AlFlix

Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip (UK)

Grayson Perry is an English artist, and his Big American Road Trip is a three episode documentary filmed in 2019 where he traveled to a few locations in the US (Atlanta, the East Coast & Wisconsin) to examine the issues of race and class in the United States. The documentary was broadcast on UK's Channel 4 in September 2020.

He comes to the subjects from a different perspective than domestic examinations of the subjects. And while the people he chooses to interview may be a bit more extreme (in every direction) than "average" Americans, he does bring up some compelling questions about these issues which are tearing our country apart.

If art is about making you see the world differently and ask new questions, then this is definitely art.

The Goes Wrong Show (UK)

The Mischief Theatre is a British theater company which has put on several successful West End productions in the last decade. After two successful BBC television specials, Peter Pan Goes Wrong (2016) and A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (2017), they have begun a six episode half hour weekly show on BBC One simply called The Goes Wrong Show.

In their plays the actual actors (Mischief Theatre) play amateur actors from the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. These actors in turn play roles in generally dreadful adaptations of famous famous plays in various genres. As the title would suggest, many things go wrong each week.

Each episode starts fairly slowly as the stage is set. But once things really start rolling, foul ups and mistakes build in a way that's reminiscent of the best Fawlty Towers scripts. The Goes Wrong Show owes much to both Fawlty Towers and SCTV, and it easily hold its own among those giants. It's just that funny.

Viewings pair well with large, boisterous groups and a couple rounds of drinks. My son has accurately stated that, "it's funnier with friends," which is indeed is true.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (US)

This is a Netflix sketch comedy show with recurring situations, much like That Mitchell and Webb Look. The brilliance of this show is that just when you think you understand the premise of a sketch, they amp it up and change direction. Honestly, I think they missed the boat by not calling this show "Well That Escalated Quickly."

Still, this is genuinely funny stuff. And I can think of no higher praise than to say, "This is the stuff that memes are made of."

Ghosts (UK)

Ghosts is a new comedy series currently airing on BBC One. The premise, which is established in episode one (no spoilers), is that a modern couple inherit a dilapidated English manor house that happens to be haunted by some previous inhabitants.

This is silly, light-hearted fare that's appropriate for the whole family. But it is so incredibly well done that it appears effortless. Give it two episodes to really get rolling. Then it is laugh-out-loud funny, especially on repeated watchings. Highly recommended.

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy (UK)

File Under: How did something this bizarre ever get made?

After an amazingly successful 10-year run as half of The Mighty Boosh, Noel Fielding's next project was Luxury Comedy, a showcase for his surreal, experimental brand of humor. This comedy takes many risks, and it certainly isn't afraid to fail. But when it works, it's mind-blowing.

My strong recommendation is to start with Series One, Episode Two: The Jelly Fox. Series one of Luxury Comedy is a psychedelic sketch show, while series two more of a surreal sitcom. When Luxury Comedy works, it blends the Noel's childlike surrealism, the amazing music of Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno, and Noel's amazing art. All three hit their heights in this episode. The Jelly Fox skit, itself, is a wonderful peek at what goes on inside the the brain of Noel Fielding.

Cunk on Shakespeare (UK)

Diane Morgan's everywoman/journalist persona, Philomena Cunk, first premiered on Charlie Brooker's (Black Mirror, Dead Set) Weekly Wipe along with fellow man-on-the street character, Barry Shitpeas, where she would give her highly uneducated opinions on the news of the day. So popular were Philomena Cunk's appearances that she quickly had her own BBC specials which culminated in a five-part history of the United Kingdom, Cunk on Britian, which is a bit too much Philomena Cunk, even for me.

Easily my favorite Philomena Cunk BBC Special is Cunk on Shakespeare. Here Cunk explores the life and work of William Shakespeare, a man she clearly thinks is a bit fancy and hoity-toity for her liking. Armed with a something-less-than-elementary-school-level understanding of Shakespeare, she interviews experts and historians about the life and works of William Shakespeare in honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

This is mostly just a silly good time, with the occasional poke in the eye to the expert who might take himself just a little too seriously. Highly recommended.

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a low-budget parody of a low-budget, 1980s horror television show. In many ways, Darkplace is truer to the form than 80s nostalgia shows such as Stranger Things. 

The conceit is that sometime in the early 1980s, hack horror writer Garth Marenghi (who proudly claims to have written more books than he's read) has teamed up with publisher and pornographer Dean Learner to bring Marenghi's dark tales of horror to the screen. What we're watching is not the original series, but rather the DVD re-release, containing the episodes interspersed with modern-day interviews with the cast. 

Lots of great people pop up in this series, including The IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan and The Mighty Boosh stars Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. The series also features Alice Lowe playing actress Madeleine Wool in the role of Dr. Liz Asher. Most recently Lowe was seen as the psychiatrist in the Black Mirror interactive episode, "Bandersnatch."

Fishing with John

Jazz musician (The Lounge Lizards), painter, and actor (Last Temptation of Christ, Stranger than Paradise) John Lurie somehow convinced Japanese investors to fund a fishing show starring himself and featuring big names in show business like Dennis Hopper and Tom Waits fishing in exotic locations such as Costa Rica and Thailand. 

Lurie turns every convention of a fishing show and a television documentary on its head. Fishing with John is funny and brilliant, and it adds an element which I believe has been long-missing from traditional fishing television shows: surrealism. Also, curiously, there is really not that much fishing in it.

The Criterion Collection DVD release (the only fishing show to receive such an honor) contains Lurie's commentary for each episode. And those commentary tracks are every bit as entertaining as the original shows. Plus the commentaries illustrate just how hard John Lurie worked to create this televised fishing experience.

The still above is from the first episode where Lurie and director Jim Jarmusch fish for sharks using only a wedge of cheese and a handgun.

Danger 5, Series One

A group of "swinging 60s" young spies have one job -- Kill Hitler.

I don't know why, but I get the biggest kick out of Dario Russo and David Ashby's Danger 5. Series one appears to be set in the 1960s world of The Thunderbirds. And it stars Dario's father, Carmine Russo, as Adolf Hitler. Everything about this series is spot-on. All the voices are dubbed, including Hitler, who delivers his lines in English but is dubbed into German for the series.

Series two is set in the 80s and and has a slasher film vibe. Hitler is transformed into Johnny Hitler, the high school football star. Personally, I didn't enjoy series two nearly as much as series one. But this may simply be because I went to high school in the 1980s.