Nathan Barley

Chris Morris has not, contrary to some people's opinion, failed at producing a truly inspired piece of work in his latest series "Nathan Barley". His talent for humour shines through all over the place, and the show is riddled with almost subliminal jokes. When I watched both of the two first episodes, I was laughing out loud. This certainly rivals "Brass Eye" and "The Day Today" and I would personally rate it above those two.

One thing I will say though is that the people who don't appreciate "Nathan Barley" clearly are the people who find "Friends" funny. There is a lack of the increasingly boring slapstick humour, instead the show is packed with amusing irony and stupid phrases - my favourite: "It's gonna be totally fukin Mexico." I think that Chris and Charlie are onto a winner and avidly await the next four episodes...

People seem to either love or hate this series. I found myself liking some of it, but overall I thought the scripts were underdeveloped. Considering the unrestrained venom that went into the original Nathan Barley character (as realised in the www.tvgohome.com spoof TV listings - which I still find hilarious), this TV series is actually pretty tame (and sometimes lame).

I found some moments of this show funny, but not rolling around on the floor laughing my head off like when watching Brass Eye. Nathan Barley the TV show is just not daring enough. The worst moments are when the shows slip into clichéd sitcom farce, which just doesn't fit the Chris Morris style.

Good, but not great.

Before I watched this series on DVD, I was wondering why there were so many bad reviews by fans of Chris Morris. But now I kind of understood the reason why. Because the story is pretty much about Chris Morris himself; a caricature of what he has achieved and people who appreciate his comedy. Chris Morris's followers are all despised in there. The person who you believe is your 'Preacher Man' now tells you he is an 'Idiot'.....who could instantly appreciate such things? From 'On the Hour 'to 'Blue Jam', he had been making, topical , but more and more excessive humour to the point that no one can really laugh out loud. (Oh, please, is there anyone who's cracked up with the joke about a man who kept committing suicide?) Those jokes are just like Nathan's trashbat.co.ck and what his people find 'COOL'. By watching this sitcom, one could guess a bit about his inner thoughts when he received all those praises and admiration on his works. He might have been in a gridlock because how deviantly he went, no one said no to him and the way out was to ridicule himself in the exactly same way as he did previously. I think Nathan Barley is a natural step for a comic genius like Chris Morris. I really loved it. Glad to purchase this DVD.

Opinions are mixed about Nathan Barley - suffice to say, if you expect Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker to re-hash their earlier work and be satisfied then you've misunderstood their ethos (wheras I'm guessing at it - but at least I'm making an effort!!)

It's not Brasseye or TV Go Home, and why would it be? They're done, they exist and we can watch/read them.

The target for their humour might be narrow, but it works from a city-dweller perspective - and as I recall from my youth, there's always stupid trend-focused fools in villages too!

I loved it - you might? But it's not Jam or Brasseye, or TV Go Home or Charlie's Guardian columns (although I *would* like to see Charlie getting proper spleen-venting exposure!).

I've watched the DVD several times now and I can say it's hilarious. It did take a little to get over the overly annoying characters though but...

I caught this on TV when it came out and I didn't really give it the time and as such... I didn't really get much out of it. To tell you the truth, the character wound me up a lot. Later on a friend pointed out that Chris Morris had directed it, so I had to give it another go.

Being a Chris Morris fan (other for Blue Jam, which I thought was just a little bit too far over the line) I had to give it another go. And it was worth it. Give it a bit of time and there is no turning back. As many have said, it's not an overly obvious joke based Sitcom but it's in the subtleties.

I'd say, give it a go and you MAY love it… or you can give it to a friend. The choice is yours.

Mat