Only When I Laugh – Set
One
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: C
When TV shows start off, they can be good, then die
badly. Some start with a great premise,
then do not know what to do with it.
The makers of the British comedy Only When I Laugh knew they had
something with Peter Bowles (The Bounder is reviewed elsewhere on this
site), saving his appearance for last as the show about hypochondriacs who
invade a hospital. It feels like it
could kick in and work, but there are few laughs, then things get worse.
For some reason, the show just never reaches its
potential, getting worse here, than far worse later (Set Two is reviewed on
this site as well). Sometimes, the
problem is just relying too much on star power, and Bowles had just enough of
it in Britain by this time. There is
not hook even early on to suspend disbelief in how they keep staying I the
hospital. There are not even any
implicit, let alone explicit, accomplices.
Being part of a National Health Service is not sufficient excuse enough,
either.
The full screen, color shows were shot on PAL videotape
and show their age, but the transfers work well enough, while the Dolby Digital
2.0 Mono is also sufficient. The only
extras here are some brief biography/filmography combos. That is also the case with the second boxed
set.
This box actually has seven shows, one more than the
second, but they just dragged. There
was not even a peak of a good, funny story.
I also believe that we will never see an American version of this series. After all, health care is a sensitive issue
in the U.S., and a comedy making fun of it would not be able to avoid
politics. All U.S. TV gets are
“holier-than-thou” medical dramas, but Only When I Laugh does not even
spoof those.
- Nicholas Sheffo
