The Life & Times of Tim, starts June 9th
Virgin 1’s newest acquisition, The Life & Times of Tim, starts tonight and to celebrate Tim’s arrival in the UK Virgin1 have created a tool that allows users to create their own animated sketch featuring Tim and the characters from the hit comedy.
Sketch creators will also get the chance to win a Sony Bravia 32” TV, signed animation cells from the show and the chance to have their sketch shown on the Virgin1 website.
Following on from our exclusive clip, you can also check out this great preview of episode two.
www.thelifeandtimesoftimsketch.co.uk
The Life & Times of Tim, 10pm on Virgin1
Exclusive clip: The Life & Times of Tim
Digital channel Virgin 1 is about to introduce viewers to Tim, an everyday, nice, working guy who can’t help but get himself into the worst situations in HBO’s hit animated comedy The Life & Times of Tim.
Because they know seenit readers are fans of quality TV, Virgin 1 have sent us a great clip from the show which won’t appear on their own YouTube channel until May 26th. Remember, you saw it here first.
Tim lives in New York with his girlfriend Amy, who just wants them to be in a normal couple like everyone else, patiently putting up with his antics for as long as it takes for him to get his life in order.
Unfortunately, this is not made any easier by the fact that Tim’s world is full of characters who seem determined to aid him in his ongoing quest for cringe-worthy, embarrassing, and downright humiliating situations.
Tim somehow always gets it wrong, whether it’s inviting a hooker to meet his girlfriend’s parents to slapping his boss’s daughter’s behind at her prom.
Tim is the brainchild of former Saturday Night Live host Steve Dildarian who also provides Tim’s voice.
Filled with a cast of voices drawn from the New York comedy circuit, the series is executive produced by Dildarian, Tom Werner (”That 70s Show,” “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “The Cosby Show”), Jimmy Miller (”Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Borat”) and Mike Clements.
Time Out called the show “a cringing, scatological comedy of social awkwardness which enjoys both the HBO seal of approval and a small but growing US fanbase.”
The Life & Times of Tim airs exclusively on Virgin 1 from June.
Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns Tour
In 2006 Paul Merton presented a BBC4 series on silent movies, Silent Clowns. His accompanying book on the subject has recently been issued in paperback, and he is now touring with a show on the subject. Silent film comedy is a passion of Paul Merton’s, and his show eloquently communicates his enthusiasm for the subject. Also touring with Paul is silent movie accompanist Neil Brand. Neil Brand’s skill lies in improvising music – each night’s performance will be different – to compliment the comic timing of the action onscreen. The performance that we went to – at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre – was presented to a sold out theatre (something that I, as an enthusiastic theatre-goer, see sadly too infrequently).
The first half of the show consists of a number of shorts and clips, introduced by Paul and accompanied by Neil. The first of these, starring Snub Pollard, is a richly inventive film whose creations pre-date the labour saving contraptions of Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit. Other pieces of film include a couple of early French films, such as the memorably bizarre Arthelme Swallows His Clarinet, Chaplin demonstrating the versatility of a ladder as a comic prop in the 1916 film The Pawnshop, and Buster Keaton risking his life for a meticulously planned stunt for Steamboat Bill Junior in which the front of a collapsing house falls down around his ears with only a couple of inches to spare. My husband’s disappointment at the lack of Harold Lloyd was assuaged by one of his favourite Laurel and Hardy shorts, Big Business. In this Laurel and Hardy classic, the hapless duo are teamed with their occasional sparring partner, the expressive James Finlayson, who proves to be their equal in petulance and escalating destructiveness.
The second half of the show comprised of a Buster Keaton feature, Seven Chances. The prologue to this film was an example of rudimentary Technicolor, which has been restored prior to this screening. In Seven Chances, Buster Keaton is a man who learns that he stands to inherit $7 000 000 if he marries before 7pm on the evening of his 27th birthday (which happens to be that very day). The film is an excellent example of Buster Keaton’s highly physical comedy, mainlining every man’s greatest fears in showing the comic being pursued by hoards of matronly, desperate women in wedding veils. The film was complimented by Neil Brand’s brilliant musical accompaniment, with comic echoes of the wedding march, which highlighted the comedy of Keaton’s film.
The evening wasn’t quite what I had expected it to be. Where I had expected a lecture about silent films, illustrated with some clips and musical accompaniment, instead the films were introduced by Paul Merton and were allowed to shine in their own right. In retrospect, this is exactly as it should be for an evening that celebrates the world of silent movies. It was a real pleasure to be introduced to early gems of cinema, many of which I had not previously seen, and to be part of an audience of people laughing uproariously at films that still seem fresh even after the passing of so many years.
The new Reggie Perrin is a welcome success
Photo: BBC/Objective Productsion/Rory Lindsay
I’ve always felt some programmes and films should never be remade or updated and when I heard of the BBC’s plans to revive Reginald Perrin I thought it was one of the worst ideas ever.
My one, single, desperate hope for it was the presence of Martin Clunes as Perrin. I dared to be confident that alone in the ranks of today’s comedy actors Clunes would be able to do the part justice.
Thankfully my confidence was rewarded with the one of the better written sitcoms of the past few years - the new series is a definite success.
Clunes gave a solid performance which instantly cemented his claim to the character, his timing was superb and his portrayal of a world weary every man couldn’t fail to invoke sympathy and pity.
The writing was deliciously sharp and the gags mostly hit the mark, though there were a few predictable clunkers such as the one about the old wellness officer retiring through ill health.
