People Like Us

To give an example of the texture of People Like Us, here are the only two lines the actress playing a shoe-shop assistant in episode 5 has. All the other characters speak like this as well, only more so.

"You'll find that over time your feet will start to give with wear."

"Most people have at least one foot that's bigger than the other."

In the same episode, the announcer at a train station can be heard in the background droning po-facedly something like "This train stops at Berksley only, Hemperdon only, Staffordsly only, and Blackpool only."

From an episode set in a school; "Mr. Hensley's Problem-Solving club meets at lunchtime on the third floor, but you're not allowed to use the stairs."

These are only short examples from memory. The body of it, Roy Mallard's narration, relies on him going on so long like that that he forgets how he started the sentence.

You can buy some episodes of the radio series if you want a clearer example. Or look at the entry on radiohaha. That summarises it better than I can. Recommended for fans of On The Hour / The Day Today, although you probably know about it already.

When I first saw this it took me a few minutes to catch on to the fact that it was not a real documentary - it looks and sounds like a real documentary if you don't pay attention, but when you do pay attention, the humour is pervasive and brilliant.

Humor is often associated with a darker side - cruelty, pain, sadness. Some of the funniest movies, books and tv shows are those that intermix these well. American TV doesn't seem to explore this side very much, but British TV comedy does and some of the best of british sitcoms are those that do this deeply - Basil Fawlty wouldn't be anywhere near as funny if he were just Bill Cosby. "The League of Gentlemen" goes quite a ways in this direction - far enough to squick some watchers. "People Like Us" is nothing like that extreme, but much of the humour is based on situations that (if they were happening to us) would probably not be considered "good days".

"People Like Us" takes the form of a documentary TV show (named "people like us") with "Roy Mallard" following "people like us" around in their jobs and interviewing them. We never really see Roy, but we hear his questions and comments. So far, it looks like many documentaries. And if you only watch

casually, it continues to look that way. But if you look and listen more closely, it becomes far more interesting. And very funny.

Part of the humour comes from Roy's commentary, which is wonderfully deadpan, but which often includes odd mistakes and misstatements. If you don't listen, you'll miss them - as often the various portions of the sentence make complete sense ("Although since the beginning of the twentieth century the number of people attending church regularly has fallen by twice that amount over the same period of time...") Part of the humour comes from the people he's interviewing. In some cases these people are hurting - they're on the verge of failure, or even beyond. In other cases things just go wrong. A bank manager forgets the password for his safe, a real estate agent gets lost. Roy walks off with a childs toy. Minor events and given minor consideration with no fanfare - but often very, very funny. (In American sitcoms, there'd be a laugh track, and sometimes this kind of incident would be the basis for a full episode.)

Interestingly, after a couple of episodes, it begins to seem that the title "People Like Us" is really true for Roy. The people featured are the ones that seem most like him in some ways. We never see Roy and don't hear much about him, but we do discover he is married and that this show for him is perhaps a step down from the farm report. And in some ways this show is a serious dissection of Roy, seen only in how other people are interacting with him.

Its hard to describe this program and how funny it can really be. Best thing to do is watch it and see for yourself.

You really have to keep your ears open when Roy Mallard is mumbling in the background. He talks quite abit of jiberish jabberish. As on comment said...even Roy saying the word "oh" will break you up. Every episode has the line that folks are truly surprised Roy is married😊 Too bad the creator/"Roy"has been charged with nasty charges. Guess that will be it for awhile.

What appears to be a serious documentary about 'a day in the life' of some member of a profession (policeman, priest, bank manager etc.) is actually a very clever spoof of a documentary. If you listen carefully you realize that most of what the commentator is saying is gibberish – and very funny. The commentator (Roy Mallard) is mostly off camera (except for the occasional hand when requested) and is a fine example of how not to do an interview. Some examples of his commentary –'X is 2 hours from London both by rail and train', 'It's 4pm and everybody has left school except for those who have stayed behind', 'It's 2 p.m. and already the Japanese are on time' and 'the world of financial money'. That's not all. The people whom he interviews are also prone to mangling the English language with many misstatements and misunderstandings. This is not the brash, crude humour that many Americans enjoy but more subtle and laid back. American humour tends overdo the one-liners in order to make sure the audience 'gets it'. This is the type of humour that has to be experienced more than once as it is very easy to miss the subtleties the first time around. Overall, an acquired taste, but much to my liking.

I really love this sitcom. It´s a breath of fresh air from all those stupid moronic American trash proggies (with exception of Seinfeld, that is). For starters, there is no laugh track. Nobody laughs in the show. I simply love that. It´s great! You don´t hear those damn idiotic laughs that are crammed all over other sitcoms. Second, it´s filmed as a documentary. The basic premise is this guy, Roy Mallard, that walks around interviewing people at work. For example, a headmaster of a nice school, a freelance fotographer, people like that. So, in the beginning, every thing seems quite Unfunny, but then stupid things start to happen. People do mistakes, and funny things, altough they don´t even understand it. For instance, Roy is always saying "Hum" and "Hun hun" in order to advance in the interview. The show is excellent, and I really can´t describe accurately. You have to see it for yourself.