I might be a feminist, but I will freely admit that I love Take Me Out. The show has just returned for an eagerly-anticipated second season after it became the break-out hit of 2010. What we have here is essentially a modern version of Blind Date in which 30 lucky ladies get to find the man of their dreams. If the women decide they don’t like the current male, they can turn off their lights leaving the chap to pick from those left.
Take Me Out has spawned some of the oddest catchphrases which seem to have entered our everyday lives. The best by far is: “No likey, no lighty”, invariably said in a thick northern accent, to mimic host Paddy McGuinness.
Yes, the programme is appalling in most respects – a fairly simple idea is realised on a cheap set – but that just makes it ideal Saturday night viewing. The women are always dolled up in excessive make-up and say the weirdest things. Especially bizarre are their justifications for why they’ve turned their lights off, such as: “I don’t like his jeans” or: “He’s too nice, I don’t want to date someone who does charity work”.
The men are equally as bad and now in the new season are allowed to show off their awful talents to try to impress the women. One involved simply donning a France football strip and saying he looked like Thierry Henry even though he didn’t resemble him in the slightest.
All this pulled together by Paddy McGuinness who presents like he’s at Blackpool Tower in 1952, but it all fits with the naffness of the show. Maybe you’re not a proper feminist if you watch Take Me Out and enjoy it, but then again it’s so funny that it’s almost impossible to take your eyes off it.
Episodes is the much talked about new comedy on BBC1. It stars British comedy staples Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan alongside American Matt LeBlanc, former star of Friends. The premise of the show is of a British couple behind a hit comedy in this country taking their show to the United States and remaking it for an American audience. This is something that has happened with varying success, from the good, such as The Office, to the terrible, such as the promptly cancelled The IT Crowd and Coupling.
Although an interesting idea in some ways, Episodes has several flaws. Mangan and Greig don’t really look like a couple, despite all the kissing scenes we have to sit through. Her hair is styled in a way that makes her look much older than him, although she isn’t. The American executive producers appear slightly dim-witted and lack the comedic element. Perhaps this is an accurate portrayal of how they really are. Matt LeBlanc does a passable impersonation of himself.
The show has the possibility to be very funny and could one day rival Entourage, which is currently filming its final season. At present, however Episodes really doesn’t quite hit the mark, despite the occasional funny moment. Don’t expect it to stick around for long if it doesn’t improve soon.
