Love Soup

Love soup is screening for the first time in New Zealand (Feb 2007). In a country where television is increasingly dominated by (mainly) brain dead American trash, I am heartened that some enlightened buyer has purchased a program that appeals to people with a brain. I would not describe it as a comedy perse. The humour is subtle and not obvious to anyone who has not been "through the traps". My fascination is due to usually being totally wrong when trying to predict what happens next. I mean how many girls do you come across with a full body tattoo? Like many well written works, the series touches on many of the taboos that we all eventually experience to some degree or other.

There are so many forms of comedy that you can never call one real and discount the rest. I liked the style of this programme and its not completely obvious humour. I think there are a lot of people who would not enjoy this programme as perhaps they could, but those who did enjoy it are definitely sorry it didn't continue. This is probably more of a programme for girls. If only the fans had stood up and said something rather than just those who wanted to get rid of it. So I do recommend this to others and would say don't just look at the comedy aspect of the programme, look also at the story lines. I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

This is a very funny series and much cleverer than the standard so-called comedy fare we are force fed these days. It will appeal to anyone who actually thinks about things and the angst that accompanies this risky practice. This is a comedy very much about the good manners of the main characters and the lack of them in the people they come across (and their inability to see past their self-obsessed noses). This is all handled in a very understated manner and never patronises the viewer and actually treats us as adults (not even any canned laughter!). I think the people who didn't get this series possibly struggled because they are the people this terrific show is poking fun at. Perhaps they should watch again and you never know it might just help them to be nicer people.

If you like droll and witty, you'll love this. If low brow, slutty, British sit com fare is your style, this is definitely not for you. First of all it's very smart stuff. Secondly the script is handled very deftly by almost everyone connected with it. Kudos to the director! Tamsin Grieg has a face built for comedy, a sort of sexier Lily Tomlin, and her timing is exquisite! The American (a real one, for a change) is excellent as well, if a tad too good looking for a lonely single.

The two play a couple, possibly (hopefully) destined to meet, but in the mean time they passively, reluctantly, pursue the dating game. Each episode is another disaster waiting to happen. Sometimes you can see it coming other times you can't, but you know it's coming. Just what will make this one a disaster?

My favorite scene, so far, is when the parents of Tamsin's ex boyfriend of some 10 years, show up to tell her he's passed away and to hand over tapes he made of him and Tamsin having sex. The old couple play it absolutely straight and innocently, and Tamsin's facial expressions show her skills as a comedian, who knows how to be subtle, instead of obvious.

My wife is impatient to have the two meet, but I want to wait and savor the moment, when (if) it comes.

Alice and Gil independently wander through life wondering if there is anyone else on the planet who 'get' them...

This is a beautifully observed, hilariously acted set of 6 hour-long episodes, posing the question 'is there really a perfect partner for each of us, and if so, how do we meet them?'. Renwick creates one cringingly funny situation after another, and he is ably served by Tamsin Greig and Michael Landes as Alice and Gil. Greig is particularly wonderful, underplaying brilliantly in the face of one embarrassment after another. Smith and Lombard are also fantastic as Alice's colleagues, and Styler is a revelation as Gil's frustrated neighbour Irene. Occasionally 60 minutes feels a little long, but on the whole an unmissable show. Role on Season 2?