Chewin' the Fat

Just got turned on to Chewin the fat. Absolutely brilliant Glaswegian comedy. Burned through every Still Game episodes and found this precursor. Though not from Scotland, having been multiples of times to Bonhill and Islay, found this one piece that made it all make sense. Laugh out loud comedy, crude or not. For those with tender mercies on their sleeves, leave this be. For others, like me, who found the comedic locale of Glasgow forbidding and hilarious, this hit the spot. Indeed, not for everyone. Yet, if you want to peer into the Glaswegian wit and lack of sensibility, this is the ticket. Give it a go if you have the patience for not so mainline sketch comedy. Worth every minute.

I've lived in one of the rougher areas of Glasgow all my life and grew up with such comedies as Rab C Nesbit and Naked Video, and i can honestly say that Chewin' the Fat is a near perfect representation of real life in this part of the dear green city! The characters portrayed in the show are people i see in every day life - there's a Jack and Victor on most Glaswegian buses at any given point in the day! And an earlier comment made about the school teacher and her pupils being disrespectful, well thats exactly what happened when i was at school and i have it on good authority from my younger brother that the case is still the same today. If you don't 'get it' then fair enough but no show on TV has annoyed me enough to make me feel like logging on here and going off on a multi-page rant about it. Basically if you don't like it - then its probably not been aimed at you in the first place, so get over it.

I've read reviews to say it's not for non-Scots due to the culture etc. I'm Welsh and I've loved every minute, so much more than the 'valley' culture that infests our shows. I'm a city boy so I cannot identify with the Welsh sitcoms/sketch shows (fact I don't speak Welsh is a factor too)

Roland Villiers, The lighthouse men, the crazy shop lady, the camp banter boys - it's brilliant.

Some say to avoid this and watch Little Britain instead. For me that ran out after 2 series but they kept going and was much more crude - only Tom Baker's linking bits were worth it.

Half way through this (finished S2), two more to go and it's great to see the origin of Jack and Victor from Still Game - plus regular guest roles from Paul and Mark who played Winston and Tam.

Chewin the fat is brilliant!! An so is still game!! A can imagine it must b hard for ppl tht r no from scotland to understand the accent! A cannie wait for them both 2 come bak on! Coz they r so funny! Did ne one c the episode were the ned's dog jump over the edge of the flat?

Aye, yer gonnae sh**e yerself from laughin!

Take a bit of Monty Python, add The League of Gentlemen, then scrap all the bad stuff and give it a real edge and a heavy Scottish accent and you have Chewin' The Fat, a marvelous show from the brains of Ford Keirnan and Greg Hemphill (plus Paul, Karen, Julie and the rest). With recurring characters and a few story lines, this sketch comedy series is as brilliant as it is sometimes rude and crude. You need to have a good ear for the accents, and there are a few references that may go over your head, but the three 6-episode series (plus the Live! show and their "Still Game" stage play on DVD) are about the best thing to come along in years. And a fourth series is due in November 2001!

This is not for kids. And I'd recommend that anyone who gets upset by mothers proudly telling their friends that they "need to do more laundry these days because their 14 year old son has just started mastrubating" stay clear. A solid 5 of 5 points.