and soap opera rejects in the main roles, the original import from the BBC. Sure, it was being shown on a Friday, but that was good enough for me, because it was FUNNY. Not just chuckle-funny like Friends was near the end, but the kind of laugh-out-loud funny that Friends USED to be, back when I could relate to the stuff going on and got all the references.
The Film
The show has been called “the British version of Friends” because there’s 3 men and 3 women who exist in a relationship vacuum, but really it’s closer to Seinfeld in terms of the writing and tone. This is a show obsessed in every way with sex talking about it, showing the effects on their relationships, using it as a plot device, and discussing it endlessly. The main relationship in the show is Steve (the eternally befuddled British bachelor) and Susan (the horny but sweet love of his life), and all the other relationships flow from there. Sally (obsessed with aging) is her beautician and best friend and Patrick (shallow sex-crazed “tripod”) is her ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, Jeff (the socially hopeless weirdo with a theory on everything) is Steve’s best friend (and Susan’s co-worker) and Jane (the ditzy bisexual tramp) is Steve’s ex-girlfriend. And believe me, all of those relationships work together to make this show as funny as it is.
The first season is only 6 episodes long (since it’s a Britcom and all), so it’s just one disc, and they are as follows
– “Flushed”. The debut episode introduces the relationships of Jane & Steve and Susan & Patrick, and breaks them up right away. Sort of. See, Jane is what Jeff calls “unflushable” Steve wants to end their 4-year relationship, but she refuses and keeps tempting him with kinky sex, leaving him stuck in the “boyfriend zone”. So Steve becomes king of the zone by asking newly-single Susan out while taking a break from having sex with Jane in the women’s bathroom. Susan, meanwhile, has to explain the difference between “unfaithful” and “cheating” to Patrick (if one is faithful, it’s cheating, but if you’re not faithful, then there’s no relationship to cheat on, see?). Everyone then meets for the first time and the relationships are sorted out, as Steve runs into both Susan & Jane at the restaurant, and gets dumped by Jane as a result, leaving him with Susan. He thinks. And Susan offers to flash Jeff to get rid of him, but everyone else wants a peek, too, which brings up a GREAT Patrick moment (“You were sleeping. I was bored.”) and sets the tone for the rest of the series. Loads of great stuff here, from “porn buddies” to Steve’s initial lesbian fascination.
– “Size Matters”. Onto the eternal male dilemma does size really matter? Well, to Sally it does, because she’s after Patrick once Susan informs her that she didn’t call him “donkey” because of his brains. The guys, who are now hanging out at the bar together, discuss a REALLY awkward pause taken by Steve while he was on the phone with Susan, which leads to Jeff presenting his theory on naked men in socks. Jane dates a gay man, but that’s okay because she’s bisexual and really he’s just being closed-minded by not trying women out. Another great theory from Jeff here, as he talks about gay men using masturbation for practice, when by contract straight men have to go in blind their first time. More great moments as Steve does it with Susan for the first time, but gets slightly intimidated by her giant stash of AA batteries and fixation on a BBC actor, which leads to ANOTHER brilliantly warped theory from Jeff on celebrity marriages since everyone fantasizes about someone famous while having sex, when two famous people meet they can feel all the sexual energy being directed at them, and the result is instant attraction. Steve becomes increasingly paranoid about Susan’s sex drive, which leads to a monster gag with a never-ending drawer. Poor Jeff having to stalk Patrick into the bathroom is great, too. In fact, I have no earthly idea how NBC could take this episode and f*ck it up so badly, but they did, because the original is awesomely funny start-to-finish.
– “Sex, Death & Nudity”. More brilliance from Jeff, as he’s nervous about a big interview and the guys aren’t particularly helpful, so he uses the old “picture everyone naked” trick. But since it’s Jeff, he starts doing it all the time, which is not only hilarious, but is actually paid off, TWICE, at the end of the episode! At any rate, Jeff is forced to explain the “giggle loop”, his theory about laughing during solemn moments, and I’m SO with him on it. So anyway, the main plot is that Jane’s aunt dies, and she wants to go to the funeral with Steve because she hasn’t told her family about the breakup yet, but then Susan wants to go. So then Susan needs a decoy date, so she asks Patrick, who then wants Sally to go as HIS decoy date, and pretty soon all six are there and the guys are “playing Reservoir Dogs” outside the funeral home. Sally gets into a fight with a 90-year old woman, Steve finds himself turned on by Jane at the most inappropriate times possible (“Would you like me to open the casket so you can see her?” “Yeah, that oughta do it.”) and poor Jeff finds his naked audience technique backfiring on him in a room full of old people. You’ll be stuck in a giggle loop, too, after this one.
