The Catherine Tate Show

I beg to differ with the other IMDb-er who finds this show, and Catherine Tate, unfunny, trite, and so forth.

Her show comes through on BBC America on my TV cable service and I only recently discovered it. It might help if I had a slightly sharper ear for British accents, especially those of the "lower classes" (no offense intended), but I have no doubt that this lady is an extremely gifted comic actress, a virtual chameleon (assisted by some extraordinarily talented makeup artists), who has provided some of the most solid laughs I've enjoyed in some time.

In my book she's right up there with her fellow Brits, Mollie Sugden, Paricia Routledge, et al. and her Canadian counterparts, Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara. And let's not forget an American, the inimitable Joan Cusack, who deserves her place right alongside her peers from outside our borders. My enthusiastic compliments to you all, ladies!

Little Britain is a very funny sketch show but it is nowhere near as well observed as Catherine's masterpiece. Compare Vicky Pollard and Lauren. Many assume that Lauren is Catherine's attempt to imitate and cash in on Lucas's Pollard. But the character of Lauren was invented long before that of Pollard and is a far richer observation of today's inarticulate, low-aspiring youth. Pollard is a much more surreal character, someone who wouldn't be of place in Royston Vasey. Lauren however is scarily real.

Also the 'Nan' is possibly the second funniest 'Nan' creation in recent times, second only to the slightly more sublimity that is 'Nanna' in The Royle Family.

In fact, the majority of sketches on the Catherine Tate Show are very strong. It is just that people assume that a show that has so many different sketches with such a limited number of performers will be stale, but it's not. In fact, it's fantastic.

I laughed all the way through the one show I saw. Catherine Tate sets up several situations...in this case a housewife who jumps at the slightest noise, a new mother who will do anything to keep from waking the baby while people try to give her a birthday party, a hateful grandmother being visited by her grandson, and several others, and revisits their scenes in turn throughout the show. The premises are skimpy, it is true, but I didn't notice that until this other reviewer pointed it out because her characterizations were hilarious. I'm a Californian so I really had to focus to make out what some of the characters were saying as she uses various accents from all over England. I would be very pleased to see more of Catherine Tate.

One British woman, Catherine Tate, is multi-talented enough to play several roles in her titled show including the woman is not drunk enough to find her date attractive enough, or the woman who screams at anything because she is easily scared, then there is the couple of new parents with a sleeping baby who won't get out of the car for the mother's birthday party because the baby has finally fallen asleep and don't want to risk the sound of waking her up. Also, there is the couple of women who work in an office cubicle where she keeps asking her to guess how much whether it's weight or money. Catherine Tate might be a new face but she is somebody to watch out for in the future. She's very talented and capable of maintaining a sense of humor throughout the program even being unrecognizable. She does a fabulous job at showing off her craft of British comedy. Now if we can only get it in America.

I realise that humour is quite a subjective thing but all the same Catherine Tate is about as funny as infant mortality. People say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but personally I think catchphrase comedy is several steps down from it. Most of her material has been crudely borrowed from other shows, some of which weren't really that good either.

Luckily for this stupid ginger harridan the good old BBC like to give out very long contracts as a result of having a few 'stars' poached by ITV about twenty bloody years ago. They never got over it and so the likes of Catherine 'talent vacuum' Tate are given five, ten or even fifteen year contracts. What this means for the viewer is whether they turn out to be any good or not they will be on your screen for a very long time.

I wouldn't really care to be honest but the BBC foisted her on Dr Who fans ruining that show as well. She has no talent, no charisma and she certainly isn't funny but you'll be seeing lots more of her I'm sure.