New sketch comedy shows aren't that common in Australia so it was with great interest that I watched this show, but sadly found it a huge disappointment.
The best thing about the show was that the premise behind a lot of the sketches were funny - but then that was completely smothered and killed in the way they were then played out and made.
Each sketch for the most part was acted, directed and filmed in the style of a drama. This changed their meaning and feeling completely and made what should have been quick and funny (even absurd) scenes slow, torturous and uncomfortable - for example the Prius driving dinner guest. Most of the sketches looked and felt like they were excerpts out of a drama film - and not comedy sketches at all.
There's so much good sketch comedy around from the last 50 or so years - it's not actually rocket science - you think the makers of this show would have done a bit of research. If they were trying to be different just for the sake of it - it's created a flawed product - if they were trying to be different to be funnier - it again hasn't worked. You just have to look at Micallef's Mad As Hell to see there's still a lot of new laughs to be got with in established styles and formats. Reinventing the wheel here has only given us a worse wheel.
The best thing about the show was that the premise behind a lot of the sketches were funny - but then that was completely smothered and killed in the way they were then played out and made.
Each sketch for the most part was acted, directed and filmed in the style of a drama. This changed their meaning and feeling completely and made what should have been quick and funny (even absurd) scenes slow, torturous and uncomfortable - for example the Prius driving dinner guest. Most of the sketches looked and felt like they were excerpts out of a drama film - and not comedy sketches at all.
There's so much good sketch comedy around from the last 50 or so years - it's not actually rocket science - you think the makers of this show would have done a bit of research. If they were trying to be different just for the sake of it - it's created a flawed product - if they were trying to be different to be funnier - it again hasn't worked. You just have to look at Micallef's Mad As Hell to see there's still a lot of new laughs to be got with in established styles and formats. Reinventing the wheel here has only given us a worse wheel.