Review: Pramface 2.3

Laura tries to get a job, but her body disagrees.

Pramface - Series Two, Episode Three - Supermum and Hardguy2000
Written between 23rd and 25th January

I caught this late. I'm sorry. Usually when I catch something late (or write a late review) it's usually because I don't particularly care for the program in general, and I did it several times during the first series. But missing the show this week gave me a real sense of sadness. Perhaps it's just the day; Tuesday is so unassuming, I completely forgot. Anyway. Enough about me. Was the show worth the wait? Yes, it was. Except for a single nitpick that demonstrates nothing more than my own obsessive tendencies, I found this episode pretty much perfect in every conceivable way.
     Laura, trying to get back into work, leaves Emily with Jamie on the basis that he has insisted that he would make a better parent. Unbeknownst to her, he's cocked up and has an exam on the same day. Not willing to mess up his A-Levels, he dumps Emily on his friends Beth and Mike, who treat the responsibility of looking after the child like an old married couple. At Jamie's house, Keith tries to take a serious look into a job search and somewhat inadvertantly ends up as the headliner of a gay phone-sex company owned by Tracy-Ann Oberman. When Sandra finds out, she is initially calmed by the £50-an-hour rate but is soon icked out when listening in on one of the calls.

     Not taking the baby-care well, Beth and Mike leave Emily with Alan, who is still a bit off, and who takes to turning the entire house into a child-free zone by removing any sharp objects and by covering things in bubble wrap. I love how subtle Angus Deayton plays his character's lunacy, and that's what makes his part of the episode so funny. At work, Laura is under a feisty supervisor and keeps messing up, especially as she's still lactating and has an embarrassing incidient. Her supervisor manages to prevent her from further embarrassment and, as a mother herself, tells her to stop working and get back home. Despite flouting exam rules about mobile phones, Jamie learns of this, and runs home to find that Laura has caught him out.

Angus Deayton's subtle madness is what makes his scenes
cross over the line into comedy genius.

     Everyone was strong this week, although as last week the strongest players were most definitely Angus Deayton and the surprising up-and-comer Ben Crompton, both of whom bring in quite different and yet subtle performances that often make me wish the show was about them and their parallel ways of treating the main scenario instead of having to anchor the story around Laura and Jamie. Laura's storyline was much more satisfying this week, if only for a touching moment with the supervisor, but the protagonists' bits of story still feel like necessary padding more than the focus of the show. Despite that, I really can't fault the episode and it's probably the first that's had me laughing all the way through.

Thanks.

Review: Pramface 2.2

Deayton brings Alan a strange mix of bumbling incompetance
and, at the same time, unending pretension.
And it's wonderful.

Pramface - Series Two, Episode Two - Stay At Home Losers
Written 15/1/13

I had expected, maybe even hoped, that Pramface had blinded me with some lights and that it would return to its normal self. That way, I could sit here and write a review that completely and utterly destroyed it, which would have, I assure you, been very entertaining on my end. But something in the great machinery at Pramface HQ has obviously snapped into place, and this episode was pretty much flawless on every level. I've never seen a series go from such a rock bottom to becoming something that I actively look forward to, and while there's still a few problems, none of them poked their heads up here.
     The main tack seems to be running as many competing subplots at once, which allows for a lot of hits and misses. Jamie and Mike didn't get a lot to do, but strangely that felt like it was a very positive thing as it allowed the writers to better put to use other characters like Beth (Yasmin Paige) and the two dads. Keith (Ben Crompton) and Alan (Angus Deayton) got to spend the episode only with one another, and their characters had a weird complementary factor that made them a perfect comedy double act. Keith hasn't really had much character development over the series, and so for me at least it was surprising how well they actually worked together, culminating in a series of very funny, very shippy scenes where they both effectively reject their wives for one another. Beth, on the other hand, got to lampoon her own hyperbolic characterisation in going out with a male version of herself, with Jamie and Mike's only purpose in the episode seemingly being to be her back-up team.
     Laura's storyline was a bit lax in the funnies department, if only because it relied more on the old-style, "people not acting like real human beings" awkwardness. In an attempt to get over her temporary post-natal depression and loneliness, Laura tries to get out there and meet fellow Mums. She's mugged in the park by some working-class teen-mums, and then stalks a pair of "yummy mummys". After being consoled by them and taken to a café filled with pretentious, middle-class mums, she is taken off by the owner of the café, who is a single mother working several jobs. It felt more plot-centric than the other two, giving Laura some worthwhile character development, but there's something about the character's delivery that always makes me lose most of my sympathy with her. 

