A hilarious take on every day life, comparing it to the olden days (Grumpy Old Women)

Member Name: bkecky

Product:	Grumpy Old Women
Date:	02/07/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to relate to and very funny

Disadvantages: I've watched them all now!

Grumpy Old Women is a spin-off of Grumpy Old Men and is a British TV series where basically celebrity middle-aged women sit and complain about things in their everday lives. There are some quite famous women featured in the programme such as Ann Widdecombe, Arabella Weir, Esther Rantzen, Christine Hamilton and Lesley Joseph. Every episode is on a different topic whether it be going on holiday or Christmas preparations and then the narrator will give you a rundown on the topic usually with the message of things were always better in the old days.

What I love about this programme is that it is not pretentious in any way of form, and rather than the celebrities being irritating they are quite endearing as the viewer can see that yes, even celebrities buy those rubbish kitchen contraptions only for them to be used once and their soul purpose being to fall out the cupboard when the door is opened. Grumpy Old Women gives us a personal insight into the lives of these famous women and shows us that actually they are the same as us, they still are always the last one to change the toilet roll and the ones to pick up the kids bags off the floor. The role of mother and wife does not stop just because you are a celebrity!

I don't laugh out loud to many programmes but this really did make me laugh, even as a youngster myself, I thought it was amusing when they were making fun of my generation. It is one of those programme where you can really relate as it takes real life and makes fun of it but at the same time being a good old grumble. I am not sure if it would be so popular for men though because a lot of it is about female things. As much we would like to believe that women are no longer in the role of the housekeeper, in reality it is usually (at least in my house!) the woman picking up everyone elses mess and due to it being heavily reliant upon women's lives it would probably appeal to women more. If you can imagine sitting around a table having a coffee with your wittiest and most fabulous friends and complaining about life's niggles, this is basically what this programme resembles. Often the male is at the receiving end of the topical banter so maybe for the chaps out there they would prefer to watch the other side of the story on Grumpy Old Men. I know on watching both I prefer the women because I can relate to it more.

With the success of the show they have now decided to turn it into a live show with Jenny Eclair, Dillie Keane and Linda Robson and the later additions of Rhona Cameron and Annette Badland. I'm not sure how the format of this works or even that I would enjoy it as much. I just wish they would make another series for me!

One of the best parts for me, which I think is a lovely touch, is at the end when they show photos of the women in their prime younger years and you can see how they have changed. After you have heard them talking about this and that (often cellulite and weight gain and wrinkles) its nice to see them in their hayday before they got so cynical! A lovely touch at the end!

Summary: Brilliant. I love watching this with my mother