Teenage Kicks
- TV sitcom
- ITV1
- 2008
- 8 episodes (1 series)
ITV sitcom starring Adrian Edmondson as Vernon, a middle-aged man who moves in with his kids following a spectacularly nasty divorce. Also features Laura Aikman, Ed Coleman, Jonathan Chan-Pensley and Mark Arden.
Press clippings Page 2
Why are half-decent domestic sitcoms so few and far between? Get it right and you've got a long-running hit like My Family on your hands. But get it wrong... It's like a house of cards: if one bit of the whole doesn't work - casting, chemistry, plot or jokes - it all collapses around your ears.
Here we have the latest brave attempt, an eight-part series adapted from a Radio 2 comedy and starring Adrian Edmondson as Vernon, an ageing punk rocker who moves into his kids' student flat after a messy divorce. I know what you're thinking: Adrian Edmondson, ageing punk rocker - this is the continuing adventures of Vyvyan from The Young Ones, but it really isn't. For a start, Vernon is a bit hopeless and poshly spoken and has none of Vyvyan's anarchic energy.
Sadly, neither does the script. If I quote just one exchange - 'I could pass for 39!'... 'What in an IQ test?' - you'll get the idea. There are some good moments, but some shocking ones, too. Can it really still be funny in 2008 to have a joke at the expense of a Chinese accent?
David Butcher, Radio Times, 28th March 2008Ade Edmondson Interview
Bruce Dessau, The Times, 22nd March 2008Adrian Edmondson's upcoming, and much postponed, ITV1 sitcom, Teenage Kicks (currently due to air Friday March 28 - but that could all change) is an old school, broad-brush effort. And, here's a thing, it features a Chinese, Star Wars-loving nerd called David (Jonathan Chan-Pensley). There's a bit where one of the Caucasian characters takes the piss out of his accent, and gives it the full-on Charlie Chan. Is that okay, now?
Graham Kibble-White, Off The Telly, 10th March 2008