That's not to say Off The Hook is bad, because this first episode was actually very entertaining, just never laugh-out-loud funny or particularly original. You could almost see writer Dean Craig going through the list of university life clichés at times (Post-It notes stuck to tins of food, an embarrassing mum, an unseen noisy roommate, etc.) There was admittedly something comforting about its familiarity (the effect of cultural nostalgia?), and director Andy de Emmony managed to infect the whole episode with that stimulating Fresher's Week feel.
Essentially, Off The Hook is the story of nice-guy Danny (Jonathan Bailey), who enrolls at university only to find himself joined by his rambunctious ginger friend Shane (Danny Morgan) -- the kind of overbearing "best mate" we all know. Danny and Shane become roommates with introverted Fred (Buckley*), and from there it's a snappy half-hour of social disasters: Danny falls for the beautiful Becky (Fiona Ryan) and in an effort to impress her ends up naked for her art class, lies about volunteer work on a leper colony, and accidentally spikes a party's drinks with rash-inducing bacterium from a milk carton.
It's a shame nothing here's quite as funny as it sounds on paper, but it was humourous enough to keep a half-smile planted on your face and elicit the odd giggle. It helped that the cast launch into their roles with gusto (particularly irrepressible Morgan) and are immediately appealing, if burdened by caricatured personalities. Danny's the awkward "normal one" who can't help putting his foot in it, Shane's his overconfident bad influence, Fred's the cynical depressive, Becky's the dreamgirl, and Scarlet's (Joanna Cassidy) the free-spirit Danny's too dumb to notice fancies him.
There's certainly enough here to make Off The Hook worth sticking with for now, but it'll need stronger jokes and more original comic situations if it's to engender positive buzz and have any hope of becoming a hit. Only the mix-up with the bacterium really worked for me. It also seems silly that this is being shown before the 9pm watershed**, consequently forced to play safe in an environment that would benefit from the near-the-knuckle humour that gives Inbetweeners a notable sense of realism. Off The Hook lacked the same sense of danger, and arguably needs it more given how everyone perceives student life. But for a BBC3 sitcom, it's already better than anything else on the channel.
10 September 2009
BBC Three, 8pm / BBC HD, 10pm
written by: Dean Craig directed by: Andy de Emmony starring: Jonathan Bailey (Danny), Danny Morgan (Shane), Joanna Cassidy (Scarlet), James Buckley (Fred), Orlando Seale (Steve), Gavin Stenhouse (Todd), Fiona Ryan (Becky), Felicity Montagu (Danny's Mum), Ellen Thomas (Angela), Chloe-Charlotte Crampton (Sophie) & Tim Minshull (Adrian)
* At least James Buckley's playing someone who's a total opposite to his loudmouth Inbetweeners character, but I'm not sure if that's also a waste of his talent. He looked a bit emasculated as a deadpan stooge.
** Can't the 10pm repeat on BBC HD be an "unedited" version?
