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Nighty Night
// Sitcom, the Oxygen Network // Rating: 7.0
Nighty Night is dark and twisted Brit-Com, that is British Sitcom, about a widow named Jill with a borderline obsessive crush on her handsome doctor, medical doctor to clarify,
and next door neighbor. The thing is, she isn’t really a widow, her husband is alive and moderately well in the hospital after being diagnosed with cancer. Also, the handsome doctor next door is married... to a woman in a wheelchair. See, dark.
The series, created, written by and starring Julia Davis twists its way through social faux-pas and morally corrupt situations with relative ease. For example, after learning that her husband Terry (Kevin Eldon) has been terminally diagnosed with cancer, Jill’s immediate reaction is go to the Lasso the Moon dating service. This an episode prior to her inviting the doctor next door, Don (played by Angus Deayton), to dinner in an attempt to get to know him better resulting in mild amusement.
Which is the biggest drawback of the show. It just isn’t that funny. Don’t get me wrong, it can make you laugh but just not as much as one would hope. Monty Python this is not. Some gags fall flat, yet others shine. Such as when Jill first goes to the dating service where she is unimpressed by essentially all of the candidates before settling on a guy named Glen who defines his personality as "Scottish."
But still, the major complaint that resonates inside of many of us yanks with modern British comedy constantly casts a large umbra upon the show. That complaint being that the humor is "slow" and requires the viewer to occasionally think to fully understand its witticisms. For instance, the dialogue doesn’t progress at the rapid pace of a show like The O.C. and is also full of awkward silences. Personally, I like awkward silences, but ratings indicate that most American viewers do not.
Basically, if you like dark humor and don’t mind the ethical flaws of the main character, you can find something to enjoy here. On the other hand, if this type of comedy isn’t exactly your thing, it isn’t likely to convert. Overall a good series, falling just short of greatness.
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Tim Smith, the resident television expert
for LAS, regrets to inform you that Nighty Night has been
cancelled by the Oxygen Network.
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SEE ALSO
> www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/nightynight
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