Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Sock Gap




I am a student of the Cold War. Kennedy's election platform was at least partially centered on the supposed "Missile Gap" between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the world of Coupling, however, the Sock Gap is more imprtant to Jeff.


Coupling is a British comedy that ran for four years. It is one of my favorites, and it is a pity it ran for such a short time. The genius of the writers and the shear comedy that is set up so meticulously throughout the show to build until it explodes in a…”Giggle Loop,” well, it's a wonderful show. Ok, they should never have replaced Jeff, because Oliver never managed to quite replace him.
And Jeff...

Who was Jeff? Jeff was the semi-inept best friend of the lead character. He was full of advice about love, relationships, and dating, with no apparent experience himself. One of his best episodes is when he meets a woman on a train whom he has seen before, but only from behind and he “accidentally” tells her he only has one leg (he was nervous, and, like I said, he is inept). Later, as their relationship has gotten closer, and he learns her brother ALSO only has one leg, she says she and a female friend are going to go back to her flat to try on lingerie, would he like to join? And she winked her eye… Up to this point, he had avoided showing her that he had two very healthy legs. His friend Steve walks up about this time as his girlfriend has left the table for a moment. Steve says, “What’s wrong Jeff?” With tears in his eyes Jeff looks at Steve and says in an anguished voice, “I’ve got TOO many legs!”

Then there’s Patrick. Susan has dumped him and her friend is now somewhat interested, but suddenly turned off by his political values. She says, “Now I know why you called him donkey brain.” Susan replies, “No, you don’t. I called him DONKEY.” Sally looks at her and questions. Susan says, “Some men are born lucky. Some men are born VERY LUCKY.” Sally looks confused, “What was Patrick born?” Susan says, “A Tripod.”

I whole-heartedly recommend viewing it for yourself on BBC America, or buying the whole four season set! If you have not figured it out, I have been watching one of them…just came on BBC.


Here is another Jeff quote concerning lesbians:


"Wouldn't that be great, being a lesbian? You'd have all the advantages of being a man, but with less embarrassing genitals. Plus every time you have sex, there's four breasts: two guest breasts and two you can take home afterwards."Series 1, Episode 4 (Inferno)

1 comment:

frogglet said...

Oh my. I guess it is the Jeff Oliver war in our house, I like Oliver and his Sci-fi analogy of child birth.