Recently I briefly reviewed 8 television shows you badly need to start watching - ranging from the now world-famous Netflix hit Narcos to more obscure psychological thrillers such as Mr. Robot and Banshee.
I'm not a television critic, and - Jesus - I don't claim to be, but I did deliberately leave Channel 4's laugh-out-loud sitcom Catastrophe until last. Because it's just different.
Season 2 kicked off in October where season 1 left off; eye-openingly honest, poignant, and crucially, both hysterically and crassly funny.
Dublin's Sharon Horgan and Boston's Rob Delaney have created the truly unique and important amalgamation of Irish, American and British social quirks that the world has been crying out for - a bridge between our comedic cultures, which creates a far greater sub-culture. Actual human comedy.
Catching up on #Catastrophe - it's too good, it's not fair on other shows for something to be that poignant, filthy and funny
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) November 6, 2015
It's Catastrophe's honesty which separates it from the chasing pack, however. A rom-com that directly addresses general 'no-gos' such as cervical dysplasia and Down Syndrome needs utmost transparency, and where its chief character's respective moralities may often be called into question, the show's own upstandingness is remarkably never tainted.
It's a skill carried in abundance by two of the most intelligent and self-aware comedic scribes on either side of the Atlantic.
Everything about the latest #Catastrophe was impossibly and revoltingly endearing. Favourite show of the season, fo' sho'.
— Sally Gurteen (@thecafecat) November 11, 2015
Take the first episode of the sublime new season, for example, where - embedded amongst a somehow subtle theme of post-natal depression - was Sharon's incredibly Irish father, whose potential dementia was addressed in a manner which struck as almost exclusive to Irish siblings in their 30s or 40s; the whole 'I'm busy, so you need to step up with Dad'/'Oh yeah, I've nothing going on sure!' phenomenon, which most Irish people have either experienced first-hand or witnessed their own parents go through.
It was real. And that's what makes Catastrophe the best sitcom written this side of 2010.
Another fab #Catastrophe some sublime scripting.
— Gabby Logan (@GabbyLogan) November 3, 2015
The other great comedies since Friends and Frasier - think It's Always Sunny, for example - deal with caricatures; scarcely believable characters fixed within their scripted confines. It's what made Barney Stinson funny, even if it was just for two seasons. It's why we crack the shits laughing at Charlie Kelly's pursuit of The Waitress.
Catastrophe deals with authentic people, openly flawed, whose problems aren't anywhere near as extravagant or outlandish as trying to sleep with seven women in as many days, or chasing rats with a nail-ridden baseball bat; Sharon and Rob's predicaments are a commonplace in the ramshackle shit-show that can be life. Their reactions can, depending on circumstance, be organically unreasonable.
i definitely watched @catastrophe_tv in one sitting with no regrets 💯
— Luwita Hana Randhawa (@luwitahana) July 27, 2015
It's kind of eye-opening, in a way. Everybody is going through shit. You need look no further than Rob Delaney's own awe-inspiring book to realise that, despite once being voted 'The Funniest Man On Twitter' and amassing over a million followers, he's wading through the same shit that everybody else is. The only difference is that he and Horgan are just way funnier than you or I could ever dream of being.
I'm hardly an expert, but comedy, to a large degree, stems from the pains of reality. And that's why Catastrophe is quickly and deservedly becoming everybody's favourite sit-com.
Do yourself a favour. Watch it.
UK & Ireland: The following pink link allows you to watch all episodes of Catastrophe from last series & this one: https://t.co/CxJzQnqZ48
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) November 8, 2015
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