On a recommendation from Sunny, who followed Yono's recommendation, I downloaded and watched, the British comedy series, Coupling.
The series is about 6 thirtysomethings in what seems to be London. People compare it to Friends, but it's not really like that at all. It just happens to be a sitcom with three men and three women. The show is sharp, well written, and very funny. The topics and humor in all the episodes are very adult oriented, but not tasteless. The show manages to mix ridiculous (but excellent) dialog into improbable sitcom-like situations, but still comes out extremely funny. The acting works well with the writing and British humor. I miss out on allusions now and then but can usually get by with context, or if I'm really curious I look it up afterwards. I read that it's all written by a single person, Steven Moffat. What's cool is that he even posts on the discussion boards!
So far everyone I know who has given it a chance (i.e. tried more than one episode) has liked it. There are 6 to 9 episodes in each series of the show, and there are 3 series. (The do things differently in Britain) Also they are 29 minutes each, as there are no commercials on the BBC. I watched them all in a pretty short amount of time and, now I'm waiting for new episodes. The 4th series is going to be taped sometime in February 2004.
So if you've got some time to watch it, it airs on BBC America, you can try downloading the files, or ask me and I can try to get them to you (assuming I know you already). The first and second series are already out on DVD in the US, and the third is coming soon. The third series is also going to air on BBC America (268 on Time Warner Digital in Austin) starting Jan. 29th, although I strongly suggest you start from the beginning. There was an American version on NBC earlier this year, but it was a critical and ratings flop unlike its British predecessor. If you've seen the NBC version and were turned off give the BBC version a try before you write the show off. G approved the BBC version after disliking the NBC version.
Little facts: If the main character, Steve played by Jack Davenport, looks familiar, it's because you probably saw him as the stuffy British guy who Elizabeth is supposed to marry, Norrington in Pirates of the Carribean. After some research Andrew and I discovered that the theme song, 'Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps' is a cover which is also covered by Cake on Fashion Nugget.
Posted by ramk at January 25, 2004 02:55 AMI was just going to post about the show because I too really like it. The characters are very well done, albeit very caricature oriented. The scenes with Jeff are always priceless.
The DVDs of seasons 1 & 2 are already available (so why does West Wing take so long?). I hear the show doesn't do very well in Britain.
Posted by: Akash Kapoor at January 25, 2004 05:09 AMDoesn't do well in Britain? I thought it was doing well. It's great British humor. But then I suppose you actually know people in Britain, and they might know better than I do...
Posted by: Ram at January 25, 2004 08:15 AM