I am so sick of people comparing 'Coupling' to 'Friends'. The only thing these two shows share is the fact they feature six principals, three guys and three girls and they have a regular hangout. 'Coupling' is nothing like 'Friends'. Jeez I get so irritated by people whining that it's a Friends re-make when it so clearly is not.
The America re-make will probably suck anyway. Why can't they just show the original??
coupling looks great, but nothing will ever come close to comparing with friends.
shareLOL- the original Coupling (BBC) is far superior to "Friends", in my humble opinion. And I've been watching friends since day one.
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oh PLEASE.. Americans are NOT good at everything.. and I personally don't believe you're not American but that's just MY opinion..
the only difference is that America has more money to throw away than most other countries.. so, true you DO get a higher percentage of good stuff.. but also a higher percentage of CRAP.. and in that CRAP I am including horrible British remakes.
and PLEASE I am NOT looking for an "excuse" to bash Americans.. if anything I'm looking for an excuse to bash NBC's Coupling, but that's it.. and I should be able to because IMO opinion it's a horrible show, and I say these comments IMO as well.
The British version is no comparison, and for god's sake it is NOT a Friend's rip off! Sure Friends may be better to some people, but who cares? That's like saying She Spies is better than Groundforce! um.. yeah..
~Rhea
"To know about the Giggle Loop is to become part of the Giggle Loop" -Jeff
"so, true you DO get a higher percentage of good stuff.. but also a higher percentage of CRAP.. "
I don't know about Americans or Brits or whatnot, but at any rate apparently YOU aren't very good at, like, math, or, um, understanding what "percentage" means, because the percentage of "crap" and of "good stuff" can't both increase at the same time, assuming that an item is either one or the other.
Now, if you're considering that some chunk of entertainment is neither "crap" nor "good stuff," but some other delegation between the two, then both outlying categories could increase at the same time. So, are you saying that American produced entertainment is more polarized in terms of quality? THAT would be interesting, and I'd like to hear why, on the teeny tiny chance that that's actually what you meant, and you didn't just painfully misuse the word "percentage."
Or, I suppose, you could mean that Americans produce a greater percentage of the "crap" and "good stuff" in the world market, compared to the volume of entertainment produced around the world, in which case... I dunno, any way about it, it's not very insightful.
Oh, incidentally, I've never seen the Brit version, but the five minutes of the American Coupling that I've seen blew long and hard.
It's not Friends? That's so weird, because I've seen the British Coupling, and it seems to be EXACTLY like Friends. There's an equivalent character in both shows (like Steve in Coupling is the equivalent of Chandler on Friends), there's six friends, half male, half female, they've all slept with each other, they're all the same age, they're all friends even though they've all slept together, they all hang out in the same place, and they all talk about the same stuff. They're both good shows, although I like Friends better, but Coupling is in fact Britain's version of Friends, there's no doubt about it. But I do agree with you, the American re-make will most likely not be any good, from what I can tell. I haven't seen a whole lot of Coupling since I don't really care for it, but from what I've seen in the previews for the American version, they're just ripping off lines straight from Coupling, only somehow it comes off as less funny. I'll give it a try, so people can't get mad at me for hating it without even seeing one episode, but I think the idea is to get the Friends fans to watch it so when Friends goes off, they'll still have ratings.
Death puts things into perspective - we're all equal in the grave.
If Coupling is so like Friends, then please explain to me where in Coupling is there an ex-homeless kooky hippie? Or the chronically out of work actor? Or the neurotic BROTHER AND SISTER?
And if Steve is so like Chandler how come he is never short of a good looking girlfriend like Chandler was for the first few YEARS of the show? Besides, Chandler is constantly making wisecracks, Steve acts like he is constantly constipated, how the hell did you decide these two were similar?
I don't remember a Welsh socially incompetent reject in friends either.
And what's this about all the "Friends" having slept with each other, the last time I saw the show (2 years ago, 6 YEARS into the show) Chandler had slept with Monica and Ross had slept with Rachel, but that was it. None of the "Friends" have ever slept with Phoebe or Joey. 6 years and two couples hook up, how exactly is this like Coupling?
The only people who really think that Coupling is like Friends are the NBC marketing department.
Actually NBC picked up Coupling becasue of its similarity to Friends. They wanted to try to grab friends viewers as it is going off the air... also why they are airing it on Thursday.