Keith/Alan 4ever

      Is it a bad thing to say that the show is best when not focussing on its protagonists? Probably. But quite frankly, I don't care with a show like this. This second episode has taken a show which I despised and made it required viewing, by fully utilising the freedom that Emily's birth gives to the show. Our characters now can do anything, be anything, and it's that very freedom which is bringing the show up from its humble, humble beginnings into a comedy great. I very much look forward to more next week.

Thanks.

Review: Pramface 2.1

Don't ask.

1 day ago

1 day ago

Pramface - Series Two, Episode One - The Edge of Hell
Written between 11th and 12th January 2013

I think it's fair to say that I didn't like Pramface in its first series. It was stuffed to the gills with as many clichés as is physically possible, and took what could have been an interesting series and made it dry, humorless and crude. The show improved drastically with its final episode, in which the premise of the series was actually fulfilled to its potential. While I was quite annoyed at the Beeb's decision to re-launch Pramface in exchange for the wonderful The Fades, this week's hour-long return blew through all of my expectations and, while still stuck with a few of the series' problems, felt a lot less tired than it used to.
     It's the preparation for the Christening, that strange thing that all British sitcoms insist must happen to a child regardless of their parents' religious beliefs. While Laura and Jamie are just trying to settle on a name, the circumstances of the event is setting everyone alight. For a reason I can't remember, Laura's dad (Angus Deayton) has got memory problems which his wife (Anna Chancellor) is exploiting to steal his job and regain some control over her life. Wanting to be best man, Jamie's friend Mike (Dylan Edwards) tries to find his religious side, while Beth (Yasmin Paige) is yet again used ineffectively as an atheist stereotype. Jamie's father gets a job to try and get more responsibility, but Jamie ends up having to fire him. It all culminates in the Christening, where Jamie tells everyone that the baby's name is Emily, and that he doesn't care what anyone else thinks anymore as long as the baby and Laura are happy.

1 day ago

1 day ago

     The episode did feel a little unfocused, but I think that the ridiculous number of subplots is what it needed to get through the hour. It certainly allowed it a lot of different scenarios from which to draw comedy, many of which actually managed to make me laugh. My favourite scene was probably the culmination of Mike's storyline, in which a possible sexual encounter is stopped by the everwatchful eyes of Jesus Christ. I also loved the impossibly brief cameos by Sara Stewart (Stella from Sugar Rush) and Fiona Button (Tess from Lip Service) as two of Laura's aunts, who I want to see more of in the future. Overall, the main thing was that the characters were just better written, and fell into less of the annoying cubbyholes that the series had in the past - especially Jamie.

Jamie and Laura feel like the sane ones for a change.

     Pramface's return has actually tempted me to watch it, and given my reaction to the first series that's rather remarkable. It was by no means perfect, and there's still this lingering stench of what came before hanging around in the atmosphere. But it felt like the series has really upped its game in terms of what it knows how to do, and I'm getting the feeling that now that we've got our family unit in place, there's gonna be a much wider potential for comedy in areas other than the cliched pregnancy and baby jokes that I've been expecting. So, luck willing, I'll be continuing these reviews on Tuesdays, which is when the series returns. I only hope that it can live up to this premier.

Thanks. 

Review: Pramface 1.6

Jamie is forced to deliver the baby himself.

