Asylum (TV series)

Description: TV channel: Paramount Comedy Channel / Actors: Adam Bloom, Simon Pegg, Norman Lovett, Paul Morocco, Norman Lovett / ... more

Asylum (TV series) ... Director: Edgar Wright / Asylum was a British comedy series shown on Paramount Comedy Channel in 1996. Set in a mental asylum, it lasted for only one series of six episodes. Surreal black comedy about an assortment of odd characters trapped in an asylum, in a quiet English countryside. It is run by staff whose sanity is decidedly suspect, as proved by their admission of the local pizza-delivery boy for trumped-up reasons. As the patients try bizarre escapes, we are left wondering whether the whole thing is a massive experiment, or just a cruel hoax.

Newest Review: ... appears to be his strange little sidekick, who doesn't speak but plays the guitar. Jessica Stevenson plays Jessica (you're beginning to see that the characters are just named after their actors), a woman who at first appears to be the sanest of them all, but is actually paranoid and convinced that she is being pursued by the government. Stevenson also plays one of the staff, a sex-mad Irish ... more

... nurse very reminiscent of the Catherine Tate sketch. Finally, stand-up comedian Adam Bloom plays a wannabe stand-up comedian called Adam. He constantly annoys his inmates by telling stupid jokes, followed by canned laughter that he's recorded on hi...more

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Asylum (TV series): Spaced fans would be mad to miss it! (677 words)
by - written on 16/04/08 (Very useful, 174 readings)
Rating:

As any Spaced fan will probably know, Asylum is significant for being the project which brought together the makers of that show. Aired on the Paramount Comedy channel in 1996, it was directed by Edgar Wright, co-written by him and David "I'm a lady!" Walliams, and starred Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, as well as Julian Barratt, now famous for The Mighty Boosh. Set in a mental institution, we are introduced to its owner, Dr Lovett (played by Norman Lovett) who is somehow both sinister and friendly. When one of the staff orders a pizza, the delivery boy (played by a baby-faced Simon Pegg) turns up, only to find that they're not letting him out ... Read the complete review

Just a Pizza Delivery Boy? (1364 words)
by - written on 25/08/07 (Very useful, 558 readings)
Rating:

‘Asylum’ was a short-lived an almost entirely forgotten comedy series produced by the UK Paramount channel in 1996. Based around the premise of a corrupt mental institution along the lines of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (which is acknowledged by references in several episodes as an obvious influence), the main plot was essentially a flimsy device to bring together a cast of young, up-and-coming comedians and allow them to perform shortened versions of their stand-up shows to varying degrees of success. Its only real claim to fame is introducing the partnership of comedians Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson with writer/director Edgar Wright, who would later create ... Read the complete review

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