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TV Review: Crims

February 10, 2015 by Becca Moody 2 Comments

Crims is a sitcom about Welsh nice guy Luke, played by stand up Elis James, who is unfairly sentenced to two years in a young offenders institution as a result of his moronic friend (the brother of Luke’s girlfriend), Jason (Kadiff Kirwan) getting him involved in a failed bank robbery. These two unlikely friends are now forced to spend all of their time together, as a result of sharing a cell, and simultaneously try to keep their heads down as well as ending up on the frontline of all manners of trouble.

Luke, or “Lulu”, as Jason calls him, is your typical antihero. He is meek and frustratingly stubborn, but an increasingly likeable character nonetheless. Jason, on the other hand, is an endearing idiot, who we can forgive for all his wrongs because he is oblivious, and very funny as a result. It’s fair to say that Luke and Jason are unlikely protagonists, their personalities are polar opposites and they bicker like an old married couple.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvmhlkvETPM

A hilarious backstory between prison officers Dawn (Cariad Lloyd) and Creg (Ricky Champ) provides a refreshing side-narrative that develops with each episode. Creg’s incessant stalking of Dawn also adds a sinister element to Crims, and, mark my love of shows like The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box and The League of Gentlemen, you can see why I’m a fan.

The writing from Adam Kay and Dan Swimer is excellent; the characters come together effortlessly and there is no room for boredom in a jam-packed 30 minute episode. Crims has a brilliant cast, including Theo Barklem-Biggs as Twilight-obsessed thug, Marcel, Ed Kear as ‘Black Elton John’, Selom Awadzi as Daz, and Jamal Hadjkura as the prison-snitch, Isaac. And appearances from the likes of the fantastic Tracy Ann-Oberman and Sylvester Mccoy make a great addition to the cast too.

This brand new sitcom has proven itself to be highly original, witty and accessible, and I hope there are more series to come.

CATCH SERIES ONE OF CRIMS ON BBC IPLAYER

Posted in: Comedians, Television Shows Tagged: Adam Kay, Cariad Lloyd, Crims, Dan Swimer, Elis James, Kadiff Kirwan, Ricky Champ, Sitcom

TV Review: Not Going Out: The End

January 17, 2015 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

Not Going Out came to its conclusion in December, and has been consistent and homely viewing, with frequent laughs at the characters’ expense. It is silly, frustratingly painful watching (the protagonists get it so wrong every single time) and very rude.

The characters are all familiar by now; we know when Lee is going to do something stupid, or when Frank is going to arrive out of nowhere, or when Daisy is going to say something entirely moronic, and that is all part of the charm. Lee’s dysfunctional family and friends become our own family and friends and it feels like they have truly earned a place in our homes after all these years.

Mack’s vast quantity of gags and puns continue to fill the space that Tim Vine left behind back in 2012, but that doesn’t mean Vine isn’t missed. A new addition to the programme, however, has been that of Hugh Dennis (Outnumbered) who plays Lee and Lucy’s new neighbour, Toby. The introduction of Toby in series 7 has allowed the character dynamics to be balanced with his level-headed presence, in predictable and typical Dennis-style.

A highlight of this series had to be episode five, Pointless (see above link), which featured appearances from both Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, who stepped up to the job with apparent ease.

I won’t spoil the ending of the series, but I will say that it ended in typical Not Going Out style (though with the addition of something all concluding sitcoms seem to be doing these days: showing cringeworthy flashbacks of the famous moments from past episodes within the final scenes of the last show). All the memorable characters from the past eight years came together, including Tim Vine which was a delight.

I will always enjoy watching reruns of Not Going Out, but I have to say I felt it reached its natural conclusion here and I am glad it wasn’t stretched any further. Lee Mack’s brilliant comic writing has provided us with years of quality family entertainment and I look forward to seeing what he goes on to write in the future.