Is it the same show? No... obviously not. Are there a lot of striking similarities... yes, and its on purpose.
they shouldn't even make an american version, just transit the f***ing english version its cheaper and 10 times better, if they had a brain cell it would be very lonely!!
shareAnyone who thinks that Friends is better than Coupling, please tell me you're joking... I like Friends and will always like Friends, but Coupling is clearly superior! Firstly, its English and has a very English humour. Secondly, Friends could never carry off such intricate narratives in the way Coupling does. Just watch the 'Giselle' episode of Coupling for an example of this.
Friends is a 'basic' comedy which embelishes in fiction, in my opinion. There's nothing intelligent about it. Coupling is a more 'thoughtful' comedy, which comments on the way men and women REALLY are with each other.
Lets compare the characters for a moment shall we, so we can see just how unlike each other they are:
Steve VS Chandler- Chandler is a wise-cracking, with a slightly odd persona. He makes sarcastic remarks and occasionally does a strange dance. Steve does not wise crack. He sometimes has his 'speech outburts' where he makes a great point defending the male sex or a male opinion. Steve is a pretty much 'normal' guy.
Geoff VS Joey - Joey is portrayed as a slightly stupid actor for the most part. Joey's humour comes from his 'dumbness'. Geoff is not portrayed as stupid, but more as an eccentric individual, but with moments of genius. He coins new terms, such as the 'giggle loop' and 'Captain Subtext'. Geoff's humour comes much more from his dialogue and acting merged, rather than one single thing.
Patrick VS Ross - Absolutely NO similarities! Patrick is a confident, outgoing successful male. Great with women and has a big penis. Ross is the opposite! Infact, Patrick would be better compared with Joey! But then Geoff would have nothing in common with Ross either so its a loss-loss situation for Friends on that one!
Susan VS Monica- There are no similarities at all apart from they are both women of a similar age.
Jane VS Phoebe - They are both partly insane. That's it though. Phoebe is much more of a loveable insane, whereas Jane is a self-obsessed insane, which is less loveable, but much funnier.
Sally VS Rachel - I see no similarities whatsoever. Both are into looking good, but that's a very tenuous link.
I am bored now, I could list many other differences. But that would take a long while.
So, on and end note, to anyone who thinks that Coupling is an English Friends, or just to anyone who thinks that the British are unoriginal enough to want to copy Friends... All I can say to you people, is that you are so badly wrong. Its the Americans who produce reams and reams of the same rubbish. The British try their best to create something new and different whenever possible (with the exception of Big Brother and all the other reality TV rubbish, although we did that before the Americans, too.)
And Friends could never make me laugh out loud like Coupling did, so either way, Coupling bettered Friends.
"...it's pompous to call myself a comedian,I prefer to think of myself as a phenomena" - Rik Mayall
Happy madison, Not all of the friedns gang have slep together. Infact rachel, ross, chandler and monica are the only ones to sleep with antoher friend. So good point, not
shareThank you everyone who agrees with me. I think the only people who things 'Coupling' is like 'Friends' are small minded people who can't see past the one or two simiralities. Just because it's a show about six principles then they jump to the conclusion it's a 'Friends' remake when it so clearly is not. 'Coupling' is far better then 'Friends' the comedy is sharp and true to life. 'Friends' is just tired. I used to be a huge fan of 'Friends' and have watched it from the beginning but I for one will be glad to see the back of it.
shareI can't believe America is remaking Coupling. I swear if they try to ship their version to the UK then I WILL go on a Wes Craven style killing spree (or at least throw a tantrum). I would watch the remake just to mock it! Why don't they ship the British versions over there, they are guaranteed to be better than the half-assed, reworked and cliched crap about to hit American screens (I genuinely feel sorry for the American viewers) what makes America so damn special anyway? And besides, the orignal cast could never be matched.
The only way the remake will be as good as the orignal is...erm...PASS!
god.. I've SEEN the US version of Coupling.. and I'm glad you feel sorry for me! LOL I even feel sorry for me!
I absolutely LOVE the British version..
and ROFLMAO to that comment about Wes Craven killing spree!
and what's with the US ripping off so many British shows?? American Idol, Big Brother, Men Behaving Badly *gag*, Trading Spaces, What not to wear, Coupling, the list goes on and on!! Why can't they just show the imports here like Britain does with our shows??? Why can they only be shown on BBC America?? (Though thank GOD for it!!)
~Rhea
"To know about the Giggle Loop is to become part of the Giggle Loop" -Jeff
Actually the show Big Brother was invented in Holland and later other countries, among which Great Britain, ripped it off.
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