Not Going Out – Series Six – A Look Back

Last night the sixth series of ‘Not Going Out’ came to an end last night with final episode ‘Boat’, rounding off another run of the best sitcom currently on television.

Series six of ‘Not Going Out’ has had its struggles. The departure of main cast member Tim Vine’ prior to this run was greeted with much disappointment from the fan base and continues to be a criticism thrown at each episode on social networks, with Tim only receiving brief mentions in the opening and closing episodes.

Though series six has been a weaker series than NGO at its high points, I don’t think the absence of Vine has had much of an impact. Sure, as a big fan of Vine’s humour, puns and delivery, he was an important factor in the show and was missed, but the writing and characters were strong enough without him and I think he’ll miss the show more than the show will miss him. After all, what has Tim Vine done recently, aside from the game show last summer, that would have stopped him from contributing?

Vine’s absence did allow the supporting cast to come to the fore more, with the parents of Lucy and Bobby Ball as Lee’s dad Frank, getting more air time. Sally Bretton felt very confident as Lucy in this series and Katy Wix got much more to do this time around, enjoying the wackiness of her character.

As a series, the latest wasn’t the best in the collection – that goes to one, two or four – but it’s still funnier than most other comedies on television. Finale ‘Boat’ was one of the best episodes of the run with the confined nature of the boat allowing for the characters and situation to shine, with some of the best one-liners in the whole canon of the show, plus the best inflatable sidekick since Airplane’s Otto Pilot. It was just a shame that there wasn’t more made of two possible endings at the conclusion of the piece as it didn’t feel like an ending where Lee and Lucy got together would have fitted at the end, and it didn’t feel like the ending of a series, but still a thoroughly enjoyable episode.

Highlights of the series were definitely opener ‘Rabbit’, with its ridiculous concept but one that made for some really memorable situations such as the ‘Elephant Man’ moment; ‘Rachel’ with the uber-creepy stalking girlfriend; and concluding episode ‘Boat’ which, at times, felt like Mack was going to do a ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ with the characters. There were a few episodes that did seem like NGO was treading old ground. ‘Skiing’ successfully adapted the one-location setting made famous in sitcoms like ‘One Foot In The Grave’ but the extra cast member did seem like a retread of the prostitute character from a few series previously (“I was distinctly told that if I took my top off I wouldn’t get hit by a baseball bat”), though the use of green screen, as in ‘Boat’, showed a slightly increased budget and experimentation for the series; “Therapy” an update on “Death” from series one (one of the best episodes of the sitcom); “Conference” having shades of series two; and Simon Farnaby’s character in “Play” feeling like an echo of Duncan Duff’s eco-warrior ‘Pete’ from series one and the shop opener in ‘Magic’ seemingly from the same acting school as Andy Linden’s neighbour from series three. At times the jokes did feel a little forced but, when you’ve run for 42 episodes, there’s always going to be some familiarity.

Overall, series six wasn’t the best of ‘Not Going Out’ but there were three of the eight that will go down as some of the best episodes from the sitcom and the others had enough material to keep them going. I’m looking forward to a seventh series and just hope Lee Mack can freshen it up a little  bit and also perhaps explore an arc-style approach that proved successful in series two and, to some extent, three, to bring a cohesive feel to a collection of episodes, alongside a strong ending.

Series six might not have been classic ‘Not Going Out’ but it’s heads and shoulders above other sitcoms around at the moment and here’s me looking forward to the 50^th episode next year.

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Not Going Out – Rabbit [Review]

Though it arguably doesn’t actually have much competition for the accolade, ‘Not Going Out’ is easily the funniest sitcom around at the moment and one of the few shows that I really love that hasn’t actually been cancelled by TV executives – though it came close a few years ago.

‘Not Going Out’ follows flat mates Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy (Sally Bretton) who share a flat together but share a mutual tolerance of each other, though Lee fancies Lucy, with rumours of the reverse, but they are the ‘not going out’ relationship of the title. They are joined by Daisy (Katy Wix), a ditsy hanger-on.

Now no one is ever going to say NGO is highbrow but with its heavy reliance on one-liners, puns and surreal situations, it is always funny and quick-paced and this opener of series six – an impressive number to reach in contemporary times – is no different.

If there is one thing that has defined the return of the series it’s the absence of long-time cast member Tim Vine, who played the brother of Lucy, best mate of Lee and boyfriend of Daisy. The character’s absence was dealt with quickly and succinctly right at the start of the episode – a funny touch though I was hoping for more, but it did the job and better than not referencing it – but there were many negatives circulating on the internet that the show would be doomed without him.