Posted in: Comedians, Television Shows Tagged: Hugh Dennis, Katy Wix, Lee Mack, Not Going Out, Sally Bretton, Sitcom, Tim Vine

Christmas Round Up

January 6, 2015 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

The Christmas period presented multiple comedy gems to our television screens last month, and here is a summary of a few of my particular favourites:

Derek

Ricky Gervais’ Derek reached its natural conclusion with a wedding, a fight and a baby. Gervais has shown a great subtlety in his writing that I had not noticed in his other projects that often displayed, in fact, quite the opposite. I found the episode to be dealt with sensitively and with great humour, with the character of Derek remaining endearing yet dignified throughout, as was noticeable from this year’s series two. Available on 4OD.

House of Fools

House of Fools has been one of my favourite sitcoms since it first aired in early 2014, as it is written by, and stars, the incredible Vic and Bob. This Christmas spectacular presented many problems for the duo: Erik has demanded a particular bobble hat for his present but it has been set on fire. The strange gathering must set off to steal a replacement, and meet Father Christmas (Reece Shearsmith) on the way. Available on BBC iPlayer.

Not Going Out

Not Going Out has been consistently and delightfully cringe-worthy with frequent small laughs and a few brilliant lines per episode (and there have been an impressive seven series, so that’s some great feat). This final episode did not disappoint, and audiences were finally given an answer to the age-old question: will Lee and Lucy ever actually become a couple? Available on BBC iPlayer.

Gadget Man

Richard Ayoade returned with a Gadget Man’s Guide to Christmas with special guests Adam Hills, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Merchant, Jonathan Ross, Reece Shearsmith and Robert Webb. With a wonderful array of toys and vehicles and strange household items, Ayoade presented us with an entirely new take on Christmas gifts and dinners. Available on 4OD.

Charlie Brooker’s 2014 Wipe

Charlie Brooker brought his infamous positive little rays of sunshine to Christmas by overviewing a seemingly awful year for everyone in the entire universe. From Farage to Ebola, Charlie’s typically sarcastic and cutting commentary overed it all, with help from Barry Shitpeas and Philomena Cunk. I should probably warn off people who are prone to depression from watching this programme but Brooker’s wit really takes the edge off, as does the wonderful song at the end. Available on BBC iPlayer.

Man Down

Man Down has to be one of my favourite new sitcoms from the past couple of years because it stars a couple of my most loved comedians: Greg Davies and Roisin Conaty. The Christmas episode was a beautiful tribute to the late Rik Mayall, who played Dan’s father in the show, and sent both Mayall himself, and the character he played, off in a hilarious but touching fashion. Available on 4OD.

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Posted in: Comedians, Television Shows Tagged: Bob Mortimer, Charlie Brooker, Derek, Gadget Man, Greg Davies, House of Fools, Lee Mack, Man Down, Not Going Out, Reece Shearsmith, Richard Ayoade, Ricky Gervais, Rik Mayall, Roisin Conaty, Vic Reeves

This Year In Comedy, Part 2

December 30, 2014 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

2014 was the year that truly proved that the British comedy scene is an exciting place to be. But with all things in life, there have been ups and downs and the industry has lost some of its brightest talents this year.

Two of these, for myself in particular, hurt the most. Star of The Young Ones, Rik Mayall passed away suddenly on June 9th, as a result of a heart attack after his morning run. The news was a shock to everyone, especially as Rik was only 56. Rik Mayall was a shining light in the world of comedy: he was kind, clever, and never afraid to act like a fool. He didn’t take himself too seriously and managed to bring out the inner child in all who watched his hilarious on-screen performances. Television suffered a great loss when Mayall died this year, particularly as he was due to be recording a second series of the magnificently funny Man Down (starring Greg Davies, Roisin Conaty and Mike Wozniak) that summer.

Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall

Two months later, the beloved Robin Williams, who will always have a special place in my heart as Mrs Doubtfire, tragically died on August 11th after a long period of severe depression. The world was silenced to hear this, especially, I gather, people currently working as comics who had worked with him or been inspired by him when they were young.

