Wasn't the idea behind my Binge on This blog series to highlight good TV-shows? Ones that I can actually recommend, since I found they had some sort of quality? So what am I doing with shows like Living With Yourself, I posted about last time? And why on earth would I even continue on the same vein with another TV-show, Green Wing, where the description so bad it's actually good may be even more fitting than in the last one? Or should I just change the topic, and start blogging about trash series?
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The Mysteries of British Humor
For anyone familiar with Monty Python, the term "British Humor" may bring up the kind of jokes that takes a bit of education as a prerequisite to really enjoy. Also, they are presented so sober and straight-faced, that you may wonder for a second if they are meant to be real... before you realize it, and burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Well, **Green Wing is not anything like that. Instead, you find yourself witnessing weird characters, ranging from slightly eccentric to completely bonkers, interacting in the most awkward situations, sometimes making a fool out of themselves, other times doing the most outrageous things as if it completely normal.
Okay, so Green Wing may easily fall into the British Rubbish category, of low quality humor, that you could see as an insult to anyone's intelligence and good taste. In short, something I would turn off before completing the first episode, let alone both moderately short seasons (of nine episodes each). That is I would have if not for the unexpected fact that in spite of all its drawbacks, this should made me laugh... a LOT! And since I see no reason to be ashamed of this, I may as well blog about it to the rest of the world.
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Eccentricities in a UK Hospital
The show, first aired 2005 - 2007, is set in a hospital. The main characters are spread out between medical staff and administrators, but their work is secondary if anything to their social interactions, sexual affairs, and inter-personal issues. Yes, there is a lot of bullying going on, as much as competing for each others' romantic interests, and trying to keep dirty secrets from being uncovered. In and of itself, a recipe for a horrible annoyance, or at least a waste of time. But once again, there is a strange hook embedded into all this crap, which betrayed my composed intellect, and got me to shamelessly admit that I enjoyed it, right in the first episode.
Though I usually could care less about actors, it was seeing Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig among the cast that made my wife want to check out this series. Neither of us is familiar with many British actors, but these two played in Episodes, which both of us quite liked. Whereas in that show they were a married couple, relying on each other to deal with the craziness of Hollywood show business, in Green Wing they are far from being a couple, and even then would be the highly dysfunctional sort.
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Go Ahead And Give It A Try!
Okay, I believe by now I should have caught the attention of those of you who are into absurd and weird anyway. And for those who are too stiff to let themselves laugh at things that are not funny (even though it sure tickles a lot), I don't think this little review will help. For anyone who is a bit undecided, however, I have cherry-picked the most ridiculous moments: The radiologist playing the recorder in order to give himself an erection; the staff liaison officer giving birth to the lion king for being obsessed with the handsome surgeon, the head of human resources sucking gleefully on her high heel for no apparent reason, the four human resource workers declaring their office "out of bounds" when their boss remains absent, the arrogant anesthesiologist, the handsome surgeon, and the dorky house officer steal an ambulance and end up teetering on the precipice of ... Ah, screw it! Take a look at this Best Bits clip, which is so much better than a trailer. And even if you think you'd ever lower yourself to this kind of junk, I recommend you to think twice. It could make you laugh harder than you'd ever thought possible!
Take a Look at the Previous Posts in my Binge On This Series:
Living With Yourself: So Bad, It's Actually Quite Good
Episodes: British Humor About an American Sitcom
Peaky Blinders: Thug Life in 1920's Birmingham
Sense8: The Most Colorful Ensemble Cast
StartUp: Not For Learning About Crypto!
Chernobyl: An Apocalyptic Documentary
The Handmaid's Tale: A Not Too-Far-Off Dystopia
Twin Peaks: The Return - The Series Closing After 25 Years
Silicon Valley: Humor from the World of Tech and Money
Dark: Intense Time-Travel for Germanophiles
Twin Peaks: The Show That Changed Everything
The Man In the High Castle: What if the Nazis Had Won?
Lost: Mystery With Addictive Potential
Babylon Berlin: Sociopolitical Tremmors in the Weimar Republic
Rome: A Realistic Sandal Series
Carnivàle: A Throw-back to the Thirties
Weeds: The Hillarious Alternative to Breaking Bad
Mr. Robot: Hackers, Freedom, and Mental Issues
Das Boot: A Real German WWII Series
Black Sails: Pirate Lore Galore
Twelve Monkeys: Time Travel and Pandemic
The DocsMX 2020 Film Festival