Peep Show

Peep Show is a highly original effort in the world of British Comedy, and the trick it uses aids it as one of the funniest comedies of the last 10 years. You do need to be slightly thick-skinned to appreciate it though...

Mark and Jeremy are 2 loser flat-mates. One's got a turgid office job and is in love with a colleague, and the other, Jeremy, is the leech without a job and failing miserably to do anything worthwhile with his life.

On the face of it sounds not unlike Men Behaving Badly, and there are the 2 women both guys respectively pine for; one being the aforementioned colleague of Mark, and the other being the next door neighbour who Jeremy is desperate to 'have'.

However, Peep Show does 2 things which make it quite unique and laugh-out-loud funny. Firstly it adopts a first person perspective so we see the action not as a 3rd party, but from the very points of view of the characters. Not only this, but we hear their thoughts as well, which means we know what they're really thinking as opposed to only hearing what they actually say. This is a terrific twist and provides genuine hilarity throughout.

The second aspect it adopts is adult humour, and by this I don't mean Viz. It uses sexual situations, drugs, booze, and political incorrectness as incredibly risqué and dark humour, and goes beyond anything I've ever seen before, certainly in sitcom land. It's plainly obvious why it gets an 18 certificate (UK).

Furthermore, the acting itself is absolutely great, and is incredibly conducive to to the script. Because of the strength of the script and the supreme acting, there are many genuinely toe-curling embarrassing moments (But never fail to make you laugh, as opposed to just making you cringe), along with some awkward silences where, for a moment, you actually sympathise with the characters because you 'are' them. But normal hilarity resumes soon after...

This is a terrific series, and genuinely funny. It will not be to everyone's taste, but if you can laugh at yourself you can laugh at this.

Highly recommended.

This is one of those programs you can watch time and time again.

My number 1 series of all time.

If you like to laugh or need cheering up..... Just shaded Curb your enthusiasm...

An utterly, blindingly funny show from Channel 4 (which was put out on E4, for some reason. Why do they do that? ) It is a terrible shame that more people can't see it. If you like shows like Bottom, BlackAdder, Fifteen Stories High, etc., you'll love this. (Its adult content, however, may preclude less prurient viewers from concurring.) Brief summary: the camera acts alternately as either of the central characters in this show - hence the title. They are both deeply flawed individuals, unable to grasp the causal origins of their unmitigated life-failure, let alone find the inner resources to affect any solution. The show is really about pain - and you won't enjoy it unless you are quite capable of laughing at your own.

Can't praise its originality enough. 10/10.

...and also consider how strange your own life can be, how unusual your own thoughts and reasoning seem when viewed through the eyes of another. The idea is much more than a gimmick; it forms the backbone and provides a lot of the most hilarious and often shocking moments of the show.

Like all good concepts that are given a successful platform to work from, you wonder why the idea wasn't more popular beforehand. Webb and Mitchell have a dark, dry sense of humour that will appeal only to certain individuals not so bound by convention, somewhat bohemian if you will. People not afraid to admit that their own thoughts and actions can seem completely bizarre when given a different perspective.

To really appreciate the show you definitely have to put yourself in the shoes of the two leads. You have to share in their shame, humiliations and triumphs - literally getting out what you put in. This is no soap opera that you tune into so that you can tune out, this is one that demands your full attention.

Webb and Mitchell have a lot of calibre as actors as this show is obviously very difficult to film, being as it is almost entirely filmed through the eyes of the duo. A lot of tricky close camera situations and complex edits are used and work seamlessly.

It certainly won't appeal to everyone - if it did it wouldn't be a very good show would it? - but those ready for challenging, dynamic television should buy the first two seasons on DVD and enjoy.