Toast of Tinseltown

I, like so many, really love the original three seasons of ToL. They're consistently weird and creative, well-written, with great characters and memorable music, some tunes I still hum to myself today. However I think I laughed maybe once this entire series at something other than the main character, and that hurts. Here are some points to consider--

1. I think this show was made at the wrong time. Celebrity fans of the original are awkwardly skyped in on product-placed laptops and tablets, and it bears the dated stamp of something made during the pandemic. I know no one's getting any younger, but if faced with that choice, use some no-name American actors or just wait for this to pass. It's hard to feel like Toast is in Tinseltown when all of Tinseltown just seems to phone it in.

2. No songs. The songs in ToL were like beautiful little pathos bombs, giving humorous and truthful insights into Toast and others to show an understanding that he isn't just a clown, but an insecure, genuine human. None of that carries over to ToT and it is sorely missed.

3. Watching Fred Armisen is like listening to comedy on its death bed while he holds the pillow over its face. Why he was cast in a major supporting role I'll never understand.

4. The only American celebrity who didn't make me cringe when onscreen was Rashida Jones. She plays a real human being who acts as Toast's confidant. Ed, though a creepy old pervert, always lends an ear or has Toast's back (quite literally in the stage fright episode). A character like Steven needs that, and she provides the other leg for him to stand on.

5. The only reason I give it the score it has is because of Toast himself. Matt Berry is as effortlessly funny and appealing as ever, and a pitiful loser like him (Toast, not Berry) only gets funnier the older he gets. It was a pleasure to see him and his world again.

It is a very disappointing follow-up to a show I truly love. But, as the Man himself sings, "all men somehow pay for love".

The Toast Of Tinseltown ..

Matt Berry leads the cast as the washed up, flaky thespian on the search for work more interesting than voice-over work, that appears to be matched with his limited skills.

He pursues his particular brand of quirky surreal situation comedy and it's a winning and inventive formula.

I'm giving this a firm 8 outta 10.

Toast heads to Hollywood, landing a part in the new star wars movie, but until that time he has to make his way, that involves acting, training and of course voice overs.

Overall, I quite enjoyed it, in real terms, it's taken me almost eighteen months to watch the complete series, there is something in that, whereas the original series I have seen many times over.

The best thing about Toast of Tinseltown of course is Matt Berry, and he is great, if the show comes back I'd love to see the setting switch back to The UK, I'm not quite sure The Hollywood setting works.

There are several funny scenes throughout, but I'd argue the best of them come with the show's originals, Ed, Ray Purchase, Danny Bear and of course the wonderful Clem Fandango. There are some big names to watch out for, I'm not sure they help drive the humour, or are simply there as a big name, make your own minds up.

It's surreal, it's even more off the scale than the original series, sometimes it works, sometimes, like in the fifth episode, it's just baffling.

I get why some raved about it, and why some hated it, in the scale of when it was made and how, it's decent.

7/10.

So I've binged all six episodes and here's my conclusion.

Taking esteemed British actor Steven Toast to LA was clearly intended to generate a new angle for the jokes. But it's the American influence that is the series' greatest weakness.

You get the sense that the writers were so star-struck by the cameos they managed to secure - most of which are literally "phoning it in" - that the usual humour of Toast is completely disrupted. I won't spoil who appears in the show - but it's certainly impressive. Perhaps the producers have one eye on international sales?

Episode one is a waste, creating an un-Toast-like situation to force him to leave for the States.

Episode 2 is stuffed with American cameos and a complete failure.

However all is not lost.

Episode 3 loses the American cameos and is all the better because of it. Episode 4 and 5 return to the classic "Toast" format and are right up there with anything from London, while Episode 6 is a fitting climax to his adventure across the pond.

There may not have been any actual filming overseas because the two US stars that have more than a cameo only appear on one set. This is London masquerading as California, with a great cast of British actors and comedians masquerading as Americans.

Stick with it. It has some brilliant moments. But it doesn't reach the sustained peaks of Toast of London.

A continuation of Toast of London - the same disorder continues into Tinseltown. One-off episode characters are good additions as the contrast between the UK and US can be mocked, but the new characters that span the series are simply irritating. Repeated jokes and callbacks, Toast is an excellent character in the new setting, and whilst still not hilarious, certainly amusing and wacky enough for easy entertainment.