User reviews

Pure comedic genius to take the lock down and life on 'zoom' and make it SO entertaining and funny to the point of . . yes . . . laughing out loud. Any bad reviews you may encounter would have to be written by folks either lacking a sense of humor or just don't get the cultural references. Look I am a yank and loved it , the British , stiff upper lip , stodginess and class consciousness not withstanding are , brilliant , as they say over there, at humor. Family life , work life, show business and the egos that come with it are all skewered without mercy and in a way that makes you #1 love the characters and #2 look forward to the next episode. Just can't imagine anything being more pertinent to the our lives during 'lockdown' and anymore entertaining. Solid eight stars , period.

I have laughed so hard at this show & smiled my biggest smiles. It is so clever & the portrayals are so unique & entertaining/endearing. Sorry for complimenting David a little more, as Michael is phenomenal, too, but I have seen David's serious roles & this show is such a new role for me to see him in. The guest stars have been so great, too. My husband died a couple of years ago very suddenly & I so wish he were here to watch this with me. Thank you all for the laughter that I get to experience from way down deep, a new personal best in belly laughs! I clicked on "Submit" and my review isn't long enough. Sadly I can't find the words to sufficiently express how much I enjoy and appreciate this wonderful creative work. The language I speak/write in does not have the words I need. I don't know if anyone connected to the show reads these reviews but the most important thing I want to convey is how much I thank you all for giving me some of my best laughs ever!

I was very dubious about series three and how they'd make it work post lockdown. I needn't have worried! From the start, you are taken down a roller coaster of fast paced humour with banter between the two leads heading in various directions. Have loved the development of all the characters over time. I watched open mouthed as I got to grips with twists and turns of the story, the pure humour and angst of what was reality and what wasn't. I have to admit I love not knowing who will pop up in the screen at any given time. Very, very clever writing and brilliant performances. The final episode was pure genius. Thank you!

IMDb is one of my most used apps; I love it. However, I've always skipped past their [consistent, persistent] prompts to create an account because I generally can't be bothered nor haven't been duly compelled to sign up. BUT! "Staged" is so funny and entertaining I wanted to rate and review it.

I stumbled across the show while my family was out on errands and I could watch something they may not be as interested in - I'll be making them watch this anyway, at least passively because it's going to be on when they're around.

The writing is endlessly funny and the performances hilarious. It feels like such a cheeky peek into the lives of these actors and those around them; I hope they enjoy each other's company as much as the show intimates they do. The concept is novel (not coronavirus pun intended), the chemistry superb, the writing witty, and I can't wait to see more from Tennant and Sheen (or Sheen and Tennant...) along with the special guest appearances from so many familiar, fantastic faces. Simply brilliant!

Both David and Michael are phenomenal in Staged. Guests were wonderful surprise. Intelligent and brilliant show. I enjoyed all six episodes and really hope for some more episodes.

I just finished binge watching "Staged". No great feat; they're only 15 minute episodes--and that's part of its charm. David Tennant and Michael Sheen are two more reasons to watch this series. It's not fair to say that they play themselves. Rather, they're playing caricatures of themselves.

This series watches their interactions as they struggle with cabin fever during lockdown. If you've ever wondered what celebrities are like when they're at home, this is a whimsical glimpse behind the curtain. While the boys are acting like petulant children, the women, all women in this series, are strong, understanding, and intelligent, which grounds the story emotionally. In one scene, David walks in and sits down next to his wife (played by his real-life wife Georgia), smiles, and simply says, "Thank you." She lovingly returns a knowing smile.

The writing is witty but not pretentious. It assumes that the audience is paying attention. There are several plot threads that run the length of the series. If you're not paying attention, or if you don't watch the episodes in quick succession, you're in danger of missing much of the humour and even losing the plot. A lot is left for the audience to connect the dots, so pay attention to everything, including the credits (a running gag throughout). With 15 minute episodes, it's easy to fly through the series in one sitting.

Great acting, great writing, timely storylines, witty, but short and sweet. What more can I say, except: if you like quality, smart, enjoyable television, this one's a winner.

One warning, though. If you're offended by profanity, you'd best give this one a miss.

How do you do it? With thousands dead, the country slowly going stir crazy and thinking toilet rolls are worth more than gold. How do you pull it off? Get great, funny as hell actors, a brilliant director and write a very clever script, that's how. Surprise cameo's by some proper A-Listers adds to the fun.

Dave and Mike just bounce off each other, the chemistry from Good Omens is still there, they're obviously friends that love some banter. A lot of it seems add libbed but with a definite comedic goal in mind. The Director, Simon, is happy to portray himself as a bit of a knob, double kudos as he concieved and co wrote this with Phin Glynn (that name alone has comedy value).

The premise is simple, use zoom to rehearse a play so that when lockdown ends they can grab a West End theatre and hit the ground running. As I said, simple. What we're served up is a comedy of errors, actors being over sensitive about the small stuff (there's an inspired joke about the credits, so study the actors names carefully for a couple of ep's). A director that has probably contemplated suicide, the pitfalls of Zoom and a bad internet connection or just not knowing who can hear you. Plus some language that is probably the reason Michael Sheen's hair is so curly.

And it's all served up in 15 minute bite sized chunks. Perfect. My only minus is David Tennant's kitchen/diner, when something is that trendy it's quickly out of style, just saying, Dave. (Yes, obviously I'm jealous).

I can pretty much guarantee that if you watch this you'll be happier because of it. If not then all I can say is you're probably cachu hwch.

