British Comedy Guide

How Not To Live Your Life - Series 1 Page 20

Bump! It's got a second series according to broadcast. I'm quite happy.

Yeah, good news. This progressed nicely after an uncertain start.

Oooh awesome! :) I liked this.

Oh good. I just hope they up the laughs in the next series.

It was good, but I just felt it could have been funnier.

I would say I hope they get rid of the girl who plays Abi because she's SUCH a terrible actress, but I guess she fits now.

She is rather awful, isn't she?

Perhaps Dan Clarke just really fancies her.

Wonder if he'll write any more totally unnecessary scenes where he's shagging his lady actors. Jammy bastard.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ August 20 2008, 2:36 PM BST

Finally got around to seeing episode one of this. I'm not quite sure yet whether it's the character who's unlikeable or Dan Clark himself. Although I lean towards the latter at this early stage.

I agree there's something a bit vile about him but not quite sure if it is his characters or not. His humour is on a similar plain as that office comedy with Paul Kaye as obnoxious Bob Slay although I didn't real have any problem liking actor Paul Kaye.

I don't think it's similar at all! Perfect World is superbly funny. This is just 'quite good' (at best). The love/hate central character is the only similarity I can recall?

There's a sneak preview from the first episode of series two (coming in September) here. Looks good. :D

...and extra internet content in the links next to it.

I've actually been watching clips of the repeats and it's funnier than I remember it being.

Thanks for the clip, Nil. It was funny. But I think it would have be funnier if we saw him jump through the window though... well, maybe.

Quote: youngian @ August 12 2009, 3:03 PM BST

I agree there's something a bit vile about him but not quite sure if it is his characters or not. His humour is on a similar plain as that office comedy with Paul Kaye as obnoxious Bob Slay although I didn't real have any problem liking actor Paul Kaye.

Youngian, thank you for quoting my post from about a year ago! If you read on you will see that this programme, and Dan/Don, really grew on me. A really good show, which I hope gets a second series.

A pathetic show this. Written for and performed by idiots. Generally terrible performances as well. Not one that should have got an airing beyond BBC Three, its natural environment.

Quote: Tim Walker @ August 19 2009, 11:06 AM BST

A pathetic show this. Written for and performed by idiots. Generally terrible performances as well.

Bit harsh, but I did feel Dan Clark was overindulged. The writing was a bit lazy, including the "things not to say" type bits, where it would have been easy to come up with sharper gags. Also Dan did not really have the acting chops to make his character sympathetic, which the show needed. A character like, for instance, Risby, is just as lacking in merit as a human being, but Rossiter's performance brings genuine pathos. In fact the characterisation was generally poor, which probably explains the Eddie love, as David Armand performance succeeded in breathing a bit life into an under-written character. The production also seemed curiously cheap and flat, which did not help.

I just find it soul-less. There are no redeeming factors to the lead character really and the rest of the characters are merely subservient drones to the lead, with nothing of interest in their own right. (And by "idiots", I should qualify that I mean the Nathan Barley/people who find WKD ads funny - type of idiot.)

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