Sunday Review: Coupling (TV sitcom)

No jokes is very funny

By Morris Dean

I'm on record as generally disliking sitcoms, their virtually every line written and delivered as a joke. Not so with the BBC TV sitcom Coupling, which has no jokes.
    My wife and I discovered Coupling ten or twelve years ago, when we watched its first two seasons on PBS. When we noticed recently that all 28 episodes of all of the show's four seasons (over the years 2000-2004) are now available via Netflix instant download, we started all over and have almost gotten through the second season again. We're not rushing through; it's not like a thriller headed somewhere you want to find out where that is. It's to be savored.
    Besides, you can only laugh so much at a time. You don't want to rupture something.

The series was inspired by writer Steven Moffat's relationship with producer Sue Vertue, after whom characters Steve and Susan are named. It's in the "group" genre and revolves around six friends in their thirties:

    Steve (Jack Davenport) talks a good line of reasonable, but he stumbles into more complex and ridiculous situations than any of them.
   Susan (Sarah Alexander) seems sensible and well-organised, but her insecurity makes things tough on her boyfriend Steve.

    Jeff (Richard Coyle) is constantly frustrated sexually, in thrall to ridiculous fantasies about women and sex, and woefully inept at talking to women.
    Sally (Kate Isitt) is obsessed with her own appearance and worried about the effects of aging on her body, particularly her neck and buttocks.

    Patrick (Ben Miles) has little but sex on his mind and can't comprehend women as being there for anything else. He regularly says things without thinking and appears not to be able to think.
    Jane (Gina Bellman) is excessively possessive and self-obsessed, and none too bright but delightfully flirtatious.

In their obsessions with dating and sex, they continually consult one another to share their fears and try to find reassurance, although the reassurance is more often in the eye of the beholder than in the intention of the friends, who see through each other if not through themselves. An effective device for showing conflicting female and male views of what's going down is the interleaving of scenes of the women's and the men's separately reporting and discussing the same events.

The theme song for the program goes like this [in a woman's voice]:

You won't admit you love me.
And so [beat] how am I ever [beat] to know?
[beats]
You always tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps [beat]
perhaps [beat] perhaps [beat] perhaps

I think these lyrics [which you can hear over the titles on Youtube] express the underlying angst of the women's desire for commitment and of the men's fear of making a commitment. No character ever seems to arrive; each is ever anxiously in transit. Every episode is on edge, the writing as sharp as a knife, the actors' timing as near-frictionless as a perfectly lubricated cog.

A number of video excerpts can be found on Youtube and other providers. Just google it. What else?
    By the way, here's Netflix's blurb for the program:

Six neurotic, sex-obsessed thirtysomethings share pointed barbs, romantic musings, relationship advice and (occasionally) passion in this award-winning British comedy that features a strong ensemble cast.

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Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean

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