Significant Others

The big advertising draw to "Significant Others" is that it's entirely improvised. And it's a sitcom. About relationships. That's three strikes against it already, but the show is hilarious.

The show deals with three couples with dysfunctional relationships, their problems ranging from pregnancy to infidelity to histories of promiscuity. Half the show deals with their everyday lives, and the other half straight-to-the-camera chats in the form of therapy sessions (even *these* are funny. Who would have thought?).

The comedy may be improvised, but it's done with incredible skill—and no doubt, hours of rehearsal—with nary a dead spot or muffed joke in the entire thing. Be the couples eating at a restaurant with a parent, inviting friends over for a dinner party, or cheating on one another with in-laws, the show keeps finding the comedy within and milking it mercilessly.

Is it accurate? Kinda. It finds the perfect way to condense realistic situations into minutes without making them thoroughly absurd; everything is just absurd enough to be funny. It would be more than easy for stuff like this to cross the line into ridiculousness in search of a laugh, but so far "Significant Others" hasn't made that mistake. In fact, it hasn't made any.

This is a terrific show. I just happened to stumble on it one night on Bravo, and was immediately hooked. It's hilarious. I hope they avoid the excesses of Woody Allen style nebbishness and neuroses, but it's pretty great so far.

I hadn't realized it was improv, though in retrospect I guess it sort of has that feel.

Props to Bravo for some interesting new directions. Keen Eddie is also quite good. It's nice to see a network taking a few chances, since the regular main network fare is just abominable. I haven't watched anything on a regular network in prime time in quite a while.

Being that there are only two comments (now three) for the insanely, original, uproarious show, Significant Others, it's obvious there aren't enough people watching. I usually comment about horror and cult films on imdb, but the word needs to come out about Significant Others. When watching the show, the viewer knows this is improvised because the acting and chemistry is unbelievably natural. For the people that have wasted their time with Good Morning Miami, Emeril, Happy Family, Coupling (strangely all NBC shows as is Significant Others), spend your efforts wisely and invest in Significant Others. The situations are hilarious. The acting flawless. It's near perfect. From the bickering sisters, spilling dirty secrets as they wait for their mother to pass on to the side splitting dinner scene when Ethan's wife instigates him to question his brother's sexuality, Significant Others must be watched by anyone waiting for next best thing.

As Karen and Jack so eloquently put it on a recent episode of "Will and Grace", TVLAND has been filled with "fat husband, pretty wife", "fat husband, pretty wife", and "ugly husband, pretty wife". So much for many of today's sitcoms. This show, although not a sitcom, blows many of the others out the water. Fresh, irreverent, and purely entertaining, this show (and these entertainers) deserve so much more than they are destined to receive. It does have the advantage of being on Bravo. Hopefully Bravo will give it the carte blanche needed to attain the success it so rightfully deserves.

P.S. Eleanor and Ethan are my favorite couple. However, the rest can hold their own. I would like to see a gay couple on this show for added diversity.

This is a really funny show that allows the actors to improv their parts to get a naturally funny dynamic. The stars of the show are, without question, James (Brian Palermo) and Chelsea (Andrea Savage). They have a great chemistry so their exchanges on each episode are always the funniest. Episode 104 focuses primarily on them and it is absolutely hysterical (and the best show of the season!). Episode 105 was a bit weak, so if you've only seen that one episode then go watch some of the others. It really is a great show! If you've ever been in a long-term relationship (especially marriage) you'll laugh your tail off at this show. I highly recommend it!..