Willi's Guide to Glitz and Glamour 1.2

Well folks, it's that time again. Here comes another dose of commentary on the world of entertainment and what's caught my eye.

I certainly wouldn't call myself an avid TV viewer and I am seldom rewarded with power of the remote though there are a few shows that continue to impress me. First up, The Big Bang Theory, the American sitcom about a group of super intelligent geeky types, showing on E4. Aside from my own seal of approval, whenever browsing various TV commentaries, this show is often given rave reviews. As with all great sitcoms, the characters are superbly crafted and their personalities, whilst adhering to the geek stereotypes, retain a quirky sense of individuality. After all, it is the exaggerated nuances of character that add comedic effect. There is the evil genius Sheldon, the neurotic Jew Howard, the superficially traditional Indian Raj and then there is the hero of the piece, Leonard. He's just an exceptionally intelligent young man who doesn't wish to dwell too much on this aspect of his personality. He'd rather spend time with the incredibly gorgeous girl across the hall, Penny, doing 'normal stuff'. Indeed, at this point of watching, Penny is still his girlfriend, Lucky Leonard.

I suppose another one of the Big Bang's most endearing qualities is that its humour does not necessarily deviate towards the sex and drug obsessed 'yoof' portrayed by BBC3 and Channel 4. (Coming of Age anyone? It's an insult that this programme follows the excellent Being Human). Neither is it the atypical tale of a group of metropolitan friends in their late 20s/early 30s who are still trying to find their way yet remarkably afford to live in expensive looking apartments. Along the way, many a relationship fails, jobs are lost and other setbacks occur but ultimately the whole affair is regailed to the audience in all its saccharine detail. Friends undoubtedly set the benchmark for this type of sitcom however it was original. And at times, touching.

All of this brings me along to another American import, How I Met Your Mother. I don't like it. Part of me doesn't want to like it. Part of me wants to persevere. Even the intro song and the montage of the characters pulling endless narcissistic poses sums up everything that is wrong about the show and about people. We're self-obsessed and we demand that people love us. Whether we're starring in a stream of forgetful pouty pictures, taken when we were just walking to the corner shop or sitting around on an alcohol soaked Sunday watching the snooker, we want people to look at us, hear us, watch us and read what we have to say. (ahem, I'm one of these folks too to some degree). Maybe I'm delving too deep here and perhaps I'm harshly judging the programme. But as mentioned before with Friends, when I watch How I Met Your Mother, I feel like I've been down this road before. Except with How I Met Your Mother, I don't like the road so much. It's old, tired and maybe even a little cliched (as roads go). I'm sure the scriptwriters and producers don't see the show as an updated version of Friends but to me, it's trying too hard to be funny and cool and a whole load of other things that its predecessors did so well. Maybe I just don't appreciate its 'goofy' humour. My favourite character is probably the sex-crazed, loveable pervert, Barney. A cross between Joey and Quagmire but then again, I get the impression that he's trying too hard to make me laugh. And quite frankly, that's not funny.