ITV's New Comedy Offerings: Vicious & The Job Lot.

Let's be honest, the gaping hole left by Broadchurch was always going to be difficult to fill. Last night, ITV treated the nation to not one, but two brand spanking new comedy shows in an attempt to heal the wound. But were they successful? 

We were first introduced to Freddie and Stuart, played by the infallible Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi. It seems that ITV had a lot of cash to splash about when deciding the cast of this new sitcom, but maybe it would have been wiser to spend more on quality writers.

Don't get me wrong, I love the cast: alongside McKellen and Jacobi, we have Frances de la Tour (you may recognise her from her role as Madama Olympe Maxime in the Harry Potter series), Iwan Rheon (of Misfits, and most recently, Game Of Thrones fame).
But the humour seriously is lacking.

In the first episode alone, there were ill-judged jokes about rape, a lot of stereotypical 'gayness' verging on the ridiculous, and far too much canned laughter at things that weren't funny! Take the opening scene for example: Stuart is on the phone to his mother, and makes a lot of camp "Oooo"s and "Oh my!"'s which the "audience" seem to find hilarious. They weren't.

Despite my disappointment at the lacking 'comedy' in this 'situation-comedy' I feel like Vicious will become my new guilty pleasure, much like Anna & Katy, which I also slated after the first episode, but continued to watch for weeks after just in case something funny actually happened (it never did). If my feelings change, I'll let you know, but I can't foresee a future in which I will genuinely laugh at this show. I'm just watching it to see the camper, fiestier side of Gandalf! 

Our second installment of 'newness' was The Job Lot, set in a West Midlands job centre and following the story of anxious boss Trish (Sarah Hadland, above right, of Miranda fame).

Again, I initially worried this wasn't going to be an enjoyable experience. But that changed when we met Graham, a man looking for a job who seems to have forgotten to put his shirt on under his blazer, instead baring his hairy chest. I wonder why he is struggling with his job hunt?
The thing I found funny  in this situation was the distortion of the stereotypes of the unemployed, the kind we witness on the zoo that is The Jeremy Kyle Show, into ridiculous caricatures that you can't help but love. I love Graham. And his stalkerish, simple ways.
Another thing that was hilarious was the deliberate incompetence of the people that worked at the job centre, making you question if they were actually that different from the unemployed people they looked down on. Take Angela for example, who refuses to allow a man to make an appointment to see her when he comes into the job centre, instead giving him a number to call to book one, despite him already being there. Ah, the stupidity. So, of course, the man rings the number from his mobile there and then, and tries to book the appointment whilst sitting across the desk from the oblivious Angela. It's as if she doesn't want to do her job properly!

Although The Job Lot isn't wildly hilarious, it is amusing and I already like Graham and Karl (Russell Tovey), and so will definitely tune in next week to see what other shenanigans will occur in the centre. It seems Karl is portrayed as the hapless in love, adorable fool, and so I can't resist not watching in case I miss him having some luck for once! (And no, Trish taking him out for dinner is not luck). 

To catch up on Vicious, click here.

To catch up on The Job Lot, click here.