bob the moo Recently I heard an interview with Armando Iannucci on the Sound of Young America. He was promoting In the Loop of course but he was asked about his career and so on and the conversation took in Alan Partridge and other shows. It reminded me that, while I can remember the show from the time, I never really paid much attention to it while it was on and that I should probably borrow the DVD from a friend and try it. I did this recently and managed to wolf the whole thing down in a matter of days (it is only essentially 7 episodes long). Alan "shot to fame" as a sports presenter and has landed his own talk show a bit in the mould of Terry Wogan but on BBC2. He has done this despite being incredibly unsuited to the job – a fact demonstrated by his ratings and his inability to cope with anything beyond his own superficial blandness and punning.As such the show is a good example of the awkward, pained comedy that the British do seem to do well – the comedy of embarrassment. It is a simple concept that, in fairness, probably couldn't have been sustained for much more than the one season and Christmas special that it got, because it does elevate itself to breakdown level within this timer period and the "joke" is essentially the same each time. That "joke" though is the character of Partridge himself – a local celebrity who is a sheen of catchphrases and corny jokes, popular with the elderly in Norwich no doubt but far from being the type of person you want to host a live TV show. He is unable to deal with anything that happens that is out of the ordinary – not only can he not deal with it but he cannot prevent himself being frustrated on air and this is generally what happens.This works as well as it does because of Coogan. He takes some great writing and delivers it with commitment and realism that stops his character being a clown but rather a tragic figure who is floundering at every step, frantically denying reality to himself for as long as he can before moments of resignation or anger reveal that he does know it. It is both funny and painful to. That it happens against the backdrop of a solid lampoon of inane "light entertainment" makes it a very engaging show. I will not say I was rolling with laughter at every minute but it did consistently amuse me because of Coogan. The supporting cast are not quite as good but do still do good work as guests alongside this disaster of a man – some mock him, some go along with it as best they can and some do both. Front is the most varied of the regulars and is good for it but personally I was surprised by how many times Marber essentially did the same character. Schneider is good in a few small turns while John Thompson is brilliant as the only person who comes over more pathetic than Partridge himself.It will not please all viewers but Iannucci crosses a satire on light entertainment with a great car-crash of a character to great effect. Frequently funny and consistently amusing, KMKYWAP is short and sweet as a season, staying around just long enough to do the job and creating a great character in the meantime.

J. Wellington Peevis Satire, satire, satire...A very funny send up of the dreaded ubiquitous chat show. Actor Steve Coogan plays show business blight, Alan Partridge, a thoroughly unlikeable character who hosts an odd assortment of meaningless guests on his ridiculous chat show that is ridiculously titled, Knowing Me, Knowing You. The title of course is taken from the ABBA song of the same name, and Partridge himself mysteriously uses the A-Ha refrain from the song as his personal catch phrase. Completely idiotic but completely funny and eerily cogent. Alan Partridge the man likewise is as completely idiotic as he is pompous, condescending, moronic, cruel, vindictive and completely out of touch with reality. He also just happens to be 24 karat comic gold. In Alan Partridge, Coogan has created the perfect embodiment of an entertainment show-biz phony, cardboard jackass. An all too familiar character that sadly we as viewers now accept as normal. His pathetic C minus guest list parades one low-level pseudo-personality whacko after another. Said guests are all so excellently portrayed, that not being English, I initially was unable to tell if the people were actual Britsh celebs or not. Though Coogan is definitely top banana, the show in actuality is more troupe sketch format a la Monty Python then a solo tour de force. We see the same 4 or 5 actors switch disguises to portray each and every guest, with only a few exceptions sprinkled in now and again. They all deserve equal credit for the show's success. Knowing Me, Knowing You is the Sammy Maudlin bit from SCTV taken on as an entire show. Personally, I never got enough of Sammy Maudlin. In terms of this type of fare, there is no American counterpart. Forget that satire itself has very little in the way of broadcast outlets, American entertainment simply does not or will not go after its own a la the Brits. That might well be because producers think American wont laugh at show business parody, but somehow cynicism makes me seriously doubt that. Even the terrific Larry Sanders show, ostensibly a similar type satire of the chat show genre, though hilarious, never once made Larry Sanders himself look professionally incompetent. To be fair, Knowing Me, Knowing You, is a fictional chat show of the type we don't really have in America, as its a hybrid of a Letterman format with a Regis daytime format. They may not have them in England either. Evening chat shows are likely in America to be very stiff, formal and almost nerve wracking as the hosts do their very best to keep celebrities ill at ease, in further glorification of the said host. I wont argue with success. So though the satire might be hard to relate to, the comedy makes that fact immaterial. I will say that if you have an aversion to British comedy in general, you will not change your opinion after watching this show. Yet the converse is definitely true. British comedy fans, this is what you live for!

mafster When I first watched this show, I wasn't sure. My friend told me how funny it was but at first it seemed a bit normal. However, I gave it a chance and watched some more. It was too late, I was hooked.This show is brilliantly written and the jokes are so different to other comedies it feels refreshingly different. It does require a different view point for it's comedy but when looking from that perspective, this show stands tall.The character himself, Alan Partridge, is a wonderful creation and Steve Coogan has cemented his name in comedy history. I love everything about this character and can quite easily watch this show over and over again.The funniest thing is, you seem to be laughing at Alans crashing career which is sick but you just don't care.The best part of this show was the ABBA medley. Truly brilliant.This is comedy at it's very best. The supporting characters are truly wonderful and as for Alan Partridge himself, fantastic and brilliant.AHA.....

VictorianCushionCat Elevated from his radio show onto television this is presenter Alan Partridge's big break to take the art of chat to new heights. Unfortunately from the faulty studio fountain onwards it's all downhill for his ambitious project.KMKY is six episodes of chat show spoof comedy heaven. There are too many funny bits to list but my favourite is the political debate where harrassed Conservative candidate Adrian Finch finally loses his nerve with the 'Bald Brummies' candidate and turns violent.It is probally true that many presenters have skeletons locked away in the cupboard, but with Alan the skeletons tend to be released on camera, to ruin things for him every time. Maybe the real genius of the series is the fact that I have met people who genuinely believed that Alan was for real.A program delivering a laugh a minute ratio is a rarity, which makes Knowing Me, Knowing You all the more essential viewing.