Love Soup

Love soup is screening for the first time in New Zealand (Feb 2007). In a country where television is increasingly dominated by (mainly) brain dead American trash, I am heartened that some enlightened buyer has purchased a program that appeals to people with a brain. I would not describe it as a comedy perse. The humour is subtle and not obvious to anyone who has not been "through the traps". My fascination is due to usually being totally wrong when trying to predict what happens next. I mean how many girls do you come across with a full body tattoo? Like many well written works, the series touches on many of the taboos that we all eventually experience to some degree or other.

If you like droll and witty, you'll love this. If low brow, slutty, British sit com fare is your style, this is definitely not for you. First of all it's very smart stuff. Secondly the script is handled very deftly by almost everyone connected with it. Kudos to the director! Tamsin Grieg has a face built for comedy, a sort of sexier Lily Tomlin, and her timing is exquisite! The American (a real one, for a change) is excellent as well, if a tad too good looking for a lonely single.

The two play a couple, possibly (hopefully) destined to meet, but in the mean time they passively, reluctantly, pursue the dating game. Each episode is another disaster waiting to happen. Sometimes you can see it coming other times you can't, but you know it's coming. Just what will make this one a disaster?

My favorite scene, so far, is when the parents of Tamsin's ex boyfriend of some 10 years, show up to tell her he's passed away and to hand over tapes he made of him and Tamsin having sex. The old couple play it absolutely straight and innocently, and Tamsin's facial expressions show her skills as a comedian, who knows how to be subtle, instead of obvious.

My wife is impatient to have the two meet, but I want to wait and savor the moment, when (if) it comes.

Alice and Gil independently wander through life wondering if there is anyone else on the planet who 'get' them...

This is a beautifully observed, hilariously acted set of 6 hour-long episodes, posing the question 'is there really a perfect partner for each of us, and if so, how do we meet them?'. Renwick creates one cringingly funny situation after another, and he is ably served by Tamsin Greig and Michael Landes as Alice and Gil. Greig is particularly wonderful, underplaying brilliantly in the face of one embarrassment after another. Smith and Lombard are also fantastic as Alice's colleagues, and Styler is a revelation as Gil's frustrated neighbour Irene. Occasionally 60 minutes feels a little long, but on the whole an unmissable show. Role on Season 2?

A wry and enjoyable programme and unlike bob from America, Gil's dialogue doesn't bother me as I am British and this is a British programme for British people. I don't like the way American writers write dialogue for British characters in American programmes, as it is not an accurate portrayal of the way we use our language, but I understand that they are writing for an American audience and not trying to portray an accurate representation of our way of speaking.

The idea that two people are the ideal partners for each other but are completely unaware of each other and to tell their story in this way is intriguing. I understand that it is inspired by how the writer met his own wife. Will they get together? I hope we get to find out.

Love Soup is a reflection of all of us. We all want to meet that particular person that just seems to be our Mr/Mrs Right. Most of us can't really define it, we just know it exists. Love Soup's opening gambit is really a suggestion that perhaps somewhere on this planet at this moment in time is a person who is absolutely perfect for you. You may live on the same street or they may be living at the other side of the world. Whatever scenario exists you may never ever meet.

Love Soup explores the lives of Alice and Gil in tandem. They don't know each other but live in the same part of Britain. It becomes apparent very quickly that both Alice and Gil are looking for the same things. They have similar ideologies and similar outlooks on life. They are both quirky eccentrically shy oddballs who look upon the world with innocently suspicious eyes. It is with this conflict that David Renwick explores both of the characters worlds with comedic marvel! Some of the jokes are superbly built into the storyline as to be absolutely crucial and some are just amazingly crafted to make you laugh out loud then laugh again when you see more and more meanings dangling off the same scene.

The tempo of the series is crafted perfectly. You are sucked in and after the first two episodes you are hooked. David Renwick was clever enough to increase the level of laughs perfectly as the series went on until he could afford to introduce the darker elements of the plot without detracting from the audiences enjoyment. The scripting is exceptionally clever on so many levels that it really makes you want to watch more. The ending came and was exactly what I hoped for. The message was quite clear through the series and ended as it should. Lots of roller coaster twists are added too! - it is all in there! I do hope that this will not be turned into another series because it will just become something it should never be. I am quite happy to think of Alice and Gil stumbling around the dating game with their embarrassed squints of pain when it all goes wrong. BRAVO David! Please write more television!