Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Little Britain

Ok, ok, I finally watched it...and I loved it! I've had a number of friends recommend this series to me, and I ignored them because usually people don't know or understand my taste in comedy. Also, when someone says something is "just like Monty Python", I hesitate, because usually that means there's just a bunch of men dressed like women and acting really gay.



Sure, Python had its share of cross-dressing, and Graham Chapman was gay, but that wasn't the complete focus of the show. Python hit on a lot of different levels that I cannot begin to elaborate on here.



I am a big fan of British TV, and I have enjoyed "The Goodies", "Paul Hogan" (well he's Australian), "Benny Hill", "Reginald Perrin", even "My Hero", etc. but there have been a lot of attempts recently that...well, were attempts like "The League of Gentlemen" and "French and Saunders".



"Little Britain" is different. The characters are very broad, and a lot of times gay, but also very funny. The skits are usually relatively short so even if you don't like a particular skit, it won't last very long. They also aren't word heavy like "A Bit of Fry and Laurie". In other words, there's a lot of good old slapstick mixed in to the conversation.



The only complaint is perhaps the repetitiveness of the skits, but even I found the cookie-cutter method quite charming in its own way, so that it was fun to expect a particular punchline or outcome.



I understand that David Walliams and Matt Lucas are done with their three season (or series) commitment and have no intentions of doing more for the BBC, and are currently shooting more for HBO. I have only watched Season Two, so I have some catching up to do, but overall I give this show high marks and praise!



Even the outtakes are good!

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