Samuell Benta

All About The McKenzies Pilot 2016 - TV Review

Whilst at times mildly amusing, overall I found it to be highly juvenile as if aimed at children or very young teenagers. This is not what you would expect from a prime time show broadcast at 8.30pm.

Tiemo Talk of the Town, 21st November 2016

All About The McKenzies comes to ITV2 with a track record, having already been a pretty successful internet series. Samuell Benta - who did just about everything here, acting, writing, directing - plays his namesake Samuell McKenzie who has ambitions of Hollywood superstardom via rapping, acting and modelling But he's working in a restaurant after a relationship breakdown, and stuck in his overcrowded parents' home, with relatives everywhere, talking fast and over each other.

The sophistication level is set early doors with a fart gag, and the second half starts with an extended diarrhoea scene. While it has a nice energy, from the hip-hop credits to animated inserts, it's all rather over-acted, signposting ordinary lines ought to be funny. Add in very broadly-drawn characters, plots that make little sense and cheesy plinky-plonky background music, and the overall tone makes All About The McKenzies seem more like a CBBC comedy based around the sassy young character of Angel than a mainstream offering. And not a very good CBBC comedy at that.

Steve Bennett, Chortle, 1st November 2016