Has anyone been watching the new sitcom 'Grandma's House' - starring Simon Amstell?
I will give my opinion on it. I think it's an absolute mess. Amstell can't act at all - and looks like he's being forced to perform under duress. I say perform, but it's more like he's frozen with fear, with a constant expression on his face that says: "Help me! Get me out of here!" He's clearly extremely uncomfortable in every scene.
Now, some people will say that the way he looks and behaves is very funny - even if it's not meant to be. They will say it makes for comedy gold because he's so bad at acting. I will say it makes me cringe.
In the two episodes shown so far, Amstell is in his Grandma's house, with his grandma, mother, auntie, grandad, and other characters connected to the family. They sit around, talking about each other, and nothing much happens. There isn't anything really funny about it at all. It's very spooky in a way - like the family are trapped in a really boring episode of the Twilight Zone. The characters are also a very boring, unexciting bunch. The writers have tried to inject some life into them, but everything that happens comes across as forced, desperate and limp.
I will say the show is very strange and uncommonly bad. It's sooo bad that it sort of confuses the mind into thinking it's interesting. Like a really bad b-movie, but without any of the silly thrills you expect. People have compared it to the American show 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' - but whereas Larry David is full of life and enthusiasm, Simon Amstell is like an apathetic zombie. The shows are miles apart in quality: Curb Your Enthusiasm is brilliant, and Grandma's house is extremely poor.
I have a feeling that if Simon Amstell learnt to act and behave with more confidence, and was then given a show more like Curb Your Enthusiasm, it could actually work. That would take a lot of time and effort, judging from what I've seen of Grandma's house.
I will give my opinion on it. I think it's an absolute mess. Amstell can't act at all - and looks like he's being forced to perform under duress. I say perform, but it's more like he's frozen with fear, with a constant expression on his face that says: "Help me! Get me out of here!" He's clearly extremely uncomfortable in every scene.
Now, some people will say that the way he looks and behaves is very funny - even if it's not meant to be. They will say it makes for comedy gold because he's so bad at acting. I will say it makes me cringe.
In the two episodes shown so far, Amstell is in his Grandma's house, with his grandma, mother, auntie, grandad, and other characters connected to the family. They sit around, talking about each other, and nothing much happens. There isn't anything really funny about it at all. It's very spooky in a way - like the family are trapped in a really boring episode of the Twilight Zone. The characters are also a very boring, unexciting bunch. The writers have tried to inject some life into them, but everything that happens comes across as forced, desperate and limp.
I will say the show is very strange and uncommonly bad. It's sooo bad that it sort of confuses the mind into thinking it's interesting. Like a really bad b-movie, but without any of the silly thrills you expect. People have compared it to the American show 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' - but whereas Larry David is full of life and enthusiasm, Simon Amstell is like an apathetic zombie. The shows are miles apart in quality: Curb Your Enthusiasm is brilliant, and Grandma's house is extremely poor.
I have a feeling that if Simon Amstell learnt to act and behave with more confidence, and was then given a show more like Curb Your Enthusiasm, it could actually work. That would take a lot of time and effort, judging from what I've seen of Grandma's house.
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