Rating: Summary: Growing, changing, Moving Forward Review: If you're looking for a DVD that simply continues the first series of Coupling, sorry, this isn't it. This moves the story forward, creating more complications for the story arc, deepening the characters, telling us more about who these people are and where they come from. We find out more about Sally's insecurity, Jeff's libido, Steve and Susan's relationship, and more.The DVD of the first series of Coupling was so short you could watch it all in one sitting. This isn't the case with the second series, which ran to nine episodes and doesn't even fit on one disk. You have to pace yourself with this one. But it's worth it, because each episode teaches us something new about our beloved characters and also gives us plenty of laughs. The first two episodes, "The Man with Two Legs" and "My Dinner in Hell," really feel incomplete, like transitional episodes from the previous series. But beginning with the third and fourth episodes, a two-parter called "Her Best Friend's Bottom" and "The Melty Man Cometh," things get low-down, dirty, and more sophisticated. Episodes like "Naked" and "Jane and the Truth Snake," in which we learn a great deal about all six characters, and the structurally complex "End of the Line," are worth watching over and over. One benefit to this DVD is that it contains commentary from writer Steven Moffett and various stars and production personnel. This allows us insight into the creation of this sophisticated comedy. This feature was lacking from the previous series DVD, and it's something I missed. It's easy to see why the American version of this series failed. Like Monty Python and Doctor Who, it's such a quintessentially British show that Americanizing it could only ruin it. But after watching that Yankee turkey, now you can come over and watch this fine British songbird. I promise you, you won't regret it.
Rating: Summary: Strong second season Review: If you've seen the first season of Coupling, you'll love the second. It's often that sex farce comedies can't cut it past a first season. Coupling is a notable exception. The second season is where Moffat begins to explore more of the characters. Sally and Patrick develop an excellent story line that is completely dysfuntional, funny and sometimes touching. It also contains the most famous Jeff-ism "The Melty Man" and Jane puts in an appearance at a social gathering completely naked. While there are some episodes that are stronger than others, overall this season stands on sturdier legs than the first, which in retrospect, seems like a giant exercise in exposition. The extras on this DVD are better than the scant offerings of the first. These include commentary by cast and creators as well as a much more in depth interview with both Vertue and Moffat.
Rating: Summary: The Best Comedy of our age. Review: Naughtier than friends, brighter than seinfeld, this new comedy will become one of the few good legacies of sitcom in history. I think the reason I like it so much is because I've never been so surprised and so completely fond of the how clever and intense the comedy is. Each scene is perfectly crafted and does not have any dead weight, unlike alot of u.s. comedies. Also just when you think you've hit the high joke point of an episode they come back with another one to trump it and it keeps intensifying until it just has you rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter by the end of the episode. The way they work in the real relationship between steve and susan is also done so that it isn't a 2nd thought or a gimmick. Each character is very likeable and each contributes a wonderful share to the atmosphere. I think it's insulting for NBC to try and recast and remake a u.s. version, and that is why they failed. The BBC original is good enough to be the biggest t.v. hit the u.s. has had in a lonnnnnggg time.
Rating: Summary: I am a big fan of "Friends", but... Review: One day my wife talked to me about a new series she discovered in BBC America and said that since I liked Friends so much I should watch it. I was not very prone to do it, but you know how it is...I complied :). I started watching an episode of Coupling that was already started, after ten minutes I did not understand very well what was going on and decided the series was not worth my time. A couple of months later my wife rented the first season of Coupling in DVD and this time I sat with her to watch it from the start. I could not stop laughing! Of course I ordered the second season too and plan to do the same with the following ones. The basic setting of the series is similar to the one of Friends; three males and three females that have clearly defined personalities and get involved in funny situations. Coupling has a more prominent sex element present. In the particular case of the men, I can draw a clear parallel with Friends, but it is not so easy in the case of the women (I would relate Jane in Coupling with Phoebe in Friends, but that's it). I think Jeff is the most interesting character the series has, he is almost always living in a "different world" and if you have watched the first season then you know about the Jeffisms; like the naked giggles. In the second season there are some new Jeffisms, like prickles, blurts and head laugh. There are also a few phrases by Jeff that struck me as particularly funny, like "When a woman wears a skirt you know there is a VAA...a Visual Access Angle", or "There was a detectable NAT...Nose Avoidance Tilting". The writers of the series do a great job in manipulating the differences between men and women, often showing the same situation from both sides emphasizing the contrasts. The dialogues are witty and usually several topics are connected in a very short space of time creating hilarious threads. You cannot afford to miss this!
