Everytime You Produce An American Version Of A British Sitcom, You Make God Cry

I love the original BBC version of Coupling. It's funny, sexy, and clever. Sure, once in a while, the dialogue tries too hard. Once in a while, the setup is too cute by half. But most of the time it's hilarious.

I finally saw the American version last night on Bravo. About half the script is word for word from the British version. So why does most of the American version suck ass? Hmmmm. A couple of notes to the executives: 1. Get rid of that obnoxious laugh track. Look, a large part of the humor and what makes the British version work is that the dialogue is clever and casual--it's the dialogue you have with your buddies or girlfriends when everything just clicks. When you put the laugh track at 10, it's like that dim-witted friend of a friend that keeps poking you during the conversation asking "Hey, did ya get it? Did ya get it? Unflushable!!!! Bwahahahahaha" and then keeps laughing for another five minutes. 2. The operative word is CASUAL. The characters in the British version do seem like folks you would meet on the street. The characters in the NBC version seem like folks you would see in a sitcom. The lines come out over-enunciated and brash. We're supposed to see friends talking, and instead we see people who are engaging in an acting exercise of friends talking. 3. OK, I know you need to cut out at least 10 minutes from the original BBC scripts to fit American television, but for Christsakes--remember pacing! Geez, most the show was a rat-a-tat-tat of dialogue trying to fit in as much as the BBC version as possible.

P.S.--If you want to know what Bee's Knees looks like (and acts like when she wasn't on low self-esteem mode), check out Jane in the NBC version of Coupling. Man was I freaking.