tim1701 Reviews

The Late Edition (2005– )

Britains Daily show?.... I think not!

[6/10 · 22 March 2009]

This is an obvious play on the fantastic work Jon Stewart does on the daily show. But the gags are forced (and generally need explaining to the audience), The interviews are awkward and the "political satire" is nowhere near as biting. Perhaps it is the BBC that keeps this show from pushing the envelope as much as Comedy Central allow the daily show would, I don't know, All i know is that watching it at times makes me physically squirm for the people telling the jokes and showing us their "wry" view on policies.

It's a fun way of passing about 20 minutes, but there is that 10 minutes of uncomfortable viewing that makes you reach for the remote control during the hushed silence whilst the joke is explained.

Channel 4 have tried this format on plenty occasions (the last being "tonight" with Jason manford.... which was pure evil compared with this show) And it just does not seem to work for UK audiences, It might just be that the daily show has such a following that anything that is so much as whispered makes the audience scream and holler, although its contrived it really brings pace and a good feeling towards the show and the host. The hushed silence that falls in this studio on at least 2 times per episode kills the mood and therefore kills your enjoyment of the show....

If they are going to do another series of this Don't do it live, or at least have some canned laughter or get the audience drunk before hand, anything to stop the hushed silence on near the knuckle and unfunny jokes...... Even Faulty towers used canned laughter for some scenes knowing the studio audience missed some of the gags the home viewers would get, It's not a crime but fill in the silences, please!

Baddiel's Syndrome (2001)

Hugely entertaining!

[7/10 · 22 March 2009]

When this aired sky one where going through their "lets be HBO UK" phase...... This was a strange show for the UK, Billed wrongly as a "Seinfeld for the UK" it was more a bad British version of Friends! The acting was awful (especially Baddiels) And all the supporting actors seemed to be there JUST to set up the gag.... Set up as an "american style sitcom" a lot of the humour was lost on the UK audience and I feel it would have been syndicated in the US if it had ran long enough over here.

BUT, all these horrible things went together to make something so bad its good! I think this was ahead of its time, as Seinfeld was for the UK, as my father likes to say "I don't get it, its just people talking about life" yet the same man will sit and watch "till death us do part" who just replace the talking with shouting and a touch more blatant ignorance.

My advice is, if you get the chance to see this (and its VERY rare) watch it, you will be surprised when you see it, stop wincing, relax and enjoy it for what it is 24 minutes of chewing gum for the eyes, switch off your brain and watch! its not for the faint hearted though, i wanted to put my foot through the TV screen on more than one occasion.

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)

Slick and stylish, i really like this!

[27 October 2004]

An awful lot of people are classing this as a re-working or re-imaging of the original Battlestar Galactica, but it is a continuation, it's taken the premise that humans have settled their war with the Cylons and peace and a home has been found, After decades of peace the Cylons rage a terrible attack forcing human kind to flea again...............

The camera work is amazing, it has more a feel of a roughly shot news update, hand held cameras, shaky shots, quick zooms and fast pans even in the special effects shots. The feeling it portrays is almost like actual war footage we get at the moment almost feeling as if we are not watching a program so much as eavesdropping on a situation.

A very intense program that can bring you up fast and down even faster, the series has hit the ground well and truly running, a lot of people are calling this program slow, but I have to disagree it likes to show insights into the characters, how they think, how they act and why, most series will take two or three seasons to get round to this and just act on pure action or violence.

All together this is a smooth slick production and long may it last, I personally cannot wait to buy this on DVD!

The only thing that concerns me at the moment is that it is being shown on Sky One in the UK encoded and sent to the old internet at the moment, PLEASE American guys, if you download it, watch it and like it, WATCH IT when it is shown on Sci Fi if it doesn't get the figures in the U.S. it wont get another season!

The Savages (2001– )

Boy done good

[16 January 2004]

I first saw Marcus Brigstoc on BBC's open mike awards, naturally he won, although a little wooden you can see he is setteling down infront of the camera, a very dry, witty comedy with not so much belly laughs as a constant titter, nice way to pass 30 minutes but you may find yourself drifting into other channels whilst the "big" jokes are set up. A little predictable and a waste of Marcus' tallents! worth a watch, but would be very supprised if auntie beeb picked this up for another series.

My Family (2000–2011)

Sharp British Comedy

[24 September 2003]

It's not often we brits make a comedy that can travel well, but the universal truths within my family make it travel and will make it timeless to boot, Robert Lyndsy is amazingly dry, and Zoe Wannamaker shines in every episode, the long suffering family head makes us all smile by recognising our everyday problems and life obsticles with great punch and hillarity, US viewers may think this is a flop due to how many episodes there are, but it is far from a flop, UK seasons usually only last 6 episodes, My family is now in its third season with a fourth in production, Not to be missed, i am eagily awaiting the bbc to release this on dvd! well done auntie beeb, more comedys like this please!