The Robinsons

Created by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni, we follow the titular family of the Robinsons, namely Ed, played by Martin Freeman, as he navigates his new path after he gets fired from his long running job as a re-insurance agent. Of course very dry in its humour in the classic BBC way, I honestly didn't love this, at least not near as much as I thought I would, and being cancelled after a single season seems some thought the same. We get Hugh Bonneville as his brother George, and Olivia Colman and Amanda Abbington both show up as love interests, which was fun. I didn't really love any of the characters, and again just found the humour so dry and plainly observational that it left a lot to be desired. Wouldn't probably recommend, there's much better British comedy out there.

Imagine a family, that features every possible eccentricity, and you've got the Robinsons. And imagine a series not afraid to go that tiny step further - yet also know where to stop unless it would get too silly - , then also imagine very good acting - I didn't realise that my Cymbeline Richard Johnson was in it, great. There is in fact not much more to have me laughing to tears. The funny thing is that though I often anticipated what will happen, the actual execution made me laugh even harder, like: Oh no, they won't do that now?!" - as a Rhenish person this was somewhat reminiscent of Rhenish carnival speeches. Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni have got a very vivid imagination indeed and are great observers of the human condition.

I cannot believe that, according to Martin Freeman himself, no one has seen this brilliant comedy show and that therefore there won't be a second series. At least that's what I've read in an interview. "The Robinsons" is a cleverly written, very funny and well acted look into the life of a slightly frustrated regular guy in his thirties. How he deals with his job, his love life and his relatives. Doesn't sound impressive, does it? But it actually IS. It's so recognizable and sometimes amazingly to the point, that I thought it was about me... Every character in this family is at the same time lovable and ridiculous and it is impossible to choose a favorite one. Maybe it's for the better that there will be no follow up, so they can't mellow it down. As a 6-part comedy it stands out, so much better than the usual sitcoms I have to sit through.

Although a little rough around the edges with things such as editing, The Robinson's is a clever comedy. Although I'm not very fond of the two writers other work "The Worst Week of my Life", I did enjoy this little one series comedy an awful lot. I found the characters of Ed, Vicky and George to be very well developed, which I think is very important for a comedy. This this is not only a credit to the script but also to fantastic comedic acting from Abigail Cruttenden, Martin Freeman and Hugh Bonneville. I would've liked to have seen some more volume in the characters of the Robinson parents despite great acting from Anna Massey and Richard Johnson, they were a tad one dimensional I thought. Wonderful to see some guest starring roles from fantastic comedians such as Olivia Coleman (who is always hilarious!!), Amanda Abbington and Elizabeth Marmur.

There were some great elements in this show. I found a lot of the cut always and flashbacks to be hilarious (eg: Vicky and Peter sitting onthe couch watching "Psycho" had me in stitches!), but then there were some that I thought were extremely pointless and badly done. (eg: the flashback of the parents getting engaged was just awful...should've had different actors playing the apparently much younger Pam and Hector, sometimes a wig just doesn't do it!!)

Although there are some hit and miss elements of The Robinsons, I did enjoy it very much. I would recommend this show for a chuckle especially if you like bees, having your nipples sucked and kettles with lime scale free elements.

The Robinsons would be another dysfunctional family to add to the kooky family list, except that there is a new nuance in the characters that somehow turns them from typical and trite to understood and lovable. Ed is the strained core that keeps the rest of the family together, and falls into unfortunate situations trying to fix his familial issues, as well as his own problems, which often revolve around troubled romances. I personally love this show and happen to be a big fan of Martin Freeman. Of his sitcom work, I think this is his best. If you're an American lucky enough to catch it's occasional syndication on BBC America, give it a watch...at the very least, the charming accents should be enough to make the show enjoyable.