The stink of excellence in a world gone tits up. That is how it was billed and, although it is far from "excellent" it is certainly worth a look simply because of how imaginative it is. Having a fiercely liberal (if that isn't a contradiction in terms) girlfriend means that, although I am very much a Times man, I do read bits of The Guardian. One part that never makes sense but always tickles me is Home Clubber – the strange one cell cartoon that is weirdly imaginative. This television show is from the same writers and is all about the same style of humour, with a strangely twisted approach to everything.
At its best the series produced characters that were a joy and imaginative; at its least (not worst) it produced characters that were pretty obvious and only intermittently funny. Each episode I watched I laughed but it was best when I just watched bits of it here and there. And that's the thing about it, it really is more suited to the internet than a weekly 25 minute television show. As quick snippets, some of the characters are brilliant but repeated viewing isn't kind to the material because it highlights how each of them are only one joke affairs. For some of them this isn't the case but things like Mr Sneeze and the signmaker can barely cope with one viewing in 30 minutes and not the two or three they often get. Some of them don't have this problem (Work is always fresh and fun) but even the best characters get thin with repeated viewing. Barney is basic but fun but my favourites are Alan, the drive-by abuser and Fly Talk. Each of these tend to catch me off guard each time and be funny.
The writers deserve credit for their imaginative and sense of humour but this doesn't mean that TV is the media for them on this occasion. What works well as internet clips or as one-cell cartoons in a weekly paper feels a bit too stretched to fill the running time and weekly slot given it by channel 4. Well worth a look now and again despite this though because it is very funny at times and will be best enjoyed in small, irregular doses.
