Benidorm

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/1/14 at 11:01pm

Okay Brits, where have you been hiding this show? Benidorm is off beat humor at its best. And it stars Downtown Abbey's very own Obrien, Siobahn Finneran.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 3:38pm

Some of you should get on YouTube and watch episodes of this. It's about British people vacationing at a resort in Spain. There's a dysfunctional family, an older swinger couple and a gay couple among others. It's quirky, off beat humor.

I don't know why the US didn't copy this sitcom. Maybe because the premise can only be sustained for a short season, but it could be set in a hotel in Miami.

Clo Leachman as the grandmother, Jane Kaczmarek as the mother. But US writers would probably ruin the quirkiness of it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 3:44pm

I tried watching the first couple of episodes, but just couldn't get into it. I just hated all the characters too much.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 3:47pm

It's like a c21st Carry On film. I wouldn't expect the humour to travel.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 3:57pm

Oh, I get the humor. I just don't care for the style. It's the same reason I didn't like Shameless.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:01pm

I don't really see it in the same league as Carry On. Carry On was as broad as humor can get and cartoonish.

You have to laugh at the insults that the husband and grandmother trade.

Janine Duvitski is perfect as the swinger wife. And Kenny Ireland just acts like the swinger husband is the norm.

***Spoiler alert ahead***

And you got to laugh at the woman trapped in the pool because of the floating piece of crap and the wife just yelling "Oh pick it up. My husband bought it at a joke shop." The mistaken assumption is hilarious.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:03pm

I'm sure you do Mister M. I was addressing Goth's, perhaps rhetorical, question.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:06pm

Well, I find it funny. Maybe people who don't have a quirky sense of humor wouldn't like it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:11pm

"It's the same reason I didn't like Shameless."

I didn't like Shameless UK (except for Maxine Peake who I love) because the characters weren't interesting. For me, the father as a character got old by episode 3, even though I think David Threlfall plays it brilliantly. I've never seen Shameless US.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:15pm

Scripps - Ah! All my needless anger and rage at The Last Ship must have had a residual effect on other topics. LOL At any rate, just chalk it up to my quirky sense of humor.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:16pm

I liked Siobhan's karaoke scene.

Maybe I'm too uncomfortable with some of those scathing caricatures.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:19pm

I'd better take a look in that thread Mr M!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:20pm

I like Siobahn Finneran. It's hard to believe she's the same actress from Downton Abbey.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:25pm

Have you seen her in Rita, Sue and Bob Too?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:27pm

No, but as soon as I finish Benidorm, I'll search for it. I think she's really talented.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:28pm

Isn't Benidorm one of the characters in CATS?

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:30pm

It's an 80s version of Shameless so brace youyourself.

Bu it demonstrates just how versatile she is.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:34pm

I only watched Shameless for Maxine Peake, but I think I can steel myself long enough for this.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:34pm

Careful Scripps...I'm just so darn HOSTILE! And ANGRY! GRRRR!!!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:40pm

For me, Shameless wasn't funny because it was too close to the truth, both in the US and UK.
A New Shameless Character?

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 4:52pm

I think nowadays, intelligent quirky humor of the Britcom type is slowly becoming the fringe-mainstream in America. The shows that become critical darlings and BARELY manage to hang on to their place in the rotation long enough to establish themselves as cult hits.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 5:06pm

Have you seen Green Wing Goth?

That is very quirky and lol funny imo.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 5:53pm

OMG My boyfriend and I watched the first episode of Green Wing and we're still trying to decide if we want to see more. It's quirky and slapsticky, but also hyper-frenetic, bordering on surreal. I absolutely LOVE Tamsin Greig (trying to get to London to see Women on the Verge), but that show is something of a head-scratcher. I've a feeling we'll return to it and watch all the episodes. I think if it were a traditional 3-camera sitcom, I would have loved it instantly (Black Books is one of my favorites), but there is something about the audience reaction that somehow affirming the humor and even softening the blow (one of the reasons I think AbFab was so heavily embraced so quickly in the US). Without it, I just keep saying, "WTF? WTF? WTF?!?!" We did laugh a lot at the first episode, but we also felt EXHAUSTED by it.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 9:04pm

Thanks for the tip, Goth. Always looking for new Britcoms. Haven't seen any I've cared for. And, yes, that includes the dreadful Vicious.

Mister Matt, if you love Tamsin Greig, assume you've seen Friday Night Dinner? She's just perfect in that wonderful show.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 9:52pm

I'm sitting here trying to cast the American version in my mind.

Mother - Jane Kaczmarek
Her Husband - Kevin James
Grandmother - Clo Leachman

Gay couple - Patton Oswalt & Christian Borle

Swinger couple - Martin Mull & Yeardley Smith