Little Britain USA

Before I'd seen my first episode of "Little Britain USA", I'd talked to some British friend about the series. While we all agreed that we liked the original series, they told me not to even bother with the newest Americanized version--it just wasn't funny. Well, I got HBO a few months later and watched this new series with feelings of great dread...and found that I really liked the show...about as much as the original. Sure, some of my favorite characters are gone (such as Daffyd), but many of the old ones (such as the evil fatty-hater, Marjorie as well as the Prime Minister's assistant--who is now the Prime Minister himself!). One other inclusion from the original shows that I was thrilled was present were Tom Baker's inane narration--it was perhaps even more stupid (and funny) than before. My only reservation is exactly the same one I had about the original all-British shows--there is an awful lot of repetition and a few more characters would have been appreciated. Still, all these shows make me laugh...a lot!

Little Britain: 1. Take a dozen jokes, about a third of which are actually funny, make each joke into a sketch. 2. Repeat the exact same joke in each episode, but with a minor variation. Instead of Lou and Andy spouting their catchphrases in their living room, they're now doing it in a supermarket!!!!!! Hilarious! 3. Do this so much that even the sketches that were slightly amusing soon become tired and repetitive to anyone whose idea of comedy isn't just endless catchphrases. 4. Enjoy unfathomable success.

Little Britian USA: 1. Repeat steps 1-3 above, but this time set everything in the States because an American audience won't understand it otherwise. 2. Chuck out any jokes that aren't about penises. 3. Add an irritating canned laughter track. 4. Put a few more penis jokes in for good measure. They're just soooo witty. 5. Hopefully bomb and be banned from our screens forever.

I really like the three series of Little Britain (the British version). They're in no way my favourite comedy show (South Park, Family Guy, The Office, Extras, Spaced, Brasseye and Big Train all come above it), but as far as sketch-show comedy goes, the original series was pretty good.

Watching Little Britain USA, I can't help but feel disappointed that many people will not like it, therefore they will not want to visit the original British series, which I think is so much better than this.

The jokes are more immature than before, and some of them simply are not funny. Overall, the show still generates laughs and is enough to pass the time in a semi-pleasant way. Just don't go expecting award-winning comedy this time around.

Let me just preface this post by stating that I fell in love with Little Britain after spending some time in the UK and catching the show. There were a few cultural references that went over my head being that I'm an American, but I still loved the odd and obscene humor that it boasted.

After returning to the US, I wondered and secretly hoped that we would get our own taste of Little Britain with vibrant and familiar references to boot. Sure, watching the original on DVD was entertaining, but I kept thinking of characters they could build with influence from our culture.

Then low and behold, I'm going through the HBO on Demand this morning when I see "Little Britain USA" in the series list. My jaw dropped, and I immediately did my sitting happy dance. So I pressed play on episode 01, sat back with my coffee, and anticipated seeing Carol Beer rudely tell an American "Computer Says No"... as well as what Yankee characters they would bring to the table.

Let me tell you... it HONESTLY did not disappoint. I laughed so hard at one point, I'm sure I woke my roommate up. The things Marjorie says to Rosie O'Donnell are priceless. And Jesus Christ, the gym/bikini guys might even top the obscenity of Bubbles.

I'm sure there will be a lot of elitists and Brits that will despise the idea of their beloved show going American mainstream, but these people just need to get off their high horses and give it a chance. This is a show with two brilliant comedians/actors that needs to be shared and enjoyed by as many people as possible.

And yeah, maybe I'm just a tad bit biased because perhaps now I won't get as many "Who Are you?" responses to my Carol Beer costume I have planned for this Halloween.

Anyway, I really like it. So far, so good. And I really look forward to seeing how far they go with it. You should really see it for yourself before you dismiss it as a bad idea. But I will be honest with you... you need to have a strange and open sense of humor to truly enjoy this show.

I loved the original Little Britain and was prepared to really like LB:USA since HBO's got a track-record of nurturing good writing. But, here's the thing: the laugh track in the original serves (at least in my opinion) as a bit of double-irony. The jokes are puerile and play on basic stereotype. They're easy to laugh at already. No laugh track required, so its addition works as a counterpoint to the irony. Not so in the American version; it actually feels like a degradation of the jokes. Or maybe I'm overthinking this thing. Tell you what. If you've seen and liked Little Britain, you'll like Little Britain: USA, because it's god-damned funny and Tom Baker still does the narration. If you've never seen it, try it. But don't act like you didn't know it's not American-style. The word Britain's right there in the title.