And, though arguably I’m a bigger fan of Vine than Mack, it was actually just as funny and well set-up without him. I miss Tim from the series with Vine’s character bringing a lot to the series but on the strength of the opener NGO will be fine without him. I fear, though, with Vine only having done a short-run gameshow and, it appears, little else on television so far, it’ll be him that misses the show more than the show misses him, but I do hope Vine does more on TV or live as he is a fantastic comedian.

Back to the show and the premise of the episode ‘Rabbit’ was typical escalating silliness as Lucy runs over a client’s rabbit and then proceeds to cover it up. Chock-full of the usual one-liners and sight gags, the cast handled the premise well, with Bretton being the main beneficiary of Vine’s absence, getting much more screen time and a chance to shine.

Some of the jokes we’ve heard before in a slightly different form, such as the name Mack picks when confronted by the angry owner, and it did occasionally seem awkward in the early minutes with the set-up and Bretton mumbling some lines, and even had a visual joke taken from ‘The Thin Blue Line’, but elsewhere there were some great set-pieces such as in the pet shop and the one-liners were up to their usual quality.

‘Rabbit’ was a strong opener and just as laugh-a-minute as previous episodes. It wasn’t one of the absolute best episodes but was still a thoroughly hilarious half hour, and proves that NGO is one of the best comedies on television at the moment and will seemingly survive the absence of one of its main characters. And with news that a seventh series has been commissioned, I’m a happy bunny. (Pardon the pun)

“I’m sorry for giving your daughter a bag full of wrong rabbit.”

(7/10)

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Don’t Blow The Inheritance (ITV1, 5pm)

One of my favourite comedians launched this week a new ITV teatime game show called ‘Don’t Blow The Inheritance’. Surprisingly, and a little bit unexpectedly, the game show is only due to run for two weeks at just ten episodes, rather than a longer run.

DBTI is a very traditional game show. If you didn’t realise it was 2012 from all the adverts that cut into the hour-long show you’d think it was the early 1990s and Bruce Forsyth, looking a lot younger now, was doing game shows again rather than dance competitions.

Vine, using the game show as a vehicle in parts for his puns – which are hilarious, eye-rolling and cringe worthy in equal measure but I love them – is definitely channelling Forsyth, from the use of catchphrases – “You can blow a candle, you can even blow a trumpet, but whatever you do, don’t blow the inheritance” complete with the audience shouting the last line, surely a catchphrase that will lead to some dodgy adult interpretations – to the audience interaction, with ‘nice to see you, to see you, nice’ replaced with ‘We’ve lost a team’ to which the audience reply, often incomprehensibly, ‘It’s the end of the dream’ as if their microphones are up too high.

The basic structure of the game show is straight out of the Forsyth book of game shows. Vine comes on, dressed casually in a tie-less shirt, to stand in front of the now traditional large video screen that displays some typical graphics and the questions / answers, to introduce the four sets of contestants: one parent and one child. He goes across and speaks to each of them and find out about them whilst also thrusting in some loosely connected one-liners into the proceedings, which is clichéd but fun enough. We then get four rounds of gaming with one pair leaving the game after each round, with only one pair left to win the money, with the final round putting the child at centre stage to try and inherit the money the parents have raised, hence the title.

Round one is your typical general knowledge round with the kids buzzing in as Vine reads out a question, but only if they think their parent knows the answer. If the parent gets it right, they get £1000 into the pot. If they get it wrong all the other pots get filled with an extra grand. This continues until the end of the round and the person with the least amount of money leaves.

Round two is a spin on family fortunes with the winning child picking a category and the parent has to fill in the ten responses that satisfy the question, e.g. ‘Name the last ten UK Prime Ministers’, getting a grand for every correct answer. The second ranking team then get to pick a question followed by the third. Again, the lowest scoring family are out.

Round three is like a simpler version of ‘Only Connect’ with three clues gradually revealed by Vine and the kids have to buzz in when they think the parent will know the answer. If they get it right they get a grand; get it wrong the other team get it, with the final team with the lowest score sent away.

The final round sees the child take centre stage with their pot of money. They have five questions to answer and no time limit if they keep getting them right. Get one wrong, however, and the pot of money starts decreasing and Vine reads out constant questions until the five are answered or the money runs out. They then go home with whatever is left. This certainly adds a good bit of tension to the end of the proceedings.

