Customer Reviews

Coupling - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked this up the day it was released. Yes, you can watch "Coupling" on BBC America, but these DVD's are worth it, because they still edit some content for time. With Season 2, you get the following 9 episodes:

THE MAN WITH TWO LEGS: Jeff finally works up the nerve to approach a girl on the tube whose leg he's been gawking at each day. Will he blow it with another one of his bumbling lines?

MY DINNER IN HELL: Steve bumps into a television presenter he's always fantasized about, and Jane has a fool-proof hairbrained scheme that she swears will help she and Sally meet her.

HER BEST FRIENDS BOTTOM: Steve makes a surprise visit at Susan's apartment, thinking it is she in the shower. It's Sally, and the entire episode revolves around that fact that Steve saw her bottom.

THE MELTY MAN COMETH: Will Patrick and Sally finally come together? If Patrick doesn't stop "failing" then perhaps they can!

JANE AND THE TRUTH SNAKE: In possibly one of the funniest episodes ever, Jane loses her job as traffic reporter. Never fear! She has a career plan up her sleeve that involves children's entertainment and a sock puppet. That's all I'll say.

GOTCHA: One year after their first date, a wedding invite is sent to Steven and Susan. Steve, of course, panics into thinking Susan will now pe expecting a proposal herself.

DRESSED: The meaning of Jane's invite to a dinner date is misunderstood, and she shows up naked under her coat. When she arrives to a flat full of guests, she has to do some quick thinking (rather a lot for Jane, really!).

NAKED: Jeff's 30th birthday is coming, and his workmates have planned a surprise celebration for him. Again, invites are misunderstood and Jeff ends up stripping down naked in front of his workmates...and his parents!

THE END OF THE LINE: Steve and Susan both assume aliases to swap phone numbers with other people in a bar, but the hilarity ensues when they realize it's with each other!

Extras include more interviews with the cast and executive producer. What they really need is some outtakes, because I have a feeling they'd be hilarious! Worth every penny.

Coupling is comic genius. Despite the risque subject matter of practically every episode, the excellent script and brilliant acting and especially timing of the cast is superb. Ther isn't too much TV comedy that can withstand numerous viewings, but even after remembering most of the lines of every episode of Coupling, it still just cracks me up. Jack Davenport's (Pirates of the Caribbean and The Talented Mr Ripley) comic timing is incredible as Steve and Richard Coyle (Jeff) is..., well his character defies categorization, but Jeff is a unique and hilarious character because of Richard's remarkable abilities.
I watched the NBC pilot this week, and just cringed. It is the same story as the original BBC episode, with all of the humor sucked out, and with far, far less talented actors. The actor portraying Jeff is so badly cast, he destroys every line he is left with in the butchered script.

Consider taking some classic Monty Python sketches, editing them for an "American Audience" and having the lines delivered by a completely different set of actors who didn't understand the humor in the first place and you have the NBC version of Coupling.

Buy the Season 1 DVD to get acquainted with the characters and you will be hooked. I Cannot wait to get my 2nd season DVD. The 3rd season is airing intermittently on BBC America, and a 4th is still at the script stage. I can't wait.

I admit that I am a huge fan of this series (and thus not very impartial) but I just had to voice my opinion that Coupling is the brightest, most hilarious comedy to hit the airwaves in any country for many years. After the greatness of Season 1, I was worried that Steven Moffat would not be able to maintain the sheer brilliance of his characters and the hilarious situations they encounter. In Season 2 I found the writing and acting to be even better! "Jeff Murdock" remains the jewel in a crown of great characters. I have to recommend this DVD as equal to or greater than season one on all levels, which is saying alot. It is also great that Season 2 contains nine episodes, as compared to six episodes in Season 1. Buy this DVD... you won't regret it!

If you've seen the first season of Coupling, you'll love the second. It's often that sex farce comedies can't cut it past a first season. Coupling is a notable exception. The second season is where Moffat begins to explore more of the characters. Sally and Patrick develop an excellent story line that is completely dysfuntional, funny and sometimes touching. It also contains the most famous Jeff-ism "The Melty Man" and Jane puts in an appearance at a social gathering completely naked. While there are some episodes that are stronger than others, overall this season stands on sturdier legs than the first, which in retrospect, seems like a giant exercise in exposition. The extras on this DVD are better than the scant offerings of the first. These include commentary by cast and creators as well as a much more in depth interview with both Vertue and Moffat.