Every generation knew Robin Williams. His acting credits are endless, including Mork and Mindy, Mrs Doubtfire and Flubber to name a few, as well as being an iconic stand up comedian. The story of what happened is heartbreaking, but at least something positive came out of it: in the days that passed after the world received the news, people slowly started tweeting, blogging and, most importantly, talking about depression. Robin Williams taught the world that mental illness is all around us, even in the places where you might not expect to find it, and his legacy as a fantastic actor and comedian will stay with us all for decades to come.

Robin Williams

Robin Williams

2014 brought about the natural end to various loved sitcoms. The seventh, and final, series of Not Going Out was broadcast throughout October, November and December, with the final ever episode airing on Christmas Eve. As well as this, Miranda Hart announced that the final episodes of her playfully childish television hit Miranda were to be aired on Christmas and New Year’s Day, after having spanned three series.

As if this year hadn’t had its fair share of controversies, Vine celebrity, Dapper Laughs (Daniel O’Reilly) dug himself a hole when his awful and misogynistic television show On The Pull was aired on ITV in October. The “comedian” had been previously criticised for his comments regarding women and his horrendous rape “jokes” so it was no surprise that an online petition was launched to get Dapper Laughs off of our television screens. When this petition was successful, some complained that it was a denial of free speech and a dangerous act of censorship, but quite frankly, I think the danger came from the way O’Reilly fed and encouraged rape culture through his own stupidity; in my eyes, he committed a crime. But no fear, he will, of course, be back in 2015, so he wasn’t really sorry at all.

To end on a positive note, however, for the first time in five years, Never Mind The Buzzcocks has found a permanent host in the incredible funny Rhod Gilbert. Rhod is absolutely brilliant at hosting the programme; he is eloquent, witty and sarcastic and has already been successful in developing a comfortable and, most importantly, funny atmosphere.

2014 has been a year of many surprises, some good and some bad. I hope 2015 is equally as interesting and even more funny. Happy New Year!

READ PART ONE OF MY YEAR ROUNDUP HERE.

Posted in: Comedians, News, Television Shows Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Dapper Laughs, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, News, Rhod Gilbert, Rik Mayall, Robin Williams

This Year In Comedy, Part 1

December 27, 2014 by Becca Moody 2 Comments

2014 has been a massive year for comedy in Britain;

There have been countless brand new television programmes broadcast this year, with some of my favourites including Uncle, House of Fools, Doll & Em, The Walshes, Inside No.9, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled and Siblings. In this sense, 2014 has certainly proven itself to be twelve months of creativity and innovation in comedy, which will pave the way for televised comedy in the future.

As well as new projects, there have been many top-quality programmes that returned to our screens this year. Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy: Tales From Painted Hawaii was a special one for me, as Noel Fielding is my comedy hero, and considering the fact that the first series was broadcast all the way back in January 2012. Ricky Gervais’ Derek, Toast of London (Matt Berry) and Big School (David Walliams and Catherine Tate) returned for a second series and the brilliantly funny Friday Night Dinner came back with a third.

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy

At the beginning of the year, the BBC announced that they were to make a conscious effort to include at least one woman on every episode of every panel show broadcast by the corporation, and it inspired me to write this post. It’s fair to say that to begin with, I was disheartened. I felt embarrassed that female comedians were being made to look like poor little lambs that can’t fend for themselves as it is absolute nonsense. However, the situation improved later on in the year (which I also documented here) as the thirteenth series of Mock The Week aired and so many talented female comics were given the screen time they deserve. It is my hope from here on in that people forget about the publicised rule and appreciate that these women have earned their right to be on these programmes, and acknowledge their immense talent.

