DVD Review: THAT MITCHELL AND WEBB LOOK – Series One
That Mitchell and Webb Look is a comedy sketch show written by, and starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb (can you see where they got the title?) in various skits and sketches, playing a multitude of characters in various situations.
Now to be up front, I tend to be very picky when watching television comedy and I didn’t catch That Mitchell and Webb Look when it was first broadcast. A former flatmate of mine was a huge fan of one of their previous shows Peep Show but I’d only ever caught glimpses of their work; including the Mac computer over here in Blighty (one is a casual Mac, the other an uptight PC- see what they did there?). Being uninitiated in the duo’s comedy I went into watching the DVD with curiosity and if to be honest low expectations – the result? I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.
As with any sketch show each segment can vary in quality but I feel that the show has a much higher hit rate than it misses. My particular favourite sketch was in the opening episode where the pair portray Nazi officers who become troubled when they notice that there are skulls on their uniforms and they slowly begin to realise that they may in fact be the bad guys in the war they are fighting. Another fun recurring sketch involves a gay couple organising a party discussing who they are going to invite. The guest list includes their friend Moneypenny who they hope won’t bring along her work mate James who has a love of bad puns, sexual innuendo and martinis. Other sketches that deserve notable mention include The Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken Caesar and the two snooker commentators (note- snooker is like pool, only slower).
However not every sketch is a success, the nonsensical Numberwang skit which bizarrely appears in several episodes lacks any sort of humour and imagination. The piece revolves around a TV quiz show where the contestants shout out numbers that hopefully will give them “numberwang”. Maybe somebody might believe the sketch was funny as a one off, but to repeat it just doesn’t make sense (or maybe I just didn’t get it- which is possible). I also thought that the “behind the scenes” sketches lacked real bite and they could have had much more punch.
If you like sketch shows and British comedy this must go on your shopping list. The show has some very standout moments and even if you just have a passing interest in comedy you could do much worse (like watch something with Ricky Gervais) than to watch these.
Special Features
That Mitchell and Web Look comes with a pretty good set of special features; nothing outstanding but they’re not bad. There’s a decent making of documentary that runs just over 30 minutes which is very dry in the humour department and it’s difficult to decipher if everyone is joking or being serious (again- maybe that’s just me). There are also several outtakes that are so-so- but if you go crazy for the show then I’m sure you’ll love every extra second of footage.