Rating: Summary: Great show, even better DVD with special features Review: Plain and simple: Once you are able to ignore the canned laughter, this show is pure comic brilliance.
Rating: Summary: Even better than the 1st season Review: The first season is great for showing us the nature of the characters. The second season is where they really work it. Hysterically funny and physically painful at the same time. Especially poor Jack and even more pathetic Jeff. Your heart hurts for them and your sides hurt from laughing at the outrageous situations they drop themselves into. Of the three seasons on DVD, make this one a priority!
Rating: Summary: Even better than the first season! Review: The second season of Coupling has more episodes. That means more laughs, one-liners and double entendres. I laugh out loud whenever Jeff tries to talk to a woman he likes. He is my favorite character on the show. I also like the developments between Steve and Susan. And we get even more hints of a future relationship between Sally and Patrick in this one. The dialogue and storylines are sharper and cleverer than the ones on season one. The characters get all the more neurotic on this season. Jane is more self-absorbed than ever and I thought Sally couldn't get any shallower than she was on season one. Susan is by far the saner one of the girls. As for the guys... I love it when they get together at the pub to discuss serious subject matters such as breasts and porn. (Isn't it funny that the characters on sitcoms always have a favorite hangout? The Seinfeld lot frequented a diner, the Friends bunch spent their days at a coffee shop, and the Coupling folk meet at their favorite pub. I also think it's funny that they always sit on the same spot. The Coupling characters always sit on the same sofa, not unlike Friends.) My favorite episodes are "The Man with Two Legs," "Her Best Friend's Bottom," "Dressed," "Naked," and "The End of the Line." I thought those episodes were hilarious to the max. If you already own the first season of this awesome Brit-com, then I don't need to tell you to get this one as well as the others. I look forward to owning seasons three and four.
Rating: Summary: Possibly the funniest comedy ever. Review: The very first time you watch coupling you sit there totally dumbstruck at the chain of events then all of a sudden you find yourself laughing out loud and it all begins to make sense. The BBC really do make some of the best comedy. The second series is no exception proving to be just as funny as the first with well established characters and episodes like "the melty man", "naked" and "Her best friend's Bottom" to look forward too. This is a must have item. Buy it, you will not be dissapointed
Rating: Summary: Laugh-out-loud funny Review: This 2nd-season package is a step up from the first, as this one has nine, as opposed to six, episodes, plus these have the added bonus of commentaries. (Both season sets are essential viewing though.) I noticed from watching this second-season disk set that the show was actually filmed and is presented in wide-screen, a nice treat for DVD owners, and something you don't see very often in the TV show world. I find the hefty $35 retail price a bit difficult to swallow, but fortunately Amazon.com is discounting it to $25, a bit more reasonable. I first started watching this on PBS back in the Spring 2003, and found myself laughing out loud through most of the show. Casting is as key to the chemistry of this show, as it is to Will & Grace and Seinfeld; the NBC Americanized version is PATHETIC, and I cannot even stomach watching it. (The writing has noticable changes as well, diminishing the comedy. For example, in the first episode of the original BBC series one of the male characters says everytime he tries to break up with Jane, she tricks him into continuing with the relationship. Last time he tried, Jane then told him she was wearing stockings. "In the three years we've been going out, she's never worn stockings before." Then adds, "And I begged!" In the Americanized NBC version he says more vulgarly that she wasn't wearing panties; more crude, and much less funny.) The guys all discuss things that ring true, but are so taboo that they've never been uttered before on the screen. Plus, there's no repulsive sentimentalism and lame attempts at drama that makes Friends so dreadfully awful. This original BBC series is laugh-out-loud funny and shouldn't be missed.
Rating: Summary: Amazingly Funny! Review: This is by far the funniest show I've seen in a long, long time. Not being much of a fan of regular Must See TV...I happened to stumble on this show one late Saturday night on BBC and couldn't stop myself from laughing (a lot)!! These characters are off-the-wall and zany, yet it seems that you can relate to them. All of the actors are superb and they've done a great job!! I've seen the American version and it's not even half as funny as the original! Buy this, and I guarantee this will be a standby DVD whenever you and your friends run out of things to do.
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