Sunday, November 27, 2011

Two TV Reviews

Whites is a sly slice of life comedy set in a fine dining restaurant. It's executive chef is past his prime and doesn't much care anymore, his sous chef is a hard working neurotic, his new intern is a conniving little horse's ass, his front of house manager doesn't like him, his boss is a lush, and one of his wait staff is a barely functioning idiot. This comedy is a very effective modern Brit-com. It's not a knock you over with stupid jokes style American sit com, instead it takes it's time setting up jokes and it gives us fully realized characters instead of stereotypes or cartoon archetypes. Alas, they only made 6 episodes and then the BBC cancelled it. I highly recommend it.

I found Review with Myles Barlow on HuluPlus, it's also available on Hulu on your computer. This is a screamingly laugh out loud black comedy that will leave you in stitches with it's biting satire. The premise of the show is that critic Myles Barlow, written and played by Phil Lloyd, reviews things that other critics won't. Things like stealing, cults, sex, murder, divorce, having a dickhead friend, and much more. Lloyd's deadpan delivery and overly earnest acting are sublime to behold.

I have yet to watch an episode of this show that didn't make me laugh long and hard. Between the things Barlow goes through while reviewing and the things he says to sum up his reviews, there's nary room for a breath because you're usually laughing too hard to breathe. I can see how some would not find this show funny but to me, it's one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. This show and The Librarians are the gold standard of modern Australian comedy against which every other Aussie made show will be judged.

If you're a fan of great comedy, DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW.

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2 comments:

phairhead said...

I've been home sick w/ the plague and knocked out "Whites" in a day.....love love love! Too bad there won't be anymore new episodes :-(

K.Line said...

Scott saw it and liked Whites a lot. Was sorry to see it cancelled. He said it's a lot like Chef (another BritCom but from early 90s with Lenny Henry), one of the shows we liked to watch when first we met.