Talking Telly: A field guide to ‘That Mitchell and Webb Look’

[picappgallerysingle id="9046035"]
“That Mitchell and Webb Look” are in the middle of their fourth series run on BBC Two, and it’s safe to say that their sketches haven’t missed a step. If anything, it makes one want to go back and look at the great highlights from the first three series.

The first video is from the first episode of fourth series, and as much of their comedy does, it takes peccadilloes about the truly worthy things to be picky about in life, such as correctly pronouncing words, to a whole new level.

(Note: This is the only clip that I’m posting from Series 4, partly because previous series used to be on BBC America regularly and I wouldn’t want to “damage the value” enough to diminish the chances of this one also showing up there whilst I positively promote a show they could sell. And also because I hope highlighting classic clips will endear the BBC to this posting enough to not get the clips yanked from YouTube and to possibly get us some freaking US DVD sets. *genuflects towards BBC Television Centre*)
TMWL also has a fun way of skewering history and military strategy, as well as what is really valued by government agencies.

A frequent subject is pushing the boundaries of socially-acceptable innuendo, especially if they can poke fun at network standards and practices in the process.

I know very little about snooker, but if there’s this much drinking involved, I understand why it takes up so much time on British telly. It also pays homage to the good ol’ days of sports commentating. Oooh, that’s a bad miss.

In an unrelated note, a regular feature pokes at 70′s slapstick sitcom comedy whilst being as offensive as possible. Hennimore gives Jack Tripper a run for his money in his ability to always screw things up.

And if you are a fan and wondered what David Mitchell and Robert Webb’s personae would probably be like if they did a Hollywood action film (or, because of the Welsh accents, “Torchwood”), here you go.

Finally, as they tend to do in their sketch-between-sketches, the longtime comedy partners (like Fry and Laurie, they started collaborating in Cambridge’s Footlights) poke fun at each other. Or mostly they make fun of Mitchell’s socially awkward persona. Which is actually comes off much better, IMHO, for him than for Webb. When did the world decide which one was the most attractive of the two? On behalf of geeky womankind, I demand a recount.

TMWL airs on BBC Two on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. UK time (3 p.m. CST for those who have TARDIS timewarping abilities.) Their executive producer, Gareth Edwards, has been blogging “highlights” of the production at the BBC Comedy Blog. And also make sure to check out “Would I Lie To You?” on Friday nights, where Mitchell gets at least one proper rant off a week as he spars with Lee Mack, Rob Brydon, and a rotating cast of TV celebrities who attempt to get away with lying to each other. I could also list the multiple projects they work on together or separately, but I’m beginning to sound like a publicist.