British Comedy Guide

Outnumbered - Series 4 Page 2

Quote: Millsy @ September 3 2011, 12:08 PM BST

I can't bear Outnumbered. You'd pack those kids off to the nearest boarding school at the first opportunity.

I used to find it quite stressful to watch, until I stopped seeing it from the point of view the parents and started to think like the kids.

Been back a week. Time to catch up on TV.

What do I watch first? I know.

A comedy site.

One of the most popular sitcoms on TV.

So obviously loads of comments, let's see what people think...........

Maybe everyone is too kool for this?

Anyway first one was good. Not so keen on the last one. Let's face it, you simply aren't going to leave Ben in the kitchen unsupervised are you?

Quote: DaButt @ September 2 2011, 10:31 PM BST

Just finished downloading it. Not sure I'll have a chance to watch it before the neighborhood happy hour begins.

I suppose the kids have grown quite a bit?

I have noticed Ben's voice breaking a bit during both episodes, kind of offputting since he is meant to be a destructive child and progressing to a teen would no doubt remove the basis of his character.

I missed the first two series. Then dipped in and to my horror, found I quite liked it. It's a very solid sitcom, wish I'd seen it all the way through now. It has faults, yes, it seems a bit contrived, it's pretty slavish to its formula, and the little one seems just a bit too precocious to me, but maybe they are these days. I like the fact the parents are quite dull and their kids are the 'characters'. Unusual and clever.

Don't think it's working anymore. Christmas special then finish please.

Kind of agree with the above comment, caught up with this series last night and whilst it was perfectly entertaining it didn't seem that funny

Not a fan but a friend highly recommended it so I gave it a go. I found it very sad really...not sad awful, well done but just a sad situation.

Sad?
I don't really see where that's coming from.

I suppose the kids are a bit more moody this series.

Quote: bigfella @ September 11 2011, 8:18 PM BST

Been back a week. Time to catch up on TV.

What do I watch first? I know.

A comedy site.

One of the most popular sitcoms on TV.

So obviously loads of comments, let's see what people think...........

Maybe everyone is too kool for this?

I think it's more people have loved it and are sad to see it running out of steam. I guess such a popular sitcom will inevitably get commissioned beyond its natural end. The kids growing up was always going to be a problem. They're suddenly all too similar, and the writers are running out of credible plot ideas. Still some good stuff, but a shadow of its former self.

Quote: zooo @ September 19 2011, 6:58 PM BST

Sad?
I don't really see where that's coming from.

I suppose the kids are a bit more moody this series.

Dad looks worn down and tired, mum looks harassed. The kids: one's an over active pain in the arse for everyone round him, the older one is constantly up to something, possibly dangerous, hinted at, the little girl seems funniest but also a handful for everyone. Cut out the odd joke and it would be a Play For Today.

Aren't the parents meant to look worn down, tired and harassed?

Quote: Jamey @ September 20 2011, 3:30 PM BST

Aren't the parents meant to look worn down, tired and harassed?

Well in that they have succeeded, but for me it's not all that funny, just a bit sad. I can see it's well crafted. But it's not really for me.

Quote: sidecar jon @ September 20 2011, 8:15 PM BST

Well in that they have succeeded, but for me it's not all that funny, just a bit sad. I can see it's well crafted. But it's not really for me.

Although I do still enjoy the show, I think I see where you're coming from. The kids are so tiresome that it's harder to laugh at the parents' failings, because they deserve better. The best laughs in sitcoms tend to come when characters are hoist by their own petards, like when Basil Fawlty starts gambling against Sybil's wishes, or when Mainwaring suffers as a result of his own pomposity. If the parents were meaner to the kids and suffered as a result, we might be more inclined to laugh.

As it is, it's the kids who behave badly, and endlessly get away with it; perhaps they should be seen to be suffering as a result? I'd certainly laugh if Ben got all covered in poo, locked out from his favourite TV show or incarcerated in a Fritzl-like dungeon.

I discussed it with the wife. Her view was it's funny because it's happening to "middle class people"... class war is alive and well ah!

I've watched the first three and I'll be honest - it's annoying me. Something about how wet the mum is. :(

How the kids are rude - and get away with it.

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