The_late_Buddy_Ryan This smart, dark UK comedy series showcased the fabulous Anne Dudek a couple of years before she made her bones playing meanies or crazies on American TV (most notably the hyperintense Dr. Amber Volakis on "House"). Here she's Clare, a prickly American expat and the instigator of the book group; another heavy hitter, Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane, "The Hound," on "Game of Thrones"), is exceptional as Kenny, a sweet-natured giant now confined to a wheelchair by a climbing accident; James Lance is suitably repulsive as Barney, a temperamental grad student, in the first season and again as Lachlan, Clare's overattentive boyfriend, in the second. Inspired by the group's first book, Kerouac's "On the Road," Clare and Kenny start writing novels (or pecking out their romantic fantasies) on their laptops; the fantasy sequences don't always add much, but Anne Dudek looks great when she lets her hair down as a tweedy Dryden scholar. A lot of the stuff aboot the fitba' went right by me, and the sexy soccer mamas are a bit over the top at times, but Michelle Gomez has some nice moments as Janice, a Real Housewife of Glasgow who goes all out for self-improvement, and Derek Riddell is adorable (if not always comprehensible) as Rab, a shifty guy in a tracksuit wha disnae much care for buiks. The first season has real momentum as the characters get involved (mostly in pursuit of unrequited crushes) in each other's lives, the second's a lot less focused, though partly redeemed by the presence of comic Karen Kilgariff as Clare's tough-talking sister. The second season ends on an ambiguous but upbeat note, and Anne D. gets to show her softer, gentler side with a little karaoke number in the series closer. Final grade: eight stars for the first season, six for the second, docked one star for the unsubtitled Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and Arabic. Finally, this is a bit off topic but how many would like to read a fanfic about a coed kickball league in Hell featuring rival captains Amber Volakis and Sandor Clegane (he must be dead by now, right?)? No longer available on streaming Netflix, I'm sorry to say.

Azeem Ali Khan I don't usually start my contributions like that, honest - but it's entirely merited. I've just watched the whole of the first series on DVD and been perhaps even more impressed coming back to it after a long gap. One of the things I love about the programme is that although the books they're reading aren't that important, the book group setting itself *is* crucial to the programme.There are several laugh-out-loud scenes in the first series, none of them revolving around standard gags or punchlines. One scene gets its laughs from repeated use of the "c" word, which is an extremely hard trick to pull off!The characters are beautifully drawn, starting with the pivotal figure of Claire, who is at once hugely irritating and sympathetic. All the actors are fine, though I particularly liked the louche and laconic Rab. The minor parts are well done too, for example Ben Miller as the writer, the guys who play Fist's and Dirka's husbands, and the vicar, whom we see in one episode.One other thing: it's really exquisitely filmed.I can certainly imagine myself getting more than one viewing out of this DVD (I am intrigued to know what the audio commentary will be like), and will certainly look to get the second series eventually, if nothing else for the interplay between Claire and her sister.

Vladimir "The Book Group" is the sort of show that is completely unique, not in its content matter or style but in the way it makes you feel. This is the second of Annie Griffin's series I've gotten into after the very similarly themed "Coming Soon" and I can't quite decide which one I like, or hate, more.Essentially it's a look at several unhappy characters, I won't go into them here. But they're all unhappy, or insecure, or sexually frustrated in some way, and the combined misery of all the members of this 'book group' formed by the Ohio depressive Claire all seem to clash in every meeting they have. The first series all dealt with each one's attempts to hit onto each other one; Claire was in love with Barney, Kenny in love with Claire, Dirka & Fist both in love with Kenny, it was quite a vicious love triangle. We've just started screening the second series in Australia and it seems this time everybody has found someone but naturally is still unhappy.But that's not the way the show seems to deal with it. All the characters are portrayed as pathetic, almost ludicrous in many ways, despite the fact that the feelings they are expressing are not in any way unknown to anybody. But it's black comedy, it makes you laugh even though there's nothing funny about it. And for that reason, while I might spend an entire episode cackling away non-stop, every episode always leaves me with a hollow, empty feeling. Maybe it's the un-finite nature of every episode ending, or maybe it's the haunting theme music or just the fact that the things I'm laughing at end up striking a nerve with me, either way, it's a unique experience.One thing that has to be noted; very little of the series has to do with books: there are occasional references to the books they are reading for the week, often in the form of a member of the group's fantasy or dream, but apart from that it is simply a character study and fun-poking at some of the most depressing and heart-breaking human emotions set in the surroundings of a group of people gathered together to talk about books. For one thing, you have to realise that at least quarter of each episode deals with professional football given that one member is obsessed with it and three others are married to professional footballers.Personally I think that Annie Griffin is one of the most under-rated writers/directors around today. She blends comedy and drama in a way that nobody else can do and weaves such intricate, almost psychological plots, around such a simplistic premise. I eagerly anticipate each episode and her next project. 4 stars out of 5.

azaro666 The premise is so simple that it would seem likely to be a snowballing success.The fact that the first episode was such a well structured, delicately written and well acted piece, meant that it appeared there was every possibility it could be a well thought through character study over a six week, or however long, period.Perhaps I am missing something as I have not read all the books that have so far been discussed by the group, but in any case the first episode was the only one that even touched upon the book at any level.Since then the programme has descended into the characters outside of the group. More about how they react in other environments and the experience that the book group may have had on them. The episodes appear to have been cut very harshly. There are great wapping gaps, with no explanation.The stuff about Kenny and Claire and the kiss has been forgotten. Barney and Claire and their immediate chemistry. The female obsession of Kenny's hands.It has to be said that the acting is very accomplished and it is a pleasure to see new actors proving their worth. Perhaps at the end of the run all of the loose ends will be tied up and it will make sense as a whole?Even so though it needs to be judged on each episodes merits, and doing that is so hard as each episode is so vastly different in genre and style.It feels like it should have been a two part series, just like Men Only which is one of the best things Channel 4 has ever shown.