Another shock announcement was that there are plans for the channel BBC3 to be axed in order to fund other projects within the BBC. Amongst other things, the broadcaster wants to create a BBC1+1 which seems pointless as we already have iPlayer, and the decision has, understandably, not been well received. We are told that when BBC3 disappears from our TV screens, it will still be available via BBC iPlayer. Maybe we are just reluctant to give in to the age of the computers, but it definitely feels like the space for new comedy on television is being made smaller by moving its main platform online. “We know those +1 channels are very important to people”, well, Mr Cohen, so is our comedy.

Winner of this year's Fosters Comedy Award: John Kearns

Winner of this year’s Fosters Comedy Award: John Kearns

The Edinburgh Festival this year saw a new winner of the Fosters Comedy Award crowned. John Kearns’ show Shtick is the first Free Fringe show to have ever won the award. There have also been some HUGE live comedy tours this year from the likes of Russell Howard, Miranda Hart, Sarah Millican and Noel Fielding, as well as the return of Monty Python for five nights of nostalgic silliness at the O2 Arena.

COME BACK NEXT WEEK TO READ PART TWO OF THIS YEAR IN COMEDY

Posted in: Comedians, News, Television Shows Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, John Kearns, News, Noel Fielding, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

The British Comedy Awards 2014

December 23, 2014 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

2014 has been a fantastic year for British Comedy, and The British Comedy Awards exists to showcase a large proportion of that to the public.

Last year’s post about the British Comedy Awards ceremony was largely negative, as a result of the production rather than the comedy being nominated and awarded. The show was aired live, which meant that mistakes could not be hidden and the timing issues were obvious, with some speeches having to be cut short which seemed outrageous. This year, however, the programme aired on Channel 4 on December 17th, rather than live, on December 16th, which meant the whole affair appeared far more professional and respectable, if a little fake, to the television audience.

It was a delight to see the wonderful Harry Enfield receive three awards (individually for Best TV Comedy Actor and teamed with Paul Whitehouse (Harry & Paul) for Best Sketch Show and Best Comedy Moment). Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) also won Best TV Comedy Actress, which I think is incredibly well-deserved and so endearing to see how shocked she was to be recognised. Matt Berry was nominated for a whopping six awards, though he lost to Nick Helm for Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist, which is just as it should be seeing as Berry has been a television comic for over a decade. I’m a big fan of Berry’s Toast of London; it was great to see such a strange style of sitcom win an award for once.

The person I was most pleased to see win an award was certainly Aisling Bea, who won Best Female TV Comic. Seeing this absolute ray of sunshine crawl onto stage in her dress and heels and inadvertently turn herself into a “hospital DJ,” made me laugh so much and just proved that Aisling is a funny woman through and through. I am unbelievably pleased for her and can’t wait to see what this award does for her career in the coming year. Another beautiful moment was hearing an emotional speech from Brendan O’Carroll (Mrs Brown’s Boys), who was rightly awarded with the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award.

It’s easy to be cynical whilst watching such a grandiose display of wealth and status, and there were times throughout the production where I did feel like the spirit of British Comedy was being exploited, but, unlike Stewart Lee, I chose to ignore that this year. From the position of a viewer rather than a performer, I can see that The British Comedy Awards gives comics a platform to boost their careers or give them recognition for their lifetime achievements, and that can only be a good thing in my opinion, however unfair you believe the results to be. Out of the nominees for King or Queen of Comedy, however, Greg Davies will always win in the end.

I think my favourite part of the whole affair was hearing Tulisa say “I’m a big comedy fan.” Yes, that part made me laugh the most.

Posted in: Comedians, News, Television Shows Tagged: Aisling Bea, Brendan O'Carroll, British Comedy, Comedy, Harry Enfield, Katherine Parkinson, Toast Of London

TV Review: Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Series 28

December 16, 2014 by Becca Moody 2 Comments

Never Mind The Buzzcocks has entered it’s 28th series and what could possibly make this all-inclusive and sharp-witted musical-based panel show any better? Rhod Gilbert, that’s what.

