Coogan's Run

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Steve Coogan has brilliantly captured the essence of six distinguishable stereotypes and worked them to successful effect.The best episodes are Dearth of a Salesman,Get Calf and The Curator,which are all side-splitting.Handyman for all Seasons and Thursday Night Fever are certainly very good,but the series is let down by the irritating and very unfunny Natural Born Quizzers.Still,in something this good ,there'll invariably be one rotten egg ,and other than that,it's must see stuff.Coogan's a genius.****

Early 6-episode Steve Coogan comedy showcase vehicle which still ranks as one of the best things he's ever done in my opinion, which is saying a lot. (not because it's my opinion, but because of how much other great stuff he's done).

Two episodes miss the mark slightly: the Paul Calf episode is good, but pales in comparison to the prior brilliant 'video diary' episodes, and any of his live standup routines. The character just seems a bit lost in the standard tv-episode type format.

Also the Mike Crystal episode, again funny, veers too close towards typical BBC comedy fare to be that memorable. It's kind of throwaway, but far from mediocre.

Elsewhere we have some classic tv.

Gareth Cheeseman: Almost like Alan Partridge's annoying bratty spoiled nephew. There are sooooo many classic lines in this episode. (The DVD commentary mentions how there was apparently talk of this character being developed *instead* of Partridge... kind of glad that didn't happen because Partridge is so much more 3 dimensional, however it's a shame we never saw Cheeseman ever again).

Tim Fleck: A fantastically awkward character who these days would probably be diagnosed with 73 'isms' and given a special flashing lanyard, but here is free to indulge his love of medieval potato knives in a forgotten musem. What more is there to say? There are some absurd lines from this one which have stuck with me. One of Coogan's weirdest characters, and again it's sad that he was restricted to just 30 minutes of telly ever.

Natural Born Quizzers: Coogan and Patrick Marber play a couple of ultra nerdy brothers trapped in their own world of telepathic in-jokes and secret shared language. The writing is amazing here, and the plot is bonkers. I defy anyone to watch this one and tell me it isn't some kind of comedy genius? There's also an oddly poignant scene where Coogan's character has a brief daydream of how his adult self might've turned out if he hadn't been such a relentless weirdo.

Ernest Moss: Homage to / parody of 1950s comedies, everything about this one is a treat. Coogan looks unrecognisable as Moss (likewise John Thompson as his mute sidekick Robin). This one relies heavily on the plot to deliver the goods, and the way everything is done makes it feel like you're watching a film. It's probably the most subtly amusing and non laugh-out-loud episode of the series, however in other ways possibly the best as it's such a joy to watch. Everything is just so perfectly 1950s/early 60s, they nailed it... Ernest Moss actually did escape the confines of this series and became part of some live shows, I think he's either on the 'Man Who Thinks He's It', dvd or one of the others.

Anyway, my rambling thoughts on this 30+ year old series, which deserves more acclaim and I would say is essential for any Coogan fans that don't own it.

It's a shame that shortly afterwards when Coogan did branch out into a full length movie with 'The Parole Officer', the character he dreamt up for that was a bit bland, and therefore so was the film.

Coogan's Run has only one good episode, and that is "Handyman for all Seasons". This is an absolute classic, filmed entirely in black and white and set in the 60s. It did a great job of recapturing the era, and was also very funny. This episode was like "Schindler's List" - the black and white colour only made it even more authentic, original and memorable. Coogan's Run could have been a classic if all of the episodes had been done like this. However, what we get are just watered-down versions of Phoenix Nights, which is far funnier. Thursday Night Fever is bloody awful, and the rest are just generally forgettable. That may explain why hardly anybody has heard of this comedy series - it is just plain boring, even though it precedes most others of its kind. But "Handyman for all Seasons" is more than just good - it is a breakthrough in comedy, and should be seen by any comedy fan, including fans of Steve Coogan, who has since moved on.

Buy the video for "Handyman for all Seasons" alone. It gets a 10, and the rest get 4 on average, only for inspiring future comedy series which are, generally speaking, far better. 7/10 av.

This should've got a second series. With Coogans genius for creating characters it would still work today (2019). Duncan Thickit would have made a great episode.

FACT!

Obsessive fans of 'The Office' should seek out the 'Dearth of a Salesman' episode and meet the monstrously cringe-inducing Gareth Cheeseman. Like David Brent, anyone who has worked in an office and attended sales conferences will recognise Coogan's salesman from hell. As with Alan Partridge, he is rude, sexist and bigoted... and absolutely hilarious. And, as always with Coogan, we are left with some excellently quotable catch phrases.

'Is that just for Junior, or can we all have some?'