If you missed the season premiere of Little Britain USA, call your manservant now and have him set your TiVo for a rebroadcast.
In a TV season filled with other British imports (Life on Mars, Worst Week, Monday Night Football), it’s no surprise that HBO has imported something that clearly would never work on traditional, prudish-by-comparison network TV. And that’s why we love HBO and their love of the irreverent.
But get ready, people already have their knickers in a twist over the series. (Clearly they haven’t seen the British version, shown stateside on BBC America, because there’s nothing in the Yankee incarnation that’s any raunchier than the original.)
Fans of subversive humor that uniformly skewers uncomfortable stereotypes of all varieties will have plenty to enjoy. (Our jaded little minds just want more!)
Many of the best characters have crossed the pond for the U.S. version and by Episode Two and Three, they’ve all made their debut appearances. The second outing welcomes one of the great running gags in co-creator David Walliams’ Harvey Pincher, a man who can’t get enough “bitty.” (And if you don’t know what we’re talking about, far be it from us to spoil the joke.)
Episode Three marks the first screen time of Daffyd Thomas (co-creator Matt Lucas), who has transitioned nicely from the “only gay in the village” to the “only gay on campus” at an American university.
Our favorite new characters, however, have got to be Phyllis and her demented talking dog, Mr. Doggy, as well as steroid-pumped bodybuilders Mark and Tom, with their full-frontal locker room high jinks.
We just pray that there’s a second season in this show’s future, but just like our unhealthy obsession with Miss Spears, a little Brit is better than none.
New Episodes each Sunday (10:30 p.m. EST)
Rebroadcasts throughout the week
Only on HBO
http://www.hbo.com/littlebritainusa
