The Stage

TV review

Published Monday 27 November 2006 at 13:30 by Harry Venning

Pulling stars Sharon Horgan as Donna, a bride-to-be who gets cold feet, cancels her wedding and moves in with two single girlfriends, Karen and Louise.

Do not be put off by the set-up, which evokes dark memories of the Denise Van Outen monstrosity Babes In the Wood, nor by the feeble title and its similarity to the lame Friends rip-off Coupling. Pulling is the sharpest, freshest and boldest comedy of the year, immaculately written and beautifully performed by a uniformly excellent cast.

Like many of the best comedies, Pulling is actually a study in desperation and despair. However the writers - Horgan and Dennis Kelly - clearly have deep affection for the characters they heap misery and misfortune upon.

Jilted fiance Karl’s nervous breakdown was simultaneously one of the funniest and the saddest scenes I’ve ever seen, almost matched by alcoholic primary school teacher Louise’s tear drenched reading of Hug to an audience of five-year-olds.

“They cry all the time” was Louise’s response at being automatically suspended.

Pulling avoids the stock comic characters that usually populate the sitcom single scene and finds its comedy in surprising and unexpected places. Most importantly, its portrayal of relationships and the dynamics within them, is uncomfortably recognisable. It is amazing what a shot of truth can achieve in a comedy .

I didn’t know any of the actors in Pulling, which was very refreshing. This is in stark contrast to Jam and Jerusalem, which is distractingly top-heavy with star turns. Appearing in Jennifer Saunders’ new sitcom is clearly a prestige gig for an actor, so much so that Hywel Bennett can be recruited for the sole purpose of being killed off and getting the plot moving.

Sue Johnstone stars as grieving widow Sal, forced by bereavement and redundancy into the companionable embrace of the local Women’s Institute. Cue a host of comedy cameos from people accustomed to having their own shows.

My inclination is to despise Jam and Jerusalem, like Chelsea FC, for greedily snapping up all the available talent.

However, like Chelsea FC, the show is rather successful. Saunders’ script is poignant and amusing - there was even a moment of comic genius featuring a false arm - the characters just the right side of eccentric and the starry cast certainly deliver the goods. My favourite performance was Rosie Cavaliero’s bereavement counsellor, gently admonishing Sal for processing her feelings of grief in entirely the wrong order.

Two main gripes. First, how come Sal was completely composed and unaffected by her husband’s funeral? Second, what is Dawn French doing? Everyone else in the cast has adopted a naturalistic acting style, whereas French has opted for a more panto approach in playing the village idiot.

Sketch shows need time to grow but I fear Blunder will need more time than most. The characters seem woefully underdeveloped and the comedy uncertain.

One character, The Baron, seems to be entirely based upon the proposition that if you keep doing something that isn’t funny for long enough, it becomes funny. Not true.

DETAILS

Pulling - BBC3, Wednesday, November 29, 10.15pm

Jam and Jerusalem - BBC1, Friday, November 24, 9.30pm

Blunder - C4, Friday, November 24, 10.30pm