Television Thoughts: Coupling so far .....no spoilers; when one doesn't 'get it'
I've watched 2 episodes of season 1 of Coupling. I laughed out loud quite a few times and it's very well written and funny but I suspect it might not be my kind of show. I've promised my brother to watch till the end of season 1. Don't get me wrong, it's clever and sly but the premise (taken from the episode guide) is:
"Two's company, three's a crowd... so what do you do with six? On average, men and women think about sex every six seconds. Shorten that to every second, and you've got Coupling. It's more than just a one night stand! When a couple gets together, it's never just the two of them - they also bring baggage - and Susan (Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport) are no exception. Their baggage is a crowd of best friends and exes who talk about all aspects of sex and relationships on their never-ending quest to find true love. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps..."
When the theme song started, I was hoping for the best because I love the song 'Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps' ....
I'm not sure how to explain it. I was someone who never liked and so did not watch Sex in the City, Friends (past the first season), Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, Party of Five .... basically any show which involves talking about the the romantic or sex lives of singletons as they fall in and out of love, swap, do the romance quadrille and end up with different partners.
I really like things romantic but I tend to like shows that have romance as a secondary storyline. I tend to find romance more romantic when eg. it's in a crime series, political series, sci fi series, medical series, legal series or supernatural series etc. I rarely find things romantic when the premise of the show is romance per se. I know this makes absolutely no sense. I love Rose and the Doctor but that's because the show isn't all about Rose and the Doctor - it's about lots of other things, too.
I'll continue to push on because as I said, I did laugh aloud quite a few times as I watched but jokes about vibrators, threesomes, swapping, sex in toilets and size matters tend to get a little ho hum for me after a while. I was a little hopeful because Coupling has Jack Davenport in it and he was in an amazing thriller series called Ultraviolet. The problem is he plays a bit of a dork in this series - funny but not very appealing.
So the verdict so far for Coupling is it's ok but I'm not loving it. I chronicle it here in case after I finish watching I have to eat this journal entry because I was wrong ;)
When one doesn't 'get it'
I have to say that this isn't the first time I haven't immediately loved something that everyone else seemed to love! The 3 that spring to mind are Simpsons, Seinfeld and Sex in the City. Almost everyone I know in real life loves those shows. Simpsons I didn't dislike, it's just I couldn't see the big deal. If I caught the occasional episode, it was entertaining enough. With Seinfield, I just couldn't understand why everyone found it so funny. It's not because I'm Australian because the show was hugely popular in Australia! There were a few episodes that made me giggle but I wasn't feeling the love. I was totally on my own in my refusal to watch Sex in the City :P People kept trying to force me to watch it.
I have to confess sometimes it takes a second viewing. I didn't really like The Princess Bride the first time I watched it but love it now and consider it one of my favourite movies. It's happened with books as well - most people like Raymond Feist, Phillip Pullman, Stephen Donaldson and now the George RR Martin books but I don't. It all comes down to having different tastes and possibly the frame of mind you might be in when you first try it.
I try to give things a couple of tries in case my initial dislike/non-love was due to circumstances rather than the merits/shortcomings of the work in question.
Sometimes I do surrender to the 'hype' though - Harry Potter, Narnia, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings ....
I just never know when I'm going to fall in with the fold or when I'm going to be on my own in my like or dislike of something. :P
"Two's company, three's a crowd... so what do you do with six? On average, men and women think about sex every six seconds. Shorten that to every second, and you've got Coupling. It's more than just a one night stand! When a couple gets together, it's never just the two of them - they also bring baggage - and Susan (Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport) are no exception. Their baggage is a crowd of best friends and exes who talk about all aspects of sex and relationships on their never-ending quest to find true love. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps..."
When the theme song started, I was hoping for the best because I love the song 'Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps' ....
I'm not sure how to explain it. I was someone who never liked and so did not watch Sex in the City, Friends (past the first season), Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, Party of Five .... basically any show which involves talking about the the romantic or sex lives of singletons as they fall in and out of love, swap, do the romance quadrille and end up with different partners.
I really like things romantic but I tend to like shows that have romance as a secondary storyline. I tend to find romance more romantic when eg. it's in a crime series, political series, sci fi series, medical series, legal series or supernatural series etc. I rarely find things romantic when the premise of the show is romance per se. I know this makes absolutely no sense. I love Rose and the Doctor but that's because the show isn't all about Rose and the Doctor - it's about lots of other things, too.
I'll continue to push on because as I said, I did laugh aloud quite a few times as I watched but jokes about vibrators, threesomes, swapping, sex in toilets and size matters tend to get a little ho hum for me after a while. I was a little hopeful because Coupling has Jack Davenport in it and he was in an amazing thriller series called Ultraviolet. The problem is he plays a bit of a dork in this series - funny but not very appealing.
So the verdict so far for Coupling is it's ok but I'm not loving it. I chronicle it here in case after I finish watching I have to eat this journal entry because I was wrong ;)
When one doesn't 'get it'
I have to say that this isn't the first time I haven't immediately loved something that everyone else seemed to love! The 3 that spring to mind are Simpsons, Seinfeld and Sex in the City. Almost everyone I know in real life loves those shows. Simpsons I didn't dislike, it's just I couldn't see the big deal. If I caught the occasional episode, it was entertaining enough. With Seinfield, I just couldn't understand why everyone found it so funny. It's not because I'm Australian because the show was hugely popular in Australia! There were a few episodes that made me giggle but I wasn't feeling the love. I was totally on my own in my refusal to watch Sex in the City :P People kept trying to force me to watch it.
I have to confess sometimes it takes a second viewing. I didn't really like The Princess Bride the first time I watched it but love it now and consider it one of my favourite movies. It's happened with books as well - most people like Raymond Feist, Phillip Pullman, Stephen Donaldson and now the George RR Martin books but I don't. It all comes down to having different tastes and possibly the frame of mind you might be in when you first try it.
I try to give things a couple of tries in case my initial dislike/non-love was due to circumstances rather than the merits/shortcomings of the work in question.
Sometimes I do surrender to the 'hype' though - Harry Potter, Narnia, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings ....
I just never know when I'm going to fall in with the fold or when I'm going to be on my own in my like or dislike of something. :P