Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby

Gormsby is the epitome of low-budget, hilarious, bad taste comedy. You can't help but love both the over the top M.E Gormsby but also the unpolished yet rounded performances of the students, particularly ho heppa, alapeppi and afionga. Characters like morton, dasent, leslie and particularly Steve, from guidance, are welcome in any show i watch, anytime. just gold. I pity anyone who cant grasp the subtle but in your face irony of the humour at play here- i think the Australian show 'summer heights high' has taken a character liked ho heppa and dumbed it down to the lowest common denominator. Gormsby is #1 in this genre and although series 2 doesn't live up to the height of the first, i'm happy to sing the praises of 7PWMG til the cows come home.

The series is compact, the story lines and the comedy are free free flowing, and the characterisation is sharply focused and consistent.

Those who have found the individual performances poor, in particular one "Cranky Carrot," will be unable to enjoy the total production, which is a great shame, because the performances are actually very even and extremely well controlled by excellent direction and supported by first class script work.

Perhaps it helps to have lived and worked in NZ, but I had no problem associating with the character types and found great delight in the profoundly human elements of the story lines.

Here is a beautifully constructed piece of theatre, where comedy, drama and the truth about social politics meld, to create a satirical and sociological comment that all people should be able to grasp and appreciate, as it lampoons social politics; both the so called incorrect, and the so called correct.

Everything about this show is genius. It's laugh out loud funny, every minute. You'll find yourself watching and rewatching just to remember some of Gormsby's funniest lines so you can repeat them to your friends. But at the same time the characters and their circumstances are well developed and believable. The show frequently comes up with lines and moments that tell us a lot about the world we live in.

You have to have a thick skin and a healthy sense of humour to watch Gormsby. If you're easily offended, don't bother. This is a show for people who love life and love to laugh.

Ten stars.

When told about this series, I've got to admit, I was a little skeptical at first that this show could be as funny as everyone was saying it was. I couldn't have been more wrong. The microcosmic world of Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby is extremely well developed, each character, no matter how insignificant they may seem, has their own part to play in amplifying the hilarity of the series.

David McPhail is absolutely outstanding in his role as Mr Gormsby, I will never look at spelling the same way again.

Definitely a series not to be missed, I have not laughed that hard in a long time.

The characters are deliberately predictable, being a parody, except for the star Mr Gormsby. Predicting his next action is a little like picking lotto numbers, as his behaviour often appears to contradict his beliefs, until matters unfold. The second series shocks less than the first and seemed a little tamer. Never-the-less it is a very funny show. Those with no understanding of Kiwi multi-cultural values will struggle with some of the humour and may be intellectually challenged by this series. I was not aware of any New Zealand comedy shows, before coming across this on Oz television, except rugby shows where English and Australian commentators whine about how good the All Blacks are.