Improbably representing the UK's most famous magician/hypnotist, goateed Dermot's (Darby) life hits the rocks when his series is cancelled after he made two brothers kiss on live TV, prompting his airhead wife Lucille (Thaila Zucchi) to leave him. Determined to revive his career and bounce back to former greatness, Dermot checks into rehab as a PR stunt with his idiot manager Mickey (Darren Boyd), but discovers just as many obstacles while mixing with mentally ill celebs...
The idea of rehab would appear to lend itself well to comedy, particularly ones frequented by brittle celebrities, but there's mounting evidence to suggest otherwise (remember Russell Brand's rehab-based comedy for BBC3?) However, it wasn't the setup or premise that killed The Amazing Dermot, rather the fact that Dermot himself was both implausible and unlikeable. A-list magicians these days are not end-of-the-pier types like Dermot, so his very goateed existence gave the show a late-'80s sitcom feel. Darby's a talented performer, but Dermot lacked the all-important sympathy that his other screen roles have had.
Faring better were the supporting cast -- particularly the ever-dependable Boyd, who certainly has no problem exuding sympathy himself. Indeed, he managed to make a small subplot about wooing a deaf nurse (Genevieve Barr) more entertaining than everything else we were supposed to be focusing on. And there were some amusing turns from Alex McQueen (Kröd Mändoon & The Flaming Sword Of Fire) as the clinic's manager, and Sinead Keenan (Being Human) as a kid's TV presenter who had checked herself in for treatment.
The actual comedy was thin and obvious fare for the most part, but a few lines and ideas made me giggle: the resident drug-dealer "Edmonds" being revealed as none other than Noel Edmonds (going fictionally crazy again for the first time since that Day Today sketch), sign language being mistaken for bids in an auction, and a coarse dig at "sexaholic" Ulrika Jonsson. The show may have found more success if it had been populated with comedy versions of real celebs, too -- or at least broad approximations we can all identify. A lucid and intelligent Amy Winehouse, perhaps?
Overall, it's clear from this that I'm Alan Partridge did the "faded celebrity" idea with far more skill, panache, insight, and humour over ten years ago. By far the worst pilot of the Comedy Showcase season so far (in that it felt anachronistic and wasted some decent talent), I think this pilot is destined to become a minor curio for diehard Flight Of The Conchords fans – at best. At worst, a forgotten project nearly everyone will scratch their heads over when they find it on Rhys Darby's IMDb page.
4 December 2009
Channel 4, 10.35pm
written by: Jack Williams & Harry Williams directed by: Martin Green starring: Rhys Darby (Dermot Flint/Lesley), Darren Boyd (Mickey), Alex MacQueen (Neil), Sinead Keenan (Wendy), Genevieve Barr (Jessica), Thaila Zucchi (Lucille), Travis Oliver (Frank) & Alan Drake (Dermot/Lesley Double)
