10 TV Shows That Changed Dramatically

Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain’s sitcom will rightly be remembered as one of the 21st century’s best, but, uncommonly for a British comedy, it didn’t half outstay its welcome. As a long term fan of the show, watching the dying days of Mark and Jeremy was like watching an entirely different programme.

At the outset, Peep Show was as well observed as British comedy had been in years. Everyone is a Mark or a Jez, two diametrically opposed characters who are nonetheless equally dysfunctional. From romantic failures to thwarted careers, delusions of grandeur and unreliable mates, Peep Show was a painful laugh precisely because so much of the content was recognisable.

Somewhere along the way, though, it turned into a cartoon. While that’s hardly uncommon for long running comedies, it’s rare to see a show once so grounded go so totally wild. Low key disappointments were replaced by snakes, electric fences, and decisions no human would ever make.

The show never forgot how to tell a joke, but the limping form of Peep Show’s final days is something of a blight on a show that could have been perfect had it ended earlier.