Little Britain USA is an American spin-off-continuation of British sketch show, Little Britain, produced and aired by HBO.
As in the British series, Matt Lucas and David Walliams play the majority of the characters: originals such as Lou and Andy, Daffyd Thomas, Sebastian Love, Marjorie Dawes and Vicky Pollard, as well as new characters not previously seen in the British series.
The first series started filming in March 2008 in Wilmington, North Carolina. HBO showed the first episode of the season in the United States on September 28, 2008; The Movie Network broadcast it in Canada the same day, followed by BBC One on October 3 in the UK.
New guest-stars include Rosie O'Donnell, Rachael Harris, Bob Stephenson, Paul Rudd (as the President of France), Hilarie Burton, Vivica A. Fox, and Sting. Michael Patrick Jann served as executive producer of the series and directed the majority of the shows. David Schwimmer directed studio-based segments of the show. Rosie O'Donnell also makes an appearance in a "Fat Fighters" segment.
The series was released on DVD in the UK by 2entertain in August 2009.
Video Little Britain USA
Ratings
- The first episode attracted 540,000 viewers in the US and 4.7 million viewers in the UK (according to Digital Spy)
- The second episode, when shown in the UK, attracted 4.23 million viewers
- The third episode shown in the UK attracted 4.67 million viewers
- The fourth episode shown in the UK attracted 3.65 million viewers
Maps Little Britain USA
Season 2
On November 27, 2008 on GMTV Matt Lucas announced plans for another season to air in 2009, but in July 2009, HBO announced the show would not return for a second season, but plan to work with Lucas and Walliams on other projects.
Reception
The show has received a generally mixed response from critics, garnering a 60% approval rating on review aggregator website Metacritic. Mirror wrote: "The sad truth is Little Britain's mix of Monty Python, Kenny Everett, and Dick Emery has run its course. One-joke characters like Lou and Andy and Carol 'computer says no' Beer are being flogged to death. Walliams and Lucas have spent so much time deciding which frocks to wear, they've forgotten to write any gags. And their desperation to be outrageous is now just shockingly tedious."
Main characters
Reprised characters
- Marjorie Dawes (works at an American branch of FatFighters)
- Bubbles DeVere (goes on a luxury cruise to Rio de Janeiro)
- Vicky Pollard (goes to an American boot camp in Utah after being thrown out of Disney World)
- Daffyd Thomas (goes to university in America)
- Sebastian Love (becomes Prime Minister of the UK)
- Carol Beer (works at an American hospital in Pennsylvania)
- Lou and Andy (go on holiday in Mississippi)
- Harvey Pincher (visits his American relatives in Ohio)
- Emily Howard (goes to America, is arrested in Pittsburgh for shoplifting)
- Linda Flint (works at an American university, as does Martin)
New characters
- Mildred - A grandmother, played by Lucas, who shares strange and often inappropriate facts about her past with her grandson, Connor (Walliams).
- "Mark and Tom", aka the "Gym Buddies", two new bodybuilder characters who brag about their love lives, but reveal their homosexuality several times. In the final episode of the season, the one played by David Walliams reveals that he has had a sex-change operation.
- A "sweet" little school girl called Ellie-Grace who, while sharing love sentiments with her mother before parting with her for a short time, inadvertently comes up with some vulgar ones, often sex related, like, (I love you more than transsexual porn), shocking her mother, who starts to get more stern in reaction. In their final sketch, Ellie-Grace goes for a sleepover and her mother has warned her not to utter any vulgarities. As they are parting, however, her mother accidentally comes up with one herself, traumatising Ellie-Grace.
- Phyllis Church, a woman who owns a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named "Mr. Doggy" (voiced by Walliams while playing Phyllis), and likes to talk to him, and imitate his replies. In each sketch, using her deep, Mr Doggy voice, commands herself to do anti-social deeds in public. These anti-social deeds involve taking off her clothes in public and standing in a trash bin, defecating in public and throwing a brick through a shop window.
- Bing Gordyn - the eighth man (out of nine men) on the moon and an American counterpart of Denver Mills. Bing tries to impress people with his expedition (by donning his spacesuit or by going on about his exploits, for example), to the extent of requesting plumbers for this purpose, but always fails to impress, most likely because the moon-landing era has faded away. In his final sketch he pulls a shotgun on a student writing an essay opining that NASA staged all the moon landings.
- A middle-aged British couple named George and Sandra, who appear in a series of sketches called "Forty Glorious Years". They visit America to celebrate their 40th anniversary. It seems clear, however, that their love died a long time ago - Sandra remains silent when George tries to make conversation (although she utters the word "ornithophobic" in their third appearance): they live permanently in an awkward silence, which makes George angry and verbally abusive to her. In their final sketch, they return to the UK and George insults her.
- A couple go through divorce because the female has realised her homosexuality. The sketch shows her throughout packing up, and her husband discovers many secrets she has kept from him pointing to this, such as merchandise from the LGBT related television show The L Word. He inadvertently uncovers a secret of his own, implying his own homosexuality.
- Senator White, an American counterpart of Sir Norman Fry; he attempts to cover up his homosexual experiences.
- A pair of hunters who shoot very small animals (such as mice or wasps) as though they were larger targets.
- A pair of bank-robbers too timid to actually rob a bank.
- Two couples on vacation who bump into one another and discover that both are called Steve and Wendy Ashby and live in exactly the same house.
Cast
Episodes
References
External links
- Official website
- Little Britain USA on IMDb
- Little Britain USA at TV.com
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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