Lunatics

There is a reason why there are comedians in this world and critics who write about them. Don't become offended on behalf of others - it robs you of the joy of the comedy. The South African psychic is not "brown face" - there are white people in South Africa. You are only showing how ignorant you are. Much of this show is extreme, irreverent but not intentionally offensive - it's literally pure comedy. There are so many one liners and apt takes on modern culture - the real estate heirs / lads, the 12 year old meme obsessed fat kid who is literally every single kid these days that are obsessed with Fortnite. His chameleon like ability to slip into these personas is a thing of beauty. It's just plain funny. Don't overthink it!

As the title suggests, after the first episode of this show I didn't get it. It wasn't funny, it actually seemed pointless, and then I started taking notice of the nuances and began appreciating the characters as characters, at which point I finally understood.

It kind of reminds me of the office, not just the whole mocumentary thing, but the little things that make you love the characters. And like the office, it's not laugh out loud funny the whole time, you just enjoy their situations and interactions (however, there are some moments where I burst out laughing, some of the lines are hilarious, which is why you must pay attention to every line in case you miss it).

It might be a little crass for some people, but I don't think it's overdone (Veep level crass). I'm glad I didn't abandon it one episode one. It took a couple of episodes to hook me and now I've almost finished it.

It's an odd and quirky little show, but I love it.

At first you think.. hm.. not amazing. Stick with it. Chris Lilley just sets the foundation for his characters! It is honestly a very funny show, so smart and after finishing it find my friends and I often quote some of the characters best one liners. It's bloody funny and will age well.

I think some of the criticism this show has been getting is a bit unfair. People can be very quick to jump on the bandwagon as soon as something is labelled offensive, without necessarily taking the time to watch or understand it.

In my humble opinion, Chris Lilley has created another six hilarious characters here. Even though they're ridiculous extremes of the stereotypes they mock, they still come across as genuine and likeable (it might take a few episodes). So genuine that I kept forgetting they were all played by the same person! Lilley is such a chameleon! Yeah sure, the humour is crass, but you'll discover by the end that Lunatics actually has a lot of heart. It's got a nice message about not being afraid to let your freak flag fly and being proud of who you are.

It's been 5 years since Chris Lilley has directed. And that time has led him to rediscover what made "We Can Be Heroes" and "Summer Heights High" the epitome of Aussie satire. "Lunatics", while not perfect, is a welcome step back towards his roots and towards a much more promising future.

The show allows for actual character development and comes at comedy from multiple angles of comedic satire unlike his past few shows that relied almost entirely in debased humour, to some extent removed from reality. Lunatics, while being equally as edgy and political incorrect as ever, is thankfully able to maintain this sense of realism that allows it to flower into something funny and touching.

The show is disjointed to be honest, lacking any form of structure, and often resulting to the common story tropes lilley has implemented over his series. That said, its forgivable because each individual character was wonderfully written by Lilley who has finally caught up to satire in 2019.

Good on ya mate.