Horne & Corden

We started to watch this the other night and after 15 minutes, my fiancée turned to my and said "this is sh1%, I am going to sleep". Not exactly constructive criticism, but to the point and all too accurate. This was tortuously unfunny, which is sad because I really wanted to like it. The two leads are so funny and likable in Gavin and Stacey- but this is a sketch show, a totally different animal. The writing, performing and set up is different to a sitcom series, and the decision to apparently give them creative control has got to be questioned on this debacle. I have to question who was watching the sketches and nodding approval? They should have been offering advice or telling them straight "this isn't going to work, it's just not funny". If you look at recent sketch show success (and there isn't a lot) such as Little Britain, The Fast Show, Harry Enfield and chums and compare them to this, they are poles apart. New (better) writers and less "yes men" required and I fear the new film "Lesbian Vampire Killers" will be as poor. Corden and Horne's stock is currently high, but will not remain so if they keep this up. Awful.

Not only because of the puerile, idiotic subject matter of the sketches but also because of the simple lack of comedy are Horne and Corden utterly depraved and without hope walking alone in the comedy world. A degree of skill in comedic acting of course does not imply a skill in comedic writing, Horne & Corden being the perfect example. How the two ended up with creative control… well, I shudder to think how the producers couldn't seem to tell them that the material being filmed just wasn't funny. I disliked it from episode one but I gave it a fighting chance. However, instead of fighting it floundered, and not once in three episodes have I laughed. And don't get me wrong, I'm a fun guy. I'll crack a smile at the worst of times, only Horne & Corden was worse than I thought possible. And it's a shame, too. I really was prepared to like it. I like them both so much. Or at least I thought I did.

The sketch show is of course a dangerous beast, the best some do is pack a decent amount of laughs into the first few episodes before the whole affair gets stale, but these two idiots have managed to produce a purely depressing programme in which the sketches drag on with no real jokes of any possible identification. Sit through a Xander sketch and try not to squirm. Switch off as the two morons dressed in super hero outfits ramble on about God-knows-what, but it sure as hell isn't funny. Then turn off the TV.

This programme would have been thoroughly ignorable if it hadn't been for the BBC's hype of it and the popularity of Gavin and Stacy.

Firstly I'll confess to being one of those strange people who don't think that Gavin and Stacey is the most wonderful sitcom in history, but as much as I could do, I tried out Horne and Corden with as open a mind as possible.

I need not of bothered, I can sum it up by saying throughout the shows I've seen, my mouth has literally dropped open in amazement, at just how unfunny and lame this show is.

The 'studio' segments are dismal only serving to show up James Corden as a deeply irritating 'man of the moment' and sadly once into the sketch parts, it doesn't improve. Numerous 'ha ha look at Corden's belly jokes' are bad enough but the 'gay northern reporter' is comedy reaching a new low.

I'm all for offensive comedy personally, but to work it really has to be funny, nothing I saw in this debacle reached that level.

I'm angry at myself for a start here, after falling in love with the show "Gavin and Stacey" I, very stupidly, got very hyped for this. Needless to say, it did not satisfy my hype. Although just to make clear, I am not judging this as bad simply in comparison to "Gavin and Stacey", as a stand alone show I found this utterly unbearable.

My main gripe with this show is the fact that it seems so awkward all the time. Every single scene, it seemed like they just weren't comfortable with their parts and of course, didn't pull it off well. Add this to the fact that, at least as a comedic duo, there is no chemistry between the two lead actors, it just makes it incredibly hard for what I imagine would be a lot of people.

In my opinion, they neither got the acting right or the writing. Maybe if they had got better writers on the show, then it could have been a far better show. Although, even with the best writers, I just don't see Matthew Horne and James Corden as a suitable duo for a sketch show.

I quite enjoyed Gavin and Stacey, so I was looking forward to seeing the two boys with their own sketch show. "What could go wrong?" I asked myself. And the answer, was nothing. From the joke where the fat one wobbles his belly to the joke where the thin one rolls around on the fat one, I was in creases for the entirety of the first episode. By the time second episode came around, I was a little cautious - could they have lost their touch? Would the material have gotten stale after the first, mindblowing, series of sketches? It was a worry, to be sure!

Once again, however, I was not disappointed. This time around, the fat one and the thin one were being superheroes, with an hilarious homosexual subtext as the fat one hugged the thin one for a clearly uncomfortable length of time, and touched his leg as well. But, even should this prove a little too "close-to-the-bone", as it were, for some viewers - fear not. There were still some classic moments, such as the sketch where the fat one wobbled his belly again, or the camp news reporter getting into all sorts of sticky situations - much to the dismay of his boss back in the studio!!

I'm four episodes in now and I can't wait until next week's. I hope the fat one and the thin one do some dancing again, because that was just the bee's knees of comedy. The only complaint I have is that I could not be in the audience for the studio section - Fingers crossed for a season 2!!!