This 2nd-season package is a step up from the first, as this one has nine, as opposed to six, episodes, plus these have the added bonus of commentaries. (Both season sets are essential viewing though.) I noticed from watching this second-season disk set that the show was actually filmed and is presented in wide-screen, a nice treat for DVD owners, and something you don't see very often in the TV show world. I find the hefty $35 retail price a bit difficult to swallow, but fortunately Amazon.com is discounting it to $25, a bit more reasonable. I first started watching this on PBS back in the Spring 2003, and found myself laughing out loud through most of the show. Casting is as key to the chemistry of this show, as it is to Will & Grace and Seinfeld; the NBC Americanized version is PATHETIC, and I cannot even stomach watching it. (The writing has noticable changes as well, diminishing the comedy. For example, in the first episode of the original BBC series one of the male characters says everytime he tries to break up with Jane, she tricks him into continuing with the relationship. Last time he tried, Jane then told him she was wearing stockings. "In the three years we've been going out, she's never worn stockings before." Then adds, "And I begged!" In the Americanized NBC version he says more vulgarly that she wasn't wearing panties; more crude, and much less funny.) The guys all discuss things that ring true, but are so taboo that they've never been uttered before on the screen. Plus, there's no repulsive sentimentalism and lame attempts at drama that makes Friends so dreadfully awful. This original BBC series is laugh-out-loud funny and shouldn't be missed.

Almost everyone here praises the British "Coupling" and knocks the NBC version. And rightly so. But for heaven's sake, please watch the NBC version. Watch it back to back with the British episodes on this and the previous disc. Watch them simultaneously with a split-screen or PIP feature. It's fascinating. If you've ever wondered what great actors bring to a script (and what mediocre actors can suck out of one), this is the ideal case study. The original "Coupling" (represented here) is so vastly superior to its American cousin, it's staggering.

This is a rare opportunity to truly appreciate the actor's craft. And Jack Davenport, Richard Coyle, Sarah Alexander, Gina Bellman et al deserve wild praise for superior work. Compare, contrast and see if you don't agree.

I totally agree with viewers panning the US version. How about casting 4 unfunny actors to re-enacte classic Seinfeld episodes? Waste of time. Stick with the original. This is one of the funiest shows ever, and never strays away from any subject matter. It really is one of the most risque shows around, which the US version, while claiming to be a hotter friends, doesn't even come close to capturing. Every show surprises me with how far the writers can and will go in the name of authenticity and humor. You just can't get any better than the original. And the season 2 DVD has more special features, and 3 more episodes. Perhaps season 3 will be around the corner.

The very first time you watch coupling you sit there totally dumbstruck at the chain of events then all of a sudden you find yourself laughing out loud and it all begins to make sense.

The BBC really do make some of the best comedy. The second series is no exception proving to be just as funny as the first with well established characters and episodes like "the melty man", "naked" and "Her best friend's Bottom" to look forward too.

This is a must have item. Buy it, you will not be dissapointed

This show really funny and refreshing. I've grown up on friends and loved the first 6 seasons of it (then it turned into utter garbage).

The obvious parallels of the two shows are there, but Coupling stands its ground. All the characters are funny, and the writing for the show is very good. I think they should definitely bring it to the US, because there aren't any sit-coms as of right now.

I haven't even seen any of the other seasons, I saw this at the library, had no idea what it was, and out of curiosity checked it out. I watched the whole season in one night it was that good.

Folks here in the US, you're missing out. I just ordered my 4-season set. Only problem - 6 episodes per season, is that really a season? But hey it doesn't take away from the fact that the episodes are funny as hell.

In My Humble Opinion

I'll spare you the "this is so much better than what NBC did tripe." The stars above should tell you that.

The second season of Coupling tries to break the mold of the first season, by throwing Steve and Susan into situations of greater gravity, and showing the strength of their affection, by letting Jeff step out of his mad scientist role of Season 1 and interact more with women (and even one day successfully!), and by beginning the slow orbit of Patrick and Sally that is culiminated beautifully (and hilariously) in Series 3. Jane careens about as before, though.

Ultimately, this makes the series less funny, if more meaningful. I truly enjoyed getting to hear Jeff's theory du jour, something that is thinned out here. While Jeff remains hilariously neurotic, he was the main comic engine on the show, and I feel slightly deprived in this change. Additionally, the pain Sally and Patrick begin to go through resulting from several abortive attempts at a relationship, also takes away from the pure comedy, but does add emotional weight, which the series bears well. This is especially made by Kate Isitt's blossoming portrayal of Sally, previously a one-note neurotic, now more fascinating emotional force.

Steven Moffat remains a master at writing, especially in writing dialogue that is taken to mean very different things by the conversing characters, and at creating foot-, ankle-, and leg-swallowing monologues. This keeps the shows highly enjoyable, even at their most deliriously improbable moments.

Ultimately this is a fine comedic presentation, though lacking the sparkle of Series 1, or the emotional complexity and burning hilarity of Series 3. The DVD itself is a good transfer, very clean images, good sound (let's face it, Dolby 5.1 won't add much, anyway). The menus are more of the same from Series 1, and the special features are improved in quanitity over the first, but the commentary is lackluster.