Young Couple Life (TV series)

Young Couple Life is a Magisterian romantic comedy television series created by Capucine Hodson that aired on MBC from 20 September 2000, to 20 May 2009, with a total of 225 episodes spanning nine seasons. The show revolves around a young, white-collar couple who are in their 20s and lives in Calisota, Philadelphia. The series was co-produced by MJS Productions, Inc., in association with MBC Entertainment Productions.

Filming took place at the Magisterian Broadcast Complex, the headquarters of MBC located in Annesia City, Federal Capital Territory. The show ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings; it ultimately reached the number-one spot in its sixth season. The series finale aired on 20 May 2009, and was watched by around 44.6 million Magisterian viewers, making it one of the most-watched series finales in Magisterian television history.

During the series' nine-season run, the show not only received high ratings but widespread critical acclaim as well and won seventeen awards from the Magisterian Television Awards, winning the Best Comedy Series award in 2006 for its sixth season.

Premise
The series follows the story of a young, middle-class, and later married (in season 5) couple in their 20s (late teens in flashbacks during the first season), Ferdinand (Marcel Blanchett) and Laurelle Beake (Marie-Christine Lemaire) who lives together under one roof, along with Ferdinand's father, Mitch Beake (Ulysses Raines). Ferdinand works as an accountant, while Laurelle works as a school teacher. Ferdinand Beake represents the "everyman" with his love of sports, TV, junk food, and his wife. His constant deceit and schemes through various situations leave him humiliated as his plans backfire.

Also featured on the show are the rest of Ferdinand's family; his aunt Melany Beake (Gardenia Debenham), his younger sister Phoebe Beake (Shelley Joyce), and his younger brother Arthur Beake (Valentine Priestley).

Most scenes take place in the Beakes' home, but other common locations include Ferdinand and Laurelle's workplaces, the restaurant/pub "Red Lion", and the residences of friends and family. While locations seen during the opening montage were filmed in areas around Calisota, the series was filmed in Mathias, Little Belgium.

Main

 * Ferdinand Marshal Beake (played by Marcel Blanchett) is one of the two protagonists of the sitcom. He is portrayed as being a smart, resourceful, and witty man. Ferdinand is depicted as being a loving boyfriend and later husband and later father who works hard and makes as much time for his wife and children as possible.
 * Laurelle Hyacinthe Beake (née Penn; played by Marie-Christine Lemaire) is one of the two protagonists of the sitcom. She is the only child and is apparently from an affluent family. Her parents announced their divorce to her in Christmas when Laurelle was eleven years old, an event which gave her trauma and now she refuses to celebrate the holiday in her adulthood. Throughout the series, she is depicted to be notoriously sardonic and has a fiery temper and occasionally lashes out at people.
 * Mitchell Kathleen "Mitch" Beake (played by Ulysses Raines) is Ferdinand's widowed father, who has been married one time for the sake of his loyalty to his late wife. Mitchell is stubborn and noticably masculine. Throughout the series, Mitch is shown to have socially conservative values, particularly regarding minority groups such as gays and lesbians, and ethnic groups such as the Koreans, Chinese and Japanese. However, Mitch is sometimes shown to be a good family man, such as trying to console Arthur Beake after he becomes morose from a breakup.
 * Melany Eryn Beake (played by Gardenia Debenham) is Mitch's younger sister and Ferdinand's aunt. Melany is notable for her high-pitched, gentle voice. She is shown to be a protective and loving aunt. Melany is shown to have left-wing cultural values, in contrast to Mitch's socially conservative values.
 * Phoebe Kassidy Beake (played by Shelley Joyce) is Ferdinand's younger sister and Mitch's only daughter. While she is intellectually smart and can be polite, caring, thoughtful and kind, Phoebe is often clumsy, oversensitive and socially awkward - taking the characteristics of the stereotypical "loser nerd" albeit her very attractive appearance throughout the series.
 * Arthur Mervin Beake (played by Valentine Priestley) is Ferdinand's younger brother and Mitch's youngest child. Arthur is generally a good-natured, charming and well-meaning person, but notorious for his lack of self-esteem and depressed demeanor. He is frequently unlucky with women, until his on-off relationship with his girlfriend Kaylee Lockwood finally results in marriage.
 * Kaylee Phillida Lockwood-Beake (played by Christabella Sampson; recurring seasons 3—6, main seasons 7—9) is Arthur Beake's crush (in seasons 3—4), girlfriend (in seasons 5—7), fiancé (mid-season 8) and then wife (late-season 8). A recurring character from the third season to the sixth season, Kaylee became essentially a regular cast member for the remainder of the show's run. Even though she was born in a traditional conservative family, she is a free-spirited and a popular teen.

Conception
Marcel Blanchett, a rising matinee idol at the time, was reached out by various writers to have him star in their proposed show. Marlin writer Capucine Hodson was working on a romantic comedy that follows the life of a young couple in their 20s, and Hodson was one of those writers who reached out to Blanchett. Eventually, Hodson became the writer Blanchett agreed to work with for a show.

Hodson, wanting to work around Blanchett's lack of previous acting experience, then stated it would be most "comfortable" for Blanchett to have his character be very close to his real personality and in relationship circumstances reflective of Hodson's early-20s love life. Additionally, Blanchett also incorporated his own family experiences into the show, with his father and siblings serving as the basis for Mitch, Phoebe and Arthur respectively.

Most aspects of Hodson's 20s life are replicated in the series, except for its setting of Calisota instead of Bella Vista.

Critical response
Young Couple Life has received critical acclaim, with critics praising the show's writing and the performances of Blanchett and Lemaire. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the first season received an average score of 78 based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".