DBTI isn’t a particularly revolutionary game show. The concept of the kids – mostly teenagers or those in their early twenties – having to know what their parents know to win big is a good hook but a lot of the other elements – the rounds, the at-times-forced catchphrases and the puns – are a tad derivative of classic game shows.

It’s very much a throwback to the game shows of my childhood and, actually, that’s pretty fun. It’s a little bit knowing, a little bit cheesy and Vine is at home with the style of humour needed for the game shows. It doesn’t have perhaps as much viewer interaction as, say, ‘Pointless’ or ‘Only Connect’ but it’s fun to watch with family and friends and is a vast improvement on the usual confusing and overly complicated game shows ITV has recently rolled out. And it’s far, far better than ‘Red or Black’.

DBTI is a great third string to Vine’s bow following his successfully stand up and appearance in excellent BBC sitcom ‘Not Going Out’ and it’s fun, retro, cheesy fun for an evening. It’s not particularly unique but is fun enough and the nods to the Forsyth / Monkhouse / Walker era of game shows that were just so much fun is great. There is some genuinely good amounts of money to be won by the contestants, certainly in contrast to similar game shows that, even if the contestants do manage to win any money, it’s paltry. But with only a short run of ten episodes I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a mistake for Vine to have stretched out into the world of game shows and leaving, for instance ‘Not Going Out’ behind in which he was so good. I’ll certainly miss him from that and not sure if him fronting a game show that would normally be on when I’m at work where he recycles some of his stand-up jokes, even if they are great second time round, will be a good enough substitute, but hopefully this is the first in a long line of new ventures for him.

I do, though, wish the show the best of luck in getting a second, hopefully longer, run as it’s a fun, enjoyable, cosy, family-friendly game show that harks back to a rosier time when Noel had a crinkly bottom and not twenty-two red boxes and ‘cuddly toy’ was an often heard call in the living rooms of Great Britain.

7/10

You can watch ‘Don’t Blow The Inheritance’ until the 31st August, 5pm on ITV1 weeknights.

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Tim Vine - The Joke-Amotive (Live)

I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favourite all-time comedians live in Halifax almost two years ago. The master of the puns and one of most hilarious stand-ups of all time, I saw Tim Vine doing the first leg of his Joke-amotive tour live, mere days before I was admitted to hospital... but I don't think the events were connected.

Happily the tour has now been released on DVD and it was natural for me to ask for a copy for Christmas, and a copy I got!

Featuring a main set of just over an hout, it's pretty much standard fare here from Tim, in that he delivers pun after pun, interspersed with some eccentric and random props that naturally lead to more jokes, and a long line in off-the-wall songs, some crazy, some really funny.

Naturally if you hate one-liners and puns then there's nothing to change your mind here as it's pretty much more of the same from his last three DVDs but if you, like me, love his style and quick-fire delivery then the material on offer here is just as good as ever.

Though relatively short compared to other acts at sixty-five minutes it's just the right length for the style of jokes and there are many you'll be telling to your friends. And what was equally refreshing was that, coming two years after I saw them on stage, I'd forgotten many of the puns so it was new to me.

It's also noteworthy to mention how good the set is - which wasn't used when I saw him live - and testament to the eye for detail of the show. (Let's not talk about the use of gaffa tape on the props though!)

Alongside the main set there are plenty of extras which, compared to most comedy DVDs on the market where you're lucky to get anything more than a chapter menu as extras (Milton Jones I'm looking at you!), is a refreshing change. In fact, Tim Vine DVDs have always been good when it comes to extras.

Even if those extras are a little surreal. And when I say little I mean a lottle.

On this release we get Vine singing and pretending to be the King on stage in 'Blonde Elvis' and two of his self-penned short films from previous years: 'Strumming Carter', telling the story of a country and western singer brought out of retirement for a charity gig; and 'He Jumps In Fields', a mock Mid-western story about a man trying to stop his mother selling off the field he likes to jump around him. Both films have their funny moments but are rather unusual in their topics and style, and the acting and filming remains basic and amateur as defines when they were filmed, but they add to their charm. Think early student productions.

On top of these we get an insightful thirty-minute look at Vine on tour with his support and manager, and a couple of additional sketches not shown in the main feature including the popular box song and the return of Flag Hippo.

And if that's not enough Vine brings you a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the whole act.

Overall a fantastic fourth set from the pun-master and well worth picking up and watching for some hilarious and family friendly humour, with a good eye for detail on the DVD extras even if much of that content is head-scratchingly unusual.

Even if you just watch it for the main act you won't be disappointed.

8.5/10

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