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Genteel Death · 03.20.2010, 05:26 PM

Having seen a preview, courtesy of Baby Cow, I'm not entirely surprised the BBC is trying to sneak the show out unnoticed this is challenging comedy. Lizzie and Sarah are two suburban housewives (played by Davis and Hynes) whose lives suddenly go very wrong although, as it turns out, things had actually been going very wrong for a long time. The humour is brutal enough to make Nighty Night look like You've Been Framed, and there are moments of cruelty so biting that it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry; spousal abuse, murder, grief and adultery are all thrown into the mix. It would be easy to dismiss it as shocking for the sake of being shocking, were it not also brilliant. It's funny, inventive and angry comedy, and there's little that can compare.

Which makes it even more of a shame that it's being buried in a graveyard slot. Earlier this week, I spoke to Henry Normal, the managing director of Baby Cow, and asked him why he thought it was being ushered out so quietly. "It's definitely the content," he explained. "It's darker than the BBC had anticipated and it caught them by surprise." He added that, with a couple of exceptions (The Thick of It and Getting On), the BBC has a "lighter tone" at the moment and this doesn't really fit that brief. So I asked the BBC about the scheduling. The slot "is the most appropriate time given the nature of the content and the target audience," the corporation said before adding that fans are lucky to see it. "We don't always transmit pilots but in this instance we wanted to give fans of Julia Davies [sic] and Jessica Hynes an opportunity to see their most recent creative collaboration."

But the BBC should either have the guts to show Lizzie and Sarah properly, or not show it at all as Simon Pegg tweeted last night: "Seems amazing that the BBC commission a pilot from two of the funniest women in the UK then air it at 11.45pm. Jeez beeb, GROW A PAIR!!". Certainly, for the BBC to make out that it's an act of generosity to put the pilot on in the first place, no matter when, seems a little disingenuous. The corporation's concern for "the nature of the content" doesn't bode well for it being picked up beyond a pilot, either. Normal, however, thinks it's one of the best things Baby Cow has done, and says its future as a series depends on how it performs on Saturday.

So, "target audience", it's down to you. It's well worth getting home early or staying up late to watch and then you can make up your own mind, rather than having it made up for you by sneaky scheduling.

03.20.2010, 05:26 PM	#8
Genteel Death invito al cielo Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 8,744	Having seen a preview, courtesy of Baby Cow, I'm not entirely surprised the BBC is trying to sneak the show out unnoticed this is challenging comedy. Lizzie and Sarah are two suburban housewives (played by Davis and Hynes) whose lives suddenly go very wrong although, as it turns out, things had actually been going very wrong for a long time. The humour is brutal enough to make Nighty Night look like You've Been Framed, and there are moments of cruelty so biting that it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry; spousal abuse, murder, grief and adultery are all thrown into the mix. It would be easy to dismiss it as shocking for the sake of being shocking, were it not also brilliant. It's funny, inventive and angry comedy, and there's little that can compare. Which makes it even more of a shame that it's being buried in a graveyard slot. Earlier this week, I spoke to Henry Normal, the managing director of Baby Cow, and asked him why he thought it was being ushered out so quietly. "It's definitely the content," he explained. "It's darker than the BBC had anticipated and it caught them by surprise." He added that, with a couple of exceptions (The Thick of It and Getting On), the BBC has a "lighter tone" at the moment and this doesn't really fit that brief. So I asked the BBC about the scheduling. The slot "is the most appropriate time given the nature of the content and the target audience," the corporation said before adding that fans are lucky to see it. "We don't always transmit pilots but in this instance we wanted to give fans of Julia Davies [sic] and Jessica Hynes an opportunity to see their most recent creative collaboration." But the BBC should either have the guts to show Lizzie and Sarah properly, or not show it at all as Simon Pegg tweeted last night: "Seems amazing that the BBC commission a pilot from two of the funniest women in the UK then air it at 11.45pm. Jeez beeb, GROW A PAIR!!". Certainly, for the BBC to make out that it's an act of generosity to put the pilot on in the first place, no matter when, seems a little disingenuous. The corporation's concern for "the nature of the content" doesn't bode well for it being picked up beyond a pilot, either. Normal, however, thinks it's one of the best things Baby Cow has done, and says its future as a series depends on how it performs on Saturday. So, "target audience", it's down to you. It's well worth getting home early or staying up late to watch and then you can make up your own mind, rather than having it made up for you by sneaky scheduling.
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