Celeb

Words cannot encapsulate the awfulness of Harry Enfield's sitcom 'Celeb'. To call it the worst British comedy series of all time is probably wrong, because a show this bad, this staggeringly unfunny, cannot rightly be called a comedy at all. Enfield plays a very poorly disguised Ozzie Osbourne, and the mercifully brief run of the series follows his 'zany' and 'madcap' misadventures in the world of rock and roll royalty. 'Celeb' has all the clichés...a dour butler, a sexy female lead, a dopey workshy son...and the total lack of anything approaching humour shows just why these clichés became clichés in the first place. Enfield, who has a modest amount of talent, totally blows his street cred here in his 'portrayal' of the Ozzie-clone rock god. Apparently, Enfield believes that all you need to do is yell every line at ear-splitting volume and make funny faces and the comedy will just work itself out. If this is so, he is sadly mistaken. The scripts are just *not funny*. There is no other way to describe them. In a mark of how desperate the people who made this televisual atrocity are to get people to watch it, they have the female lead dress in kinky outfits in almost every episode. I love T&A as much as the next man, but it's not enough. Oh, and she shouts a lot, too. The son doesn't shout much, but then that's a blessing. Most of the time, he seems embarrassed to be in the damn thing. There's a vague allusion to Posh and Becks in there amongst the rampant textual poaching from 'The Osbournes', but all this does is demonstrate that a fictional show about or press coverage of dimwit famous people is the only thing less watchable than a show about real ones.

Utter, utter garbage from a man who is capable of much better. If' there is a worse sitcom out there, I'd love to see it. Although I will admit that New Zealand's equivalent to Celeb, 'Melody Rules', exceeds Enfield's show in awfulness. This is because the company that made MR shot 44 episodes of it before anyone realised it was the worst TV show in history.

Avoid. Even if you love Enfield. AVOID.

You can't go wrong with Celeb. On the strength of the cast alone, it is worth watching. They all play their parts wonderfully, sending up the very lifestyle of obscene wealth that they are portraying. There is of course lots of cliché and its very predictable, but this self mockery seems to have missed by many who claim it to be unfunny. I am sure there are quite a few ageing rock stars with young "dolly bird" WAGs doing exactly the same sort of thing as Gary Bloke. There were also some absolutely classic moments, especially dimwitted son Troy trying to read a book at the table without concussing himself! Also, Amanda Holden, who is gorgeous anyway really looked fab and played Gary's bimbo wife to perfection.

In Britain, loads of really lame 70s commercial TV comedies are pouring onto DVD but some of the great BBC comedies of the 90s, like Bonjour La Classe, Honey for Tea and Celeb are still not available. It took 15 years before the wonderful Joking Apart came out on DVD -- come on everyone, stand up for this great sitcom and give it the audience it deserves.

Celeb details the 'hilarious' misadventures of millionaire middle aged rock star Gary Bloke & his young blonde wife.

Based on a strip in Private Eye the impetus for bringing this to the small screen must have been the success of The Osbournes. Belonging firmly in the category of "seemed like a good idea at the time" this new sitcom is consistently short on laughs. The first show opens with a good gag but then goes dramatically down hill.

Gary Bloke himself is a tired rehash of previous Enfield creations, most noticeably Kevin the teenager. Celeb feels like a sketch stretched out to fit the sitcom format. Indeed it may have worked as a recurring character in a Harry Enfield & Chums style show but can't sustain an entire series alone. The casting of Amanda Holden is a pleasant distraction during the many mirthless minutes though!

Basically this just isn't funny. Harry Enfield was once a great comedian creating memorable & witty characters alongside fellow stars Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Kathy Burke - does their absence have anything to do with his recent drop in quality? Now it just seems like he isn't trying very hard, content to rehash elements of previous creations in a lazy plot. After sitting through Celebs practically joke free 30 minutes the phrase that springs to mind is . . . Oi Enfield! No!

I enjoyed the weird tales of the ageing rock-star, his beautiful third wife, 'gormless' son and sophisticated yet mercenary butler. Played with tongue in cheek ribaldry. (some people who commented on this series do seem to take life very seriously) Purely for fun this series gives us a run of situations that occur to the millionaire and his household. The household is a palace or 'Great House' somewhere in the English countryside, and seems to have been purchased fully furnished completely at odds to the personalities now residing therein. 'Bloke's' main interests seem to be alcohol and his past fame, pretty much the usual for this ever-growing society of geriatric rock-stars (those that actually lived through the years of debauchery that is).

It's just fun and not for the serious minded or pedantic pseudo-critics.