Reviews; TV: November 2003 Archives

No, not the film of the same name, but the excellent series on BBC Two - Monday at 2130....

This was on Radio 4 a while ago, and very funny it was too, focussing on the efforts of John Bird and Stephen Fry as spin doctors.

Well, now it's on tele, and it's chanegd a little - set in the world of PR and written by different people to the guy (Mark Taverner) who wrote it for Radio.

The first episode was terrible. Painfully unfunny. But, I stuck with it, and I hope you did too. First episodes of sit coms are almost always dire - too much time spent establishing characters, when often you just don't need to.

Having stuck with it, episodes two and three were great. The second focussed on efforts of two different Bishops to become Archbishop of Canterbury, and the third focussed (sub plots aside,) on a female Tory MP who wanted to restart her career (think Teresa May or Miss Widecombe).

Both episodes were very funny and droll. Lots of sharp gags, sly topical refrences and plenty of cynicism about the world of PR and the antics PR Execs will get up to in order to push their clinet forward. In short, these people have no morales - there is nothing they wont do. All publicity is good publicity etc.

It's well worth a look. Stephen Fry plays Stephen Fry (smug and conceited,) to perfection and John Bird does his permanently bewildered bit very well too. You can see biogs for their characters here.

Oh and there's a fantastic array of cameos and supporting crew too. So far I've noticed Mark Lawson, Charlotte Hudson, Millie from This Life, Michael Fenton Stephens (KYTV etc.) and Rebecca Front (from Knowing Me Knowing You) amongst others.

3 episodes to go - don't miss them!

The BBC One arts programme, Imagine, ran an interesting (if not very heavyweight,) documentary on the above tonight.

There was also an interesting article on this theme in this weeks copy of the New Statesman too, which I've just finished reading (but sadly can't link to as it's subscription only).

Their slants were somewhat different, but both worth noting:

Imagine focussed heavily on the desire US TV Networks' to find long-running replacements for shows such as Friends which finishes at the end of this season. The emphasis for the Networks was very much on finding new sitcoms which "had legs" and also would hit the right demographics for advertisers.

In fact it was interesting just how open the Americans were about the 'cash cow' status a successful sitcom can acquire (and that this was a highly motivating factor in making the show,) a point not lost on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Marchant who are currently looking to adapt The Office for the US.

The show featured some great footage from previously adapted Britcoms such as Fawlty Towers (with Basil's character now played by a woman,) and the cover version of One Foot in the Grave, known bizzarely as Cosby in the US. I say bizarrely, b/c whilst the Victor Meldrew part was played by Bill Cosby, none of the characters in the show actually shared the same surname (except in real life!) as the shows title... Bill Cosby's character being none other than one Hilton Lucas...

The New Statesman meanwhile focussed on the quality of US comedy and drama writing - noting the snobby attitude of Brits to much US TV when in actual fact their standards are often higher.

I confess I didn't entirely agree - there is a lot of rubbish on TV in the US, just as there is anywhere else. But there's no doubt that the budgets are bigger, and the scripts for peak shows often much better (and churned out faster). Look consistently at the quality of writing on shows like The West Wing, 24, The Simpsons, Buffy etc. they are intelligent, well written and clever / sophisticated in a way that I can't think of many UK shows...

As a final aside - it was interesting to note that Stephen Moffat, the writer of Coupling - first shown on BBC Two here, and then briefly adapted in the US this Autumn - is married to a woman called Susan... and the names of the two leads in Coupling, Steve and Susan.... hmmm.... not something I had spotted before - a case of life imitating art or the other way round?

Monkey Dust on BBC Three (Tues 9:30pm)
Several people told me to watch this, and I'm glad I did. It's witty, sharp and irreverant - by far the funniest thing on TV. Has the ability to shock, make you gasp and laugh outloud, all in in the privacy of your own home. If you do nothing else this week, watch Monkey Dust!

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Living TV (Thurs 9pm)
The makeover show that took the US by storm. It's basically a combination of 'Would Like to Meet' and 'What Not To Wear' as 5 gay men seek to "improve" a single male so that he's more fashionable, datable and generally less useless. The experts are camper than a row of tents, but they get results!

Perfect Match USA - E4 (Weds 9pm)
The best of the current crop of imported dating shows - more straight forward and honest than 'Joe Millionaire' et al - this has much more real human drama. Each week a panel of three select three suitors, each of whom gets to live for seven days with the girl/guy featured in that episode, before one of the the three suitors is picked to go on holiday with the aforementioned guy/girl. A fascinating insight into the NY singles scene - fast paced and plnety of romantic intrigue.

Also recommended:

Little Britain (BBC Three - 9pm Tuesdays) - characters and sketches which owe a lot to The League of Gentleman. Good for 10 mins, then gets a bit samey.

Celebrity Five Go Dating (E4 - 6pm weeknights) - utter crap, and most of the celebrities are decidely E-list. But I find it curiously addictive.