My British boyfriend is good for many things. Among them is introducing me to hilarious British programming. I have no idea how he knows that any of these programs are around since he’s been in Montreal for 2 years, without having made a trip back to the UK.
Here is a small list of programs he’s brought into my life, and I recommend them all.
- Gavin & Stacey (“Oh! What’s occurrin’?”)
- That Mitchell & Webb Look (“We have numberwang!”)
- Peep Show (“Captain Corrigan is up to the task.”)
- 8 out of 10 cats
- Q.I.
- Outnumbered (“Up your beeping beep beep!”)
About that last one. In truth, it’s just a family sitcom. One normal family, with a mum and dad just trying to keep up with their 3 kids. What I love about the show, besides its caustic humour, is that the kids aren’t props. The mum and dad never get to finish a sentence because they keep being interrupted by one (or all) of their kids. When they have a moment to speak to each other, you always hear the kids in the background. When the kids speak to the parents, they’re having a real conversation where the parents aren’t trying to make their kids understand something complex by using a cutesie voice or the precursor, “Sometimes, when people…” The kids ask honest questions, the parents answer honestly, and sometimes, it creates hugely hilarious awkwardness, especially when the mum or dad get cornered into life’s many exceptions to the rules (something kids don’t often make sense of).
Here’s one of my favourite clips. It had me in stitches well into yesterday evening, even when we weren’t watching the show any more. Enjoy!
OLIVIA COLLETTE 