Chewin' the Fat

Personally, I think that part of the genius of Chewin' the Fat is that it doesn't need to be prestigious or live up to any kind of predecessor to be quality entertainment.

There're countless jokes in the show which can simply be described as plainly silly, but its this naïvety and disregard for intellect makes these sketches hysterical on even the most primitive of levels.

Chewin' the Fat is more orientated (and, indeed, is prone to subjectiveness) around the Glasgow way of life as opposed to that of Scotland in general; hence it's likely to appeal to an even more limited audience than anticipated.

It's unjust to write of this show as a failure to amuse due to its skin-deep lack of precision, but this programme has mair baws than is widely concievable because the creators were aware that it didn't need to live up to any bygone acts.

Top-notch; just don't watch it too many times :)

OK the series that was broadcast nationally was by far their worst, I gave up watchin it but the rest of it was brilliant. It represents stereotypes of the scots, ie the ponces from edinburgh (oh! the banter), the weegies. there were other great characters such as the 2 old men, jack and victor [featured in the spin off still game]. the kind of characters u see around Scotland. before u slag off a show u shld get a good idea of what ur slagging. u cant just brand all Scottish comedy rubbish... I'm too young for Rab C Nesbitt but i do know that chewing the fat was a great show and its spin off, Still Game is the best Scottish comedy ever

Aye, yer gonnae sh**e yerself from laughin!

Take a bit of Monty Python, add The League of Gentlemen, then scrap all the bad stuff and give it a real edge and a heavy Scottish accent and you have Chewin' The Fat, a marvelous show from the brains of Ford Keirnan and Greg Hemphill (plus Paul, Karen, Julie and the rest). With recurring characters and a few story lines, this sketch comedy series is as brilliant as it is sometimes rude and crude. You need to have a good ear for the accents, and there are a few references that may go over your head, but the three 6-episode series (plus the Live! show and their "Still Game" stage play on DVD) are about the best thing to come along in years. And a fourth series is due in November 2001!

This is not for kids. And I'd recommend that anyone who gets upset by mothers proudly telling their friends that they "need to do more laundry these days because their 14 year old son has just started mastrubating" stay clear. A solid 5 of 5 points.

I've read reviews to say it's not for non-Scots due to the culture etc. I'm Welsh and I've loved every minute, so much more than the 'valley' culture that infests our shows. I'm a city boy so I cannot identify with the Welsh sitcoms/sketch shows (fact I don't speak Welsh is a factor too)

Roland Villiers, The lighthouse men, the crazy shop lady, the camp banter boys - it's brilliant.

Some say to avoid this and watch Little Britain instead. For me that ran out after 2 series but they kept going and was much more crude - only Tom Baker's linking bits were worth it.

Half way through this (finished S2), two more to go and it's great to see the origin of Jack and Victor from Still Game - plus regular guest roles from Paul and Mark who played Winston and Tam.

I've lived in one of the rougher areas of Glasgow all my life and grew up with such comedies as Rab C Nesbit and Naked Video, and i can honestly say that Chewin' the Fat is a near perfect representation of real life in this part of the dear green city! The characters portrayed in the show are people i see in every day life - there's a Jack and Victor on most Glaswegian buses at any given point in the day! And an earlier comment made about the school teacher and her pupils being disrespectful, well thats exactly what happened when i was at school and i have it on good authority from my younger brother that the case is still the same today. If you don't 'get it' then fair enough but no show on TV has annoyed me enough to make me feel like logging on here and going off on a multi-page rant about it. Basically if you don't like it - then its probably not been aimed at you in the first place, so get over it.