A Moody Christmas

Great to see a little series that wasn't afraid to be itself.

If your shows and movies have to be PC box tickers with all subsequent cliches then steer well clear if this one as it is very much a Australian larrikin fun.

Quick overview is it's about several Christmas days of a very dysfunctional family focused on one son who moved to London and comes back every year.

It's very Aussie, somewhat 'wrong' in many ways and on many levels but that's it's charm. It may seem a bit dated being a decade old but it has stood the test of time. It's more chuckle funny than side splitting which works well as they haven't over tried which is also what makes it work.

The first time I tried watching this, I got about two thirds into the first episode and turned it off thinking it was garbage.

Fast forward approximately two years and my wife convinces me to give it another go.

After viewing the first ten minutes of the opening episode I honestly cannot remember or understand what I had against it the first time. The stories are well written, the characters are all people I can relate to, the acing is spot on, and the jokes are funny..

The situations are all completely off the wall and absurd, and yet are completely believable that such situations could actually happen in the real world.

The only two things I could suggest to improve upon it is I wish they had put more effort into changing the hairstyles and clothes to help differentiate the years, and as another reviewer already said, possibly made the episodes an hour each so they could flesh out the characters a bit more.

I've gotten a lot of great giggles out of this, and it's fun to rewatch. Recommended.

I am writing a review from my phone so I am going to make this short. There is no US comedy, in 2013, that can compare to this one. I realize it was done in 2012...but i watched it this year. The Mindy project may be the one show that comes close to providing similar entertainment. I hope they make more episodes for this Christmas season. It is a shame there were only 6 episodes. The Aussie family encounters typical and atypical family matters over 6 different Christmasses. The situations they are in, the wit the characters possess...fantastic. The writers did a brilliant job. Again, I'm just disappointed that they didn't continue with this gem.

Every year Dan Moody returns home to Australia for Christmas and we're given a glimpse into the year that was for the Moodys. It's a brilliant, layered comedy told in an original way with a fantastic cast.

The show not only holds up when re-watching episodes, but the true genius of the writing is revealed as early episodes set up payoffs that come much later. It's a pity there are only six episodes, but the story continues with The Moodys.

I truly hope they'll do another series, but either way, A Moody Christmas is going to be a staple of my holiday viewing.