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On Television |
“Gavin & Stacey,” premieres on BBC America at 8:40 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific) on Aug. 26 |
By DONNA J. PLESH
of TheColumnists.com
TV comedies usually fall into two categories: the good and the bad. Unfortunately these days there are always more of the latter than the former. So it was a pleasant surprise to find a good one in BBC America’s “Gavin & Stacey."
It’s the story of a guy and girl who fall in love and decide to get married. But, oh, were it just that simple! Gavin (Matthew Horne) lives in Sussex (England) and Stacey (Joanna Page) lives in Barry (Wales).They met via phone calls involving work from their respective jobs. After months of flirtatious calls the pair decide to meet in London.
Gavin’s mom (the wonderful Alison Steadman) is thrilled her son will finally meet the girl he has been talking to--and about--over the months. Meanwhile, in Wales Stacey’s down-to-earth mom (Melanie Walters) is happy for her daughter, but her Uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon) is less than thrilled with the planned meeting and gives her a rape alarm to take along, just in case. And Stacey’s best friend, Nessa (Ruth Jones), the been-around-the-block-and-seen-it-all many times type couldn’t care either way.
So Stacey is off to London with Nessa along to keep an eye on her. They meet up with Gavin and his best mate, Smithy (James Corden), who is also skeptical about Stacey, the meeting and Nessa.
But meet they all do. And, after all, the
show wouldn’t be called "Gavin & Stacey" if
the title characters didn’t immediately hit it off. However,
Smithy and Nessa are another story. They take an instant dislike
to each other. But after an alcohol fueled night of clubbing
and dancing they wind up in bed together. Dawns the new day and
Gavin and Stacey are in love and Smithy and Nessa are back to
putting up
with each other for the sake of their best friends’ relationship.
Soon Gavin proposes, Stacey accepts and the families have their first get together at Gavin’s parents’ house. Things start out smoothly, hit a little rough patch, but end on a happy note. Both families are generally pleased about the upcoming wedding, but as is the case in comedies like this, there are more bumps in the road coming for the happy pair and their families before the big day arrives.
“Gavin & Stacey” has many things going for it, but none more than the Jones and Corden characters of Nessa and Smithy. They actually wind up being almost more interesting than the title characters because we wonder just what will happen between the hate-love/lust-hate pair as the series (13 episodes long) progresses.
Jones and Corden are also the writers of the series, which in 2007 won the BAFTA (Britain’s equivalent of the Emmy) for Best New British Television Comedy (Scripted), as well as BAFTAs for Best Male Comedy Newcomer (Corden) and Best Female Comedy Newcomer (Page).
“Gavin & Stacey” is a nice little comedy and well worth watching if for no other reason than the outstanding performances turned in by Corden, Jones and Steadman.
(For the record: NBC has bought the rights
to remake “Gavin & Stacey.” I hope it turns out
better than that network’s remake of “Coupling”
(airing only for four episodes in the fall of 2003) and more
like the U.S. version of “The Office.”
©2008 by Donna J. Plesh. The photo is courtesy of BBC America.
This column first posted Aug. 18, 2008.
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