Pompidou

This was surreal to watch in that I couldn't figure out how this ever got the green light. I understand Netflix is willing to try new things and in many cases it has worked out to varying degrees but this is way off the mark of what they were going for I believe. I understand the idea of a family friendly show is going to have a restricted sense of humor but I don't see anyone over 3 years old finding this entertaining. I was embarrassed for the actors and hope this doesn't hurt Netflix's reputation for being open minded. The mumbling isn't quite silent film era, the physical comedy isn't of Benny Hill or Mr. Bean caliber and the set with a puppet was a really odd reach tat just made me feel like I was on drugs trying to watch it.

The fundamental flaw in this show is that we're told 'Pompidou' is supposed to be likable - he isn't. That's fatal. No caring for the protagonist is such a shame as Lucas can do better, indeed has done better. Second character 'Hove' is a thin foil, not a Jeeves. A great comic actor (see 'Julius' from 'The Thick of It'), underused. The whole show feels like Lucas trying to recover from the wilderness after some borderline racism in 'Come Fly With Me'. This isn't the vehicle for that. Maybe it'll sell in international markets like 'Bean', but Lucas is no Atkinson, sadly. Atkinson throws it all behind physical comedy, Lucas apparently doesn't have as much natural comedic instinct to throw behind Pompidou. 3/10 - those three are for the excellent dog puppet. It lit up the screen, and was more likable and developed as a character than either of the humans.

You know a comedy is in trouble when you realise that the dog is the best thing in it.

Matt Lucas flies solo here as a down on his luck and his last few pennies aristocrat Pompidou. He lives in a dilapidated caravan parked in the grounds of his crumbling estate. He has his put upon butler Hove (Alex MacQueen) and Afghan hound Marion who tend to be exasperated by his antics.

Lucas obviously was aiming at silent slapstick and farce like Mr Bean or heaven forbid Jacques Tati. However Lucas does not have the skill for physical comedy, the comedy here is painful and its not even silent as most of the characters speak in gibberish.

I could not last through the entire series. I gave it a try but enough is enough. Kids might like it but I guess even some of them have higher standards.

4 episodes in and Wow… talk about dross TV.

There is only one good element to this show and that's the puppet dog. The dog is the creation of the people that helped to make another BBC show called 'Mongrels' (epic win). To watch Pompidou just to enjoy the puppet character Marion though would be like; eating crap just to enjoy a piece of sweet corn.

BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning Shane Allen said: "The concept is wonderfully imaginative, the writing hugely inventive and it's the perfect vehicle for Matt – one of a handful of performers in the whole world who could pull this off."

Well.. it isn't, it isn't, it may well be and he couldn't. The "writers" last "wrote" for Chucklevision BTW.

Danny Cohen should have stopped this sham… was he on holiday?

I'm such a huge fan of Matt Lucas, his work in Little Britain & Come Fly With Me were admirable. He portrayed a wide diverse range of characters and if you've ever watched his work you'll agree he's very good at it.

However what is clear from Episode 1: 'Hunger' is that take away the vocal side of Matt and your left with not an awful lot. I watched the first episode in its entirety to see if it progressively got better but it amounted to nothing, psychical comedy is clearly not Matt's forte.

I understand this won't be his usual work given the pre-watershed time schedule therefore it cannot be crude or dark humour, but there is a reason why most comedians don't do silent comedy, because they don't have watch it takes to be a psychical comedian, Rowan Atkinson portrayed Mr. Bean amazingly and I'm afraid that level of genius is far out of Matt Lucas's reach with this new work of his.

I'll probably continue to watch the series in its entirety due to my admiration of Matt, but feel he has belittled himself with such a shoddy idea for a show, I'm sure he could of thought of something more intriguing that this.