OFF THE HOOK 1.3

[SPOILERS] After two weeks of anodyne but passable fare, Off The Hook serves up its first resounding dud. This week, Danny (Jonathan Bailey) is desperate to pass his photography course, but Shane's (Danny Morgan) sudden commitment to cleanliness leads to him accidentally throwing away Danny's "Feminine Beauty" photos hours before the deadline...

In a last-ditch effort to salvage the situation, Shane suggests Danny snoop on their roommate Scarlet (Joanna Cassidy) during her ju-jitsu class and take some photos to replace his lost coursework. Secreting himself in a gym locker, Danny is alarmed when a class of girls arrive and strip off, before he's discovered and embarrassed in front of his lecturer Vanessa (Nina Young), an oversexed woman with an unprofessional interest in him.

As usual, a handful of minor plot-points (from Shane's discovery of wart on his bum, to the messy flat undergoing a feng shui clean-up) all influence the finale, but with less success than previous weeks. Danny manages to grab some furtive photos of Scarlet sitting on the grass outside his bedroom window to rebuild his coursework, but he forgets that his camera's memory card contains snaps of Shane's arse, and both sets of photos are projected onto a screen in front of his class.

What damaged this episode was a stream of implausible elements just to keep the story going. Why was there a solitary locker in the gym itself? Why did the girls not get changed in the changing rooms? Who would think taking photos from inside a locker, through a grill, of girls doing martial arts, would be in any way a good idea? Would Scarlet really refuse to help her friend re-do his photos, just because Shane's request was tactlessly done?

Really, too much about this episode that felt manipulated and more improbable than usual, and the story itself strayed into feeble Porkies territory -- which is not only an outdated source of inspiration, but just adds to a sense of frustration because Off The Hook isn't rude enough to compete with that '80s sex-comedy, or find a way to give it a noughties twist. Remember, this is a sitcom about ribald university life where the teenagers say "I'm stuffed!" instead of letting rip with an F-word, because it's on at 8pm.

Overall, Off The Hook just felt stale this week, and there were signs that the charm of the actors has been stretched to full breaking point and is about to snap. Danny's character isn't a credible "loser" given the amount of girls who are interested in him, he's just unlucky in a convoluted way; Shane's shtick as a disruptive but well-meaning friend is growing thin; Scarlet's quit a dull character, making it hard to see what Danny finds attractive about her; and expressionless Fred has become a genuine drain on my spirits, let alone the characters.


24 September 2009
BBC Three, 8pm / BBC HD, 10pm

written by: Dean Craig directed by: Vadim Jean starring: Jonathan Bailey (Danny), Danny Morgan (Shane), Joanna Cassidy (Scarlet), James Buckley (Fred), Johnny Canter (Andrew Clover) & Nina Young (Vanessa)

OFF THE HOOK 1.2

[SPOILERS] Charm goes a long way in comedy. Off The Hook isn't the funniest or cleverest youth sitcom around, but it has a certain charisma in its performances which help overcome the rote scripts...

This second episode started off quite well, with Danny (Jonathan Bailey), Shane (Danny Morgan), Scarlet (Joanna Cassidy) and Fred (James Buckley) moving out of their recently-condemned flat and into a more comfortable pad across campus. Their unseen noisy flatmate had bafflingly managed to beat them there (blaring out his drum n' bass at 1,000 decibels), Shane showed domesticity but a lack of common sense (washing cutlery in toilet detergent), and saturnine Fred regaled everyone with a miserable song he'd written called "What's The Point?"

After a decent start, the plot started to lose what little grip it had when Danny and Shane visited the cafeteria and the episode's main story was introduced. After Shane's dreadful chat-up attempt ("there's a party in my pants, and you're invited") failed to work its magic on a foreign student, the friends met sexy Maya (Danielle Isaie), who took a shine Danny and asked him out on a date to a Rn'B-themed party.

It was here that Off The Hook lost some credibility, as the comedy started to rely on the notion that Danny would be utterly clueless about the world of Rn'B (offering the malapropism "Notorious B.F.G", having no idea that "ho" and "bitch" can be terms of endearment.) It didn't work, because Danny doesn't strike you as being someone who's led such a sheltered life. There are teenagers who have absolutely no clue when it comes to street language and culture, but not someone like Danny -- who seems like a normal guy who just lacks confidence, not entire swathes of pop-culture knowledge.

Anyway, Shane dresses Danny up like an early-'90s parody of a rapper and accompanies him to Maya's hip hop party, before getting him embroiled in an 8 Mile-style "rap battle" with a cocky student (Andre Squire). It ends in the expected social embarrassment of Danny trying his best to improve a rhyme in front of everyone, before accidentally disrespecting Maya by calling her a "ho" in the wrong context.

There was potential in this story, but it didn't really convince. At times, it feels like 35-year-old writer Dean Craig is stuck in university life circa 1992. Maybe Off The Hook would work better if it was set in the '90s, for a bit of nostalgia value? Certainly, there are moments and a vibe to the show that crosses generational barriers, but I've yet to get a sense this show is speaking to the contemporary student body in the same way The Inbetweeners is. It feels like childhood memory filtered through clichés right now, admittedly raised a level by the performances.

Overall, like I said, Off The Hook has charm and the alacrity of the actors pulls it through the duff patches. Plus there's been at least four giggles in each episode so far, which is a decent enough hit-rate. I'm particularly enjoying the running joke that morose Fred always comes out on top -- last week he effortlessly pulled a gorgeous girl at a party, this week he's seen courting a record deal for his monotonous "What's The Point?" ditty.


17 September 2009
BBC Three, 8pm / BBC HD, 10pm

written by: Dean Craig directed by: Vadim Jean starring: Jonathan Bailey (Danny), Danny Morgan (Shane), Joanna Cassidy (Scarlet), James Buckley (Fred), Orlando Seale (Keith), Olivia Thomas (Foreign Girl), Danielle Isaie (Maya), Andre Squire (Gangster) & Akala (Hip Hop MC)

OFF THE HOOK 1.1 - "Fresh"

Comparisons to The Inbetweeners are unavoidable, not helped by Off The Hook's decision to cast someone from that show in a prominent role (James Buckley); and, while I'll argue that this comedy's university setting is more alluring than Inbetweener's dull Sixth Form, it's tamer and less funny...

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?