Product Details

• Actors: Jack Davenport, Gina Bellman, Sarah Alexander, Kate Isitt, Ben Miles
• Directors: Martin Dennis
• Writers: Steven Moffat
• Producers: Beryl Vertue, Geoffrey Perkins, Jo Kay, Murray Peterson, Nick Mortimer
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 7
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Warner
• DVD Release Date: January 25, 2005
• Run Time: 835 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006HBLU0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,760 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Coupling - The Complete Seasons 1-4" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This witty, instantly addictive British series could also be called Chaps or Squelchy in the City. Coupling charts the tangled sex lives of a close-knit group comprising "exes and best friends": womanizer Jack, hapless nice guy Steve, "strange and disturbing" Jeff, uninhibited Susan, neurotic Sally, and manipulative Jane. Coupling may inspire feelings of déjà-view. The obvious frame of reference is Friends (Steve and Susan are the Ross-Rachel equivalent), but this series also echoes Seinfeld in its coinage of catch-phrases (although it's doubtful that "the boyfriend zone" will replace "master of your domain") and plotlines (in episode one, Steve tries to dump Jane, who refuses to accept). But Coupling has its own fresh and provocative takes on relationships. At one point, a furious Susan discovers that Patrick not only had a videotape of the former couple having sex, but that he also taped over her.

Steven Moffat's second season is a brilliant consolidation of all those neuroses, small deceits, obsessions, and personality tics that struck such a resonant chord when Steve, Susan, and their four friends were first unleashed on us. Comparisons with Friends itself are tiresome and lazy: Coupling is an intrinsically British comedy that picks apart the trivial and the mundane in everyday relationships and takes them on surreal journeys, leaving the participants hilariously bemused and rarely any wiser. Its success is due to the magical combination of Moffat's very funny scripts and the talents of six extremely likable actors, including Jack Davenport (Steve) and Sarah Alexander (Susan). But it's Richard Coyle's Jeff whose sexual fantasies exert a compelling fascination that will really keep you watching in disbelief. Breasts, bottoms and pants are the basis for most of the conversational analysis when these friends get together as a group, as couples, as girlfriends, or as mates, invariably becoming metaphors for the state of a relationship or situation. Individual viewpoints and terrors are explored through respective memories of the same event and what-if scenarios. Chain reactions inevitably ensue, fuelling comedy that is based almost entirely on misunderstanding.

The third series of Coupling, first aired in 2002, takes fans into new realms of engaging surrealism. The men are constantly in pursuit of a basic grasp of the "emotional things" that make women behave the way they do. The women analyze everything to death. But thanks to Steve Moffat's scripts, tighter and quirkier than ever, these characters are living, breathing human beings rather than cynical ciphers for comedy stereotypes. The performances are as strong as you'd expect from an established team, with actors such as Jack Davenport, Ben Miles (unreconstructed chauvinist Patrick), Sarah Alexander, and Kate Isitt (neurotic Sally) wearing their roles like second skins. But in the surreal stakes, it's Richard Coyle as Jeff, wondering aloud what happens to jelly after women have finished wrestling in it, and Gina Bellman as Jane, musing on the importance of a first snog in identifying what men like to eat, who really raise the laughter levels. All things considered, this is superior comedy for all thirtysomethings--genuine and putative.

Series 4: Feel free to insert your own "four-play" joke, or for that matter, your own "insert" joke. Sex is still topic 1 for the intertwined group of "exes and best friends," but in this pivotal season there are momentous "relationship issues" that will upend all their lives (insert your own "upend" joke while you're at it). Susan is pregnant, inspiring in Steve nightmares about his own execution and unflattering comparisons of the birth process to John Hurt's iconic gut-busting scene in Alien. Missing in action is the Kramer-esque Jeff (although he makes something of a return in the season finale). Joining the ensemble is Oliver, who is more in the Chandler mode as a lovable loser with the ladies. These inevitable comparisons to "Sein-Friends" are no doubt heresy to Coupling's most devoted viewers. Indeed, this series does benefit from creator and sole writer Steven Moffat's comic voice and vision. He provides his ever-game cast some witty, funny-'cause-it's-true dialogue, as in Oliver's observation that "Tea isn't compatible with porn." This Britcom is also less inhibited in language and sexual situations than its American counterparts. In the cleverly-constructed opening episode, in which the same "9-1/2 Minutes" are witnessed from three different perspectives, Sally and Jane can do what was left to the imagination when Monica and Rachel offered to make out in front of Joey and Chandler. The birth of Susan and Steven's baby ends the six-episode season on a satisfying and surprisingly moving grace note. A bonus disc takes viewers behind the scenes with segments devoted to bloopers and interviews with cast and crew.

