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US sitcoms The Big Bang Theory, New Girl and Community are all the rage right now. However, Channel 4's homegrown Peep Show remains one of the most experimental for its unique "first person perspective" format and razor-sharp insight into the male condition. We could feasibly follow Mark and Jez into middle-age and beyond. Now in its ninth year, it's overtaken Drop the Dead Donkey as Channel 4's longest-running sitcom, and still doesn't show enough alarming signs of fatigue. While its creative peak was probably reached somewhere between series three and five, it has never dropped to an extent where you secretly hope creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong bring it to an end.
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I enjoyed Him & Her when it started, despite its tendency to take things to such an extreme it becomes icky. The second series widened things by involving Steve and Becky's extended families more: Becky's cruel sister Laura, her thick fiancé Paul (Ricky Champ), ditzy middle-aged hanger-on Shelly (Camille Coduri) and weirdo neighbour Dan (Joe Wilkinson). While clearly not to everyone's taste—given the ribald nature of the jokes and situations, together with the strict decision to keep everything contained inside a three-room flat—Him & Her is an entertaining and innovative comedy that's avoided running out of ideas.
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I wasn't a big fan of The Hour's first series because it felt like half a promising show needlessly complicated by a silly espionage subplot (much like BBC2's cancelled US import, Pan Am). Maybe Abi Morgan wanted to differentiate it from Mad Men that way, but it didn't work; critics were still compelled to compare it to the US Emmy-winner, even if it more accurately resembled the 1976 movie Network. Considering this episode had to reacquaint viewers to all the characters, explain the changes in their lives, while introducing newcomers and outlining fresh storylines, it did a very capable job.
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