It felt more like an introduction to characters than a sitcom episode, and the characters had more of a sketch show feel to them. I did laugh a couple of times, but overall it didn't impress. Did anyone else find the tone a bit jarring near the end? It all went a bit serious and was more like a drama.

I'd be surprised if there's more than one series on the evidence of tonight's debut. But it might pick up when the characters are more established.
 

I dragged myself out of the slums of Glasgow - that's my excuse for being a snob. But if people like this lot actually exist then I AM superior. I missed the Leno monologue for this. I can only assume the resort of Benidorm has had enough and was ready to retire anyway.
 

I'll probably watch it again in the hope that it improves but I didn't find it funny and the characters were very stero-typed.
 

---

My Latest Video (October 2008) --- ShoePie Facebook Group


 

IMHO not at all funny (except for the granny on wheels maybe, but even that was under exploited) ... I thought it was pretty course stuff and didn't bear much resemblance to the Benidorm I know which is only a 45 minute drive from where I live (and on the way to where our daughter lives a further 30 KM north) so we often buzz in there for the shops etc. *Some* Brits in Spain act a little like those depicted but they're fortunately a minority. Doesn't do Spain any favours ... could just as well (and probably more acurately) have been set in a UK resort. I wish I'd watched Mock The Week instead. It would be possible to do a pretty good SitCom on Expats in Spain, one of my bubbling ideas after 10 years being here ... but I would hope it would turn out funnier than this nonsense!!!

 

---

Mike

[link=http://www.sitcom.co.uk/writers/why_audiences_laugh.shtml ](May as well keep plugging this!)[/link]
 

I thought that it was atrocious but maybe it will improve.

There were far too many characters (a little like Jam and Jerusalem), most of them were deeply unpleasant and there were too few laughs.

The idea of making a sitcom about expats in Spain isn't that original either I think. I'm pretty sure that David Nobbs wrote about that subject after Reg Perrin had finished and it turned out to be one of the biggest flops that the BBC ever had.
 

Well i thought it had real promise, i think you lot are all very quick to jump on every new sitcom and bash it down. i honestly believe this one has got legs. a bit too crude for my liking but some very nice performances and i was impressed with johnny vegas showing acting chops he revealed to us first in happiness.

you lot can grumble on about it if you want, but in my opinion i think that the itv sitcom wagon is showing signs of moving along

also, to raise a coupel of your points. It is NOT about ex-pats who have moved to spain. its about a package holiday. Also, it may not reflect benidorm as one poster has noted but it resembles an all-inclusive holiday resort. these people are all in one place in a big resort. everyone please get their facts right and (i suspect) actually bother to watch it if you're going to hate it.

phew, i feel better now...
 

---

Never trust a man who can't grow a decent beard
 

I didn't think it was that bad, but nor did I think much of it. Thought there were a few cliched things in there such as facing the building site, something being in the toilet, complaining about The Germans.

The actress who played the stiff woman played exactly the same role in 'The Robinsons' and may have said the same line: 'I want a baby.' Her husband was better than he was in Man Stroke Woman, but that was dismal.

I don't watch The League Of Gentlemen, but thought Steve Pemberton did okay as the father. Thought the woman assumed the same mouthy role as in Rita, Sue.......and the rest of the family I didn't like. I don't know why they give the kids so many lines in some of these shows. They need to get them towards the standard of the lad in Two And A Half Men. He does a brilliant job.

Johnny Vegas did pretty well in an understated role, I thought, and it was a nice touch where he saved the boy and was waiting for thanks but the mother just bawled out the kid. Don't mention it!

A lot of these shows, I find, are still going down 'The Office' route with the long pauses after something unusual has happened/been said. The younger couple did this a few times and in one instance were put off their food by a conversation. I've seen it so many times though and unless it's done really well by great actors, it's not funny anymore.
 

I really couldn't warm to any of the characters, and doubt if I'll go back for second helpings. With this in mind, it seemed a spectacularly ill-judged sitcom for ITV 1, where they like "warm hearted" vehicles starring David Jason, Martin Clunes and Caroline Quentin.
 

I thought it was Shameless Light but even so I'm still going to stick with it because even as it was, it's still shows better promise than the dismal 'After You're Gone'.
 

---

'To Be or Not To be, Innit - A Yoof-Speak Guide to Shakespeare' is now out!
To find out more go to www.yoofspeak.net

Buy direct from Waterstones
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6198374
or Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0755210824/comedyguide-21/

The dodo died. Then Dodi died, Di died and Dando died... Dido must be pooing herself.
 

I thought it had a bit of promise, I liked the pair of swingers, the two gays and the Johnny Vegas character and there were some original gags. The swinging husband's description of "the wife's vagina was like two padded coat hangers" after one long orgy session certainly left little to the imagination..
All in all, better than I expected.
 

A painful reminder of why ITV stopped making sitcoms. Terrible script, littered with shit jokes and a signposted ending. Not one vaguely likeable character, just a bunch of flabby, ugly working class northerners acting the way that Daily Mail readers imagine the plebs act when on holiday. There are also a few stereotypical middle class people thrown in for good measure. They read The Time Traveler's Wife. They eat vegetarian lasagne. They sneer at the disgusting plebs. Yes, it's really that insightful.

I wasn't surprised to see Johnny Vegas in this (there was no going back after Sex Lives of the Potato Men) but why the usually excellent Steve Pemberton signed up is anyone's guess (free holiday in Spain?)
 

---

"wheeler is an absolute basterd that should be shot drowned." - chipandale RIP
 

So in that regard, I suppose nothing's really changed since the days of 'Love Thy Neighbour' and I can't say I'm really too surprised.
 

---

'To Be or Not To be, Innit - A Yoof-Speak Guide to Shakespeare' is now out!
To find out more go to www.yoofspeak.net

Buy direct from Waterstones
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6198374
or Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0755210824/comedyguide-21/

The dodo died. Then Dodi died, Di died and Dando died... Dido must be pooing herself.
 

Last night's episode attracted 5.3 million viewers and a 26 per cent share at 10pm, which is good news for ITV. Will be interesting to see if the show continues to be a success. I would put the ratings down to it being scheduled after the much hyped Bonkers. In a sane world the ratings would plummet now that Benidorm has been exposed as a load of cack.


 

---

"wheeler is an absolute basterd that should be shot drowned." - chipandale RIP
 

Agree with most others, awful. Just so typical and unoriginal, mentioning pop culture references like 'turkey twizzlers' and 'Derren Brown' rather than opting for actual jokes. Its just annoying when you know how could Steve Pemberton is in the LOG and how good Johnny Vegas is in Ideal and then they get stuck with this script.
 

---

www.myspace.com/themartinholmes
 

i didn't watch all of it because mock the week was on the other side, but what i saw of it (about 5 minutes here and there) it was a little bit crap, i'll have to watch the whole thing but what i saw was typical modern ITV sitcom- absolute cak
 

---

**check my profile for more material** This guy got arrested in the states for using a childs urinal in a public toilet, he said "i was practising my aim as my wife gets angry at me for missing the bowl at home" i believe it was a genuine mistake and he failed to notice the kid using the same urinal. (lewis roberts brighter side c)