A title lets the audience know what kind of show to expect. While NBC’s latest comedy, ‘Perfect Couples,’ attempts to explore and poke fun at the lives of three couples, the title doesn’t deliver what you anticipate. Still, the title on this new sitcom is the least of its problems because the characters on ‘Perfect Couples’ are far from their namesake. 

Three married couples are portrayed in the series. Dave and Julia (Kyle Bornheimer, Christine Woods) come the closest to playing a normal couple — the ups and downs they experience are relatable. The noisy, oversexed and confrontational Vance and Amy (David Walton, Mary Elizabeth Ellis) are the most entertaining of the trio, but that soon becomes annoying as it turns out that arguing and sex are the only things they do throughout the entire episode. The ‘perfect couple’ is Rex and Leigh (Hayes MacArthur, Olivia Munn), the uptight and proper self-proclaimed relationship experts. 

However the problem isn’t the actors, it’s the material they are given. On paper, ‘Perfect Couples’ sounds like a very promising sitcom, coming from the people behind ‘Friends’ and ’30 Rock’ and starring some pretty funny actors. But the characters, especially Rex, Leigh and Amy, are one-dimensional and will most likely be given the same storyline for the entire duration of the show without an opportunity to grow. Munn’s Leigh is plagued to be the fake, know-it-all housewife, something that will tire out over multiple episodes. MacArthur plays a hopelessly devoted guy who hangs on every word that his wife says and tries to make her happy to any extent. His endless pandering to Leigh is simply aggravating. Ellis’ character is the show’s resident hothead who blows everything out of proportion, also something that won’t be funny to watch for multiple episodes. 

Most of the comedic highlights of this show come from Dave, played very well by Bornheimer. Vance is arguably the best character to watch because his emotions easily flare up whenever he fights with Amy. Though excessive in the first episode, Vance was the most entertaining aspect in this laughless comedy. Even when they are just complaining to each other about their wives, the two guys have a great chemistry that is worth watching.

The only couple that seems to be genuine and is enjoyable to watch is Dave and Julia. It’s a shame that they have to share screen time with the two other couples. If the show was just about their daily lives, it wouldn’t be such a bad show to watch.

NBC should be worried about ‘Perfect Couples’ blending into its Thursday night comedy block. However, the more important thing here are ratings, and the premiere episode, even against Fox’s ‘American Idol,’ stood high at 4.1 million viewers, according to pifeedback.com. The premiere retained most of the audience from ‘Community’ in the 8:30 p.m. slot. 

It has been a long time since NBC has had a ‘Friends’-type sitcom on its schedule. The workplace comedies, such as ’30 Rock,’ ‘Parks and Recreation’ and ‘The Office,’ are critical darlings and have a very loyal audience, but ratings for those shows can’t compare to the apocalyptic ratings that ‘Friends’ brought the network during its 10-year run.

So, you can’t blame NBC for bringing back the three guy/three girl formula that worked so well for so long — but ‘Perfect Couples’ isn’t going to be the show to do it.