Funny?
Him & Her
BBC Three, Monday September 6th, 10.30pm
Rating: 
BBC Three don’t do school plays, but if they did, they’d probably be better than Him & Her.
There are two ways of looking at this show; firstly the point of view of the commissioners at BBC Three. I’m sure they would argue that this programme is a refreshing look at modern twenty something life at its best and worse, held together by Becket-esque tragi-comic ‘story about nothing’ undertones that will enthuse and amuse in equal measure.
The second view is that of anyone who’s had the misfortune to spend 28 minutes of their life with Him & Her, the least funny, realistic and well executed situation comedy to be broadcast on British television in a long time.
The show is set in Steve’s (Russell Tovey) flat, a poorly observed hyper-stereotypical doss house where he and his girlfriend, Becky (Sarah Solemani), spend most of their time “shagging”, talking about shagging, waving dildos around in the air and playing on an Xbox before eating some toast and talking about their toilet habits at length.
Occasionally their mundane existence is interrupted by pyjama clad neighbour Dan (Joe Wilkinson), a bespectacled geek with ‘interesting interjections’ that offer about as much realism and humour to the programme as unicorn who couldn’t get through the heats on the X Factor.
Never fear, it might sound bad at the moment, but it gets worse. The introduction of Becky’s sister Laura (Kerry Howard) and her cheating boyfriend Paul (Ricky Champ) really throws the cat amongst the pigeons as it turns out Paul has been “shagging” (yep, it’s all about the shagging) a Mel C lookalike “back to front” … and Steve knows about this infidelity, but will he be able to keep his mouth shut once he starts getting taunted about the size of his penis? Are you still listening?
In a daring move for a comedy with no humour, there is no laughter track. Although this means that no one at home will know when to emit mirth, on the plus side it does allow the programme makers to pretend it was a drama when inevitably the complaints and poor reviews come flooding in.
For your reference, here is what I observed to be the closest thing to a joke in episode one:
Becky: “Are you gonna make me toast”
Steve: “Why don’t you just have bread”
Becky: “What raw, in the morning.”
If it helps, she was sitting on the toilet whilst she delivered those lines … nope, it didn’t help, sorry.
OK, one more go at getting a laugh. After Steve discovers that Becky “did a shit and you didn’t flush” he delivers a knockout line in the form of, “If you shit in my flat, you flush in my flat … if you want to do a stinky shit, you go back to your parents house and do it.”
My goodness, how did the writer, Stefan Golaszewski, come up with such witticism, he must be related to Oscar Wilde.
And here in lies the crux of the problem, the script and the story are abysmal.
As a concept, a show about young unemployed layabouts with a penchant for sexual shenanigans isn’t completely without merit. You could argue that in our newfound austerity Britain, such a show might capture the hearts and minds of a disillusioned youth, celebrating what’s good about 21st Century British youngsters whilst also exploring the many challenges and pitfalls that society delivers … for reference Him & Her does none of these things.
But a frankly juvenile script which revolves around bad toilet humour, hackneyed sex jokes and the most excruciatingly telegraphed observational humour is not the only problem.
The acting is atrociously bad. Now, of course you can’t polish a turd (and the script is a turd), but I would have expected more from Russell Tovey who has a good track record on screen, but in Him & Her he delivers a lacklustre, hammy and unconvincing performance as a ‘young, lazy and unemployed’ lover.
Starring opposite him, Sarah Solemani’s ill judged pastiche of ‘ladette’ characters and faux-dead pan leaves the viewer feeling equally cold. However, perverts out there will be pleased to know that she isn’t wearing many clothes for much of the show … so I suppose that’s at least something.
Believe it or not, I take no joy in delivering such a damning verdict on this show. I love comedy, and I want the BBC to produce more new sit-coms that bolster their heritage as one of the leading creative forces in this genre on earth …
… sadly, that’s not going to happen today.
