TV Dinners
Jim Shelley on How to make ... Little Britain USA
1. Enter Lou & Andy. Cue sound of Americans whooping and hollering: the type of canned laughter that was legally outlawed in 1986 after Arnold scowled, "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?" for the last time in Diff'rent Strokes.
2. The joke is: Lou is in a wheelchair but can actually walk. How hilarious is that?! Take this formula and repeat ad nauseam, ho ho. Anything to do with vomiting is funny; and the "computer says no" woman now says "computer says no" to Americans. Totally different.
3. It's David Walliams in a dress. Soooooooo shocking. "I'm a lay-dee," he shrieks, confirming it. He's a sort of modern-day Kenny Everett. Only not as funny and with more canned laughter.
4. There is nothing funnier than a bodysuit - unless it's two bodysuits. Especially two bodysuits covered in excrement or vomit. Here, two naked muscle-bound all-American jocks are mercilessly exposed as being homoerotic. Wow! An amazing insight. They are given extra-small willies.
Like the sheriff who likes guns so much he gets a hard-on, it's searing satire and subtle stuff.
5. Next, Matt Lucas dressed as a child talking about "transsexual porn" and "blow-jobs". Reading Gaol here they come!
6. Underline the outrageousness by making jokes about gays, funny foreign accents and the handicapped, knowing no one can say anything for fear of looking reactionary.
7. Release on DVD in time for Christmas, and along with a children's book, a calendar and a Little Britain pencil case for six-year-olds.
· Jim Shelley is the TV critic of the Mirror.
2. The joke is: Lou is in a wheelchair but can actually walk. How hilarious is that?! Take this formula and repeat ad nauseam, ho ho. Anything to do with vomiting is funny; and the "computer says no" woman now says "computer says no" to Americans. Totally different.
3. It's David Walliams in a dress. Soooooooo shocking. "I'm a lay-dee," he shrieks, confirming it. He's a sort of modern-day Kenny Everett. Only not as funny and with more canned laughter.
4. There is nothing funnier than a bodysuit - unless it's two bodysuits. Especially two bodysuits covered in excrement or vomit. Here, two naked muscle-bound all-American jocks are mercilessly exposed as being homoerotic. Wow! An amazing insight. They are given extra-small willies.
Like the sheriff who likes guns so much he gets a hard-on, it's searing satire and subtle stuff.
5. Next, Matt Lucas dressed as a child talking about "transsexual porn" and "blow-jobs". Reading Gaol here they come!
6. Underline the outrageousness by making jokes about gays, funny foreign accents and the handicapped, knowing no one can say anything for fear of looking reactionary.
7. Release on DVD in time for Christmas, and along with a children's book, a calendar and a Little Britain pencil case for six-year-olds.
· Jim Shelley is the TV critic of the Mirror.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- Simon Hoggart's Week: Gordon Brown and Other Planets
- Fools Gold
- Bring It On Again (and Again, and Again)
- Merrie Lark in the Country
- Meanwhile, Back in the Real World
- Jacko's Music Could Live on - Through His Kids
- Gloom That Not Even Mario and Sonic Could Lighten
- A Certain Age
- Weatherwatch
- Playing the Percentage Game