We recently listed
five awful TV sketch shows that nobody misses and mercilessly pointed out why they were so flawed. But for every awful mess of a sketch show you see on TV, there are a lot more that that are inventive, well made, and most importantly of all: funny. So today, in order to redress the balance, we're looking at 5 Great TV Sketch Shows You Should Watch...
5. Come Fly With Me (BBC1, 2010 - 2011)
The most recent collaboration from Little Britain creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams was Come Fly With Me, a sketch show made in the mockumentary format that parodies reality shows such as Airline, and was narrated by Lindsay Duncan. It feels very much like a continuation of Little Britain in spirit but Lucas and Walliams' years of experience since then have allowed them to create a stronger programme and avoid some of the traps they fell into with Little Britain like too much of a focus on gross-out humour. Come Fly With Me's biggest strength is that it's a mockumentary as well as a sketch show. All of the sketches taking in place in one location keeps the ideas from being too scattershot with all of the comedy relating to airports and air travel in some way, spoofing everything from easyJet to paparazzi. The mockumentary format also allows for sketches where the different characters interact with each other, which is a rare thing in sketch comedy and allows for a better variety of sketches rather than the same jokes in all six episodes. Though the programme does fall into that trap with some of its characters such as coffee seller Precious, a character with the single joke that she always makes an excuse to shut her kiosk early. Despite that, it still manages to create a decent set of characters that largely go beyond catchphrase and bodily fluid spouting caricatures.
Another nice touch is that Lucas and Walliams' star power made it possible to include a number of high-profile guest stars including Rupert Grint and David Schwimmer as themselves in some surprisingly well put together sketches such as Schwimmer being stopped at customs for trying to smuggle transsexual pornography which he then blames on Matt LeBlanc. After it became a big hit right from the start, a second series of Come Fly With Me was almost a certainty but Matt Lucas not wanting to carry on with it has put the brakes on another series, making Come Fly With Me a very entertaining one-series wonder.
What Are Its Best Known Sketches? Low cost airline owner Omar Baba, workshy coffee stall worker Precious Little, and racist immigration officer Ian Foot.