A new favorite from BBC America?
I have a favorite new show and I've only seen the clip. BBC America's "Gavin & Stacey," bowing Aug. 26, looks like a stone-cold hoot. Its creators sure are.
The show about two young couples was a hit in England last season. Gavin is an English boy, Stacey is an ordinary Welsh girl. They've only talked on the phone, and when they finally meet, it's love at first sight. This is their love story, right up to the moment that Gavin tries to propose to her in the Underground - and ends up taken down hard by a platoon of anti-terrorist police. They may find happiness with help from their best friends, Smithy and Nessa, a seriously mismatched couple themselves, at least until they get a few drinks in them.
Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play Gavin & Stacey (on the left in the pic), and they're right cute. James Corden and Ruth Jones play Smithy and Nessa (on the right), and they're downright hilarious. Both a bit on the heavy side. Nessa's a bit surly, and Smithy's a bit dense. But he looked pretty good in her frilly pink thong in the clip BBC America showed us. And here's the thing - Corden and Jones aren't a couple in real life, but they did write the show together.
Between the accents and the fast patter, I've got to wait for the transcript of the press conference before I can give you a full report. But I can tell you that Corden, in particular, is going to be around for a while. He reminds me of Tyler Labine, who plays Sock on "Reaper" - a natural sidekick, but a born scene stealer too. When someone asked a question of him in the press conference, instead of answering immediately, he said, "This is so weird sitting on a white
leather sofa, talking to loads of people while they all check their emails. It is so amazing. ...There are a couple of people shopping. He's on YouTube." He kept riffing on that the whole time, at least until one female reporter gave him a new topic...
Reporter: I want to ask you about the red satin G-string-
Corden: I'm in 665 if you want to see it again!
He came back to that about ten times before the hour was up. It was a really funny off-the-cuff performance. And I think the show might be just as good.
They made 13 episodes - two seasons by British standards, to be shown all at once here - and are working on a Christmas special. But Corden said they're still mulling whether to do a third season, because they don't want to extend it past its natural life: "You live in America. You're used to people fucking up your shows after six series, right? You know, like, God, 'Lost,' anyone? Right?"
Well, anyway, Day One of press tour is almost over and it's time to party. Fuse has rented the ballroom on top of the hotel, and we're supposed to have a performance from Natasha Bedingfield, just for us. Don't wait up.
JUST finished watching it and LOVED IT and so glad to hear America will get a chance to see it now.
Seriously LOVED IT!
Posted by: Vance | July 09, 2008 at 02:34 PM