There are few clues in the new NBC sitcom "Coupling" premiering tonight to tell you that the show is virtually a carbon copy, word for word, line for line, of one of Britain's most popular sitcoms.

With only minor changes, the American cast of the cheeky new comedy have worked from the same scripts that their British counterparts worked from.

The early episodes of the U.S. show follow the British script so closely that one features three American guys swigging down very British looking pints of ale. But in the main, the creative teams on both sides of the Atlantic say the trip across the pond has allowed the U.S. actors to step easily into the born-in Britain characters.

Steven Moffat, British writer of the BBC show, confessed to being "startled" when he saw how similar the shows are. "It's an eerie experience and just weird to be involved in a remake of something that you did only a short time before," he added.

This is clearly not the first time that a famous British comedy has crossed the Atlantic -- "Three's Company," "Sanford & Son" and "All in the Family" are among the best-known examples. But Phoef Sutton, the American executive producer of the show from Reiville and Universal Television, believes that it "has not happened on this scale (of cooperation) before." He is also keenly aware that industry eyes will be firmly fixed on how successful this trans-Atlantic transfer will turn out.

In fact, broadcasters around the world who are familiar with the British version (it has also been sold as a format to Romania and in many European countries in its original form) will be drawing their own comparisons when Universal International Television brings the new series to the international marketplace at MIPCOM next month under the title "Coupling U.S."

Sutton says that eventually the British and American versions of "Coupling" will move in their own distinct directions. The comedy focuses on the ever-evolving relationships between six singles. The British version became known for its often very cheeky dialogue and sex-sodden undertones.

Sutton and his team have penned original scripts for the American episodes that he says will ultimately give the U.S. version a character and flavor all of its own. As the process moves forward, Sutton says the U.S. version will find different strengths in its cast members. It will also delve deeper into the back stories of the characters -- something Moffat has deliberately avoided in the U.K. "It has to become our thing though I don't think we are too far off (the original). At times (Steven) might see things in a different way, but our Patrick is different and our Jane is different; they have different energies," said Sutton, referring to two of the show's characters.

Moffat, who takes an executive producer title on the U.S. version, will continue to be involved in the writing and creative process in the U.S. Moffat has some very clear ideas on what direction his creation should take in its American reincarnation.

"What would worry me is if they shy away from the occasional complexity that we introduce to the show," said Moffat in an interview from his London home. He referred to one episode that included great chunks of dialogue in Hebrew and another in which the action takes place simultaneously in split screen.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the initial U.S episodes and its British version is the time difference. Eight minutes had to be chopped off the original scripts to fit American network commercial time. The BBC is a non-commercial station and its version of the show fills 30 minutes.

Moffat did not find this an overly enjoyable experience. "It's not the pain of losing funny lines but I think you need the farcical build, and farce sometimes depends on almost not being funny for a minute or so. But I do think that they have done a very good job (in cutting)."

Sutton observed, "Steven in England has the ability to go off on long tangents that can be fun and enjoyable but they tend to stop the story. We find that we need to streamline those and keep things moving." Sutton adds, "I'm sure there are some adaptations he prefers (over others) but the intention is the same (for both parties).

In London, as Moffat sets out to pen new scripts for the BBC's "Coupling," he and his partner Sue Vertue -- his wife who is an executive producer on the American and British versions -- reflect on the experience of dealing with a huge American studio and a major network. "The experience has been up and down but mostly up. It's been very different dealing with the network."

Commenting on the scrutiny the show may receive as a result of the unusual creative cooperation, Sutton observed, "I think there are a lot of people who will feel that way, but in the long run it will rise or fall on how good it is (in the U.S.)."

Moffat says he and Vertue did not set out to produce a comedy format that could travel across cultural boundaries. "But we deliberately went for a bland setting. Although it's set in London, it is not pungently London and we are never specific about back stories. The characters have no surnames and we don't know what their jobs are. So it could be a group of people in any city anywhere." This "universality" of the format has seen the British version sell successfully in its original version throughout Europe, Vertue stressed.

Sutton agrees with his London-based co-executive producers, "It's universal. It's not specifically British or American. It's just the lives of people of that age and their love affairs. We were not starting from a specific cultural point of view so there was no need for a huge translation."