tanman

Never seen the original.

Thought this was crap.

I guess you guys know the characters from the original but the only time there was even a distinction was that less than subtle line about "my ex, your ex, my best friend, your best friend" Could you BE any more "friend"ish. While I know that this was only the pilot they should have went less on the "shock" value and more on the character development. Since I'm comparing them anyways, I thought Friends had a much better pilot. And before you accuse me I'm not the biggest friends lover....or hater.

Now that you guys mention it the timing was a little strange; too rehearsed. It would be interesting to see the original now that I have seen this much hated remake.

big whoppa

Not funny. They had to use "canned laughter" to get any kind of laughs. Like some of you mentioned, that was driving me nuts.

NBC is counting on this one to become a big success based on the British sitcom. I caught some of the Britcom and I thought it had something this one really lacks. Someone should have actually spent some time on the script.

abintra

Another that hasn't seen the original and I rarely read about shows before viewing them so didn't go in with any expectations.

The acting played to me like a regional play. Like they were playing to an in house audience and the cameras just happened to be there. It was almost like they filmed the first walkthrough.

movieking

I love the BBC version of Coupling, but I have to admit, this episode wasn't funny in either series. It serves to introduce all of the characters and their various relationships with each other. There are some brilliant episodes of Coupling to come after this, assuming that NBC doesn't cut out too much of the racy dialogue, and leaves Jeff's ramblings in...

Canis Firebrand

Its funny that you mention friends.

Coupling in the UK is their version of friends, though a bit more racy.

So its kind of funny that we have Friends here.. and then Coupling here which is a US take on a UK series that is a take on a US series. I think I got that right. Its so confusing.

kevin75

for the ed reference.

j123vt_99

The theme song sounds very familar (and I'm not thinking of the british version)...Is it a tweak of another song? The rest of the show was too forced

movieking

Who does this new version for the NBC Show? Didn't I hear that Cake was going to do it somewhere? Didn't sound like Cake to me...(well maybe Cake on helium)

Patman

I just recently watched the BBC version for season 1, so it's virtually impossible for me to not to compare the US version with its UK counterpart. That being said, I thought the casting wasn't good, and as someone else pointed out, they tried to write the story around the punchlines, rather than let the punchlines come out more naturally through the story. I'll give it a few more episodes, but it all comes across rather forced and unconvincingly.

Fielding Mellish

The casting really killed this one, pure and simple. Especially the guy who played Jeff... who is absolutely integral to making this thing work.

In all, it was like watching the Toledo Community Theatre performing an episode of the BBC show. (Ms. Sofer's attributes nonwithstanding, of course.)

It'll be dead in six weeks.

retihsuhnt

Six (6) weeks? I give it two (2) more showings and then the axe.

Patman

Yeah, this "Jeff" is too bland, generic, not really manic enough.

Chew

Overnight Rating:

7. "Coupling" (NBC, 35 minutes) - 11.7/17

A "great" showing for any normal show. For a "Must-See" Thursday NBC show, not so good. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out ratings/cancellation wise.

retihsuhnt

11.7 strcitly based upon their "pimping" of the show and its between W & G and ER. That number should drop, but with its current placement it may not ever drop to say the average of a WWE program.

squidget

The NBC version was done by No Doubt
There is a Cake version of the whole song (not sure who wrote it originally) I don't know what CD it's on


edit: its on the Fashion Nugget CD; I just remembered.

Patman

So...this begs the question:

Who would you cast for the 6 main characters (US version):

Steve
Patrick
Jeff

Jane
Sarah
Sally

RKillgore

It will probably have "encore showings" on a Tuesday, maybe get shuffled off to Tuesday night. I wonder if NBC will advertise the factor of the first original scripted episode, when that comes along.

On the brighter side, BBC Coupling Season 2 DVD comes out in another month.

Chew

Easy, reshoot the US version with the UK actors. Problem solved.

Red Dog

What Chew said. I think you mean 'Susan' instead of 'Sarah' too.

das Monkey

• Quoth Chew •<HR SIZE=1>Easy, reshoot the US version with the UK actors. Problem solved. <HR SIZE=1>

Easier. Tell people to watch BBC America and air some freakin' Scrubs!

das

Red Dog

You know it just hit me. Take the 6-some cast from the defunct WB show "Jack & Jill." I really liked that show and they could do comedy.

Patman

I think you could re-use the cast of Buffy:

Steve - Nicholas Brendan
Jeff - Danny Strong
Patrick - James Marster

Susan - Emma Caulfield
Sally - Alyson Hannigan
Jane - Charisma Carpenter

Red Dog

That's actually not too shabby although I would flip Emma and Charisma. Charisma is the hottest one (assuming she goes back to the long hair) so she has to play Susan.

Tom Banjo

The best idea I've heard so far!

JJE-187

I'll give this show a chance as long as it stays as a lead-in to ER, otherwise I'll skip it. The first few minutes were horrible. It did get better as the show went on, but it was a pretty weak pilot. Maybe when they start shuffiling (sp?) the characters it will get better.
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