To quote the show one final time:
“Come on let’s have sex, get your knickers off …”
“We’re missing Cash in the Attic”
Enough said.
[...] - Beehivecity Review [...]
I love the idea of a comedy that shows off an attractive woman in her knickers and talks about sex and bodily functions; problem is this one just doesn’t hit the mark.
The first thing I noticed was the programme’s use of ‘wobble-cam’ – a technique similar to shakey-cam but more subtle – giving off the impression that the show was filmed by a stalker on the set rather than a real production crew. It doesn’t give off a comedy vibe to me, and I half expected one of the characters to be brutally murdered by the cameraman in a quieter moment. This at least would have provided light relief.
The two lead characters are a failure: Sarah Solemani is dislocated, unfunny and unlikeable (other than you would definitely ‘sling it up her’); Russell Tovey overacts so much that one imagines he believes ‘humour’ to be directly linked to how much you gesticulate, posture and overact. Despite his credentials Tovey comes across as a very poor comic actor…completely unrealistic, negating the ‘realism’ so many people praise this show for displaying.
Before we even get to understand the two leads a plot line revolving around two peripheral characters – namely Becky’s sister, Laura and her fiancé- is thrown into the mix, making the show lose focus completely – whose lives are we supposed to be discovering here? Surely in the FIRST EVER EPISODE the show shouldn’t dwell on characters who haven’t been padded out yet, or even properly introduced.
I might have considered that the producers took the decision to leave off a laughter track because no-one found it funny enough to generate one, but by all accounts many people thought this programme was hilarious.
The only thing I can conclude is that I am a completely out-of-touch 20-something or the people that laugh raucously at this pooey mess are mentally ill.
I have to say I share the sentiments of nearly every reply to this review. The author has clearly missed the point when talking about this show, as it seems to have gone over his head. If this show were infact riddled with Wilde-esque witticisms, as the author suggests, then it wouldn’t really work as a gritty, realistic, situation comedy. Perhaps instead, the author was merely commenting on the low brow humour he saw before him. I would however argue that the real charm and humour in the show was far more subtle, as the amusement came from the clever observations of real relationships and interactions. I can only hope that my review of the author’s, was as scathing as his.
Thats possibly the worst review ive ever read. Its not meant to be funny in the way your thinking anyway, its just an amusing situation, and yes it is realistic, in many ways. I like the way it doesnt try and be anything special, its not over dramatised like a lot of comedies are now, its just a very simple idea thats not meant to have much plot as it would be unrealistic if there was. I actually thought the raw bread line was very funny and im sure if you had the opportunity to use it yourself it would get a few laughs.
This is the worst review I have read in a long time. The show made me laugh alot, which is surprising because these types of programmes aren’t usually particularly my cup of tea..
The reviewer is wrong about most of it, it is a more believable relationship that the two main characters share. Best BBC 3 show ive seen in a looooonng while. – ‘Dave’ nailed it. (I also am a recent student in my twenty somethings)
I echo every statement mad by leftygb.
I hit the off switch at the point where girl whilst sitting on loo gurns broadly to the camera at the sound of a plop!
Great stuff if your five years old; absolute garbage and for me no thanks.
I thought the show was very funny and has a lot of potential. The two leads were believable and funny. It’s just a humorous look a couple’s everyday life and not something you should take seriously.
Oh come on! Yes, it was vulger, yes, shagging was (gasp!) metioned, yes, is wasn’t the most challanging thing Tovay has ever done. But it was realistic and amusing and very honest.
Not everyone starts their day with their butler bringing a pain au chocolat and a copy of The Guardian, making snide and witty jokes about gay Tories.
This is a pretty real insight into how young people act….it wasn’t trying to be laugh out loud hilarious, and I think BBC3 has done well, the cast are wonderful.
The only likeable thing about this review was the History Boys reference….and by the way leftgb, did you write the complaint letter to the BBC in green ink? Underline some key words maybe?
