Dead Boss

What a load of CRAP ! With Sharon Horgan and Jennifer Saunders, I was really looking forward to seeing this. I could only manage 20 minutes of the first episode and then I just couldn't stand it anymore. The good reviews must be attached to the production. There can be no other reason. Dreadful writing and altogether depressingly unfunny.

This sitcom is co-written by and stars Sharon Horgan, the co-creator of the rather brilliant Pulling, a sitcom which was axed to much outcry some years back. Dead Boss starts at a dizzying pace and the first episode has all the slickness of a 1970's heist movie. The jokes come thick and fast. Much has been made of the cameo by Jennifer Saunders but it is characters of Christina, Helen's arsonist cell mate and the disturbing Top Dog, played beautifully by Lizzie Roper that really steal the show. it is great to see a well written female-led show but after a terrific start the series began to drag, the jokes start to drag and the whodunit storyline begins to sag...it is hard to see how they will eek out a second or even third series. Good fun though

Just as you get to the peak point of the storyline the series is discontinued. Perhaps it was to test audiences for a second season. Whatever the reason it's left a deep frustration as I just discovered this series in 2018. Well written and casted. Some lovely touches to background scenes, especially in the visitors room. It has some great comedic moments. Very British stock characters and some colour by numbers makes for all ages light entertainment. Here's to a denoumont that sees Helens response...once she gets through the appeals process. I think there's still comedy gold to be had in this series.

I cannot believe this was just 6 episodes. Was this canceled? I picked it up on Hulu and thought I missed what happened at the end. It just ended with no resolution of anything. This definitely needs to be continued. It was so creative and funny. It is really the only prison show that did not gross me out. Every character was integral. The mystery put forth was and still is a great cliffhanger. My favorite character had to be the young hot wife. Loved her accent.

Sharon Horgan's series 'Pulling' is my favourite comedy of recent years; but 'Dead Boss', her latest effort, sadly fails to hit the same heights. There are some moments of similar genius, of characters whose hysterically exaggerated behaviours are driven by their own deluded perception of reality; but whereas in 'Pulling', these occurred against a realistic backdrop, in 'Dead Boss', the scenario is an improbable murder mystery, and a women's prison portrayed in a manner you might expect of a 1970s sitcom. For all the sharp lines, the flimsy story fails to provide suspense, and the laughter is muted by the unbelievability of the situation. At times, the programme almost feels like a sketch show, with the plot merely providing an excuse for the jokes; but Horgan's sort of comedy needs to be founded in something that feels true. I've watched comedies with fewer good lines; but it's surprisingly amateurish, and a little disappointing for anyone who knows how good, at her best, Horgan can be.