''Significant Others'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired on

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for two seasons in 2004. Following four couples from various backgrounds in and out of therapy, it focused on issues of adultery, parenthood, impending parenthood, and the chore of behaving like an adult. Adopting the tone of many British comedies, it was almost entirely ad-libbed, without a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

, and put the viewer in the position of therapist, as the couples addressed the camera directly during the therapy sessions featured during each episode. Produced by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, it was distributed by Bravo, the cable network on which it aired until its last episode on December 19, 2004. While it primarily flew under the radar during its short run, it was heralded by many critics for its originality, dark humor, and fresh take on the pains of wedded "bliss." Its entire two-season, twelve-episode run was released on DVD by

Shout Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

on February 14, 2006.

The Couples

* Ethan (Herschel Bleefeld) and Eleanor (

Faith Salie Faith Coley Salie (born April 14, 1971) is an American journalist, writer, actress, comedian, television, radio, and podcast host and Rhodes scholar. She is a contributor to ''CBS Sunday Morning'' and a panelist on NPR’s '' Wait Wait... Don't T ...

): hipsters coping with her pregnancy, and the fact that they have yet to grow up themselves * James (

Brian Palermo Brian Palermo is an American character actor, science communicator, and comedian. He has appeared in a number of television shows, commercials and movies. Palermo is also a writer whose credits include Warner Brothers' ''Histeria!'' and Disney's ...

) and Chelsea (

Andrea Savage Andrea Kristen Savage (born February 20, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, and writer known for her roles in projects such as the Comedy Central mockumentary series '' Dog Bites Man'' (2006), the comedy film '' Step Brothers'' (2008), Hulu ...

): yuppies married after an all-too-short courtship, trying to balance their busy lives... and actually getting to know one another * Alex ( Chris Spencer) and Devon (

Nicole Randall Johnson Nicole Randall Johnson (born December 9, 1973) is an American actress, writer and producer. Johnson is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of performers on the sketch comedy series ''MADtv''. Biography Johnson was born in Los ...

): a successful African-American couple trying to be the best parents they can be, whenever they're not arguing with each other (or anyone in earshot) * Bill (

Fred Goss Fred Goss (born March 25, 1961, in Orchard Lake, Michigan) is an American TV actor, director, writer, producer and comedian. As writer Goss began writing and staging his own plays in his twenties. He wrote sketch comedy during his thirties, pri ...

) and Connie (Jane Edith Wilson): a loveless couple, barely sharing an existence after Bill loses his job and all motivation whatsoever, until he finds motivation comes in very unexpected shapes and sizes

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2004)

Season 2 (2004)

Home media

The entire series was released on DVD in Region 1 on February 14, 2006.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0395410, Significant Others 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2004 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings Bravo (American TV network) original programming Television series by Universal Television English-language television shows Television shows set in California Improvisational television series