In a nutshell: exquisitely funny . . .
I hadn't seen this comedy series before, nor even heard of it that I remember, when I came across it on an online player in 2023. So I watched it mainly for the cast, many of whom are still known to us. I didn't expect great things of the funny aspect; I was just intrigued as to how it played. After all, if the series was good, I would have heard of it before . . . Right? Wrong! It was a delight to find the series is far better than the passable - or the just OK, or perhaps even pretty poor - that I expected. As, boy!, when I watched it, did I enjoy it!
I cannot believe I had never heard of the series. It should have won awards for the script, the storylines, the casting, and the comedy performances. And especially David Bamber; I can't believe he didn't win an award - or several - for his brilliant performance. He never falters over both series. His timing and delivery is spot on. He leads the players without trying to drown them out.
The other cast members are also superb. Several actors are even more well-known now than then, so went on from this to even greater things. There are reliable regular performers - well known from earlier comedy series - in cameos or in key roles; and introductory roles for newer actors. All skilled in their spot. The team gels brilliantly. An exercise in perfection.
Funny, clever, but never contrived or overdone. The programme did what it should: it makes the viewer laugh. And as for the prompt end after only 2 series: at least the last episode offered a neat - and likeable - finale for the characters. The best comedies have warmth as well as pith, so that we can appreciate the characters and get to like them. The closing episode offers us this feature: it makes us warm to Bamber and see him in a different perspective than we have so far. A neat ending then.
The programme only lasted 2 series. The reasons it was cancelled stun me. There is no WAY this this TV comedy should have got such a bad pasting after series 1 that it was cancelled - which is apparently what happened. WHAT was going through the minds of the deciding personnel?!
Yes, it's a farce, which no doubt didn't fit into the trend parameters of late-1990s TV. Farce was pretty old-school and sadly out of favour by then. Shame, as I have recently seen Steven Moffat's 'Joking Apart' series, which is another farce-based humour of the 1990s and like 'Chalk' is superb. I haven't laughed so much at a comedy in years, and I wasn't pressed by fashion prejudice to belittle such a classic form of humour. So could gladly ignore the out-of-style label that 'Chalk' was no doubt handed back in 1997 when it was cancelled.
I got to laugh out loud through all 12 episodes of 'Chalk'. Ditto Moffat's 'Joking Apart' TV creation. Both comedies are well worth the time-investment. Having waited a quarter of a century to discover the two TV programmes, I am delighted some genius decided to put them online. What a gift for 2024!
I hadn't seen this comedy series before, nor even heard of it that I remember, when I came across it on an online player in 2023. So I watched it mainly for the cast, many of whom are still known to us. I didn't expect great things of the funny aspect; I was just intrigued as to how it played. After all, if the series was good, I would have heard of it before . . . Right? Wrong! It was a delight to find the series is far better than the passable - or the just OK, or perhaps even pretty poor - that I expected. As, boy!, when I watched it, did I enjoy it!
I cannot believe I had never heard of the series. It should have won awards for the script, the storylines, the casting, and the comedy performances. And especially David Bamber; I can't believe he didn't win an award - or several - for his brilliant performance. He never falters over both series. His timing and delivery is spot on. He leads the players without trying to drown them out.
The other cast members are also superb. Several actors are even more well-known now than then, so went on from this to even greater things. There are reliable regular performers - well known from earlier comedy series - in cameos or in key roles; and introductory roles for newer actors. All skilled in their spot. The team gels brilliantly. An exercise in perfection.
Funny, clever, but never contrived or overdone. The programme did what it should: it makes the viewer laugh. And as for the prompt end after only 2 series: at least the last episode offered a neat - and likeable - finale for the characters. The best comedies have warmth as well as pith, so that we can appreciate the characters and get to like them. The closing episode offers us this feature: it makes us warm to Bamber and see him in a different perspective than we have so far. A neat ending then.
The programme only lasted 2 series. The reasons it was cancelled stun me. There is no WAY this this TV comedy should have got such a bad pasting after series 1 that it was cancelled - which is apparently what happened. WHAT was going through the minds of the deciding personnel?!
Yes, it's a farce, which no doubt didn't fit into the trend parameters of late-1990s TV. Farce was pretty old-school and sadly out of favour by then. Shame, as I have recently seen Steven Moffat's 'Joking Apart' series, which is another farce-based humour of the 1990s and like 'Chalk' is superb. I haven't laughed so much at a comedy in years, and I wasn't pressed by fashion prejudice to belittle such a classic form of humour. So could gladly ignore the out-of-style label that 'Chalk' was no doubt handed back in 1997 when it was cancelled.
I got to laugh out loud through all 12 episodes of 'Chalk'. Ditto Moffat's 'Joking Apart' TV creation. Both comedies are well worth the time-investment. Having waited a quarter of a century to discover the two TV programmes, I am delighted some genius decided to put them online. What a gift for 2024!