Upper Middle Bogan

Don't let the title "Upper Middle Bogan" put you off from watching this comedy about upper middle class and doctor by profession Bess Denyar (Annie Manyard) who finds she's adopted and her real parents Julie and Wayne Wheeler who are drag racing "bogans". If Americans understood the term "bogan", definition being: An uncouth or unsophisticated, regarded as being of low social status". Rather than making fun of the lower class, this sitcom is classy with a superb fine talent led by Thespian acting legend Robin Nevin who plays the adopted mother of Bess, Michala Banas, Madeleine Jevic and Rhys Mitchell play Bess' long lost bogan siblings Amber, Brianna and Kayne, Lara Robinson and Harrison Feldman play Bess's chalk and cheese twins Edwina and Oscar and Dougie Baldwin plays Amber's son Shawn and Patrick Bramwall plays Bess's neurotic stay at home architecture husband Danny.

Classic Aussie comedy. Would love to see more. Not a weak character in the show.

We enjoyed the first series and the second series is proving just as good. I won't go into the premise of the show, as that's well documented here by others, but I will say that the concept is excellent and makes for some wonderfully funny situations, especially involving the wonderful Robyn Nevin. The second episode of this new series, about sex education and related topics was totally hilarious. Great performances by everyone, and as usual, well scripted. If you haven't seen it, don't assume it is written at the expense of either upper-middle class or bogans (A peculiarly Australian term for people who are "uncultured" and enjoy life without regard for the social mores. Close, but not quite the same as the US term "red-neck"). The well-crafted characters are all endearing, even the foul-mouthed single mother played by Michala Bana, whose heart-of-gold often shines through the bluff exterior. This is a good quality, intelligently-written comedy, in my humble opinion a credit to the scriptwriter.

I am an American and fell in love with this show instantly with the first episode. I am a professional by trade but had a father who owned a construction company that employed numerous "Bogans," and while it is more correct to call them red-necks in the states, other pejorative terms are becoming more popular since they adopted rap music (think Eminem). The humor in it comes from the clash of values and also from a recognition that things aren't really that different between the classes, as much as each class thinks and wants it to be that way. The setups are extremely good, sort of like Seinfeld, where an innocuous comment at the start often grows into the focal point by the end. The themes are universal and if Hollywood discovers it, I'm sure they'll make a poorer version for the States (its just what they do) hot off their failure with Rake, which I also really enjoyed. In some ways, it is very similar to The Beverly Hillbillies, albeit with more modern and cruder humor. I'd only seen Robyn in Rake so to me all the actors "are" the characters that they play and I think the casting was excellent, with parallel members in each family. It is truly a series that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

Holy $hit this show is hilarious. I've gone back and rewatched many episodes. Admittedly I had to turn the CC on once or twice, as the accents are hefty. Didn't bother me one bit though, was happy to do it and rewatch the scene. This show was cast perfectly. It's dry humor and you have to have the delivery for this type humor. It's all about the mannerisms and facial expressions. I'm really glad I ran across this show, it's really funny.