Product Description
The popular sex comedy COUPLING is included here in its entirety. Originally broadcast on BBC America, the show picked up a fervent following who love nothing more than following the adventures of Steve (Jack Davenport); Jane (Gina Bellman); Susan (Sarah Alexander); Sally (Kate Isitt); Jeff (Richard Coyle); and in later seasons, Ben (Patrick Maitland). See individual releases for synopsis information.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST for Coupling Fans, February 13, 2005

By	Reviewer (Anytown USA) - See all my reviews

Serious Coupling fans will NOT be disappointed with this attractively packaged box set, which includes all four seasons of the show, as well as hilarious outtakes, interviews with writer Steven Moffat, his wife, producer Sue Vertue (on whose relationship the characters of Steve and Susan are loosely based); an in-depth behind the scenes look at the making of the show; and commentaries on selected episodes with Moffat joined by various members of the cast (you have the option on several episodes to either view the show as it aired or watch it with commentaries taped over it).

I was only expecting four DVDs containing all the shows, and was utterly delighted with the seven discs holding all these extras. The sturdy & attractively designed pastel cases in which each DVD is contained are a cut above lots of cheap DVD packaging out there, which is a nice touch too.

When I first happened upon an episode of Coupling a few years ago courtesy of my local PBS station, I was surprised that such a poorly written and produced show could make it to the airwaves. I failed to realize at the time that Mr. Moffat was a brilliantly funny writer and the plots were supposed to be absurd. At this point I consider myself a hard core fan.

In the fourth series, the writing and overall production of the show feels so polished it bears very little resemble to the slapped-together quality of the first season, for lack of a better term. The character of Jane (aka the 'stupid one') has made the most noticeable transformation in the fourth series. Her 'dumb brunette' act has been toned down to the point of being almost unrecognizable, which works better anyway and is far less grating. I have to wonder if this was Gina Bellman's idea?

The fourth series does suffer a little from the loss of Jeff (Richard Coyle) especially in light of the fact that the character of Oliver (Richard Mylan) was clearly modeled after Jeff Murdoch. Like Jeff, Oliver is an easily-flustered, tongue-tied dork around women. He's likeable enough though, but as a new character I felt he should have had a completely different role to add another dimension to the show. Watching him you only wind up making comparisons to the inimitable Jeff. However the chemistry between goofy Oliver and dim-witted Jane has the effect of balancing their respective exaggerated personality traits out and makes scenes between these two characters especially engrossing.

All of the characters have really grown on me over the seasons, particularly Ben Miles (The Forsyte Saga) an amazing actor who effortlessly manages to make the womanizing character he portrays (Patrick Maitland) loveable and utterly realistic.

I am anxiously awaiting a fifth season!

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four seasons of fun and laughs., February 9, 2005

By	Michael A. Brown "maniacmedia" (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

NBC found out very quickly that you can't recreate that which was put together so well. The original British sitcom "Coupling", itself an attempt to reinvent "Friends", introduces us to Steve and Susan. They're just starting to date. Along the way, we find that their friends have been somewhat more than that on occasion.

There's Patrick, the womanizer, he's been with Sally and Susan.
There's Sally, the insecure one, she's been with Patrick and worries too much about growing old.
There's Jeff, who's been with every woman... in his mind. In the real world, he's slightly less successful.
Then there's Jane, she thinks she's everything that she wants to be. She's been with Steve and had one particularly memorable moment with Susan.

The show suffered a bit in the final season with the loss of Richard Coyle. Jeff was more than just the wacky friend, he gave the show some of it's greatest moments. Also, the producers focused too much on fantasy sequences to mirror the episode events.

One of the amazing things about this show, especially in the early seasons, was how well they could tell a story from various perspectives and have it all mesh together. Blending phone calls from the perspective of both callers. Using split screen. And was there really a third woman standing there?

Overall, a very fun show. Well worth your time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Brits know best, January 9, 2005

By	Lily (Ottawa Canada) - See all my reviews

I have to say, after having seen almost every episode of the North American counterpart 'Friends' and then witnessing 'Coupling' seasons 1 through 3, I am flabbergasted. The Brits are spot on with every joke. Every delivery is perfection. The characters are fantastically constructed and each episode is a delight to watch, My personal favourite character is Jeff Murdock, played by Richard Coyle, and I was devastated to learn that Coyle decided to leave the show after the 3rd series. He was a phenomenally funny guy on the show and really brought a great deal of unpolished charm to the cast. The other characters (Steve, Patrick, Sally, Susan and Jane) are all hilarious, though, so the show shou;dn't miss a beat in Coyle's absence. This is a dvd set worth owning, as you can watch the episodes countless times. I spent a good chunk of my holiday watching them and I don't regret it for a second. Definitely pick this up for yourself or a friend.