Brass Eye is honestly one of the funniest things you could ever watch providing: a) you do not read the Daily Mail b) like your jokes with an obvious punchline and canned laughter c) you're American'Alabaster Codefael'The series is broken down to 6 (+ special) shows which, often in a controversial style, lampoons trash media sensationalism (see 'The Sun Says' or 'Tonight with Trevor McDonald') on subjects such as sex, drugs, moral decline and science. 'Ted Maul'Chris Morris is the writer and genius behind the show who crops up in a number of guises with support from the usual suspects. Whereas it's predecessor The Day Today relied on silliness, Brass Eye is very clever with it's surreal take on current affairs.'Brian O'Hanra'hanrahan'Fans of Morris will love the inane expressions and sheer cheek of it all. To hear Phil Collins say 'I'm talking Nonce Sense' or Richard Blackwood to advise parents about potential grooming of their kids if they 'smell of hammers' makes you realise how stupid B list celebrities can be.'Burn it and buy another copy for the music'Watching 'Sutcliffe the Musical' 'Me oh Myra' 'Little White Ass' can be uncomfortable but extremely funny.'I used to have your picture by the toilet. I wanted you to see my naked body and oil it. But my mom came in and spoiled it.Legendary stuff. If you don't believe me check out the complaints it received!

Brass Eye is a quite awesome achievement. As I write this review, most of Britain's press is up in arms over the recent one-off episode which satirised the particularly sensitive subject of paedophilia. The majority of people claim that it is simply sick to even attempt to make a comedy based on such a theme. However, while not for the easily offended, Chris Morris' style has always been to approach serious issues using interesting methods. This particular episode managed to make some very interesting points, often highlighting the gross inconsistencies in the way in which crime and taboo subjects are dealt with.A great deal of the humour comes from Morris managing to get celebrities to say the stupidest things. The fact that they are so easily convinced to speak such nonsense, highlights the ignorance and paranoia surrounding the whole subject. Amongst other things, we are told that paedophiles can feel children's faces via computer screens, that they occupy an area of internet the size of Ireland, that they can make toxic fumes rise from keyboards to make children more suggestible, that, genetically, they have more in common with crabs than people. At one stage, Kate Thornton tells us with utter seriousness that HOECS games are used by paedophiles to interact with children. It is quite incredible to see these people saying such things with such belief.Other highlights include the Eminem spoof, JL B8; a story about a cheeky cockney ex-paedophile who does bus tours of his 'old haunts' - a brilliant spoof of the way the press treats the old east-end London gangsters these days; and an on-going news report showing a crowd lynching a paedophile when released from prison and burning him in a wicker phallus: scarily reminiscent of the mobs that ran wild in Britain in summer 2000.To dismiss this or any other episode in the '97 series as sick and utterly unamusing, is to display an ignorance or unwillingness to address the very serious issues being dealt with. Just because there is humour involved, does not mean the issues are being sanitised - it actually makes them more poignant.

There is actually very little point in writing this- it will never be repeated on British television as it offended too many of the moronic b-list celebrities who unwittingly contributed it; it is unlikely that American TV will show it, as even HBO would probably baulk at the content; it is almost definite that it will never be released on video. Yet, to the lucky few who actually saw it- as opposed to the hysteria that followed its only broadcast- it remains the greatest satire of the 1990s, perhaps of the television age.Chris Morris is merciless in his humour- an abused girl is asked if her attacker was as good-looking as he is; in completely convincing fake American news extracts, we are told of menaces to American society such as the increase of priests with guns, and of the forgotten fourth man of the Apollo 11 mission whose role was that of sexual slave to the other three. Celebrities are fooled into supporting all kinds of ridiculous causes- Jilly Cooper and Alexandra Paul support an elephant in a German zoo which has stuck its trunk in its anus in a fit of depression; Stephen Berkoff warns us of the perils of 'heavy electricity' falling out of wires; and, controversially, several celebrities and Members of Parliament speak out against the fictitious drug 'Cake'- questions were even raised in Parliament, which led to the postponement of the original showing.Many have found this programme grossly offensive, yet the conclusion is obvious- either celebrities are stupid, or they will jump on any bandwagon to promote themselves. The boldness too- Morris is a man who will take a hidden camera and ask real drug dealers for non-existent drugs whilst wearing only a nappy (diaper)and a beach ball.Chris Morris is God.

Chris Morris returned with Brass Eye after a long televisual gap, the first show since The Day Today.It's biting satire caused much offense in the UK, with leading newspapers calling for sketches to be removed, and last minute editing before shows went out. It mocked the British news documentary covering such dangerous issues as Sex, Drugs, Animal Cruelty and Crime.Those who did not understand the depth of the satire (the most complex since Swift perhaps) were often offended, leading to the Indpendant Television Commission investigating. It was found to be acceptable but was told to be careful.The genuis mind behind the whole creation, Chris Morris, perhaps went one stept too far when he put a subliminal message lasting 1/25 of a second into the final episode saying "Grade Is A C**t" refering to the then chief executive of Channel 4 who had ordered the cuts.This programme would never be shown in the US, breaking probably every rule of US broasdcasting with swearing, sexual and violent content, making so -called American satirists look as scary and dangerous as some wet cheese.It remains one of the greatest pieces of television ever created, funny yet disturbing, thought-provoking and ground-breaking.