If It's Sunday, I Must Be Watching HBO
HBO premiered two new programs tonight after True Blood and Entourage.
The first was Little Britain USA. I just spent this past summer watching Little Britain on DVD, and I loved it. Smart, surreal sketch comedy not just with recurring characters but also progressing storylines, which I'd never seen before in this kind of format. Now it's been transplanted with the same cast (minus Anthony Stewart Head, it seems) to the U.S. Some of the classic characters are back -- Lou and his not-really-handicapped friend Andy, the Fat Fighters lady, the annoying Vicky Pollard, the transvestite Emily Howard, Sebastian the Prime Minister's aide, the mean receptionist -- as well as some new ones like the eighth man on the moon, the crazy woman whose dog tells her to do things, and the two workout junkies, but there was a strange feeling of "what's the point?" throughout the episode. I don't think Little Britain needs to be transplanted to the U.S., and in fact it feels a bit watered down because of it. I hear the second episode is actually much better, so that's a little heartening. And it's always nice to hearDoctor Who Tom Baker's voice. We'll see if it shapes up.
The second, The Life and Times of Tim, seemed dead on arrival. I didn't like the animation style at all, and the idea seems repetitive: put Tim in an awkward situation and make it worse because of his inaction, while his girlfriend impatiently taps her foot. I don't see this becoming anything worthwhile unless they introduce a progressing storyline instead of just one-off sketches about some predicament Tim has gotten himself into. Frankly, I'm surprised HBO greenlighted this one while passing on Preacher and abruptly canceling the planned second season of Tell Me You Love Me. This seems like HBO Lite.
(By the way, a distinct lack of ceiling hooks on this week's episode of True Blood. Also, now I think Sam is a werecollie again.)
The first was Little Britain USA. I just spent this past summer watching Little Britain on DVD, and I loved it. Smart, surreal sketch comedy not just with recurring characters but also progressing storylines, which I'd never seen before in this kind of format. Now it's been transplanted with the same cast (minus Anthony Stewart Head, it seems) to the U.S. Some of the classic characters are back -- Lou and his not-really-handicapped friend Andy, the Fat Fighters lady, the annoying Vicky Pollard, the transvestite Emily Howard, Sebastian the Prime Minister's aide, the mean receptionist -- as well as some new ones like the eighth man on the moon, the crazy woman whose dog tells her to do things, and the two workout junkies, but there was a strange feeling of "what's the point?" throughout the episode. I don't think Little Britain needs to be transplanted to the U.S., and in fact it feels a bit watered down because of it. I hear the second episode is actually much better, so that's a little heartening. And it's always nice to hear
The second, The Life and Times of Tim, seemed dead on arrival. I didn't like the animation style at all, and the idea seems repetitive: put Tim in an awkward situation and make it worse because of his inaction, while his girlfriend impatiently taps her foot. I don't see this becoming anything worthwhile unless they introduce a progressing storyline instead of just one-off sketches about some predicament Tim has gotten himself into. Frankly, I'm surprised HBO greenlighted this one while passing on Preacher and abruptly canceling the planned second season of Tell Me You Love Me. This seems like HBO Lite.
(By the way, a distinct lack of ceiling hooks on this week's episode of True Blood. Also, now I think Sam is a werecollie again.)