Savages, The

I have often wondered what the process is that gets a situation comedy onto our TV screens. I had not been watching The Savages long before the thought crossed my mind as top how this was commissioned. Of course it helps if you are a writer like Simon Nye with a pedigree like 'Men Behaving Badly', that must open doors. Last year as part of the BBCs Talent promotion I submitted a script for evaluation, it wasn't accepted but I have to think it was better than this effort. There must come a time during the filming or production when somebody must have thought this is not only not funny, it is contrived, the director has lost the plot (what there is) and the ...  Read the complete review

The Savages, a BBC 1 comedy, received many bad reviews from critics however I watched the whole series and enjoyed every moment of it. The sitcom was centred around the Savages' family home. On paper it would appear quite similar to BBC1s previous sitcom 2 point 4 children- a comic look at family life. I think the reason 'The Savages' received bad reviews was because people didn't give it a chance. Any attempt by the BBC to make a sitcom was going to be treated dubiously, after all they're not known for producing side-splitting comedies. However 'The Savages' shared the same writer as one of the BBC's best comedies, Men ...  Read the complete review

Occasionally the Beeb comes along with a little gem. "The Savages" is one such gem but unfortunately did not always appeal to the mass market. Written by the genius that brought us "Men behaving badly" the series is extremely funny, but particularly if you have young kids. My wife and I laughed so much we cried at some of the episodes. However I can see that some people (i.e. those without children) might find it difficult to see what is so funny. In this way it becomes a form of "in joke" and those outside the group do not understand. Hence we see people tending to either love or hate it. In comparison, ...  Read the complete review

CHILDREN!! Wonderful creatures, aren't they? Totally indomitable, tireless beasts with an endless capacity to ask "Are we there yet?" for hours on end. Totally unique, there is nothing quite like a pair of children to make your life go with a swing - what would we do without them? Well, get along quite famously actually, because these little buggers are sent directly from hell to make our lives an absolute nightmare and they are certainly successful in achieving their aims. Now normally, kids are portrayed on television as precocious and/or cute, but we all know they aren't really like that, don't we? They're actually the ...  Read the complete review

I approached BBC1’s new sitcom ‘The Savages’ with mixed feelings. It is after all the good old fashioned family orientated sitcom back with us once again which means its bound to be the same as all the others but on the other hand it was created and written by the legendary Simon Nye, he of Men Behaving Badly and Beast. It also stars up and coming comedy actor Marcus Brigstocke and comedy veteran Geoffrey Palmer. The main premise as described by Nye is ‘what if Gary from Men Behaving Badly settled down and got married’ and it definitely shows and although its not all that original I can’t help liking it. Brigstocke is ...  Read the complete review