There are an array of valid reasons as to why my love Buzzcocks never falters, with Noel Fielding being pretty high up on that list, of course. Not only does this panel show exhibit a rare trait, being that it welcomes those people, mostly comedians and musicians, who aren’t necessarily the most popular in their field, but also because it is timeless: Buzzcocks gives us a break from politics and satire and focuses purely on music and funny things.

And Rhod Gilbert truly is the icing on the cake, with his deadpan sarcasm and astute comic timing. He makes the tasking job of hosting such a programme look effortless whilst inviting his contestants to get involved and partaking in hilarious small talk that is obviously unscripted.

It is easiest to observe Gilbert’s talent when we compare it to the countless other celebrities who have sat in the hosting chair over the past five series since Simon Amstell’s departure in 2008. Think back to the episodes of Dizzee Rascal, Peter Andre, Jack Whitehall and James Corden, just to name a few, for name’s sake. Everyone did well; they had the correct level of control over the teams whilst maintaining a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere, they successfully read their lines, they earned quite a few laughs.

Though many guest hosts have simply got the job done and little more, a rare few have shown great skill and ease whilst sat in the hosting chair, such as Adam Buxton, Sir Terry Wogan, Alice Cooper and musical comedian Alex Horne. I am a firm believer that a great host, with a firm hold over contestants and audience alike, can really make a panel show brilliant.

This new series of Buzzcocks has also welcomed many excellent comedic talents, with Roisin Conaty, Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan, Aisling Bea, Joe Lycett, James Acaster, Paul Foot, Romesh Ranganathan and Bobby Mair being amongst some of my favourites.

The Never Mind The Buzzcocks Christmas special is on Monday on BBC2. You can catch up with the rest of the series on iPlayer.

Posted in: Comedians, Television Shows Tagged: Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Noel Fielding, Phill Jupitus, Rhod Gilbert

TV Review: Toast Of London, Series 2

December 9, 2014 by Becca Moody 3 Comments

The king of voiceovers, the prize idiot, the most unsuccessful actor ever to grace our television screens: Steven Toast is back.

Matt Berry is a true talent who has proved he is able to play a huge variety of different roles, but each character always has that signature Berry-style about them, and that’s what makes him so enjoyable to watch. Series two comes armed with recurring jokes from the first series, with appearances from Ray “Bloody” Purchase and regular and consistently awkward conversations with the delightfully irritating Clem Fandango.

Steven Toast has an air of self-importance and a clear sense of disgust and disregard for anyone else, despite him often being the one portrayed as the fool in a wonderful example of dramatic irony. This dramatic irony is what makes the series so entertaining and even painful to watch in some places; Toast is an arrogant cretin who says and does the most terrible things, yet the joke is always on him.

With its offbeat storylines accompanied by incredible and hilarious musical interludes (written and performed by Berry), Toast Of London is peculiar, rapidly changing and absolutely outrageous. The stable and sarcastic character of Ed Howzer-Black (Robert Bathurst) compliments Toast’s childish pedantry brilliantly, with his dead-pan delivery of such horrendous lines. As well as Bathurst, Doon Mackichan is a delight to watch, playing Toast’s agent, Jane Pleugh. Mr Pleugh gets the limelight in one of my favourite scenes of the series, her incredibly funny acid trip in episode four (“High Winds Actor”). The new instalment of Toast Of London also includes appearances from the likes of Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Matthew Holness (Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace), Morgana Robinson (House of Fools), Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentlement) and Terry Mynott (The Mimic).

Toast of London has been accused by some of being sexist but surely it is satirical. Steven Toast is a man that we aren’t supposed to really like. He’s a moron; an egotistical snob who’s career really isn’t going anywhere. The show is often uncomfortable and intentionally distasteful, smooth to the extent that the sarcasm can be missed, to the point that watchers may be inclined to look away from the screen or cover their ears. My reading, however, is a positive one. Many parts of the show I found unnecessary, such as the sheer amount of nudity in every episode, as I generally don’t think a good comedy needs to hide behind crude references in order to be funny; Toast could do without it, though it’s likely that this aspect is relied upon for Toast’s own character development.

