According to an entry at the Internet Movie Database's Studio Brief (reproduced in its entirety at the link ending this entry), the National Broadcasting Company has decided to suspend its broadcasts of the American version of Coupling. This version is after a British comedy of the same name which apparently does well on the BBC.
Who cares, you ask? Well, I don't care all that much. I hadn't watched a new series on NBC since they canned Dark Skies, and the only thing before that was ER along with Law & Order back in 1991-1992. The reason I care now is because of what Coupling was supposed to be. The IMDB blurb stated that the series "resolve[d] to push back the boundaries of sexual expression on television". That's right. In an era where we've got a cable network dubbed 'Skinemax' and an Internet whose underlying architecture is probably nothing more than a massive porn delivery network, NBC felt the need to push back the dreaded censorial hand of decency.
This isn't some great victory in the culture war, I suppose. We'll still be stuck with images of that repulsive relic Madonna sucking face with the trailer-trash Britney Spears, but at least the annoyingly repetitive in-your-face sex crowd's been pushed back for a little while.
I hope NBC lost a pile of money on this. If I wanted sexual content, I'd fire up my modem and check my inbox. I don't need it on broadcast television. But no matter---I haven't been big on watching a regular series or anything since The Lone Gunmen got taken off the air.
NBC Returns 'Coupling' to the Brits
imageLaunched with a fanfare of publicity trumpeting its resolve to push back the boundaries of sexual expression on television, the new NBC comedy Coupling was officially silenced on Monday. Before its debut, network executives had expressed hope that it would replace the departing Friends in the affection of the U.S. audience, but it drew dismal ratings on Thursday night, ordinarily NBC's highest-rated night of the week. The original British version of Coupling has been running on the BBC for four years and remains a big hit. In an interview with today's (Tuesday) New York Post, Coupling producer Sue Vertue suggested that NBC's overly exuberant publicity may have been at least partly to blame for the early cancellation. "I don't think you can say it's a show 'everyone is talking about' before anyone has seen it," she said. NBC did not indicate Monday how it intends to replace the show following the November sweeps. Currently it is filling the time by airing "supersized" versions of Friends, Will & Grace and Scrubs on Thursdays.
I'm glad Coupling is off the air as well. But not for the same reasons as you. I started watching the first episode and had to turn it off. It was that bad. And not vulgar bad. Just completely unfunny bad. This is a victory for quality television, not sex-less television. And yes, there is a difference.
Posted by: m-tthew at November 6, 2003 09:58 PM