No, no, no. It's time to give up on this series, if you've managed to last until now. Typically for sketch shows, the weaker material tends to congeal in the middle episodes, and episode 4 of Little Britain USA was a serious nadir for an already disappointing series. The only reason I will persevere with LB:USA is because I'm a completist and there are only 2 episodes left. A sketch-by-sketch of the carnage:Lou & Andy: This was actually a half-decent idea for the long-in-the-tooth comedy surrounding these characters. A staple gag is how everyone is oblivious (particularly carer Lou) to wheelchair-bound Andy's actual mobility. Having him participate in an evangelical church service (with the possibility of being "healed" by a preacher) was a good idea – and also only achievable in an American setting. Sadly, the punchline was totally wrecked, stupid and unfunny. My own imagined punchline was much better.
Vicky: This week, Vicky was caught having a crafty cigarette by the fearsome boot camp lady. Vicky's rants just haven't been as imaginative this series and her delivery has been slowed down so the American audience can understand her. The punchline (that she sets her own hair on fire) resulted in a cheap laugh over the half-bald "lesbian" look that resulted. Poor.
Carol: These sketches work mildly better than others because you can sense the live studio audience watching, and I would assume Matt Lucas and David Walliams try a bit harder to milk laughs when real people are watching. This wasn't too bad, but only in comparison to everything else.
Robbers: Oh dear. A nicely-filmed sketch involving two inept robbers with a punchline you can see coming a mile off. A waste of the obvious effort that went into making it. The funniest thing was how even the "laugh-track" stayed silent!
George & Sandra: Interestingly, I find these characters work quite well because they're new and British. The new American characters just aren't that impressive, and the old British ones are achingly unfunny after 5 years of repetition. This sketch got the biggest laugh from me, when George tipped his flask of hot tea over dour wife Sandra... and still got no response.
Marjorie: Again, these sketches seem better because of the audience watching, although I was horrified to see the writing take a sudden leap into cartoon-land, when Marjorie jammed her fist into a "cheating" woman's throat to rip out her gastric band. Little Britain has always been slightly comic-book in its approach to comedy, but since when did Tex Avery take over?
Ellie Grace: A supremely stupid and unfunny idea plays out again – that a heinously mawkish mother and daughter exchange metaphorical farewells, and the seemingly innocent child blurts out some mention of "penises" or "scrotum" to her mom's horror. Terrible on every level.
Businesswoman: The standalone sketches are sometimes the best thing in LB:USA, but this one was an old faux pas joke turned into a sketch. It's not a terrible joke, but still.
Anusol: Speaking of terrible jokes, can you believe Lucas and Walliams actually sat down and wrote various funny names for an anus cream? This was a new low.
Sebastian: It just doesn't work seeing Sebastian as the Prime Minister, especially when he acts serious before lurching into his gay queen act. They even trot out the pearl necklace gag. Hear that noise? It's a barrel being scraped.
Mildred: The rosy-cheeked granny fails to shock once again, this time regarding her views on gays. Ho-hum.
Emily: Sting guest-stars on LB (a good 3 years after it was fashionable to do so), in a tiresome Emily sketch that exists to hear her awful duet with "Fields Of Gold" and kiss Sting full on the lips. Even the studio audience didn't seem to like it.
19 October 2008 / 24 October 2008
HBO, 10.30pm / BBC1, 9.30pm
