Dead Pixels

This British series has come to the states with an irreverent sense of humor that is refreshing. Though it lampoons those who dedicate their lives to online games, especially RPGs, it does so lovingly.

This is a show aimed at adults. But the version I am watching is liberally peppered with censoring beeps and pixelations, which is annoying.

Fortunately, the writing is so strong and the acting is so good that it is still a joy to watch. You don't have to be an avid gamer to enjoy the humor, but the more you know about their virtual world the more you can appreciate the inside references, which are abundant.

The three main characters see the real world as mere distractions from their calling, which is to thrive in the virtual world of Kingdom Scrolls, their online addiction.

In one scene, Meg (Alexa Davies) stops to berate a young woman waiting for a bus, because she does not deserve to wear the game-culture paraphernalia she displays. As only someone her age might do, Meg sees the affront as a serious appropriation of virtual cultures. Such "badges" must be earned by being a "slave to the game."

The juxtaposition of people and their avatars, real world and fantasy world, real life and virtual existence is a conceit rife with comic opportunities. "Dead Pixels" does a good job of mining real comedy gold.

Niche comedy probably best enjoyed by gamers, although the humour feels fairly inclusive and more rips into the central character's life choices. You would expect a series purely about one fantasy game would be quite limiting, but each episode does feel different enough whilst providing a series arc.

The laughs definitely come from Nicky and Russell (a role really evidently made for Jamie Demetriou - as seen in Avatards - but still brilliantly played by Mumeni nonetheless), with Alison providing a funny outside view. The concept of Meg is good, but doesn't provide many laugh out loud moments. Still, really easy watch, funny for the most part, and pretty original.

I can see this series being re-commissioned, it will be interesting to see how these characters develop. The first couple of episodes seem a little forced, but by episode 3 I was really quite enjoying it. If you haven't seen it, give it a try. Well worth a watch.

If you're a gamer, you'll love all the in jokes. If not, you'll still love the subtle humour. Best comedy in years IMHO. Not one for Vince Vaughan fans though...

I'm not an MMORPG player but I have dabbled in the past, as well as being a huge single player gamer. Gamers need to get behind and support content like this, because outside of Go 8-bit I can't think of anything else gamer related on TV, despite gaming being a bigger market than films now.

The acting is good, and the interactions between the different characters are amusing, but Russel steals it for me. Plenty of laugh out loud moments for me (and my husband who isn't a gamer!) and that's rare for me with comedy. There is lots of satire here and it's a genuine shame there weren't more episodes in the series.