Episodes: “Flushed,” “Size Matters,” “Sex, Death And Nudity,” “Inferno,” “The Girl With Two Breasts,” “The Cupboard Of Patrick’s Love”
Stars:
Jack Davenport, Gina Bellman, Sarah Alexander, Kate Islitt, Ben Miles, and
Richard Coyle
Writer:
Steven Moffat
Director:
Martin Dennis
Producer:
Sue Vertue
Executive
Producer: Beryl Vertue
Feature
Length: 175 Minutes
Extras:
Behind-The-Scenes Interview, Cast Bios, The Photo Shoot, Trailers
Languages:
English Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 6 Per Episode
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
Of DVD Release: 2003
Home
Video Distributor: BBC Video and Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
With
the third season of “Coupling” debuting on BBC America next week, now is a
great time for American viewers to get acquainted with this popular British
sitcom when BBC Video and Warner Home Video releases “Coupling: The Complete
First Season On DVD” in Region One North America on Tuesday, January 21, 2003.
The series is so popular and very funny that NBC has ordered an American pilot
version to be produced as a possible companion to “Friends” and maybe even a
successor. It is not surprising the series is so popular as to crossover to
American audiences unlike any other in part because the characters are not very
different from thirty-something adults and lets face it, sex is a universal
need, desire, and cause of anxiety and frustration arguably more than falling in
love because love is deeper than sex and more spiritual than the visceral nature
of sexuality. To put it bluntly, everyone wants their soul mate, but most well
settle for mating and the societal facades that both men and women face in this
endeavor is what makes the comedy in “Coupling” so endearing.
The
series features three single guys and three single women who in some
circumstantial nature are as much friends and former lovers so this opens all
sorts of amusing discussions about the nature of sex from both the male an
female points of view and in the process provides a sort of catharsis to get
over taboos and hang-ups whether it be erotic fantasies or the nature of the
anatomy and the expectations that often create anxiety therein for both sexes.
Does size matter? Why are men fascinated with lesbianism? Can a guy date his
friend’s ex-girlfriend and have comfortable relationships with both? These are
among the subjects that come up over the course of the six episodes that make up
the first season and explored in a candid fashion without being exploitive or
infantile for the most part. There are no innuendos, but it does explore the
differences between the sexes in way I think anyone can find something to relate
to.
The
cast is just great and the female characters are very well realized with the
male characters running the more typical gambit of the nice guy who means well,
but somehow articulates things wrong and gets himself into trouble, the guy who
is pretty secure about his sexuality and has no problem meeting women, but is
somewhat shallow, and the guy who is not as good looking as his friends and a
bit of a geek, and he is trying to meet someone, but usually ends up with only
his five friends in the end. I am sure the male characters were developed more
as the series progressed, but I really enjoyed the female characters more
because they were more defined with their own hang-ups and attractions, whether
it is the street wise blond who is the most confident of the six, but also the
one that seems to lose her temper the quickest or the one who is obsessed with
aging and therefore constantly remarks on her moisturizing treatments and
whatnot. My favorite is Jane, played by Gina Bellman, because she is at once
cute and naïve, but she is also the most liberated of them all and a lot more
outgoing than anyone I’ve ever seen in a sitcom from both sides of the pond.
BBC
Video and Warner Home Video present coupling is a great 16 by 9 widescreen
aspect ratio with a clear English Stereo Soundtrack and optional English Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired. Extra features include “Behind The Scenes
Interviews With The Cast And Series Creators” (19:42) where the cast discusses
what they like and or dislike about the characters and the genesis of the series
as well as favorite episodes and what the cast members were doing before
“Coupling.” There is also a behind-the-scenes look at a promotional photo
shoot (3:32) along with extensive cast and series creators talent biographies
with select credits as well as trailers for other titles available on DVD from
BBC-Video and Warner Home Video that includes a look at “French &
Saunders” (1:18), “Father Ted” (1:03), “Blue Planet” (: 43),
“Walking With Dinosaurs” (1:34), and “Absolutely Fabulous: Series Four”
(1:37) as well as a commercial for the “BBC America Channel” (: 34).
This
is a terrific series well worth picking up on DVD when “Coupling: The Complete
First Season” debuts on DVD on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 from BBC Video and
Warner Home Video and check your local cable and satellite listings for date,
time, and channel for the third season premiere next week on BBC America.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.