Coupling pulled by NBC (possibly cancelled after 3 episodes)

Guardian UK ^ | Wednesday October 15, 2003 | Jason Deans

[weegee]

The US version of BBC2 comedy Coupling has been unceremoniously yanked from the NBC schedule after only three episodes, prompting fears about the show's future.

NBC has pulled Coupling from its 9.30pm slot on Thursday night and replaced it with a repeat of another of its new shows, Whoopi Goldberg sitcom Whoopi.

Perhaps more ominously, NBC has also announced it will be resting Coupling for "sweeps" month in November, when TV advertising rates for the next quarter are set and the US networks try to maximise ratings with scheduling stunts and specials.

The fact that Coupling is being sidelined for this key period suggests NBC does not have a lot of faith in the show developing into a long term replacement for Friends, as had been hoped.

However, NBC insiders said no decision had yet been made about whether Coupling would be cancelled.

Coupling launched with 15.3 million viewers in late September, but after three episodes its audience had subsided to 10.7 million by last Thursday.

The US translation of the BBC2 comedy has attracted criticism in the States for its frank and frequent references to sex - two TV stations even refused to broadcast the show.

However, perhaps the most damning comment from US critics - who have seen the original version of Coupling on digital cable channel BBC America - is that it is just a pale carbon copy of the British show.

US versions of hit British shows have struggled to gain a foothold on the brutally competitive American terrestrial networks in recent years.

American translations of Cracker, Cold Feet, Men Behaving Badly and Holding the Baby have all foundered after short-lived runs.

The US remake of The Kumars was recently dropped from Fox's autumn line-up before it was even broadcast.

But UK entertainment formats such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and Dog Eat Dog, as well as comedy show Whose Line is it Anyway?, have proved more successful.

US versions of British reality, lifestyle and makeover shows such as Faking It and Changing Rooms have also made the successful transition to US cable channels.

[MarkL]

One of the reasons that some Brit TV shows work is because they ARE British! Among the best, IMHO, would be Faulty Towers and, of course, Monty Python's Flying Circus! There's just no way to "translate" them into US shows that could possibly work!

Mark

[MarkL]

Benny Hill was the only england comedy that was funny.

Dude! Red Dwarf, Mr. Bean, Blackadder, My Hero, As Time Goes By, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and a few others: funny, or VERY funny, and all better than nearly all US sitcoms.

And don't forget "Fawlty Towers!!!"

Mark

[Timesink]

I can sorta kinda see their reasoning for using the word-for-word British scripts; it allowed them to hit the ground running with "proven" material, while giving the US writers and producers a lot of time to figure out where to take the American characters next season. (Had the show been successful, NBC would have ordered anywhere from 18 to 24 episodes this season alone, using up all the original scripts.) The fatal flaw with this plan is it allowed newspaper TV critics, practically all of whom were familiar with and enamored of the original UK version, to see just how disastrously miscast and badly produced produced the American version is, because they were able to directly compare episodes. (To a lesser extent, the same thing happened with word-of-mouth amongst the viewer demographic NBC is most coveting, many of whom themselves watched Coupling on the BBC. Not only did they tune in and find that the NBC version was crap, they found out that they'd already seen the exact same show done better a year ago. So word spread...)

Basically, NBC wanted a formula to replace Friends, and they got what they were seeking. When you try to design a show from the ground up to fit a certain specification instead of simply let the creative process happen, you end up with a bad show.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Ya....the US version sucks.

But the original is a riot.

[Psycho_Bunny]

The Israeli-Woman episode was damn fine but Lesbian Spank Inferno.....lololololol

[Calvin Locke]

Howie Carr out, syndicated of Boston. www.howiecarr.org

The editor is Max Robbins. He takes calls and abuse usually on Mondays beginning around 5:20PM Eastern.

[ChadGore]

Woopie should be off the air by halloween.

[hattend]

Woopie should be off the air by halloween.

If we're lucky

[goldstategop]

It was really cancelled. I happened to buy the second season of BBC's Coupling and it was funny. The acting is outstanding. The best episodes are "Dressed" where there's a hilarious scene where Jane gets a Barbie Doll dress from the girl in the next door flat and "Naked" where Jeff performs what he thinks is the full monty for his girlfriend unbeknowing til he realizes his mortification when every one showed up for his birthday party! In the "Melty Man" there are some funny zingers about impotence. The British show is hilarious due to good writing and a marvelous cast. I think Steve Moffat's big mistake with the American bomb was to hire actors who ended up reading mangled versions of the original script with the humor missing. I'm already looking forward to watching Season Three. This show is just getting better every time you watch it!

[hattend]

Yep, I have the first season DVD and Amazon has sent me the second season it just hasn't arrived yet.

I like the 3rd season too. ("Spiderman" and "Who's pregnant?" [don't know the actual titles]) Can't wait for that DVD.

The British actors are so much more likeable and have impeccable timing.

Check out the reviews at Amazon.com. They agree with us, the American series SUCKS!!

[ladyinred]

Ah, what a terrible shame. Based on a British show, this one obviously didn't make the grade? The Brits have a much different sense of humor, and their version is much better, although too racy for me.

[ArGee]

I don't watch much TV and have never see coupling, but I'm gonna take a guess.

The Brits are always making fun of our prudery in not showing nudity on TV.

Perhaps, since we can't turn shows on for a little nudity, we actually demand some semblance of entertainment value? (I know it's a stretch, considering our own TV isn't very entertaining, but since Monty Python and Fawlty Towers stopped I have never seen an entertaining British show.)

Shalom.

[hattend]

There's implied nudity on the BBC's "Coupling" but I haven't seen more skin on the characters than you would see at a public beach (Well, in one episode, Jeff shows enough that he would be wearing a thong on said beach).

Give the BBC series a try, it's pretty funny.

BTTT for BBC "Coupling" fans.