''Coupling'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

television series, a remake of the British show of the same title, which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from September 25 to October 23, 2003.

Production

By 2003, three series of ''Coupling'' had been broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

, all written by the show's creator,

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi television ser ...

. The show was loosely based on the beginnings of Moffat's real-life relationship with Sue Vertue. NBC commissioned a remake of the show for the American market, reportedly as a replacement for ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', which was nearing the end of its run. Moffat and original producers from

Hartswood Films Hartswood Films is a British television production company founded by Beryl Vertue in 1979. They have also produced dramas such as ''Jekyll'', as well as documentaries, and the 1990s ITV/BBC sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly''. In 2009, Hartswood opene ...

, Sue and Beryl Vertue, served as executive producers on the NBC adaptation, alongside Phoef Sutton and

Ben Silverman Benjamin Noah Silverman (born August 15, 1970) is an American media executive. He is the co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate. From 2007–2009, Silverman served as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universa ...

. Unlike most adaptations, the NBC adaptation would reuse Moffat's original scripts, although these were adapted by Sutton and were shortened to comply with the reduced running time (NBC has multiple advertisement breaks compared to the original broadcaster, BBC Two, which has none). Other writers, such as Danny Zuker and Paul Corrigan worked on episodes later in the series. The original unaired

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

starred

Breckin Meyer Breckin Meyer (born May 7, 1974) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on the Adult Swim animated sketch series ''Robot Chicken'', which has earned him two Annie Awards and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Meyer gained tract ...

as Jeff,

Melissa George Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian and American actress. She began her career playing Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'' between 1993–1996. After moving to the United States, George made her ...

as Susan and Emily Rutherfurd as Sally. NBC then fired the writers and replaced Meyer, George and Rutherfurd with Christopher Moynihan,

Rena Sofer Rena Sherel Sofer (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, known for her appearances in daytime television, episodic guest appearances, and made-for-television movies. In 1995, Sofer received a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Lois ...

and

Sonya Walger Sonya Walger (born June 6, 1974) is a British and American actress. She had a starring role in the HBO sitcom '' The Mind of the Married Man'' (2001–2002) before landing her role as Penny Widmore in the ABC drama series '' Lost'' (2006–20 ...

, respectively. George later commented that she "dodged a bullet" by being replaced before the show aired. Thirteen episodes were commissioned. However, due to poor critical reception, NBC announced the show's cancellation on October 31, after only four episodes had been broadcast. The final three planned episodes were not filmed, with the remaining six episodes unbroadcast.

Reception

The show received a dismal reaction from viewers and failed to perform in the ratings, being canceled before the November

sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

, with six episodes remaining unaired despite heavy publicity by the network. It was immediately panned as a poor imitation of the original UK series by viewers and critics.

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

even ran commercials noting that they would play the original British versions on their station just after the American equivalent episodes on NBC aired, so that viewers could see instantly just how superior the original was. Miscasting and stilted delivery of a nearly identical script were believed to be the reasons for the failure, though creator Moffat blamed the show's failure on NBC's intervention during the creative and production processes. In 2007, he said: "The network fucked it up because they intervened endlessly." The American adaptation came at a time when NBC was having success with remakes of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

shows, such as ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' and '' Dog Eat Dog''. NBC would find success in 2005 with a remake of another BBC series, ''The Office'', which aired for nine seasons. Because of what was deemed to be indecent content, two affiliates of NBC refused to air the program;

KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...

(Channel 5) in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and

WNDU-TV WNDU-TV (channel 16) is a television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Gray Media, it maintains studios on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, the station's founding owner, along State Road 933 ...

(Channel 16) in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. Both stations were owned by religious organizations, as KSL is owned by the

Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV networ ...

division of the

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded during ...

, while WNDU was at the time owned by a subsidiary of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. In those markets, WB affiliate KUWB (channel 30) and a

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate

WSBT-TV WSBT-TV (channel 22) is a television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV (channel 28). The two stations share studios on East ...

(channel 22.2, now affiliated with

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

), respectively, aired the series after their network's primetime lineups, while nearby affiliates KENV (in

Elko, Nevada Elko is a city in and the county seat of Elko County, Nevada, United States. As of the official 2020 U.S. Census, the city has a population of 20,564. Elko serves as the center of the Ruby Valley, a region with a population of over 55,000. Elko ...

, now an affiliate of

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

) and

WISE-TV WISE-TV (channel 33) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Media alongside ABC/NBC/MyNetworkTV affiliate WPTA (channel 21). The two stations share studios on Butler Road ...

(in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

, now a CW affiliate) aired the series in accordance with the rest of the network.

Jeff Zucker Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American businessman and media executive. Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide from 2013 to 2022. He oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously CEO of NBCUniver ...

, former President and CEO of

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

, later said of ''Coupling'' that it "just sucked".

Cast

* Colin Ferguson as Patrick Maitland *

Jay Harrington James H. Harrington III, professionally known as Jay Harrington, (born November 15, 1971) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as the title character in the ABC sitcom '' Better Off Ted'' in 2009–2010, and from 2017 to 2 ...

as Steve Taylor * Christopher Moynihan as Jeff Clancy *

Lindsay Price Lindsay Jaylyn Price Stone (born December 6, 1976) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Janet Sosna on '' Beverly Hills, 90210'' and as Victory Ford on '' Lipstick Jungle''. She is also known for her work on soap ...

as Jane Honda *

as Susan Freeman *

as Sally Harper

Episodes

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{Epguides, coupling_us 2003 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings 2000s American romantic comedy television series 2000s American sex comedy television series 2000s American multi-camera sitcoms American television series based on British television series American English-language television shows Television series about couples Television series by Reveille Productions Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Chicago Hispanic and Latino American sitcoms NBC sitcoms