Films/DVD Asylum

Speaking of sitcoms - I've made two recent discoveries

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Hi folks

I've been a tad disappointed with sitcoms over the last few years. However, I've recently discovered two newish sitcoms from good old Blighty.

The first is "Peep Show". This is basically "Men Behaving Badly" on acid. It uses a split narrative technique that might at first be offputting. The expletive-laden dialogue is delivered as normal, however, the subtext to that dialogue is then delivered via voice-over. This has put a lot of people off what I think is the best sitcom to come out of England in the last decade. I think it's even funnier than "The Office". The first four series are the best, then the quality drops off.

My other discovery is "Getting On". This is written by, and stars, the wonderful Jo Brand, Vicki Pepperdine and Joanna Scanlan, all well-known English comedians. It's set in an NHS (government) hospital, with the three leads playing two nurses and an inept doctor. The comedy is the darkest, bleakest, Kafkaesque satire I'v ever seen. Yet it balances the darkness with a lot of funniness and sweetness. I've never seen such a balancing act before in comedy.

And of course there is my perennial favourite, "The Thick Of It", which is sadly no more. The last series was not as good as the others (too many different political parties sharing the action), but it was still miles ahead of anything else on TV.

Follow Ups:

RE: Speaking of sitcoms - I've made two recent discoveries - J.Mac 14:51:22 06/03/13 (1)
- Yes, I've already seen a couple of episodes of 'Party Down' on free-to-air TV. I intend checking it out (nt) - Doug Flynn 15:35:49 06/03/13 (0)