Recent Imports

A quick review of some British Telly that's found its way to the US recently.

Bob and Margaret

This past summer brought us the surprisingly quick success of the animated series Bob and Margaret, a British/Canadian co-production now showing on Comedy Central alongside the solid Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and the already legendary South Park.Bob and Margaret, created by the husband and wife team of Allison Snowdon and David Fine, delivers its laughs at the expense of its title couple. Bob's a dentist; wife Margaret's a podiatrist and life's an awkward slightly unsettling mess for them as they confront mid-life crisis after mid-life crisis. Episodes have tackled the usual suspects plotwise - Bob and Margaret try to spice up their sex life, Bob and Margaret try to get fit, Bob and Margaret think about having a baby. And while the plots may sound pedestrian, the scripts and voice talent certainly aren't. Bob and Margaret are refreshingly funny despite the well worn track the series weaves through.

Bob & Margaret

Stressed Eric:

A less successful animated import was NBC's loosely translated (well, re-dubbed, really) version of the BBC's Stressed Eric. Stressed Eric centers on Eric Feeble about whom the shows producer's web site says the following: "Eric is 40, and lives in London. He is a middle class single father (divorced) with two kids and a crippling mortgage. His son is so dim he’s been kept back at school three years running. His daughter is a frail, allergy-ridden waif of six. His wife has left him for a Buddhist and his au-pair is an unreliable waster." And yet Stressed Eric is a comedy!

The reasonably amusing Stressed Eric barely registered on America's radar despite being Americanized. On the other hand, the NBC has to be given a lot of credit for at least trying. Hopefully, the American nets will pay heed to Bob and Margaret's success and not be put off of importing more British fare.

Stressed Eric
(Comedy Zone)

Stressed Eric's Homepage

Whose Line is it Anyway

Long a favorite on both sides of the pond, the original Clive Anderson-hosted Whose Line is it Anyway features some of the greatest comic minds of their generation (my personal fave is Paul Merton who's also brilliant in Have I Got News For You which is, sad to say, far to topical and UK-centric to ever find a home here) doing what great comedians do best - improv. Host Anderson instructs two teams of comics to do various bits of business, much of it inspired by audience suggestion. Even the end credits get riffed.

While it's no surprise that someone finally came up with the idea of an American

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