By 2003, three series of
Coupling had been broadcast on
BBC Two, all written by the show's creator,
Steven Moffat. The show was loosely based on the beginnings of Moffat's real-life relationship with
Sue Vertue. NBC commissioned a remake of the show for the American market, reportedly as a replacement for
Friends, which was nearing the end of its run. Moffat and original producers from
Hartswood Films,
Sue and
Beryl Vertue, served as executive producers on the NBC adaptation, alongside
Phoef Sutton and
Ben Silverman. Unlike most adaptations, the NBC adaptation would reuse Moffat's original scripts, although these were adapted by Sutton and were shortened to comply with the reduced running time (NBC has multiple advertisement breaks compared to the original broadcaster, BBC Two, which has none). Other writers, such as
Danny Zuker and Paul Corrigan worked on episodes later in the series. The original unaired
pilot starred
Breckin Meyer as Jeff,
Melissa George as Susan and
Emily Rutherfurd as Sally. NBC then fired the writers and replaced Meyer, George and Rutherfurd with
Christopher Moynihan,
Rena Sofer and
Sonya Walger, respectively. George later commented that she "dodged a bullet" by being replaced before the show aired. Thirteen episodes were commissioned. However, due to poor critical reception, NBC announced the show's cancellation on October 31, after only four episodes had been broadcast. The final three planned episodes were not filmed, with the remaining six episodes unbroadcast. ==Reception==