Jonah from Tonga

I think Chris Lilley is a comedic genius and I've loved all of his shows even though I've pretty much loathed all of his characters. Unlike, say Frasier or Niles Crane or David Brent and Michael Scott, Lilley's characters are simply NOT appealing human beings. Not only would you not want to know them, you'd likely want to avoid them or even kick them in the throat. Jonah is the second of Lilley's "Summer Heights High" characters to get their own show -- J'amie was the first -- and he is the most annoying of the three characters from SHH. The problem a lot of people -- specifically Americans -- is that the story lines don't resolve in the Hollywood way and the characters are so abhorrent. If there's any justice, Mr. G will get his own show as well!

These spinoffs from the Summer Heights High TV show feature one of the characters in depth rather than switching between them. This gives us more focus but at the expense of wearing the material thin. I think I liked the original format more because it kept things fresh. I'm surprised that Jonah and Ja'mie got spinoffs but not Mr. G considering that he was probably the most popular character. This show demonstrates why. Although Jonah is a funny and endearing character, it is only entertaining up to a point and there is a finite limit for his much they can get out of this one character.

For the other imbeciles who are leaving reviews saying "I don't get it", of course you don't because Jonah from Tonga isn't your usual low brow American comedy.

It's smart, funny and extremely dry. Probably more suited to Europeans and our mates down under.

The reason why JFT is so brilliant is because the writing brilliantly captures exactly how a troubled teenager would act, right down to the speech and behavioral nuances.

Yes the show gets a bit weird at times, but if you "get" dry humor, you will love it.

That is all.

Jonah from Tonga the predecessor to Chris's previous show Ja'mie Private School Girl is a great show, edgy but great. The dark comedy has a slow start as you will wonder what it is leading to but shortly after watching the second episode, you know your in it for the long run; each episode just gets better and better. The show shows light to many issues that are a reality, it very real, but its hilarious at the same time. The character Chris has created has a lot of depth, that will be hard for many people to see, the character Jonah may seem ridiculous to you after watching the series, but he is very real. Ultimate this show is another great representation to the genius Chris Lilley is, to date I find it to be his best work.

Well, this was definitely better than J'amie: Private School Girl, but that honestly isn't that hard. Jonah as a character had a decent amount of depth, and there were some genuinely heartwarming moments scattered throughout the six episode series. But there was little to nothing in the way of character development and the humour was very repetitive and unfortunately not very funny to begin with. Like with J'amie, there was just too much focus on a single character for the series to really work that well. Summer Heights High is still Chris Lilley at his best - three strong characters, an engaging plot, and just incredibly funny. Unfortunately he hasn't managed to even get close to it since, and whilst this was a small step in the right direction, it's something I'll have forgotten about very quickly.