January 21, 2007: Extras 08
The best thing that can be said for
Andy's new show,
When the Whistle Blows, is that it has a catchy theme song. It inspires weirdos to approach him and the elite to write lurid songs about him.
What do you get when you mingle the description of a crappy show with the word "sitcom"? Wish I could write it here.
Darren Lamb, par for the course, tries to make Andy feel better and only depresses him more. The only good review of his show is from the paper that didn't bother to write about it; it was that bad.
Did you know that
Ashley Jenson, who plays Maggie, also has a recurring role on the American sitcom
Ugly Betty? But it's her naïveté here that makes her the more charming. She's Andy's only real friend, but she has an innocence about her that makes her quite unaware how much she hurts him. It happens quite often, to much comic relief.
The scene with the homeless guy is priceless for so many reasons. One) because the homeless guy keeps abreast of all the latest celebrity gossip and two) because Andy is not only reluctant to give the guy the 20 quid (about $40) he has in his pocket versus the eight pence of change, but also that when he is given the money back he wants to know what the homeless guy will say about the event. In the end, he only gives the money to the guy because he is worried what will be said about him if he stiffs him.
The woman moving into his building looked very familiar, but I've had scant luck finding her name. Anyone out there know? Needless to say, I cracked up when Maggie and Andy got caught in a scheme to impress her. Andy, knowing he has been caught, walks away, leaving Maggie standing there getting the evil eye. When Maggie says, "Andy, am I coming with you?" Fantastic.
Later, Maggie misses the boat about how to cheer him up. She suggests Andy could be on
Celebrity Love Island to which he replies, "Why would I want to be on a show where every time I watch it, I pray for a tsunami?" He's concerned he will become a total loser who drinks himself to death; Maggie says not to worry about the pub: "The fat will kill you first." Though she means to cheer him up, she has managed to insult him again.
The agent and Barry arrive at the pub to read a glowing review for Andy's show, though as the agent reads that the lead character is a lovable roly-poly toad, Andy is humiliated by his agent's incompetence; the review is for
The Wind in The Willows.
Andy is accosted by a couple who love his new show. You get the sense that these are not the type of people Andy would want to like his show, but are exactly the type that make up the 6.2 million viewers who helped rack up his ratings. The best line in the show came when Andy, fed up with the Charles Manson-y fan, returns to his table and tells them all to drink up, he's "just been spotted by someone from
The Hills Have Eyes."
The same people who harass him at the pub and seem like a total nuisance become a warm posse after Andy is utterly humiliated not only by David Bowie, and by everyone else at the swank club where they go to get away from the riffraff, but also by his nemesis Greg (played spot on by
Shaun Pye). He rubs his high-falutin' morals in Andy's face.
After the awkward embarrassment of having
David Bowie, earlier referred to and revered as a genius, sing Andy's praises (that's tongue in cheek for those of you counting at home), Andy returns to the pub, where
The Hills Have Eyes boy and his cohorts make him feel like the star he should feel like. They may not be his cup of tea, but they make him feel welcome, whereas the chic elite just used him as fodder for their own entertainment.
I have to admit that that moment of sadness returned again this week. Here is a man who has struggled to get to this point, only for it to blow up in his face. What's worse than the show being panned by critics is that it has a huge audience gained by racking down the humor to the lowest common denominator - using gag jokes and catchphrases. I feel there is more to our Andy Millman, but he lives in a world where he has yet to consider and accept his place in life. Watching is usually very funny, but at moments quite painful to endure.
