Green Wing

I really enjoyed green wing. i like the fact that it's kind of surreal and doesn't follow any set type of comedy. The laughs aren't clear lines, quips but a mix of things. So many comedies feel very forced but this doesn't, it's more relaxed. The characters are really accessible too, and Sue White and Guy Secretan are Really funny. But then even the 'straight' characters are much funnier than the regular stuff. and no 'learning' or 'growing', thank god. the comedy is quite soft, yet it's still enjoyable. Defo one of the top British comedies of recent years, with 'The Office' and 'Alan Partridge'. I really hope it has a second series, but it has to, right? eh?

This show is so utterly brilliant. The other day my husband came home while I was watching it and said he could hear me laughing halfway down the sidewalk. May take one or two episodes to acquire a taste for this show, as it is so different from what you're used to watching, but there is so much richness and depth to Green Wing. The characters, while extremely quirky, are still real. While you may be screaming with laughter at some outlandish physical comedy moment or gag one moment, the next they will surprise you with a relatively sober, very dark scene (Joanna and her flip-book of Polaroids of herself as she ages).

In the US, this airs on BBC America. I would recommend it to people who love "Arrested Development." Of course, some of the most quirky and original shows can't last through very many seasons without losing some of their sting. I just hope "Green Wing" doesn't flare out soon, or disappear as its actors become stars in high demand in Britain and the US, as I'm sure many of them will.

By the way, for those of you who are sick of "hospital" shows, don't be fooled. This show couldn't care less about the patients! You almost never even see one, unless used as a meaningless prop beneath a sheet in the operating room. Definitely no "ER," this, thank God.

An instant addiction, the big cast of characters are bizarre but complex enough to be believably human (unlike, say, the support roles in Will and Grace). The way they all *move* is brilliant just on its own - especially the sickeningly smooth Dr Guy (did you see him sucking Dr Martin's shirt at the party?)and Joanna the Manager, a marionette on speed. The dialogue is sharp and very funny (huge team of writers) and on top of all this, there are enough plot lines to make you really care about these hyped-up weirdos, even the radiologist nerd, played by Mark Heap, who in contrast to all geek mythology ever, gets LOADS of sex. Even if the sex is funny enough to make you wince.

So much more witty than the "let's muck about dressed up in women's clothes, har har" style of recent "Little Britain" and "League of Gentlemen".

This is a great direction for British comedy/sit-coms to veer off on. More more!

Green Wing is, in my mind, one of a kind.

This show manages to successfully combine conventional elements of a drama/comedy (a compelling romance plot, likable characters, a seemingly grounded hospital setting) with wacky madcap slapstick, mind-bendingly surreal escapism and sketch comedy. Doing so is no mean feat.

Even after seeing the series multiple times, every time I watch the show I undergo the same process as a viewer. Initially I feel slightly weirded out by the unusual filming style (slow-mo and fast forwards are used an awful lot) and juxtaposition of comedy and occasional effective drama. It's so different from the standard TV fare even in 2019.

Then after a few episodes suddenly I once again feel totally at home with the style. By the end of the show I always feel a real final sense of sadness that there are no more episodes in this unique style and format with these great characters!

Perhaps my favourite aspect of the series is that despite it's insane surreal comedy and ridiculously over the top situations, it still manages to exactly nail the real feelings of social anxiety, social awkwardness, work stress and romantic failure that exist in real life. Somehow the show can be a completely mad melodramatic exaggeration of reality and yet still keep the bits of reality you most recognise and empathise with.

Caroline's house party is a notable example of this kind of blend; everyone's dressed oddly and behaving hilariously but at the same time the scene genuinely feels one hundred percent like every fun-but-sketchy-and-awkward house party I ever went to as a Uni student.

The cast is universally excellent, but my special shout out has to go to Mark Heap as Dr. Alan Statham. Heap has been a standout cast member in everything I've seen him in, from Jam to Spaced to Green Wing and the man possesses prodigious talent for both comedic acting and physical comedy.

I also really like Tamsin Greig as Caroline Todd, she brings a kooky humanity Todd that makes her a very compelling "everywoman" character. She's not as mad as everyone else (endearing her to the audience), but is still quirky enough to feel like one of the gang.

Perhaps my only disappointment with the show was the ending; personally, I feel like the series could have gone on a good deal longer and it's a shame it ended after only a couple of seasons. The latter half of Season 2 and the Special ending feels rushed in comparison to the rest of the series, as if the writers were simply told by the execs upstairs to make it a wrap.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it...see it!

As a fan on good humour that stretches back to the Goons, Hancock, Monty Python, and includes The Young Ones and Fawlty Towers it is always an event when you discover something that is not only very funny, but also funny in a completely new style. Green Wing is excellent. The characters larger than life and unlikely yet are totally believable. You find yourself liking even the most obnoxious characters and wishing you could be in a position to use some of their retorts. The devise of speeding up the film is more than just a gimmick, it's like a vehicle for flying you straight to the next funny situation before you've had time to recover from the previous one. Just sitting here thinking about the series brings back a familiar ache to my ribs. Do yourself a favour and see it.