Have to admit I only watched the start of this on our lovely BBC 3 while waiting for the paint to dry on the bathroom wall...
Why is it that our contemporary sitcom writers (note for overseas readers, the whole genre has been practically moribund in the UK for some time now, except for this thing called 'My Family' which is just about as inspired as the title suggests)think they can get away with just copying whatever has recently been successful overseas without anyone noticing? All 5 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm are available to buy in pretty much any HMV or Virgin store no matter how hard the schedulers have tried to hide it away on regular TV. What this pale, pale, imitation is lacking is Larry David. And pretty much everything else. The lead character (whose name I can't be bothered to check so for argument's sake I'll call him Not Larry David) is for some reason married to the US actress Elizabeth McGovern who seems to be playing herself. Wow, what a coup for the BBC - Elizabeth McGovern!! Why not stump up the whole hundred quid and get Ally Sheedy for cripes sake! Other seen-better-days celebrities flit ind out of the (in)action.The rest of the set-up isn't even worth going into. It looks dull, it smells dull, and by God it is dull! That paint on the wall is looking more and more enticing. Back in the late 90s our beloved BBC(further note to overseas readers; each owner of a TV set in the UK pays over £100 pounds per year to the BBC whether we choose to watch their channel or not, this is called a license fee and is mostly spent on hallucinogenic drugs if their output is anything to go by) made one season of a very amusing sitcom called Hippies. It wasn't widely admired but it was written by the guys behind Father Ted and it starred a young Simon (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) Pegg. At the end of its 6 episode run the Announcer informed us that a second series would follow the next year. It never did. I'm an unforgiving sort of guy. What's the betting that 'Freezing' (Larry David, you're richer than God, you don't need to sue but please, don't let that stop you) will be hailed as the new 'Cold Feet' and run and run and run........