Peep Show

My number 1 series of all time.

If you like to laugh or need cheering up..... Just shaded Curb your enthusiasm...

This is a little gem I found sadly relegated to late-night TV. It's an innovative comedy about two losers who are trying to be cool and get the girls, shot entirely with point-of-view angles (characters talk to the camera as a person or the camera IS the character, depending on who's speaking).

I cannot recommend this show highly enough. British comedy seemed to be on the wane, but this is one of the best written, funniest shows around.

Expect copycat shows using the same style of shooting POV any time soon.

Peep Show is a highly original effort in the world of British Comedy, and the trick it uses aids it as one of the funniest comedies of the last 10 years. You do need to be slightly thick-skinned to appreciate it though...

Mark and Jeremy are 2 loser flat-mates. One's got a turgid office job and is in love with a colleague, and the other, Jeremy, is the leech without a job and failing miserably to do anything worthwhile with his life.

On the face of it sounds not unlike Men Behaving Badly, and there are the 2 women both guys respectively pine for; one being the aforementioned colleague of Mark, and the other being the next door neighbour who Jeremy is desperate to 'have'.

However, Peep Show does 2 things which make it quite unique and laugh-out-loud funny. Firstly it adopts a first person perspective so we see the action not as a 3rd party, but from the very points of view of the characters. Not only this, but we hear their thoughts as well, which means we know what they're really thinking as opposed to only hearing what they actually say. This is a terrific twist and provides genuine hilarity throughout.

The second aspect it adopts is adult humour, and by this I don't mean Viz. It uses sexual situations, drugs, booze, and political incorrectness as incredibly risqué and dark humour, and goes beyond anything I've ever seen before, certainly in sitcom land. It's plainly obvious why it gets an 18 certificate (UK).

Furthermore, the acting itself is absolutely great, and is incredibly conducive to to the script. Because of the strength of the script and the supreme acting, there are many genuinely toe-curling embarrassing moments (But never fail to make you laugh, as opposed to just making you cringe), along with some awkward silences where, for a moment, you actually sympathise with the characters because you 'are' them. But normal hilarity resumes soon after...

This is a terrific series, and genuinely funny. It will not be to everyone's taste, but if you can laugh at yourself you can laugh at this.

Highly recommended.

Peep Show should be watched, studied and enjoyed many times through out for anyone who loves to laugh, love and get a hint as to how to write a well scripted comedy. The characters, the writing and the format is all so original and hilarious. I watch this show probably every day. There is always something new to discover watching and I just fall more in love with the characters each time. Although I am a single female living in America in her late 20's, I had no idea I could have so much in common with a couple of male Brits. The inner monologue is dead on and the emotions are raw but total human. Brilliant. Brilliant.Brilliant.

Along with Ricky Gervais' The Office, Peep Show is my favourite TV show and arguably one of the best sitcoms ever made. The unique inner monologue and POV filming style works to perfection thanks to David Mitchell's dry cynicism and Robert Webb's sneering apathy.

The show takes some getting used to and I would implore everyone to watch at least the first two seasons before giving up on it. It hits it's peak between the 2nd and 4th seasons yet maintains a very high standard right to the end. On top of two great lead performances from Mitchell and Webb, the supporting cast of Olivia Colman, Matt King and Paterson Joseph (amongst many others) are incredible. The show cycles quickly through different characters and storylines and as a result it stays fresh and creative from start to finish.

Not only should you watch Peep Show, you should probably rewatch it 3 or 4 times as well. From there you can join the various online groups dedicated to Peep Show memes and quotes and let it slowly dominate your entire life. This is the gift that keeps on giving, not much comes close.