I saw BBC's version and I never thought it resembled Seinfeld so much, although it was a pretty fun show. Someone did saw more seinfeldian connections:
NY DAILY NEWS/DAVID BIANCULLI It's fair to say that "Coupling," which has its premiere tonight at 9:30 on NBC, is inferior to the British sitcom on which it is based.
It's not fair, however, to say that both the British and American versions are desperate attempts to rip off "Friends."
They're desperate attempts to rip off "Seinfeld."
Yes, there are six main characters, not four, so "Friends" comes to mind - especially since many of them have been involved, or soon will be involved, with one another.
Yet "Coupling" - both versions of which were created and written by Steven Moffat - is more obsessed with coining its own vocabulary and setting up its own cartoonish situations, all in the "Seinfeld" vein.
The six characters - three men, three women - are single. Most are focused on sex. When the talk isn't about various types of sexual activity, it's about such concepts as "porn buddies" (friends who will retrieve your stash when you die).
The NBC episodes are rather slavish imitations of their British counterparts, though the language is tamer and the delivery of most lines is much more exaggerated. Viewers inclined to make direct comparisons are invited to do so by BBC America, which conveniently shows the original Brit episode of "Coupling" tonight at 10.
In both versions, the characters and dynamics are the same. Jeff is like "Seinfeld's" Kramer, all tics and nervous energy. His best friend is Steve, who's the stable one, more like Jerry Seinfeld. Steve has been trying to end his relationship with Jane, who snares him with intriguing sexual promises every time he's set to leave. Soon, Steve is smitten with Susan, who has just ended a relationship with Patrick, who has now taken up with Susan's friend Sally.
On both sides of the Atlantic, the two actresses playing the same character stand out. In England, Sarah Alexander is an almost impossibly alluring Susan; on NBC, Rena Sofer has that role, and is just as noticeable. In England, Gina Bellman played Jane; on NBC, Lindsay Price makes her even more disturbingly bewitching.
In America, Sonya Walger, Christopher Moynihan, Jay Harrington and Colin Ferguson round out the cast.
This "Coupling" is watchable and should make the Thursday night transition from "Will & Grace" to "ER" a less painful one than in seasons past. But the transition next year, when "Friends" is no more, could be a lot rougher for NBC, which is counting on this show as a new Thursday champion.