Series 2 Update; I thought this show couldn't be bettered, yet it was. Dave and Mike get side lined and do their best to sabotage the US version to get their leading roles back. Simon, even more of a dick than in series 1, gets screwed by Hollywood. A ton of A listers jump into the fray, some brilliantly. We get to witness Dave's self absorbed breakdown and Mike being a two faced dick who's happy to throw his mate under the bus. The joke about Phoebe Waller-Bridge hating Dave is hilarious when it transpires why. The way things are going and knowing how badly this whole crisis is being handled I'm certain there's going to be a third series. I hope so, this is one of the few things making lockdown bearable, again.

To be able to make a hilarious comedy in this lockdown situation is nothing short of genius. We laughed so much, and the guest appearances where amazing. The banter between Tenant and Sheen is fantastic. Congratulations to everyone involved in this production.

Novel concept which was right on the button of the national mood when Covid struck in March 2020 and we all went into lockdown. It is optimistic and has some laughs. Tennant and Sheens friendship shines through. The short, 15-minute episodes are short and sweet and impossible not to rattle through once you've started. The end of series 2 was a nice heart warming ending pointing to the power of friendship as some form of normality resumed and you felt you had been on a little journey with the characters, a journey which echoed all of our own during lockdown. Some fun cameos from famous people. Please don't do a series 3, best left as it is.

Not written one of these before but this is the funniest, cleverest, laugh out loud, gasp into your hands things that I've seen in forever that I felt I needed to express it somewhere. Please let it never end. Watch it... you will not be disappointed.

Watch series 1. Do it. Do it now. It's a delight. It's hilarious. Far more entertaining than it has any right to be. Do not watch series 2. It's hateful. They mess with the format and it ruins it. God knows how as it features a stellar range of cameos from amazing comedic actors and Oscar winners none of whom do anything slightly interesting or funny.

Not funny, sweary, degrading to all involved. Such a shame that BBC think this now classes as quality TV.

This was the best thing I've seen in a long time. David Tennant and Michael Sheen are phenomenal! The banter was hilarious, I laughed so hard tears were running down my face. Whoever thought of changing the credits every episode, deserves a medal.

It was just brilliant I have no other words for it !!!

I don't know whether it's because the isolation of shutdown/quarantine is so relatable, but I haven't laughed this hard in ages. David & Michael/Michael & David (IYKYK) were superb at nailing the experience. So much nuance & detail - I'm watching again to catch it all. I've always liked Tennant, but wasn't that familiar with Sheen - now huge fans of both.

Highly, highly recommend.

Two of my favourite actors, playing exaggerated versions of themselves. I knew it would be good, I didn't realise quite how funny it would be. Seriously give it a watch.

Brilliant acting playing two of the biggest dicks in the entertainment industries! They were acting, right? Laughs in every episode but the last episode was hysterical! Knock, knock!!! 😆 Loved both of these guys in Good Omens and their amazing chemistry but this weird series ratchets it up to major nuclear test chemistry! Loved the way the ladies were written! Georgia for Prime Minister! Only the British would give this "reality show" a chance to be produced and aired on tv. Watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - another BBC classic original offering - I'd like to see a season four with these two wrangling over it! Bingewatch this series!

As we are entering another stay at home lock-down, in the middle of a dark snowy winter - thank god for this engaging pair of clowns. Love, love, love this show

What horrors the pandemic has brought us this in a small way is something to be grateful for A perfect balance of comedy timing with the odd swear thrown in The intelligence is breathtaking from the tiny details cleverly dropped in through the zoom calls to the credits argument played out over the different episodes The BBC at its best which is all to rare these days

I only know of Michael Sheen from "Masters of Sex" and David Tennant from "Broadchurch." So it is a pleasant surprise to watch these two bicker, and they're funny as hell! This show has a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" dialog style, and gets much more creative with the limited pandemic setting. Kudos to the comedy talents of the lead actors and special guest stars, but the true credits go to the editors who get to showcase the witty Zoom conversations through great timing effects. Real-life virtual meetings are inevitably loaded with awkward pauses, audio problems, and people talking over each other. Even veteran actors are not immune to that, but the editors here make it look like everyone is always having seamless, fluid, funny interactions.

One needs to be as impressed with Michael Sheen and David Tennant as they are with themselves.

Since I am decidedly not that impressed with them, this was a job of work to get through.

Lockdown on screen to date has been either heartening in a make do and mend way, or hitting the emotive button. This breaks back into brilliantly professional, and in the case of episodes 3 and 4 that I've just seen, howlingly funny. Kudos to all.

Many shows attempted to continue through the COVID lockdown, and pretty much all of them were poor. Staged came out of nowhere and was by far the best thing released in that period.

Both Tennant and Sheen are brilliant playing versions of themselves, with incredible chemistry making you just want to be friends with them. Every episode is hilarious in its own way, and as they are only 15 minutes long each they pass by so quickly. Time flies and it is so easy to watch the entire series in one sitting.

Series Two only managed to continue its excellence whilst bringing in a whole roster of A-list actors. The entire thing does just bring joy, it is surely the only positive thing to come out of a pandemic.

The first series of Staged was a revelation in those cautious, earnest days of the first lockdown. Simon Evans' smartly self-aware story, combined with gentle imagery, a deft running time and the evergreen charisma between Sheen & Tennant equaled one of the finest "Zoom-style" comedies yet produced. The second series couldn't help but land at a worse time and as such felt a little belated and the cameos within seemed fairly perfunctory but the core elements from the first prevailed well enough and the final (very real) scene felt hugely cathartic. The third layers up the meta self reflection even more than I thought possible and cuts down on the cameos but certainly feels less essential the further away from the start it gets. Overall Staged is a thoroughly charming endeavour and one of the cosier bits of entertainment to have emerged from that strange era.

Just delightful. Intimate, warm, funny and natural enough for a scripted piece to be gloriously entertaining, knowing and also poignant when needed to reflect the current situation. Tenant and Sheen evidently had a lot of fun doing this - and that makes it all the more engaging.