BBC's 'Coupling' coming to R1! (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

Three's Company- Robin's Nest
The Roeper's- Can't remember
All in the Family- Anyone?

Not quite on the first one:
Three's Company = Man About The House
The Ropers = George & Mildred (George and Mildred Roper were in Man About The House; it was a spin-off, too!)
Three's A Crowd (aka Three's Company, Too) = Robin's Nest
All In The Family = 'Til Death Us Do Part
Agreed that Coupling sounded rique' for USA audiences, but E.T. showed several unedited scenes with no problem! In fact, it was that aspect which E.T. said appealed most to NBC!

 

[Stephen A]

Carlo Medina,
You can check out one of them here:
Link Removed

 

[Carlo_M]

You perv, that wasn't what I was talking about!
Okay, so when does this thing come out in the US?

 

[Eric F]

Thanks David. I vaguely remember Three's Company, Too. Is that the one where they have Jack and his wife run the resturaunt? I mean after the Roeper's failure that one was bound to fail as well. Couldn't they see it?

Ah, if only PBS would show more of Coupling. Wonder why they showed it so briefly? The usuall PBS sin of showing British comedies to death doesn't apply here. It isn't even listed on the PBS website, but if you search for it on WGBH.org you'll find a little blurb about it.

 

[Sarah S]

I thought I heard somewhere that it was coming in Nov. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Wonder why they showed it so briefly?

I think PBS is showing series 1, which is only 6 episodes.

- Steve

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Also Steptoe And Son=Sanford And Son.
I've seen a few episodes of Coupling and haven't seen anything that would need cenosring. It wasn't any more risque than other things I've seen on primetime.
Jeff

 

[Mark-W]

I love this show! I got a chance to see it with
my DirectTV, which does offer BBCAmerica, and also the
hillarious, So Graham Norton.
Thrilled this is coming to Region 1, and no US adaptation
will work if it is going to air on ABC, CBS, or NBC...the
show's best moments come from its lack of censorship issues
with regards to sexual stuff...kind of like how
AB FAB couldn't ever get off the ground over
here on ABC. If it doesn't happen through HBO or
Showtime, it will suck. (And even then my hopes aren't
high.)
I also agree that it is
MUCH BETTER THAN FRIENDS IMHO.
Cheers!
Mark

 

[Julian Lalor]

I know there are alot more than that, I just can't recall them all right now. Add away.

Who could forget "Amanda's" with Bea Arthur in the American version "Fawlty Towers" (pretty much everyone, thank God). Talk about sacrelige. "Men Behaving Badly" was also turned into a disasterous anf thankfully short lived US series called "It's a Man's World". One can only breathe a sigh of relief that the Roseanne version of "Absolutely Fabulous" never saw the light of day, co-starring, of all people, Barbara Carrera.

On the non-sitcom front, "Cracker" was adapted into a US series starring that guy from "Murphy Brown" (never saw it) and Queer as Folk kept its name when successfully coming across the Atlantic (which is surprising, given its very British title - I have no idea what it means).

 

[David Lambert]

Also Steptoe And Son=Sanford And Son.

Heh. I just last night thought of this. It had slipped my mind before. Sorry.

 

[ChristopherM]

Talk about sacrelige

At the risk of wandering off-topic, how about the magnificent first series of "The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin", which was remade as "Reggie" in the USA?

I enjoyed Richard Mulligan in "Soap", but nobody could ever have improved on Leonard Rossiter's original performance (and ditto for the respective supporting casts).

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[TheoGB]

Well there is a phrase along the lines of "There's nowt queer as folk", which I believe means basically "people are the strangest of all things".

I guess it just seemed an appropriate title with the word queer being slang for gay...

 

[John Berggren]

I've heard good things about this program. It certainly could be added to my growing BBC collection.

 

[Mark-W]

Not to get too off topic, but since some one else mentioned
"sucessful" adaptations of Brit shows and included
Queer As Folk...I think how "sucessful" Showtime's
program is at capturing the wit and charm of the original
is highly debatable. The show has had high ratings, in
part, no doubt, due to the constant throng of naked
hunky men, but ask any people who watch the show
for content, and they'll probably tell you it sucks..
.just go to
Link Removed to listen to the "fans" of the show
bitch about how awful it is, especially this last year.
Mark

 

[John Berggren]

My expectation (hope) is that the cut back to 16 episodes for the next two years is to focus on quality storytelling, rather than pumping out 20 episodes. I could be wrong though.

QAF US needs new writers. Writers who aren't afraid to have a storyline run for more than two weeks at a time.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

re: Coupling
First series DVD (with extras) will come out in R1 on 1/21/2003, with the second series tentatively planned for two weeks later. Third series will debut on BBCA around the same time (and in the UK late this year, I believe).
re: Men Behaving Badly
I thought the first season of the US version with Justine Bateman and Ron Eldard was decent. And it was named the same as the original version; only the export was renamed to "It's a Man's World" (presumably to avoid confusion).
I'm not totally against remaking a show stateside, it does work sometimes, just not usually. Nobody could be a better Jeff on 'Coupling'.

 

[Julian Lalor]

I agree that the US version of Queer as Folk is a chore. My reference to it being "successful" lies in the fact that it actually lasted more than one season, which most adaptations of British series do not. That said, I didn't find the UK version particularly deep and meaningful, either, although it was certainly better and more believable and, although not as explicit as the US version, more liberated and relaxed in its portrayel of sexuality.

 

[Mark-W]

So, the blond from Coupling was also on
a hillarious episode of the Brit mocumentary
People Like Us. Any chance of that show coming
to R1 DVD?

 

[TheoGB]

Link Removed (AKA "The Blonde One") is also in Smack the Pony, though bizarrely isn't credited as the makers wanted it to seem just like the three of them were involved.
I am a much bigger fan of Link Removed personally.

 

[Mark-W]

TheoGB-
Actually, I am a HUGE fan of the cast as an ensemble.
They all seem perfectly cast, and cannot imagine the
show with different people.
Also, for those of you wondering what we're all cheering
about, here is the URL for the show on BBC America.
http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/come...g/coupling.jsp
(I also noticed in the "Q&A" with the creators of the
show someone mentions season 2 coming to DVD "tentativly"
in February, which I find hard to believe, since that would
be the shortest window in the history of DVD between
season sets...but we can hope.)
Mark