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British Sitcom - Part 3

There is one man in Britain who managed to offend Hollywood’s elite live, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. And, quite surprisingly, he could get away with it not once but five times. And he even managed to create two shows based on the fierce controversies his speeches provoked. Just think about his fifth and final speech. He not only scolded the entire film industry and Hollywood stars, but he also made it clear how he thought of those hypocrites that preached water and drank wine. It was definitely baffling to see the confusion of the creme de la creme who thought they’d attend an event where they’d be praised to the skies, but, instead, they got some much-needed reality check. And it was done by someone an insider who knew exactly where the bodies were buried. It was astonishingly funny. Wouldn’t you agree?

If you succeeded in returning from YouTube watching Ricky’s Golden Globe speeches, let’s cast our attention back to his ingenuity manifested in those shows I find remarkably hilarious.

The Office

The world would definitely be a bleaker place without this 24-carat, genuinely cringe-inducing, terrifyingly funny but also tragic piece of British comedy. I know, tragedy and comedy don’t sit comfortably together, but in this instance there are no other words that could perfectly depict the atmosphere of this show. Consider your laugh muscles duly exercised. The show is about the day-to-day lives of a fictional paper company’s employees, Wernham Hogg. Its central character is David Brent, the branch’s general manager whose perpetual attempts to take centre stage lead him to present himself as a professional comedian, a mastermind, and an irresistible heartbreaker. When, in fact, he’s but a sad, not funny, not so bright average bloke whose ego is so fragile that even the most innocent joke about him can shatter that brittle little image he drew so carefully of himself. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Office_(British_TV_series)

An Idiot Abroad

Well, when I first spotted this show’s thumbnail on Netflix, it failed to catch my eye. Each time I saw it, it made me scroll even quicker. However, one day, I was sitting exhausted after a long day’s work and for some inexplicable reason I clicked on it. My reaction is best described by the line Ricky used in one of his shows, Humanity, when he built up the scene of God giving dogs their duties and how the canines react upon learning their purpose – shouting “Best day ever, best day ever!”, whilst running about frantically. 
Some might claim it was cruel what Ricky and Steve did to Karl while sending him to various corners of the world and exposing him to their mockery. And they’re probably right. Just bring to mind the second season’s finale when Karl was asked to climb out of a double-decker aircraft and be strapped to a contraption on the top of the plane. This alone would have been ordeal enough for most men, but Ricky and Steve went a wee bit further here. They asked the pilot to make loops and various perilous manoeuvres in the air while Karl’s death scream echoed through the vastness of the American continent. Let’s stop for a moment and admit: we all found it hilarious, didn’t we? And let’s face it, Karl did it, too. The third season and the following The Moaning of Life: The Worldly Wisdom of Karl Pilkington are testament to it. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Idiot_Abroad

After Life

When you sit down to watch this show, you have absolutely no idea what’s waiting for you. Obviously, everyone expects the typical dry humour Ricky is known for. So did we. And little did we know how this notion of British humour seasoned with emotions turned out to be a real, unexpected, and unusually British way of riding on an emotional rollercoaster. The way deep, human emotions were depicted, scenes that built up tension and release, colours that softened the grim reality through the eyes of the grieving widower, his inclination to quietly check out of this world mixed with his strong responsibility towards his dog that kept him alive, made each episode impossible to stop watching. Never in my life have I seen anything similar. Heartbreaking and uplifting, funny and melancholic, profound and tender, all at the same time, within the fraction of a scene. I still get goosebumps when I think back on it.

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