Pramface - Series One, Episode Six - Aaargh

Despite the fact that in some ways it continued to epitomise everything wrong with the series, "Aaargh" was by far the most entertaining hour that Pramface has produced so far. The characters were a lot better constructed, and despite the detatchment that I've felt for the past five weeks, I felt for these characters for the first time. The rest of the storylines made me chuckle and I just felt like for a change, Pramface knew what it was doing.
     Laura, debating on whether to get into a relationship with Jamie, has him take her shopping. While shopping, Laura's contractions start and they're unabgle to get back to the car. Laura's parents attend a conference and try and get frisky, while Jamie's parents go hiking in order for Jamie's Dad to reveal that he's been made redundant. Mike decided to run in a chrarity fun-run and then take the proceeds in order to buy a prostitute and lose his virginity. Beth gets wise to his plan and forces him to give the proceeds to charity. Jamie's Dad gives a touching speech over the phone to Jamie, helping him to deliver Laura's baby. As they're taken to A&E, the two protagonists admit to each other that they're not prepared for what's to come.
     It's surprising for me that this episode worked because of its characters, which in the past have been Pramface's weakest element. Fundamentally, Aaargh did what was necessary and didn't have so many overt attempts to comedy, and thus the humour was more subtle and character-based, which worked because after five weeks the characters have enough slow-dripped personality to be funny. As I said last week, the relationship between the two leads has only just developed, and that played a major part in making this episode more appealing.
     I wouldn't reccomend it, but I would be curious to see what a second series of Pramface could accomplish with these characters, especially as there were several arcs that were left as loose ends and there was a clear hook at the end for a series examining Laura and Jamie's attempts to raise a child together. I'll be looking for future developments and if this final episode has proved anything, it's that Pramface and it's characters can produce good TV.

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Review: Pramface 1.5

Pramface - Series One, Episode Five - Knocked Up And Homeless
"Would you like a pregnant chick around at your house? With all those, hormones and stuff..." Stupid Announcer.

Better. Pramface has really gone past the point of no return in terms of its characters, writing and plots, but there was a general turn towards a more positive experience. The problems are still there, but the dynamics are a little more developed and thus they overshadow them slightly. I suppose the game is finding which stereotypes they're abusing this week, and seeing which ones are less offensive.
     Laura has been staying at Jamie's house for eight weeks now, and despite his parents' issues with her presence she feels welcome. Feeling the full hormonal effects of pregnancy, Laura calls upon Jamie to heed to her every beck and call, with Mike and Beth looking on bemused. Angus and Anna, meanwhile, have a much better subplot in which they try to fix their relationship, which felt so much like a different, better sitcom. Jamie just comes across as a poor, poor sap while Laura has become an unrealistically portrayed, hormone-addled pregnant woman. Beth and Laura clash when Mike and Beth come to the house, and while Jamie confronts Beth's standoffishness, Mike and Laura start playing video games together. In typical sitcom traditions, Laura has false contractions. Anna tells Laura about her fixed marriage and how Jamie's parents have been trying to get her out. Taking hold of the Smart Ball, Laura realises what a douche she's been and Jamie comforts her, resulting in a kiss. Now a safer environment, Laura goes back to live with her parents.
     So, were these stereotypes less offensive? Well, the whole pregnant-woman-is-insane thing is terribly cliché, but we can't really say that it wasn't expected. Pramface is executing these tired sitcom situations in such a standard way that there isn't really any entertainment to it any more. The teen side of the story isn't annoying any more; it's just boring. The Angus and Anna segments were yet again painfully brief, but they at least provided some nice, witty moments. I really don't get how the quality of the writing can change so much between the two subplots; it's remarkable.
     "Knocked Up And Homeless" was business as usual for Pramface; clichéd characters in boring situations in nine-tenths, and brilliant witty charm in the remainder. I'm gonna finish this series for the sake of completion, but I really do have to say that if it wasn't for the blog, I would have abandoned this series a while ago.

Thanks.

Review: Pramface 1.4

6 days ago

6 days ago

This image isn't from this episode. But I really don't care.

