Wed 21 Jul
2010
Every once in a while, as if to tauntingly remind us that America still suffers from a dearth of truly brilliant comedic television, the BBC releases on these shores DVD versions of one of its seemingly endless supply of genius-grade television comedies. The last one I recall was the engagingly unhinged “The Mighty Boosh.” This time it’s the thoroughly uncanny, bone-dry and deadpan wit of “Look Around You.” Modeled after the educational films that prepared my generation for, er, taking tests about the films we watched in class, these pitch perfect fake documentaries are gems of absurdist humor. Read about the release here or buy the DVDs here.
“For this question, you’ll need to set your calculator to ‘Maths’”
“What’s the largest number you can think of?”
The first season is an absolute gem.
I hope these DVDs will find a good home in America. But without having been exposed to the same kind of “educational” TV that we were in the UK, will they get the humour?