I purchased a copy of "1001 TV series you must see before you die" the other day and was pretty PO'd, but not surprised, to see that this great show did not make the cut.
"People like us" unfortunately had a number of things going against it:
1. It was one of the very first TV shows to move the mockumentary style from the large screen to TV. As the saying goes, don't be the first mouse to get the cheese. "The Office" (UK) tightened up the formula and made a better fist of it. However, the genre really took off and hit mainstream (and pay dirt) with "Modern Family" (2009) -- a mere 25 years after the genre commenced with "This is Spinal Tap" (1984).
2. A lot of people just don't get irony, subtlety and nuances of any sort - this tends to be an observation of outsiders of Americans in the US and A, but arguably also Canadians, if we go by a previous post on this forum.
3. The show relies heavily on grammatical confusions and wordplay, not just visual gags: a strategy that falls flat in a world increasingly inhabited by people with an appalling grasp of correct grammar. It is obvious to see that a lot of the humour is radio-based, with observers needing to listen, not just hear.
There are so many memorable scenes in this series: the worker daubing "Big Shitt" on his ex-boss' car parking space; the photographer undergoing a hilarious mid-life crisis; the NHS administrator suggesting in a meeting (for which she did not prepare) that the new building is facing the wrong way (and should be turned around!); the pilot giving Roy a roasting, with Roy dubbing over him verbatim.
With the passing of time, an obvious legacy of "People like Us" has been that so many actors partly cut their teeth with this series and went onto bigger things soon after: Bill Nighy and David Tennant just to name two.
For mine, the best episode is "The Vicar": the dysfunctional couple, with the wife aching for it with Roy (LOL), an interlude of "Stairway to Heaven" on the organ, the parishioner pigging out on the biscuits, and the hilarious blessing: "Bless this living stroke dining room".
It may not have been as popular as other mockumentary series, but "People Like Us" has lasted well and still has a charming and agreeable nature about it, and employs subtlety to great effect. Compare this with the second series of "The Office" (UK) which is so overly cringing and awkward as to arguably be a tough watch indeed.
"People like us" unfortunately had a number of things going against it:
1. It was one of the very first TV shows to move the mockumentary style from the large screen to TV. As the saying goes, don't be the first mouse to get the cheese. "The Office" (UK) tightened up the formula and made a better fist of it. However, the genre really took off and hit mainstream (and pay dirt) with "Modern Family" (2009) -- a mere 25 years after the genre commenced with "This is Spinal Tap" (1984).
2. A lot of people just don't get irony, subtlety and nuances of any sort - this tends to be an observation of outsiders of Americans in the US and A, but arguably also Canadians, if we go by a previous post on this forum.
3. The show relies heavily on grammatical confusions and wordplay, not just visual gags: a strategy that falls flat in a world increasingly inhabited by people with an appalling grasp of correct grammar. It is obvious to see that a lot of the humour is radio-based, with observers needing to listen, not just hear.
There are so many memorable scenes in this series: the worker daubing "Big Shitt" on his ex-boss' car parking space; the photographer undergoing a hilarious mid-life crisis; the NHS administrator suggesting in a meeting (for which she did not prepare) that the new building is facing the wrong way (and should be turned around!); the pilot giving Roy a roasting, with Roy dubbing over him verbatim.
With the passing of time, an obvious legacy of "People like Us" has been that so many actors partly cut their teeth with this series and went onto bigger things soon after: Bill Nighy and David Tennant just to name two.
For mine, the best episode is "The Vicar": the dysfunctional couple, with the wife aching for it with Roy (LOL), an interlude of "Stairway to Heaven" on the organ, the parishioner pigging out on the biscuits, and the hilarious blessing: "Bless this living stroke dining room".
It may not have been as popular as other mockumentary series, but "People Like Us" has lasted well and still has a charming and agreeable nature about it, and employs subtlety to great effect. Compare this with the second series of "The Office" (UK) which is so overly cringing and awkward as to arguably be a tough watch indeed.