Coyle opted not to sign up for more episodes after three seasons of playing manchild Jeff Murdock, a man so immature he rarely could say the word "breast" without giggling.
"I miss Richard as a friend, but it was his decision, and it's fun to blend in a new character and go in different directions," Davenport says. "Let's face it, Jeff was the character who was least likely to mature. He was there to provide the kind of surreal texture that maybe the other characters had less of. That (limited potential for development) was probably something Richard recognized himself, although I don't want to speak for him."
New cast member Mylan is a potential romantic partner for ditzy Jane, although Oliver is said to live in an "unedited" apartment that ... "has lost the battle with magazine nudity."
While the BBC's "Coupling" has become a cult hit on BBC America and in its home video releases, an NBC adaptation of the show bombed last fall. Davenport concedes that he saw an episode of the latter "by accident."
"I was reluctant to see it, since I was still playing the character myself over here," he says. "But I was in Los Angeles for something and -- I swear, it was sheer chance -- I came across the American version while channel surfing. Of course, I couldn't tear myself away because it was such an odd experience.
"I mean no disrespect to the American actors or the production team, because I think they did a very good job, actually, but I had thought it might not work even before they tried it. In farce, you take an innocuous situation, throw a spanner in the works and whip it into a frenzy. You can't really do that if you have to keep cutting to 'a message from the folks at Wendy's.'"