Pramface - Series One, Episode Four - Man of the Moment

This week saw the first actual fulfillment of the show's premise. The appeal of Pramface's concept was the interaction between Jamie and Laura, the two main characters, and for the first three episodes this has basically amounted to bad stalking. Man of the Moment was the first time that we saw the characters really gel, with an emerging odd-couple dynamic. The rest of the characters fell into the same irrelevance and cliché that's killed the rest of the series.
     Jamie and Laura attend childbirth classes. The over-active teacher is admittedly quite funny, and I loved seeing the relationship between the two leads instead of just their friends. It's been arranged for Jamie and his parents to arrive at the Derbyshire household for a meet, and Beth is showing off her date with a Hollywood Atheist stereotype (not making friends with me, Pramface), as well as Mike. These two characters feel like they're desperately trying to cling to relevance at the moment. While there are awkward motions at the Derbyshire's theres a bisexual joke at the date as Mike tries to impress a hot girl. (Keeping it classy, Pramface.) That however did lead into a funny joke where Mike discovered that the hot girl's gay friend was his date instead.
      Angus Deayton flirts with Jamie's mum, they argue over what's going to happen once the baby is born. There's the boring sitcom misunderstanding moment between Jamie's mum and Angus, while Mike is tempted into a bisexual threesome. After some boring arguments, there's one moment of physcial comedy as Angus is stabbed with a carving fork. The date storyline did have a decent end, but it was still characteristic of a long line of Pramface's problems. Laura announces to her parents that she's going to stay at Jamie's.
      It was certainly a more solid episode, with only two storylines, and I saw some shoots poking through that might have a chance of improving Pramface's squalid record. But it's still a bad mix of terrible characters making clichéd jokes and boring sitcom situations. I was expecting so much from Pramface, and I can really say that this series hasn't provided television with anything it couldn't do without.

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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.

Review: Pramface 1.2 and White Van Man 2.2

Angus and Anna are the only decent things here.

Pramface - Series One, Episode Two - Pregnant Rapist

It was slightly more clever in its plot than last week, and avoided a lot of the problems in tone and audience, but Episode Two continued a lot of the issues that I took fault with. They feel as if they're tied to Pramface's core concept; that in its subject matter of a teenage relationship, it hits all the clichés and, even worse, does them badly.
     So carrying straight on from last week (despite a time-card of six weeks, for some reason) with Laura ignoring Jamie due to his age, for some reason stereotyping him as a pre-teen. Laura goes to get an abortion, but she doesn't go through with it (for reasons that aren't and probably never will be explained). He, for some reason, gets the sudden idea to stop her from ignoring him by proposing to her. He does so, and she breaks down his proposal spectacularly in the only well-written scene in the episode. Later on, there's a misunderstanding between Jamie's parents that inadvertanly reveals Jamie's actions.
     The exchanges between Alan and Janet Derbyshire (Angus Deayton and Anna Chancellor) were as brilliant as they were last time, but they were very much concentrated away from the main plot. With some snappier writing, I would have loved to have seen their segments become a show of their own. The main problem is again the horrific cliché, but the two do their best to work with the tired "upset because of an affair" plot.
      Everywhere else? Exactly the same. Mike is Nathan but boring. Beth is brilliant but hated for no reason. Laura is concerned but stoppy to a degree that defies belief. The only development was a proof of Jamie's inherant stupidity and ignorance, which doesn't make my thoughts about this series any more hopeful. I did laugh this time, because of Deayton and Chancellor, but there wasn't much else.
       I don't know whether Pramface will lose me through sheer boredom, or simply because the abuse of cliché becomes unbearable. Apart from the excellent older characters, there's not a single person who I really care about here. Deayton and Chancellor spinoff show, anyone?

Generic photo to the rescue!

White Van Man - Series Two, Episode Two - The Breakup

White Van Man was so brilliant this week that it really made Pramface appear more tragic. It also addressed a cliché, but it executed it in such a way as to make it incredibly, incredibly funny in all the best ways. In some ways it exercised a change in format that made the half-hour feel more refreshing than ever before.
      Envious of his Polish rival, Ollie is shocked to discover that Darren has joined the Pole's company. It's treated very much like a break-up, and played entirely serious. This is great British comedy, and this entire sequence had me in tears. Ollie, with Emma's over bearing help, tries to find a new assistant and ends up hiring Liz - his perfect assistant; she's punctual, attentive and is willing to share the driving with him. Meanwhile, Darren finds that the Polish workman is a strange cult-master, who gives him a flourescent work-jacket and later drugs him before forcibly tattooing the company logo onto his arm. Darren calls Ollie up, and with Liz's permission he goes and saves him, claiming back his man.
     My main problem with Thursdays on Three is that half-hour comedies usually aren't varied enough to warrant a review. Red Dwarf was a valid exception. White Van Man, unfortunately, isn't. But I think I'll reserve this space, every week, to gush about my favourite currently-broadcasting show on television. Long Live White Van Man!

