Coupling (BBC)

When I was in grade school I had ten channels to chose from when I wanted to watch TV. My family subscribed to the most basic of basic cable packages, and somehow we ended up with 3 different PBS channels. I know, I know, poor deprived me, I didn't have any MTV to watch and glean the necessary information on how to act like a proper teenager. But don't you worry, I managed to go through my adolescent years without it. Actually, I really like the programming on PBS and without it I would never have been exposed BBC shows, like the sitcom "Coupling".

This show is like the best of Seinfeld, Sex and the City and Friends, all rolled into one and set in the UK. It features six thirtysomethings and their relationship with each other and their struggles to find and/or maintain happy love lives. Most of the time the show features the three men talking amongst themselves in a pub and the three women at a bar splitting a bottle of wine and they talk about the same topic but express different points of view. This is sort of the crux of the show, the "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" concept: men and women have different approaches to situations. Therein lies the comedy. I don't feel that I can succinctly describe how much I enjoy this show so I'll clumsily segue into some quotes:

Jeff Murdock, on arses:

Do you know what arses are, Patrick? Arses are the human races favourite thing. We like them on each other. We like them on magazine covers. We even like them on babies. When we're alonge we like to scratch them; when there's a fire, we like to warm them; and who among us hasn't, in a lonenly moment, reached back for a discreet fondle? We love our arses. When God gave us our arses eh had to stick them around the back just so that we wouldn't sit and stare at them all day. 'Cos when God made the arse he didn't say, "Hey, it's just your basic hinge, let's knock off early." He Said, "Behold ye angels, I have created the arse! Throughout the ages men and women shall grab hold of these and shout my name."

Sally Harper, on the same subject:

You never understood about bottoms, Jane. Having a bottom is like living with the enemy. Not only do they spend their whole lives slowly inflating, they flirt with men while we're looking the other way... I'm sure mine's back there secretly snacking.

Mind you, these are two of the more neurotic characters. Everyone has his or her own neuroses that lead to various Seinfeldian situations. Jeff is sort of the Joey equivalent in that he's The Goofy Guy but he's terrible with women and has the best (read: most awkward and hilarious) lines of all the characters, for all the crazy situations he gets into and his comportment in those situations. Sally is...not as easy to categorize. She runs a beauty salon and constantly voices concern about the way she looks, always analyzing her skin, her body, etc. She's half of a will-they-or-won't-they-end-up-together couple. She's a ginger. She's my favorite of the women, despite all the indications that she portrays a stereotypically insecure woman in search of a man to complete her.

What sets this sitcome apart is that it has heart, and despite all the wackiness around the characters there's something that I connect to, and satisfaction in having men and women talk frankly amongst themselves and to each other. This show gets better the more I watch it, and I never get tired of hearing the same jokes. I know someone else who's seen this series and has lukewarm feelings toward it, which I can understand, but there's just something that I just can't articulate about this show that makes it so appealing to me, and it's easily one of my favorite TV shows of all time. I might have to do reviews of my favorite episodes to point out what it is that makes me love this series so much...

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