US version of Coupling defended

The US version of Coupling was axed after only four episodes

British sitcom producer Beryl Vertue has criticised TV network NBC for cancelling a US version of Coupling.

She was executive producer on the show, axed in October after four US episodes.

Mrs Vertue said US sitcoms Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond had "a very dodgy start" but gained loyal fans as networks continued to screen them.

"Now it appears that they don't think they can afford to hang in there," she told the Hollywood Reporter website. NBC did not comment.

"Comedy takes longer to settle with the public," she said. "Seinfeld had a very dodgy start but became a huge success. The same happened with Everybody Loves Raymond."

Mrs Vertue said Coupling's axing was not an isolated situation. "We are an example of that but we are not alone," she told the website.

More remakes

She was involved in the US shows All in the Family and Sanford and Son, which were 1970s trans-Atlantic remakes of British sitcoms Till Death Us Do Part and Steptoe and Son.

Other figures say the failure of a US version of Coupling will not damage other UK comedy exports.

Producer Gavin Polone, who has helped create the US version of BBC Two's The Kumars at Number 42, said he was working on a US version of the classic Channel 4 comedy Father Ted.

"We are doing new scripts ... although we are 'adapting' that show which is probably the best English show that I have ever seen," he told the Hollywood Reporter.

"We do listen to [the British producers of Father Ted] and their input is helpful," Polone said.

Other British shows being developed for US TV include The Office, The Savages, My Family, Dinner Ladies and The Royle Family.