The Best (or Worst) of British, (or in this case Australian on British), TV: Summer Heights High

No offence, but the best show I've seen lately is Australian. To be specific, Summer Heights High, which is a fabulous faux-documentary from creator, writer, actor, and all around funny man, Chris Lilley that is playing in London right now. Summer Heights High tells the 'story' of one term at the high school of the same name, specifically focusing on three characters: Ja'mie, Mr. G, and Jonah.

And here is where it gets funny. Lilley plays all three characters, and he plays them to perfection. Ja'mie is spending the semester at Summer Heights High in an exchange program with an exclusive private school. In Ja'mie (pronounced Ja-may, btw) Lilley has perfected that popular girl, "I'm better than you" stereotype. Her favorite phrase is, "no offence, but...(insert totally offensive phrase such as, "private school kids are smarter than public school kids") and "That's so totally random."


Mr. G, has been newly appointed as the Head of Drama, ahem "Head of Performing Arts, spread it" and he is over-the-top. He thinks he is teaching the most important subject, and is the most popular teach on campus. Please don't confuse him with the truth. He is currently producing and directing a play he wrote on an unfortunate death of a student, Annabelle Dickinson, due to a drug overdose ("She's got a bad habit, a bad habit for drugs"). Although he could barely remember her, he found that "the character of 'Mr. G' has become a larger role in the musical than originally planned." He also owns a little Pomeranian, prances around talking about the Centre for Performing Arts he wants to build (multi-million dollar, glass windowed, state-of-the-art, facility), and reserves the gym at all hours of the day, making him not the favorite person of the P.E. teacher.

Jonah is a "troubled Pacific Islander" who has been expelled from several schools. He's the 'smart but not living up to his potential' character, from a minority and marginalised group. He meets with the counsellor on a regular basis, and has written his own "behavioural contract," which he always breaks. Jonah has some of the most awesome lines, including "Puck You" and "Are you on your period, miss."

Lilley has captured typical high school life in Australia (which is similar to what I remember from my high school life in the U.S.) and has in the spirit of Arrested Development (because you know I had to go there) taken it to the extreme. Ja'mie regularly cracks me up at just how self-centered she is, and yet there is much truth to her relationship with the girls at the public school. The story line where Ja'mie was trashing the 'bogan' public school girls to her private school friends via MSN, and the ensuing fight, was eerily reminiscent of my high school years. It also shows the weird kind of power the leader of a group of girls has over her 'posse,' for whatever reasons. Mr. G, is just the poor, self-centered, over-confident, soul who is teaching drama instead of performing on Broadway, but he makes the best of it by being the cattiest teacher out there. Jonah is actually the most realistic portrayal, the way he lowers his eyes when not telling the truth, acts out when he is uncomfortable, and is always causing problems. All three characters make me laugh out loud, and I can't say that I have a favorite, though I know I have a soft spot for Jonah. I just want him to get it together, and be loved. And to answer your question: yes, I know he is fictional, and that if he actually got it together he wouldn't be half as funny.

Lilley is extremely talented and previously produced the television series We Can Be Heroes where the character of Ja'mie was introduced. (As soon as I can get my hands on that series, I'm sure I'll be writing about it too). I have to thank my Aussie flatmate for pointing out the series that has become "Sara's Latest Obsession." Summer Heights High is currently being aired in England, at 9:30 pm on Mondays, on BBC3, and in the United States, at 9:30 pm central time, on HBO. I wanted to include a clip montage of all the characters, but I couldn't really find one that was appropriate. I've embedded one of my favorite Jonah exchanges, from the first episode, which has the "I said puck you, miss, with a p." I will warn you that this clip is unedited and contains some choice words that sound like puck, but begin with a different letter.

On an unrelated note, I really must apologise for the total lack of posting in the past month or so. I've been having a tough time work wise and just simply didn't have the energy for posting. Things are calming down in that regard, and I really hope I'm through the worst. So, that coupled with the imminent return of Lost, means more posting for Sara.

Ok, enjoy Jonah, and go watch (however you can, I don't judge) Summer Heights High. And, "spread it" to all your friends. Otherwise, and "no offence," but "puck you."

The Best (or Worst) of British Television: Lost in Austen

Welcome to the first edition of The Best (or Worst) of British Television, starting with the series Lost in Austen, which recently aired on ITV here in the UK. This column is the beginning of a semi-regular look of the happenings of British television. I will cover both series currently airing and plan to delve into the annals of British TV (covering such gems as The Office and Coupling, amongst others). There might even be a guest columnist or two on this topic. Before I begin it may be helpful to point out a few differences between British TV v. American TV. The major one being that unlike in American TV, most seasons of television that air across the pond usually consist of, at most, 13 episodes. They also tend to have less seasons, with the exception of the soap-style dramas, which go air each night and go on forever, just like our soaps. These two facts lead to tighter stories than perhaps happens in American television. Another fun fact is that the Brits call their seasons, series, such as Series One of Lost rather than Season One of Lost.

"I'm having a truly post-modern moment."-Lost in Austen

Lost in Austen is the tale of a modern-day London-ite, Amanda Price, (who lives in Hammersmith, where I work!) who is in love with the novel Pride and Prejudice. She is suffering at a job she doesn't like, and stuck in an unfulfilling relationship. She escapes into her tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice, and loves the fictional Mark Darcy. Her boring life changes in a big way when Elizabeth Bennet shows up in her bathroom. Yes, you read that correctly, her bathroom. As is true with fantasy/sci-fi dramas, one must just accept the premise without questioning too much, because otherwise one may get bogged down in reality.

What follows are four episodes that grow increasingly stronger in the story telling. I must admit that after the first episode I was a bit skeptical of where the story was heading. There was something a little contrived in how Amanda just happened to be reading Pride and Prejudice when this story began. [Again, though, for the purposes of storytelling, it necessarily has to be this way.] Nearly everything that happened in that first episode was fairly predictable (would you be surprised if I told you the boys of the novel were falling in love with the wrong people? I suspect not.), and had many classic "fish out of water" scenes. The one where Amanda curses and smokes when a lady of that time does not and one where she tries to figure out how to brush her teeth. One of the best moments in the whole series however, is when a certain scene from a very famous Pride and Prejudice movie is recreated. I won't spoil it for you, but if you want a clue read Bridget Jones's Diary.

The show began to shine when it moved away from what we "know" from the books and fleshed out the characters into real people. To wit: we all know the creepiness that is Mr. Collins, but we didn't know he had three equally as creepy brothers! Or, if you are familiar with the novel (and really that is who this series is made for), you know all about the dishonorable character of Mr. Wickham. But Lost in Austen manages to make Mr. Wickham more real and nuanced, and we learn there may be more to Mr. Wickham; I would even bet that the audience might even like him. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy do not disappoint either. It is quite fun to see more of these characters and even though Amanda admits that Jane Austen must be turning in her grave at some of the things happenings, but I hope Jane would enjoy these versions of her characters.

A show based on such a loved and read novel is most likely always going to be inherently predictable, and admittedly, Lost in Austen in the end is predictable. To its credit, I was not entirely sure how it was going to end. While the ending may not be surprising, the writers had at least laid out a few different options, so it did not seem completely obvious. I do feel the ending was perhaps a little bit rushed and while things are pretty much tied up, I would have like a little bit more. Still, I quite enjoyed the series despite some of the inevitability in it, and definitely recommend watching it.

I won't give away the ending, because I suspect it may show up on BBC America sometime soon. If you don't want to wait, start here, and I trust you can figure out what to do after that. After you watch it let me know what you think and if you agree of disagree with my assessment of it.