Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Excellent but underrated film

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This is a marvelous British comedy, written beautifully with a plot whose twists and turns can't possibly be predicted. The interplay between the characters -- none of whom is much like any other -- is priceless. Even the music is nice. The first series is better than the others, and the Oliver (a late addition) isn't quite as funny as Jeff, whom he in effect replaces. But it's ALL worth watching.I'll wager any male who watches 'Coupling' prays he's never been perceived as similar to either Jeff or Oliver, neither of whom has any common sense or confidence with women. Susan is the most intelligent and steady of the seven regulars -- 'apparently'. Jane is the most self-centred of the women; Patrick is an unashamed sex addict; while Steve is also nervous but has very definite and funny opinions. But Sally seems the funniest of all, constantly worrying about her looks, particularly her bottom, which she's sure 'flirts with men behind her back'.And nothing seems off-limits -- the discussion features talk of the sizes of male AND female genitalia. The length of Patrick's manhood seems to be a topic in every episode. Women's bottoms are also a recurring theme, particularly among the women, who discuss not only Sally's but Susan's and those of other women as well.Due to the constant stream of sex talk, 'Coupling' is not for children. But it's certainly for anyone who wants a steady stream of laughs!

I've seen a few episodes of the first season of Coupling (UK version), and I honestly can't understand why the Brits love it so much. The humor relies entirely on one-liner jokes, backed up with a cheap canned laugh-track. It reminds me of the dozens of forgettable stupid sitcoms that have come and gone over the years; in all, nothing special here.Now, I certainly don't mind infantile humor or sex jokes (quite the contrary), but they've got to actually be funny to make me laugh. I barely cracked a smile during the painful hour-and-a-half I devoted to the first few episodes of Coupling I endured before I started fast-forwarding and finally gave up altogether. (And yes, I'm referring to the original UK version.) The people who thought this show was "hilarious" have clearly never seen a minute of Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, or Newsradio.I started watching Coupling because of the show's writer Steven Moffat, whose unforgettable, brilliant work on Doctor Who and Jekyll made me crave more. But this type of writing is clearly not his strong suit. Moffat's dramatic and sci-fi writing is superb; unfortunately, Coupling was a waste of his time and mine.

On first glance, the British sitcom Coupling is strikingly similar to a certain American show whose name shall not be mentioned. Six characters, three male and three female, all adults falling in and out of love in an inner city setting...yep, you can practically smell the New York socialites lurching forth from their stylish Manhattan Coffee Bars with "rip off" on their lips and a studio audience cheering them on. But stick with it and take a closer look, because once you get past the initial impression, you'll find that Coupling not only is a far funnier show than the overrated, overseas counterpart, but also possesses an identity that is well and truly its own.The principle advantage it has can be found in the scripts. Writer Stephen Moffat has a flair for witty dialogue packed full of one liners, insights and downright hilarious verbal exchanges and it is his contributions which elevate Coupling above average into "clutch your sides and howl with laughter" status. True, most of it revolves around sex and relationships and while it does occasionally venture into gross out territory, there is an ample amount of witticisms to keep things fresh.The best example of this of course can be found in the celebrated first season episode "Inferno" where a chain of whispered half truths, pub ruminations and unspoken awkwardness lands Steve (Jack Davenport) in the unenviable position of having to justify his ownership of a lesbian porn film at a dinner party.. What follows is a painfully embarrassing but also very funny scene where the man ends up ranting a frustrated monologue to an audience of his immediate friends and associates that includes the line "When Man invented fire, he didn't say "Hey, let's cook!" He said: "Great! Now we can see naked bottoms in the dark!" If Coupling is remembered for one thing and one thing only however, it'd be a solitary character and the best comic creation they ever achieved: Richard Coyle's Jeff Murdock. A highly intelligent but woefully inept Welsh man, Jeff is nothing less than the physical manifestation of every single doubt man has ever had about his abilities since the dawn of time. He is normally the one to provide the observations on the relationships he sees all round him and his clever insights are matched only by his boundless ability to get into trouble. It was a real shame he was written out by the fourth series as watching him doing a blind fold striptease to his family and co-workers, turning up at a bar in a bondage mask and (best of all), inadvertently telling his crush that he is an amputee makes him one of the most endearing comic heroes in the history of television.All of which of course might lead you to think that this is rather straightforward stuff, but they have a few stylistic tricks and gimmicks in the presentation up their sleeves as well. One episode features Jeff trying to chat up an Israeli woman who speaks no English and the same scene is replayed twice, once with Jeff speaking English and the other with the woman speaking English, Jeff's language replaced by an improvised string of gibberish. Another episode has the screen divided in two in order to show the actions of two different characters at the same time and there is even a bizarre one where a blue lens filter is placed over the camera and we are treated to the truth behind the dialogue, courtesy of 'Captain Subtext.' This toying with the stylistics may seem flashy, but it demonstrates not only a willingness to experiment with genre norms but the sharpness of the scripts as well.Sadly though, Coupling does have a downside, one that is clearly visible should you ever sit down with the DVDs and watch all four series in one go: occasionally the jokes are recycled. Steve's aforementioned dinner table monologue is priceless but was deemed so successful by the staff that the scene seems to be repeated in every series that follows, but with the subject switched around a bit. Furthermore, with each half hour show featuring at least one madcap moment of inspired lunacy, Moffat's writing seems determined in the later series to eclipse what has come before. Events become even more outrageous and the joke involving all six principle characters turning up at the same event is massively overdone.These few complaints should not detract from the overall experience however as ultimately, Coupling is both well-written and incredibly funny. Now that British TV comedy is divided between catchphrase-led barrel scraping and clever-clever observational humour, Coupling is a nice reminder of the days when all you needed to make people laugh was a decent script, good actors and three studio mock ups designed to look like bars, work places and living rooms. And for all the emphasis on Jeff, season four is still packed to the rafters with highlights. Anyone whos ever had an argument with their other half over something totally trivial will find plenty to chew on here. Recommended.

Firstly people will relate this to friends because both have six characters and three female, and that is where the similarity ends. Coupling being a British comedy is honest and funny no writing to be liked or to be politically correct. The characters and plots are about relationships and sex with some more sex and a little lesbian porn thrown in for good measure, i don't think it is possible for Americans to understand or appreciate this masterpiece of comedy, it would have to be dumbed down too much.The actors are all great and the scripts never fail to please, more coupling bbc, it is one of the few sit coms that are actually funny.