The cast was first rate, Neil Stuke was excellent as Perrin’s boss and Moving Wallpaper’s Lucy Liemann oozes sex appeal as the object of Perrin’s lust and attention. On the minus side I could have done without the annoying Steve and Anthony, two characters who looked like they’d wandered in from an episode of The Green Green Grass.
If the series can maintain the quality of this first episode it’ll prove a worthy successor to the original.
Reggie Perrin returns Friday
Martin Clunes revives a comedy legend when Reggie Perrin returns to BBC One in a modern-day update of the classic British sitcom The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin.
The new series, written by Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye and David Nobbs, writer and creator of the original Seventies show, retells the story of a sales executive on the edge – an average man finding it increasingly difficult to put up with the monotony of life, the disappointing marriage, the office grind as head of disposable razors at male-grooming firm Groomtech and the daily commute.
Rebellion begins to build in his mind, in the form of increasingly surreal flights of fancy, and slowly, Reggie begins to say what he really thinks – to his wife, his boss, his fellow commuters … and, most dangerously of all, to his new colleague, Jasmine Strauss.
As the series begins, Reggie is feeling increasingly frustrated and alienated as he realises that he has worked at Groomtech for 10 years. Reggie’s boss, Chris Jackson, introduces him to the beautiful Jasmine Strauss, the new head of balms and lubricants. His wife, Nicola, is too busy for him, so Reggie becomes a little besotted with Jasmine and even has a peek in her office.
Clunes is joined by Fay Ripley (Cold Feet), Wendy Craig (Butterflies, The Royal), Geoffrey Whitehead (Worst Week Of My Life), Neil Stuke (Game On) and Lucy Liemann (Moving Wallpaper).
BBC One, Friday 24 April 21.30
BUY CLASSIC REGGIE PERRIN ON DVD
Dwarf on Dave
You have to hand it to Dave over the last six months they’ve commissioned some pretty entertaining shows. Argumental has proven to be a hit in our house and that history thing with John Cleese wasn’t too bad. If they carry on like this they’ll be outputting more self produced TV than Sky, not that that would be a hard target to meet!
And so Red Dwarf returns to our screens, I must admit I missed all of the hype revolving around this coup and most of the discussion online. Presumably the BBC felt it wasn’t worth the effort - not even for BBC Three, or maybe Dave offered Grant and Naylor a better deal? Who knows? Who cares?
I sat down last night to watch the first installment with a clear and open mind, I always enjoyed “Dwarf” but I was never a big enough geek to be too critical. Though I was a little disappointed, It’s not that the show doesn’t look impressive the production values for the most part were pretty good (odd bit of CGI excepted) it’s the lack of a comedic plot-line, perhaps it will develop but the opener felt like a drama with comedy rather than a comedy with elements of drama. Older episodes always had a well defined comedic plot and device, this new story seems to be centered around some fan-boy realisation of returning Lister to earth with bits of comedy stuffed in for old time’s sake.
Sadly it just doesn’t feel like it’s enough and I felt compelled to “find” reasons to like this new adventure. Performances are generally strong Craig Charles seems implausibly younger and more spritely than he did in Corrie and Chris Barrie returns to form as Rimmer. Danny John Jules at times struggled to reach the lunacy of “Cat” which having worked in theatre with him once surprised me as he’s well known for his energy and commitment - personally I put this down to the writing he just didn’t have enough material to play with and re-establish such a vibrant character: his entrance in particular was poor - this is “Cat” I wanted him on full throttle, glammed-up and funky, not drenched in water and scared of a squid.
Let’s see what tonight brings!
Arise Sir Charlton Brooker!
It has been so refreshing to see an alternative take on the news in the form of Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe on BBC4 (the beeb don’t seem brave enough to unleash CB onto it’s more mainstream channels).
Maybe it’s a sign of me becoming a grumpy old man, but I can’t help but agree with Charlie’s satirical and extremely non-pc view of the media. The most recent episode at the time of writing (broadcast on Wed 1st April) focused on the media circus surrounding the death of Jade Goody, and the resulting U-turn of epic proportions by the broadcast and print media from a position of castigating her as a vile racist to comparing her to a saint within a matter of a few months. What happened to Jade was very sad and if her death leads to a greater awareness of health issues than that can only be a good thing, but the sickening need for the likes of OK magazine to cash in on a commemorative issue before the poor woman had even died is disgraceful.
On a lighter note the recent problems of the Home Secretary were given the newswipe treatment and the contributors seemed to draw the conclusion that the majority of MP’s are unwilling to stick the knife into Miss Smith, not because they feel sorry for her but because a great many of them are also guilty of being ‘creative’ with their own expense claims.
While the programme tackles a lot of serious subjects the emphasis is primarily on humour as was it’s predecessor Screenwipe, if you want intelligent satirical humour this is the show for you.
Inbetweeners return for a second series
The Inbetweeners, E4’s comedy hit of 2008, returns for a new six-part series next month promising more mishaps and embarrassing attempts to ‘pull’ as Will (Simon Bird) finds himself doomed to failure in his attempts to make his new friends - Simon, Jay and Neil - cool.
The first series was voted the Best New British Television Comedy at the 2008 British Comedy Awards where Bird won the Best Male Newcomer award.
Over the six episodes, the lads attempt to assert their maturity in a clubbing trip to London. The French exchange student is a bit too much of a threat, and they endure the infamous sociology and geography field trip to Swanage in the hope of finding the legendary Swanage ‘MILF’. Work experience week sets up new challenges for Will and Neil and even the underage disco proves socially fatal for them. Facing new tests everyday they also have to deal with the day-to-day traumas of teenage life, families and exams.