So the series came to an end with another pretty weak episode, now cluttered with familiar sketches/characters who haven't progressed since episode 3, and with less freshness.
A sketch-by-sketch:
O! News: Well, we had a finale for Cake Hospital (which was only funny the first time), an amusing bit where George Lucas re-released Star Wars as a text-only opening crawl, a daft John Cleese sex tape, and weird "face wipe" plastic surgery that gets rid of celebrities' facial features. Above all, this last instalment mainly served to remind you that Peter Serafinowicz only has about 10 impressions.
Rings Wings Bings Tings... Magazine: An advert for a magazine if you're interested in the aforementioned "tings".
Acting Masterclass... With Marlon Brando: It began slowly, but contained enough good stuff to make it eventually worthwhile. I particularly liked how Brando was portrayed as Jabba The Hut, got all depressed about how many people had died in the time it took a student to relate a story, slurped from a massive cola drink and then did a large steaming turd. Pretty funny.
Cannibal Island: Didn't Chris Morris do this in Brass Eye? Oh well. It was well-observed and quite funny, but hardly an original thought.
Who Would Like To Win £100? A parody of Millionaire, but set in the 1930s, with antiquated abilities to play the game (the audience take part in a ballot, you have to telegram a friend, the music's provided by a harpist, etc.) Funny.
Christmas Pudding Sofa: A sofa advert, lovingly mixed with a food advert. Shrug.
Butterfield Time Line: The obese presenter now shows us his own take on the "speaking clock" service, where he personally tells you the time if you ring him. Poor.
Complico: Awkwardly-priced items for sale. Amusing and quick. 3/5
A Guide To Modern Life... Let's Pretend To Have Witnessed A Murder: These started brilliantly, but it's now too surreal for its own good. It worked better when it was plausible self-help vids, but there are a few chuckles to be had.
Michael-6: The robotic talk show host -- would you believe it malfunctions again! Are we stuck in a loop here?
Zombie Chat: Groan.
Buy-It Channel: This time they're selling weapons grade plutonium and accidentally lift the containment lid on the product. Disappointing.
Ringo Remembers... Christmas 1979: A parody of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime", but now with sexually suggested lyrics, which Ringo wasn't happy about. Great impressions and a nice style reproduction of the video, but that's about it.
And that completes the series. I'm not sure if it'll be back, as the reviews were mixed and I don't think it got particularly good ratings. It didn't help that flop sitcom Vivienne Vyle was its lead-in, either.
While it was nice to have a sketch show not dominated by catchphrases and characters (as Little Britain and Catherine Tate are), the level of humour barely rose above wry smiles and the odd chuckle. There were some great ideas and a few inspired moments (usually in the 70s instructional films), but too many duds dragged everything down.
8 November 2007
BBC2, 9.30 pm
A sketch-by-sketch:
O! News: Well, we had a finale for Cake Hospital (which was only funny the first time), an amusing bit where George Lucas re-released Star Wars as a text-only opening crawl, a daft John Cleese sex tape, and weird "face wipe" plastic surgery that gets rid of celebrities' facial features. Above all, this last instalment mainly served to remind you that Peter Serafinowicz only has about 10 impressions.
Rings Wings Bings Tings... Magazine: An advert for a magazine if you're interested in the aforementioned "tings".
Acting Masterclass... With Marlon Brando: It began slowly, but contained enough good stuff to make it eventually worthwhile. I particularly liked how Brando was portrayed as Jabba The Hut, got all depressed about how many people had died in the time it took a student to relate a story, slurped from a massive cola drink and then did a large steaming turd. Pretty funny.
Cannibal Island: Didn't Chris Morris do this in Brass Eye? Oh well. It was well-observed and quite funny, but hardly an original thought.
Who Would Like To Win £100? A parody of Millionaire, but set in the 1930s, with antiquated abilities to play the game (the audience take part in a ballot, you have to telegram a friend, the music's provided by a harpist, etc.) Funny.
Christmas Pudding Sofa: A sofa advert, lovingly mixed with a food advert. Shrug.
Butterfield Time Line: The obese presenter now shows us his own take on the "speaking clock" service, where he personally tells you the time if you ring him. Poor.
Complico: Awkwardly-priced items for sale. Amusing and quick. 3/5
A Guide To Modern Life... Let's Pretend To Have Witnessed A Murder: These started brilliantly, but it's now too surreal for its own good. It worked better when it was plausible self-help vids, but there are a few chuckles to be had.
Michael-6: The robotic talk show host -- would you believe it malfunctions again! Are we stuck in a loop here?
Zombie Chat: Groan.
Buy-It Channel: This time they're selling weapons grade plutonium and accidentally lift the containment lid on the product. Disappointing.
Ringo Remembers... Christmas 1979: A parody of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime", but now with sexually suggested lyrics, which Ringo wasn't happy about. Great impressions and a nice style reproduction of the video, but that's about it.
And that completes the series. I'm not sure if it'll be back, as the reviews were mixed and I don't think it got particularly good ratings. It didn't help that flop sitcom Vivienne Vyle was its lead-in, either.
While it was nice to have a sketch show not dominated by catchphrases and characters (as Little Britain and Catherine Tate are), the level of humour barely rose above wry smiles and the odd chuckle. There were some great ideas and a few inspired moments (usually in the 70s instructional films), but too many duds dragged everything down.
8 November 2007
BBC2, 9.30 pm
