The Sunday Times – 14th April 2013

 

Liam Fay

 

TV3 is on something of a roll right now. In addition to a documentary that actually does some documenting, the station has delivered a rare blast of intentional comedy with On The Couch, a gleefully bitchy two-hander performed and written by Barbara Bergin and Gary Cooke. The couch where the sitting part of this rudimentary sitcom takes place is located in the consulting room of a couples’ therapist. However, the series does not aspire to anything as high-falutin’ as a send up of relationship counselling. It’s a series of multi-layered character studies as Bergin and Cooke play three couples whose marriages are imploding.

 

The comedy is of the gently-chuckling rather than thigh-slapping variety. The dialogue is studded wit elaborate social detail but the performances steal the show: one character’s reaction is just as important as the lines delivered by the other. On The Couch’s biggest shortcoming? There’s simply too much of it. More rigorous editing and fewer episodes would have served its purposes better. Despite the limitations, however, the writing has hit some formidable highs.

 

All six characters seethe with disapproval of their other halves. However, they become inflamed with even greater rage whenever they recall a third pary’s criticism of their choice of mate. Here, Bergin and Cooke succeed in mining comedic gold from an often over-looked universal truth: people take proprietorial pride in their partners, even those they wish would become ex-partners. To admit that a spouse is a dud is publicly to admit wasting time and a shameful lapse in judgement. There is no more painful property trap than the one for which you fell with your eyes wide open.