The second series of Toast of London has taught me a lot about my own taste in comedy, and the more I think about the programme, the more I realise how much I enjoyed watching it.

CATCH UP WITH TOAST OF LONDON, SERIES TWO ON 4OD.

Posted in: Comedians, Television Shows Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Matt Berry, Toast Of London

Noel Fielding Interview, Part Two: Luxury Comedy

November 10, 2014 by Becca Moody 1 Comment
In the first part of my interview with Noel Fielding, we talked about how he has found performing the first few dates of his tour, An Evening With Noel Fielding. But that’s not all we talked about… During our chat, Noel gave me great insight into the workings behind the second series of Luxury Comedy and how he feels about how people reacted to the show.
© Dave Brown / Channel 4

© Dave Brown / Channel 4

Were you pleased with how the second series of Luxury Comedy was received?

It’s difficult because you want to be free and experiment but a part of you still wants to be accepted. The response to the first series was shocking: people either loved it or hated it and the people that didn’t like it were really hostile. But when you think about it, the Internet didn’t really exist when I did the Boosh and me and Julian weren’t really into that sort of stuff, so we didn’t really get involved in it. But now, the Internet is difficult to ignore and I like to be a bit more involved, a bit more a part of society…

Someone called Luxury Comedy ‘the second 9/11’ which I thought was amazing; I wanted to put that on the DVD cover. But we were never really coming at it from anything other than just an experiment and trying some stuff out.

Some elements I thought were really good, like Serge, from Kasabian, doing the music with me, and we had characters, a story and I thought the animation was amazing. We had loads of people working on the show who were doing an amazing job and I just felt it had potential, so had it set in one place, made the main four characters a family and made it a bit more like a sitcom.

For Series 2, I just used the most successful characters: Fantasy Man, New York Cop, Joey Ramone and we just worked very hard to make the second one more accessible and people seemed to like it.

Fantasy Man

© Dave Brown / Channel 4

We loved all the characters in different ways, but it’s just that there was too many for that first series, it was like a bombardment of characters. Those shows are quite concentrated, even I can only watch about two of them and I have to go “alright, I’ve had enough now”. They’re like undiluted orange juice.

We wanted to make something very different and to try and do something that no one had done before. I think we managed that, but people just want to get the idea and move on; they don’t want to have to watch it two or three times. I think that first series was a bit like a difficult album. You have to watch it two or three times to get into it as it’s quite layered. And television’s quite a disposable medium so it doesn’t get repeated very much so it’s tricky to make television like that. But we did it and I’m proud of it.

Is there still space for the show to change again?

Yeah, but I don’t know, I’d like to do another series. I could just do another one of those, or I could do something different. I’d quite like to do a Fantasy Man series. That could work really well with the juxtaposition between real life, somewhere urban and gritty like Hackney or something, and then this pink fantasy world.

I always talk of a Boosh film too but I sort of got to a point where I really wanted to do something live again and connect with an audience. I’m really enjoying this and I just want to take this as far as I can now.

© Dave Brown / Channel 4

© Dave Brown / Channel 4

Important question here, is Daddy Push ever coming back?

Ah Daddy Push, I love Daddy Push! Do you know what, he was really difficult to get into the series because he’s set in real life. We almost got him in though, we had a joke where we tried to leave the show for a bit because nobody watches this show anyway, and Andy Warhol was going to say ‘but what about the people watching at home?’ and I would say to him ‘what people?’ and then we were going to cut to a family watching our show and it was going be Daddy Push’s family…

Daddy Push and his wife, she was going to have a shell for a head, and the kids, and they had shells for heads, then the dog would have a shell for it’s head. So Daddy Push would be watching our show but it was just for that one moment, and it was too difficult. We’d have had to make a whole like a set; it would have been a nightmare so in the end we didn’t make it but we so wanted to do it.