This is without a doubt the WORST programme I have EVERY seen on TV, it is a complete waste of my License Fee and has absolutely NO merit whatsoever, I actually managed to struggle on for 15 minutes from the start before I had to turn off.
Him & Her is the reason that Man invented the Off switch on the TV
If whoever wrote this thinks that I want to watch someone pooing on the toilet and some inane mindless banter performed VERY badly, i would rather have myself strapped into a chair and be forced to watch all series of the Xfactor back to back!
This is NOT a good show.
it pissed me off SO much to see this that i have actually complained to the BBC
I watched ‘Him & Her’ last night (recorded on the Sky Player) and managed a whole 7 minutes before switching it off.
It had started fine but when a comedy resorts to severe toilet ‘humour’ so early to get a laugh, you know it’s going to struggle. Toilet humour is used when the writer doesn’t know where to go. It is lazy writing.
I was shocked and disappointed that I had to witness an actress on the toilet, complete with sound effects. I feel sorry that she was expected to do that and cant quite believe that a comedy writer and production team thought that it was acceptable on television.
I like comedy and I like shocking comedy that surprises me. The opening scene of ‘Him & Her’ however, was amateurish and a complete turn off.
I pity Russell Tovey for getting involved as he is a great actor.
I thought this show was very good. If they spent time bitching about people it would be spot on the way my girlfriend and I live together. I might add that more bathroom doors are shut in my flat and yes, if you shit in my house you flush in my house!
Get over yourself Tim.
Ugh, I was so disappointed. I was really looking forward to this, I like Russell Tovey and really enjoyed Cowards, but by the end, due to listening to Her do a shit, eat hairy toast and Him talking about farting and how she hadn’t flushed the loo I felt physically sick. Nauseous. Also, was it meant to be set in the 90s? The Spice Girl and Titanic references were a bit out of date?! Won’t bother tuning in next week.
It wasn’t great but then if you watch any comedy for the first time it rarely is. I’ll give it another go next week but it’s not going to be another Gavin and Stacy or The Office.
I am sorry but this programme is really funny. It doesn’t try to be anything pretentious it aims to take a comical look at real life. Again i agreew with the above I am a student in my 20s so can relate to this – i think Glanfield may not be able to or likes to be high and mighty and pretend comedy (his area of expertise) has some kind of haughty subject matter. Unfortunately for Glanfield this show deals with real issues – lets face it most of what young people talk about all day is toilet humour and shagging so Golasweski’s script is meant to represent that.
He is capable of much witty comedy, as anyone that has seen his very successful Edinburgh shows, but this show is meant to be real.
Bit harsh I think. “The least funny, realistic and well executed situation comedy to be broadcast on British television in a long time.” Really? You’ve not seen ‘Coming Of Age’ or ‘Inn Mates’ then.
Yeah – maybe the script wasn’t exactly Galton & Simpson in their prime, but you’re dead wrong about the acting. The performances from Tovey and Solemani where what lifted this from a fairly average show to something (despite the vulgarity) real, touching and occasionally even charming. It’s like an episode of ’2 Pints’ directed by ‘Happy Go Lucky’ era Mike Leigh. Or something.
And a unicorn failing to get through the heats on Factor would be well funny BTW.
Having seen the first episode i thought this show was actually very funny, the best BBC3 has produced in some time. Now perhaps as a student in his early 20s i’m exactly the sort of person who should find this funny, but i think this review shows a severe lack of insight into what this show was all about.
Of course they talk about shagging and bowel movements, that’s what people talk about. I’m sure it would be wonderful if we all lived in a world where people conversed like they do in Frasier, but we don’t, and i certainly found this show got more laughs out loud from me (and my friends who were watching it) then any of the wittier comedies knocking around.
Take the show for what it is, a bit of harmless fun. I’m looking forward to the 2nd episode.
Saw a preview to this and thought it was wicked funny! Not quite sure why you say ‘shagging’ so much. Everyone likes a good ‘shag’!