I’ve been delighting this week in re-watching the full series of “Toast of London”.
For those who haven’t seen it, it is Matt Berry as ACTOORRRRR!!, swearing and shagging with delightful virtuosity.
Very silly names (Clem Fandango, Dinky Frinkbuster, Penny Traitor and of course Ray Fucking Purchase )
Very silly situations
Cameos galore
Tracy-Anne Oberman taking it from behind with a fag in her gob What’s not to like?a little taste here for you.
Also, I watched “Afterlife” by Ricky Gervais. A suicidal recently widowed reporter is horrible to everyone and then isn’t. Massively offensive, Hilarious and sentimental. The usual stuff but great nonetheless. It also has Diane Morgan in it and of course she steals any scene she is in. (the actress behind Philomena Cunk)
Thank you for reminding me about this show! I love British comedies! Finished watching the drama/comedy on youtube Fat friends … I will have to start this series again. While watching the IT crowd for the 5th time…
My children have recently reached the age where they can appreciate The IT Crowd. I think it is now their favourite thing (along with Mitchell and Webb), they re-watch it all the time and our life is now peppered with references and quotes.
I’ve just discovered One-Punch Man on Netflix, which is probably only funny if you’re familiar with the conventions of martial arts anime, with all the overblown backstories and ludicrously stilted speeches preceding fight scenes that involve destroying everything in a half-mile radius. I mean, that bit at the end of the third episode where he reveals his “secret training regime” - and then when we discover his terrible mistake - is gaspingly funny.
Nice. I’d read about Toast then totally forgot to follow up with it. Berry is a treat! I’ll have to hunt it down.
I’ve been re-watching Peep Show for like the 10th time. I hadn’t watched it in a long while (probably not since the last series in 2015) but I was feeling nostalgic and my god…it is still so f’n funny. Every episode is quote-after-quotable. I’m savoring the episodes, one a night.
I’m very excited to see Matt Berry in the What We Do In the Shadows tv series. I stumbled upon the movie by accident and loved it. I think he’ll fit right in
No. No love for either of those. The former being bad even back in 1982, and the latter being the biggest waste of space and proof that BBC has been in the comedy doldrums since around 1999.
Weirdly, the Belgians love Allo Allo, very big there. Well, on the flemish side at least, I think in effect its taking the piss out of the Wallonian side (who usually speak only english and thus don’t watch it).
Fleabag is quite wonderful now, and being loved, now on second Series. Posh lady being proper dirty. Not watched much of Derry Girls, which has been a huge success here.
Last episode of the new Alan Partridge series was an absolute classic.
Mrs Brown’s Boys is definitely comedy Marmite - people either seem to love it or hate it. Personally I can’t stand it but it’s won awards and they made a movie so obviously there’s a sizable following for it.
I need to check out Fleabag - other old and current BBC 3 comedies I’d strongly recommend are:
Cuckoo with Greg Davies and Andy Samberg (season 1), Taylor Lautner (seasons 2-3) and Andie McDowell (season 4). Taylor Lautner turns out to be brilliant at both goofy comedy and physical comedy. I’m allergic to Andie McDowell but the show is solid anyway.
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Uncle with Nick Helm as the fat, drunk, immature uncle in a family that is pretty much made up entirely of trainwrecks. Helm performs several of his comedy songs during the series, and they’re worth a listen.
Murder in Successville, an improvised comedy police procedural featuring celebrity impersonators as the suspects and an actual celebrity as guest police officer. A bit hit-or-miss and probably not funny to those outside the UK who won’t know who the B- and C-list celebrities being referenced are, but some of them are hysterical (surprisingly, Chris Kamara turns out to be one of the best guest stars).
If Radio 4 comedy is your thing, as repeatedly pointed out here and elsewhere the pinnacle (or at least the pinnacle of the post-*Hitchhiker’s *era) is Cabin Pressure. The whole series has been released on CD in boxset form - make sure you get the A-Z set that includes the two Zurich episodes, as they are the climax and conclusion of the whole series.