Review: Pramface 1.3 and White Van Man 2.3

Jamie's a dick. Beth agrees.

Pramface - Series One, Episode Three - Edinburgh... in Scotland
"You're such a weak, pathetic man!" Beth, after Jamie stands her up. On her birthday. I cheered.

The BBC describe Pramface as "heartwarming." Tonight's episode couldn't be further from it. It continued to be continually irritating, but there were a few moments that made me very, very happy, and I'm not really sure that they were supposed to. Like Merlin, it's got to the point where I'm actively against the protagonists and hate their every stupid, thoughtless action. Strangely, Thursdays on Three is verging closer and closer to falling under the Opinion tag, but I'll keep it like this for consistency.
    To Jamie's surprise, Laura moves off to university. Unlike any University student that I've ever seen (and I've moved my sister in and out of University rooms four times now) she's able to carry all her stuff in one small plastic box. And Edinburgh's not very far away, either, as Jamie and Mike are able to follow in a car (standing up a night with Beth in the process). Laura rejects him, again, and she soon begins to feel the effects of morning sickness. Beth rings up Jamie and rightfully blasts him over the phone for being such an idiot. Laura gets it on with her friend's boyfriend Glynn, but has to let him go. Jamie hides in her lecture theatre and causes a public outburst. Because Jamie found out where Laura was by claiming to be her brother, rumours of incest abound the campus.
     Jamie, like a dick, takes Beth to Disco-Bowling, where really silly jokes show the desperate tragedy of Beth's characterisation in a way that at least feels deliberate. Laura appears to go through the abortion, with no real reason at all for keeping it, but that's just a bait and she's really having a scan. Facepalm. I suppose this sorta stupidity is necessary for the program to survive conception (pardon the pun) but it's really, really, annoying.
    So far, every character besides Beth, Laura's friend Danielle (Emer Kenny) and Laura's parents is completely and utterly stupid. It reads less of a comedy and more of an episode of the Twilight Zone where the universe is fundamentally corrupt and everyone is stupid aside from those with actual personalities who instead are treated like nonentities. I hate it. I cheer when people attack the characters' stupidity and I am bored in the worst way by the horrifically unrealistic main characters. I don't know why I even watch this show.
    Oh yeah. It's decent reviewing material. See you next week.

It was funny. That's all I've to say.

White Van Man - Series Two, Episode Three - Cupboard

It was good. It was funny. Nice turn from Mark Benton. Plot was a bit wibbly wobbly but I liked that. Unlike last week, where Pramface's shittiness brought White Van Man up, this week dragged it down.
     Darren is trapped in a cupboard, but Ollie and the gang don't believe him. Ollie and Liz try and find him; while Ollie gives up, Liz discovers that Darren is still having an affair with his baby's mother, the chavvy Joanne. Liz is convinced of Darren's fate when he discovers that Joanne has told her boyfriend Steve, who is an army-crazed nutjob. While Emma is back at the flat trying to unpack, Ollie, Liz, and Tony are at Joanne's house. It turns out that Darren is in Ollie's cupboard (a revelation spoilt by all of the trailers).
     It had characters that are likeable, funny and have genuine character arcs that one can identify with despite it being a comedy-oriented series. The exact opposite of Pramface, which is inevitably what these Thursdays On Three segments are about.

Thanks.