– “Inferno”. It’s the great problem of girlfriends cleaning your apartment and finding your porn stash, as Susan accidentally stumbles across Steve’s well-used copy of “Lesbian Spank Inferno”, which leads to an awkward pause that Steve fills with his first “I love you”. So they throw a dinner party to cover up the awkwardness, and Jane brings a woman who happens to be her therapist, but with her you never know. So naturally they assume that she’s her lover, which leads to a conversation between the therapist and Steve that’s a Freudian nightmare. Patrick gets a gay-looking haircut and gets into a discussion with the therapist about converting gays, and each person thinks that it’s the other person who needs to be converted. In the end, they’re both happy. Everyone gets very pissed off at each other over the porn issue and it’s a very awkward dinner, until discussion actually turns to porn, and Steve then has the virtuoso performance of a lifetime, as he dramatically details the “plot” of the video and then goes on a brilliant rant on behalf of all men (Men, it seems, like naked women, stockings, lesbians and Sean Connery as James Bond, and who can argue with that?). This one is also notable for finally answering the question of why men are fascinated by lesbians because they get all the fun of sex without any of the work. At the risk of sounding redundant, this was brilliant and awesome, too.
– “The Girl With Two Breasts”. If this one doesn’t blow your mind, you’re probably already dead. The guys are drooling over a woman in the bar, and she’s clearly into Jeff, but she’s too freaked out by breasts to make a move. Not to mention “the nudity buffer”. Finally he makes a move and lets loose a hilarious stream of verbal diarrhea, but luckily she only speaks Hebrew. Then the girls have a go at critiquing her the next day, as Jeff moves in again, and he discovers that someone who doesn’t speak English could be a blessing in disguise for someone like him. And indeed things seem to indicate a date with her the next night at 7:00 until we stop and rewind the tape, and then (in the most BRILLIANT sitcom plot device I’ve ever seen, bar none) they reverse the roles and SHE speaks her side of the conversation in English while Jeff has a made-up gibberish language, and suddenly the whole point of the conversation becomes totally different and not so good for Jeff after all. I won’t even spoil the gags and (literal) punchline for this one, because it’s just one you have to see for yourself to really appreciate.
– “The Cupboard of Patrick’s Love”. Told as a series of flashbacks for the most part, this one sees Jane stopping by Patrick’s apartment to hit on him, but finding his closet full of sex tapes, as he tapes everyone that he sleeps with. However, in the ensuing discussion amongst the guys (including a gut-bustingly funny bit about on-screen nudity (“full backal is like leaving the job unfinished”) and busses full of supermodels) Steve gets upset that Patrick still has Susan on tape, since he’s the boyfriend and has all naked rights to Susan. Sadly, she then catches the guys watching the tape, and then gets more upset when they don’t realize it’s NOT HER on the tape, and then gets MORE upset when Patrick reveals that he actually taped over her with The Wicker Man and some other girl. Susan dumps Steve, but to quote Patrick, there’s plenty of other fish in the toilet of love. Or something. However, as the show ends, he very nearly almost proposes to her, and that’s where things stand going into the second series.
Six episodes, all classics, and absolutely no weak spots. Believe the hype if you can handle the English-to-English translations needed to get all the jokes, you will DIE laughing at much of this, especially if you’re single. Absolute highest recommendation for those jonesing for Friends and everyone else, too.
The Video
Since Britain is actually, you know, with the program as regards to HDTV, it’s presented in the original 16:9 widescreen, and since it’s filmed instead of videotaped, it looks great for a TV show. Really they’re just sitting around in a bar for most of the series, but it’s a crystal clear transfer with good colors, much better than most of the dumped-on-DVD TV transfers we’re getting these days.
The Audio
Plain 2.0 stereo, and mostly center channel at that. But then it’s entirely a dialogue-based show, so that’s fine.
The Extras
Not a whole heckuva lot here.
– There’s a 19-minute featurette with cast & crew interviews on a variety of fluff topics, which gives a couple of mildly interesting insights but nothing to write home about.
– A 3-minute look at the photo shoot for the cover.
– Cast & crew bios
– Trailers for other BBC DVDs.
Well, the main content is the important thing here anyway.
The Ratings:
The Film: *****
The Video: ****
The Audio: ***
The Extras: **
