Another episode that hasn't featured on the loop of repeats on Sky Arts (UK), but is available online.
It's well-structured & moves at a brisk pace. There's a lot more going on beneath the apparent veneer of jovial bonhomie. Prankster George acts like an overgrown schoolboy, his immature antics tolerated by a loving wife, his attempts at humour made worse by his near constant, irritating refrain/catchphrase of 'Where's Your Sense of Humour?' when his victims don't quite appreciate the joke. It sounds even worse when his wife, Julie, occasionally joins in.
George's practical jokes begin to get under the skin of Frank, his friend & rival at work, & Frank's wife, Laura, as they try to avoid giving George the satisfaction of knowing that he's getting the better of them. I agree that the later scene where George crudely banters with a clearly uninterested Laura was good. We don't know if he is joking or not, which makes it an uncomfortable watch.
Without spoiling the plot too much, the initial scenes set up the premise of George as a prankster, but whose jokes take on a much more sinister edge as he sabotages Frank's opportunity at getting promoted at work, and wears Laura's patience. Another narrative strand suggests that George isn't in good health (his cough). The payoff involves Laura discovering a way of getting her own back on him, but just like George with his rather unfunny pranks, things go a bit too far.
I do agree with the review about the ending, but it works as a punchline to a story which is about irony, and a rather irritating character getting their comeuppance.
The episode is certainly engaging enough to occupy your attention for twenty five minutes, like, the relationship & interplay between the two couples . It's well-acted, particularly Sheila Gish as the long-suffering Laura & Philip Jackson (George), whose puckish sense of humour verges on the malicious.
It's well-structured & moves at a brisk pace. There's a lot more going on beneath the apparent veneer of jovial bonhomie. Prankster George acts like an overgrown schoolboy, his immature antics tolerated by a loving wife, his attempts at humour made worse by his near constant, irritating refrain/catchphrase of 'Where's Your Sense of Humour?' when his victims don't quite appreciate the joke. It sounds even worse when his wife, Julie, occasionally joins in.
George's practical jokes begin to get under the skin of Frank, his friend & rival at work, & Frank's wife, Laura, as they try to avoid giving George the satisfaction of knowing that he's getting the better of them. I agree that the later scene where George crudely banters with a clearly uninterested Laura was good. We don't know if he is joking or not, which makes it an uncomfortable watch.
Without spoiling the plot too much, the initial scenes set up the premise of George as a prankster, but whose jokes take on a much more sinister edge as he sabotages Frank's opportunity at getting promoted at work, and wears Laura's patience. Another narrative strand suggests that George isn't in good health (his cough). The payoff involves Laura discovering a way of getting her own back on him, but just like George with his rather unfunny pranks, things go a bit too far.
I do agree with the review about the ending, but it works as a punchline to a story which is about irony, and a rather irritating character getting their comeuppance.
The episode is certainly engaging enough to occupy your attention for twenty five minutes, like, the relationship & interplay between the two couples . It's well-acted, particularly Sheila Gish as the long-suffering Laura & Philip Jackson (George), whose puckish sense of humour verges on the malicious.