British Comedy Guide

Outnumbered - Series 1 Page 4

I renounce my sense of humour

Your laughter is the relevant bit. If you enjoyed it then they did their job for you.

I can't believe it!

I sat through the entire episode stony-faced thinking, "God, this is worse than the real thing." Yet people liked it!

I thought it was unbelievably poor from two established writers. Kids simply going through things. How utterly boring. Was never impressed by Trevor's World Of Sport either. A far cry from the impressive Drop The Dead Donkey.

And there were supposed to be twists at the end of this with the email and the phone call. I couldn't have cared less about either. Who'd be interested that the father may be seeing someone when he's as bland as he is?

In good sitcoms you like to be whisked away thinking to yourself you'd like to be part of that world somehow. Even in The Simpsons, which is a dysfunctional family, the characters are so richly drawn. It couldn't have been further from my mind watching this.

I liked the mood of it. Hugh was funny, the kids were interesting and charming. Of course you're right, it's nothing like Drop the Dead Donkey - the writers have probably moved on a bit in style and content in fifteen years. (or however many it is.)

I could have done without the twist bit. And I highly doubt it'll be another woman. It'll just be some bill/mortgage bollocks I expect.

For the record I quite liked it but it wasn't as punchy as I was hoping. I'll definitely still be watching tomorrow though.

I guess whether you're a fan or not depends upon how closely you can relate to what's going on (i.e. whether you grew up or are currently running a similarly dis-organised chaos) and whether you're a fan of subtle humour. A lot of the one-liners I missed first time around, luckily I had the rewind button.

Quote: David H @ August 29, 2007, 12:07 AM

And there were supposed to be twists at the end of this with the email and the phone call. I couldn't have cared less about either. Who'd be interested that the father may be seeing someone when he's as bland as he is?

MINOR SPOILER ALERT: I don't think that was supposed to be a deliberate twist. Anyway, as Zooo has guessed, he's not seeing someone else - he's actually in trouble at work for telling an un-PC joke.

Quote: David H @ August 29, 2007, 12:07 AM

I can't believe it!

I sat through the entire episode stony-faced thinking, "God, this is worse than the real thing." Yet people liked it!

I thought it was unbelievably poor from two established writers. Kids simply going through things. How utterly boring. Was never impressed by Trevor's World Of Sport either. A far cry from the impressive Drop The Dead Donkey.

And there were supposed to be twists at the end of this with the email and the phone call. I couldn't have cared less about either. Who'd be interested that the father may be seeing someone when he's as bland as he is?

In good sitcoms you like to be whisked away thinking to yourself you'd like to be part of that world somehow. Even in The Simpsons, which is a dysfunctional family, the characters are so richly drawn. It couldn't have been further from my mind watching this.

David I was beginning to think I may have misjudge this but you summed up better than I could have, However Kid on TV normally annoy the hell out of me but in this they were easily the best part. I never been a Hugh Dennis fan in well anything and can’t help thinking it would have been better with someone (anyone) else.

This has definitely shown that kids perform better when they are not acting.
I bloody hate most actors under the age of 12.

I like the girl/boy, but that was about it. One of the kids asked if they are part of a story or something and Hugh replied, "That would be really boring" or something to that effect and how right he was.

"Can I keep a nit as a pet?" was very funny though.

She/he (how mean is this?) is definitely my favourite thing in it.

Quote: Mark @ August 29, 2007, 12:24 AM

For the record I quite liked it but it wasn't as punchy as I was hoping. I'll definitely still be watching tomorrow though.

I guess whether you're a fan or not depends upon how closely you can relate to what's going on (i.e. whether you grew up or are currently running a similarly dis-organised chaos) and whether you're a fan of subtle humour. A lot of the one-liners I missed first time around, luckily I had the rewind button.

MINOR SPOILER ALERT: I don't think that was supposed to be a deliberate twist. Anyway, as Zooo has guessed, he's not seeing someone else - he's actually in trouble at work for telling an un-PC joke.

I am a huge fan of subtle humour. But the characters were so dull it made the jokes dull too, ie: multitasking.

I'm sure that could have been a decent joke in the right hands, in the right situation. But you need to create appealing characters for it to work.

I liked it. There, I said it. Sure, some of the jokes were laboured but then again I put that down to a new show having to bed down. Not sure whether or not there was a certain amount of ad-lib with regard to the children but nevertheless, I reckon it was still good value for being something that 'My Family' isn't. Funny.

It wasn't too bad, certainly better than I thought it would be when I commented earlier in the forum, but I still find the subject matter a turn off. Kids just do my head in. I can tolerate them in Malcolm in the Middle or The Wonder Years, but this wasn't as good as either of those shows...

I would have liked a few more gags but still looking foward for tonights episode. Malcolm in the middle is a great show.

Quote: Mark @ August 29, 2007, 12:24 AM

he's actually in trouble at work for telling an un-PC joke.

Was it a Mac joke?

I have to say, I don't get the hating kids in comedy, let alone TV in general. As long as there's funny lines/scenes/etc, then I'm happy.

And I'll just echo Mark in saying that I don't think that that was meant to be a twist. I didn't believe that it was meant to seriously suggest that he was having an affair. More that he was acting as if he was, but quite clearly wasn't.

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