The Catherine Tate Show

"Is an old woman swearing funny" - "This sort of comedy is done 100 times better by Matt Lucas in little Britain". Well in that case is a pedantic man in a wheelchair funny? Comedy is subjective, Catherine Tate's observations are spot on, OK granted some of the sketches go on too long, the essex couple (with Lee Ross) spring to mind, but the gran sketch has characteristics present in old people all across the country. Will this be shown in twenty years time, who knows but i was brought up on Not the nine o clock news also and a lot of that Doesn't stand the test of time and is very dated, as is a lot of the young ones. If you don't like it don't watch, but a lot of other people do.............................

As I wish to be a comedienne when I grow up I take a real interest in the many comedy acts out there and am not surprised to find that girls are outnumbered by men. Without a doubt, Catherine Tate is the female Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Her show The Catherine Tate show is a parody of Little Britain and just goes to show, whatever men can do so can girls. I find it a real shame that The Catherine Tate show hasn't had as much success as Little Britain because some of her characters will have Lucas and Walliam's kicking themselves (and wetting themselves) for not coming up with them. However I must say that Matt Lucas and Catherine Tate make a good argument for the way comedy is made through making people laugh at themselves (mostly chavs)...! Last words: "Are you disrespecting me?" No, we uphold most respect where it is due and here it most certainly is!

I beg to differ with the other IMDb-er who finds this show, and Catherine Tate, unfunny, trite, and so forth.

Her show comes through on BBC America on my TV cable service and I only recently discovered it. It might help if I had a slightly sharper ear for British accents, especially those of the "lower classes" (no offense intended), but I have no doubt that this lady is an extremely gifted comic actress, a virtual chameleon (assisted by some extraordinarily talented makeup artists), who has provided some of the most solid laughs I've enjoyed in some time.

In my book she's right up there with her fellow Brits, Mollie Sugden, Paricia Routledge, et al. and her Canadian counterparts, Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara. And let's not forget an American, the inimitable Joan Cusack, who deserves her place right alongside her peers from outside our borders. My enthusiastic compliments to you all, ladies!

Little Britain is a very funny sketch show but it is nowhere near as well observed as Catherine's masterpiece. Compare Vicky Pollard and Lauren. Many assume that Lauren is Catherine's attempt to imitate and cash in on Lucas's Pollard. But the character of Lauren was invented long before that of Pollard and is a far richer observation of today's inarticulate, low-aspiring youth. Pollard is a much more surreal character, someone who wouldn't be of place in Royston Vasey. Lauren however is scarily real.

Also the 'Nan' is possibly the second funniest 'Nan' creation in recent times, second only to the slightly more sublimity that is 'Nanna' in The Royle Family.

In fact, the majority of sketches on the Catherine Tate Show are very strong. It is just that people assume that a show that has so many different sketches with such a limited number of performers will be stale, but it's not. In fact, it's fantastic.

I laughed all the way through the one show I saw. Catherine Tate sets up several situations...in this case a housewife who jumps at the slightest noise, a new mother who will do anything to keep from waking the baby while people try to give her a birthday party, a hateful grandmother being visited by her grandson, and several others, and revisits their scenes in turn throughout the show. The premises are skimpy, it is true, but I didn't notice that until this other reviewer pointed it out because her characterizations were hilarious. I'm a Californian so I really had to focus to make out what some of the characters were saying as she uses various accents from all over England. I would be very pleased to see more of Catherine Tate.