Thanks.

Review: Pramface 1.1 and White Van Man 2.1

So it happens that there are two series of comedies, aimed at my age range, premiering on BBC Three tonight. Might as well review them.

As lame as its advertising? No, but it comes close.

Pramface -1.1: "Like Narnia But Sexy"

I hate the Inbetweeners. I detest it. It's juvenile to the extreme, and paints an extremly negative perception of British youth that, as a member of said demographic, I find as distorted as Kevin and Perry. I had hoped that Pramface, with its excellent cast, would avoid the trap that writers for the teenage demographic do and not fall into this juvenile stupidity. And, like usual when I describe my hopes and dreams, they failed spectacularly. It has the potential to be something good, but Pramface fell into so many stereotypes and clichés that it felt, at times, unbearable.
     After completing his final exam of Year 11, naive Jamie Prince (Sean Michael Verey) was led by his friend Mike (Dylan Edwards) to crash a party, with the intent to lose their virginity - against their friend Beth's (the wonderful Yasmin Paige, who is the only sympathetic character) advice. Meanwhile, posh girl Laura Derbyshire (Scarlett Alice Johnson) escaped from her grounding to attend the party, where she got spectacularly drunk. Beth arrived at the party in time to conveniently get trapped in a room while drunk Laura seduced and bonked Jamie. The next morning Jamie leaves his number and we fastforward six weeks, where Laura finds out that she is pregnant. Upon meeting him, she is shocked is to find out that he is only 16.
      All the characters were pretty much blank caricatures. Jamie showed that he was.. pleasant, but as a protagonist he wasn't very strong. His friend Mike was almost an exact copy of Misfits' Nathan, except with less wit and charm. There were good turns by Laura's parents, played by Angus Deayton and Anna Chancellor, but their segments were painfully short. The only character that I felt actually worked was Yasmin Paige's Beth, who through some awful writing was turned into this incredibly powerful sympathetic figure even when she was being a stereotype of morally-concerned youth.
     There were a few giggles now and then from Pramface, but for me it is fundamentally problematic because of its attitude towards its audience. BBC Three usually avoids ripping off other shows, and this felt like its inspiration was ripped straight from Channel Four - and not in any of the good ways. The potential is clearly there, but I need a lot more before I'll love Pramface as I do BBC Three's other output.

The Girls have a more prominent role in this series.

White Van Man - 2.1: "Charity"

White Van Man is a comedy series written by stand-up comedian Adrian Poynton, following the comedic adventures of straight-man handyman Will Mellor and his friends Joel Fry, Georgia Moffet and Naomi Bentley. Despite my low expectations, the first series proved to be incredibly good and funny in a way that British TV hasn't seen in a long time. The series excells from its quaint character comedy blended against the absurdity of modern life, and parodying some of the stereotypes associated with handymen.
     After an organisational fuck-up, Ollie (Will Mellor) is left with the task of fixing up a house due to be occupied by the Mayor and a group of orphans. While Ollie tries to find a way to afford the renovations, facing bureaucracy along the way, he discovers that assistant Darren (Joel Fry) has maxed out his credit card. Ollie's love interest, ambitious small-time businesswoman Emma (Georgia Moffat) accidentally hires envious friend Liz (Naomi Bentley). The two end up in compeition over tips, as Ollie is forced to sell his father's old possessions. Stretched, they find their father's old canalboat and decide to sell that. Ollie's dad Tony (Clive Mantle) returns off of Holiday and is furious, going out of his way to try and get the boat back. Emma and Liz go to the Home and start fighting. Ollie, discovering that they've wrecked the home, is incredibly angry to the point of despair. He returns on the day of the opening to find that his embarrassed friends have done the work for him overnight.
     The dynamic between the central handymen is fundamentally unchanged between the series, with Will Mellor as the good-natured but often mis-led straightman Ollie and Trollied's Joel Fry as nigh-insane assistant Darren. The new dynamic between Emma and Liz was the most interesting addition to the format, with them fighting over Ollie, but it provided the episode's final reveal that much more bang. Charity ended up being a brilliant start to the second series, as hilarious and heartwarming as it ever was.

Thanks.