''Perfect Couples'' 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 that was originally broadcast by

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 ...

. The half-hour

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

was co-created by Jon Pollack and

Scott Silveri Scott Silveri is an American television producer and writer. He is the creator of '' Go On'' and '' Speechless'' and the co-creator of '' Perfect Couples'' (with Jon Pollack) and ''Joey'' (with Shana Goldberg-Meehan, whom he met while working ...

and produced by

Universal Media Studios Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It serves as the networ ...

. A sneak preview of the series aired on December 20, 2010, and officially premiered on January 20, 2011, as a

mid-season replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after ...

for the 2010–11 television season. The show was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. On April 14, 2011, the show was replaced in its timeslot with ''

The Paul Reiser Show ''The Paul Reiser Show'' is an American sitcom television series, centered around actor Paul Reiser (as himself), that was originally aired on NBC. In May 2010, NBC announced that it had approved the series for the 2010–11 television season, ...

'' which was cancelled 11 days later on April 25 after only two episodes.NBC Cancels "The Paul Reiser Show" After Two Episodes
''Washington Post'', April 25, 2011 NBC officially canceled ''Perfect Couples'' on May 13, 2011.

Plot

''Perfect Couples'' revolves around three couples at various stages in their relationships, yet who face similar problems. Vance and Amy are a couple who fight a lot and have a very active sex life. Rex and Leigh view themselves as relationship experts and therefore a "perfect couple", while Dave and Julia are considered the normal pair to whom everyone can relate.

Cast

Kyle Bornheimer Kyle Bornheimer (born September 10, 1975) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his roles on the sitcoms ''Worst Week'', ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', '' Casual'', and '' Playing House''. Life and career Bornheimer attended St. Monica Gr ...

as Dave * Christine Woods as Julia * David Walton as Vance *

Mary Elizabeth Ellis Mary Elizabeth Ellis (born May 11, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring roles as The Waitress on the FX comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), Nick's ex-girlfriend Caroline in the Fox sitco ...

as Amy * Hayes MacArthur as Rex *

Olivia Munn Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network G4, and on the series '' ...

as Leigh * Nicolette Robinson as Isabella

Production

Development

In early February 2010,

announced that it had

green-light In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the projec ...

ed a pilot script by creators Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri. Olivia Munn was the first actress cast in mid-February. David Walton came on board the project in early March, followed soon by Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Hayes MacArthur. In late March 2010, Christine Woods was cast in what was described as the female lead.

Kyle Howard Kyle Howard (born April 13, 1978) is an American actor. Early life Howard grew up in Loveland, Colorado. He has worked in both film and television. His film career includes ''House Arrest'' alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, ''Skeletons'' with Ron Silv ...

rounded out the main cast in mid-April. NBC announced a pick up of the series on May 12, 2010, which is currently planned as a

midseason replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

. On June 3, 2010, comedian and writer Jen Kirkman announced she would be leaving late-night show ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American late-night comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler. The show was produced by Handler's production company (Borderline Amazing Productions), and taped its later years a ...

'' to join the writing staff for ''Perfect Couples''. (Friend status with Jen Kirkman required for access) On July 1, 2010, Deadline.com reported that Kyle Bornheimer had replaced Kyle Howard as Dave due to uncertainty whether the actor would be available due to TBS' decision to see how the fourth season of ''

My Boys ''My Boys'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on November 28, 2006, on TBS (American TV channel), TBS. The show deals with a sports columnist in Chicago, Illinois, played by Jordana Spiro, and the men in her life, including her brot ...

'' performed before deciding whether to renew or cancel the series. TBS cancelled the series less than three months later.

Cancellation

On March 22, 2011, it was announced that ''

'' would replace ''Perfect Couples'', even though the show still had two unaired episodes remaining. Mid-April is not a typical time for a prime-time network television show to finish its run, leading many to believe the show may be canceled. However, the premiere of ''The Paul Reiser Show'' fared even worse in the ratings, showing even more uncertainty for the timeslot, and was itself canceled after only two episodes. ''Perfect Couples'' was officially cancelled on May 13, 2011.

Episodes

Reception

On December 20, 2010, NBC aired a sneak preview of the series after the season finale of the reality show ''

The Sing-Off ''The Sing-Off'' is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It debuted on NBC on December 14, 2009, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Outlaw Productions, with Mark Burnett's One Three Media (for a t ...

''. The series received mixed reviews, scoring a 43 out of 100 based on 19 critics on Metacritic. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' critic Ken Tucker said the show has improved since the first episodes. The show was the lowest rated scripted series on NBC, with about 3 million viewers on average, until it was replaced by ''The Paul Reiser Show'', which fared even worse.

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 1595856 2010 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings 2010s American romantic comedy television series American English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Oregon Television shows set in Portland, Oregon 2010s American single-camera sitcoms NBC sitcoms