Supernova

Fun light weight comedy enjoyable & a amazing cast!

A comedy about Astronomy professors in an observatory?

Yup that is exactly what it was! I enjoyed the sheer wackiness of this brilliant little gem.

Some of its humour comes from clever in-jokes about matters astronomical - some from the cultural interplay between the English professor and his Australian colleagues and some from the lovable eccentricity of all seven characters.

Occasional contrived situations did occur but the excellent cast carried them off with verve.

The BBC decided that the show might have limited appeal only and so, giving it little publicity, consigned it to a graveyard slot on a minority channel.

What a shame they hadn't the guts to substitute Supernova for one of their multitude of prime-time soaps - they might have got a pleasant surprise.

I like Supernova, saw it on public TV when it was new, and I've never forgotten it. That's a show with some power to it, and I'd expect it to be a cult favorite someday.

It's certainly not lowest common denominator comedy, there aren't any belly laughs or one-liners. It can be goofy as well as intellectual, mostly it's just offside. The central character is nervous, neurotic, and though he and everyone else consider him odd-man-out in the place, actually they're all so strange, he fits right in.

For me, the best character was the younger bed partner for the woman heading up the observatory's work. He's indigenous Australian from a very tiny settler's town nearby, and perhaps the most modern-day well adjusted of the bunch. The town's rough pub is the only other setting, and the observatory people can drink as dedicatedly as townspeople who seem to seldom leave the bar.

If you're bored by average sitcoms, I'd recommend this. After all, if you don't like it, you've wasted very little time. It's completely non-mainstream, no doubt that's why the series is so short.

It's really interesting to read what others have said about this program. It could be because i'm Australian, but i really didn't see what was so great about this program. I'm a huge fan of Rob Brydon, and usually i find his comedy hilarious, as well as that i've enjoyed work by many of the Australian actors in the show, but to me it seems like a lot of corny jokes and bad attempts at laughing at Australian outback culture. I'm not getting on my high horse because i'm Australian either, i love making fun of Australian culture particularly bush culture (that sounded horrible of me), but it has to be done properly, and i just didn't think this was. It just seemed to me that the writing was a big let down for an idea that could have been amazing.

The show is set around a deep space observatory in Central Australia and the personalities of those who work within.

The facility is staffed by Aussies except for one English interloper and it is he who adds a delightful twist to many a circumstance.

The eclectic group that staff the facility is highly intelligent, extraordinarily dedicated and personally insecure.

The facility is located not too far from a small outback Aussie town. ( A Pub, a shop and a couple of houses )

This creates a beautiful dynamic between the staff, internally at the facility and the staff with the locals of the town.

This interplay makes for much light hearted humour, very little seriousness and a jolly good time.

The Aussie outback shines almost as much as the delightful performances, the whacki humour and the night sky.