Me and Nigel love him as well. He was a one off, he’s like Mr Bean, really frightening, horrifying. I’ll have to make a Daddy Push film with him just milling about. I love the fact that you like Daddy Push.

Information regarding Noel’s recently added tour dates for 2015 are here.

CLICK HERE TO READ PART ONE OF MY INTERVIEW WITH NOEL, WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT HIS 2014-15 TOUR.

Posted in: Comedians, Interviews, Television Shows Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Noel Fielding, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

Top 5 Moments… Shooting Stars

October 22, 2014 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

Shooting Stars is without doubt the greatest panel show ever made, with it lasting for a healthy six series and spanning from 1993 to 2011. It remains a source of frustration for me that the programme was cancelled in 2011 as it definitely hadn’t exhausted itself in anyway. The best justification for this may very well be that the comedic style of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer was a tad too strange for a new and evolving audience, though there is still a gap in my life ever since its cancellation. I have very fond memories of being only nine or ten years old and absolutely crying with laughter at the madness that is Shooting Stars, from its Dove From Above round to Vic’s pub singing.

5) Jack Dee Finally Laughs

Every single week, Jack Dee was forced to listen to Vic talk disparagingly of his miserable face. Every single week, Jack Dee remained calm, if a little irritable throughout, until, finally on one fateful episode towards the end of the reign of Vic and Bob’s Shooting Stars, he snapped. The man with “a face like a neglected radish” actually cracked a smile.

4) The Arrival of Angelos Epithemiou

We were all pretty gutted to hear that Matt Lucas would not be returning as Man With The Scores: George Dawes in series 7, but the pain was dulled by the news that he was to be replaced by regular panellist and burger van owner Angelos Epithemiou (played by Dan Skinner). Angelos is a very complex character; an easily aggravated, no-nonsense loner, if you will, with his infamous carrier bag that contains a wild array of goods…

3) Larry Hagman

Poor Dallas star Larry Hagman was in for a big shock when he was booked to appear on the show when he clearly didn’t really understand what it was all about. In fairness, he was a good sport throughout the episode but it was an effort to hide the confusion he inevitably would feel when in the presence of the two madmen. A slightly bewildered Hagman responded to a question from Bob towards the end of the episode, “Are you beginning to think you may sack your agent?” with, “I’ve done some loony shows in my time but this is certainly the one”.

2) Baked Potato

Out of George Dawes’ wonderful back catalogue of ingenious songs, Baked Potato is the one that made me laugh the most. All of the giant baby’s tunes have proved to be very catchy and, of course, hysterically funny over the years but something about the addition of a talking potato really made this song special. This particular number taught its audience many moral lessons such as “do be happy, don’t be sad” and “do be early, don’t be late”. Once you’ve heard it a few times you will find yourself singing it all day everyday so “Thank you Baked Potato!”

1) Tiny Eyes

Not only is the song in this clip absolutely absurd, the visuals also aim to shock: with the eyes of all involved literally being of minute proportions. It is honestly quite difficult to find Tiny Eyes unfunny, especially for a person who ‘understands’ the comedy of Reeves and Mortimer, which appeals to both old and young. The sequel to Tiny Eyes is another must watch due to the faultless insanity and that is entitled Tiny Hands, I’ll leave you to guess the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9UYWa0zZf0

It is important that we celebrate Shooting Stars for the treasure that it was and appreciate the sheer amount of comedic skill hidden beneath the surface, underneath the apparent madness. What is your favourite Shooting Stars moment of all time? Let me know in the comments, or by tweeting me at @moodycomedy.

Want to know what my top five IT Crowd moments are?

Posted in: Comedians, Television Shows, Top 5 Moments Tagged: Angelos Epithemiou, Bob Mortimer, British Comedy, Comedy, Jack Dee, Matt Lucas, Shooting Stars, Vic Reeves
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