I wanted to like it. I loved Summer Heights High. I thought Angry Boys struggled a bit, but it definitely achieved a spot on the TIVO. But this... my oh my. To say that Ja'mie is completely devoid of redeeming features doesn't begin to describe the hatefulness, the vitriol, the scheming - and that's just the first episode. There is nothing funny about it. I take no issue with Chris Lilley dressing up as a teenage girl - Glenn Close was fabulous as Albert Nobbs. Cross-dressing has a venerated tradition in theatre. What bothers me is that there will be young people watching who have a Ja'mie in their lives; an over-indulged mean girl (or boy) who targets parents (presented as beyond clueless), classmates (beyond fawning), and teachers (beyond ineffective) with foul-mouthed diatribes and scathing personal attacks. But they are offered no hope that their Ja'mie will ever face any consequences. The message is that the horrible thrive, and there's nothing you can do about it. I understand satire. But this ain't it.

This is the latest in creator/star Chris Lilley's mockumentaries, which often have crossover characters, like this one (Ja'mie King, who appeared in Lilley's very first such mockumentary and subsequent ones). Where this differs from his earlier efforts is in only having one primary character as the focus. This is the series biggest problem, it seems to me (and having looking at some professional reviews, I see that that is a common theme of criticism too).Must admit to only discovering Lilley's work late in the piece...I only watched his first series ("We can be heroes") in repeat and got enough out of it to continue following his work. Perhaps it would be wise to follow his work chronologically too, just so that you are familiar with where his characters come from.In any case, the entire six episodes of this series is devoted to the appalling and self-absorbed elite high school girl Ja'mie King. We spend a lot of time with her obsequious clique as well as some boys which catch her interest. Her long suffering parents are occasionally seen too.If I was to liken this style of comedy to others I have seen, it would be stuff like Ricky Gervais' work as well as a show like "Portandia". The latter comparison is apt, I think...neither show is uproariously funny in my view but it has a mild satirical edge which makes it watchable. Unlike the best of Gervais' work, Lilley struggles in this series with fleshing out characters other than his own...like the Ellen DeGeneres sitcom, it's pretty much a one-man show (erm...woman...erm...)...and that's a bad thing. Things do improve for other characters in the second half of the series. Actually, there are some fringe characters who perhaps deserved more and better material...they did have some interest in and of themselves, but they're pretty much limited to being Ja'mie's punching bags for the time that they are on screen.Also have to admit to finding watching the series a grind at first...I let recordings pile up and only finished watching the series last night (22/12/2013). If the series had continued in the vein of the first half, I might even have ditched watching the series altogether. Having seen some very low scores for the series in the U.S. reviews (when the series first started...it's still playing now) I can see why...but it seems unfair to judge a series based on one or two episodes. Since the second half of the series improved, I'm bumping up my score to 65%. It would have been lucky to get 50% based on the first half of it. The first half had quite a focus on the neologisms of Ja'mie but this time around they weren't quite as accessible and memorable as in "Summer Heights High". It felt forced, in other words.From the second half of the series, 'moments' which appealed to me included the character of Kwami having had a little too much of Ja'mie's ways rub off on him (providing a moment of true pathos) as well as her parents in the final episode...that moment on the couch between them. He says something quite mean, but it's funny...on reflection, however, I think that that moment had great irony...he provided his own 'Ja'mie' moment right there, undermining his assertion!Since this is a series of two halves, it's hard to know how to suggest you proceed with it...if you love the first three episodes, the last three will be different...more or less funny you. Otherwise, if you don't like the first three episodes, perhaps stick it out. The arc of the character/series is like a parabola...there...that's a helpful analogy, right? Or, how about a "U" shape? Better? Don't be fooled by the subject of this series being a teenage girl...she is really vicious and nasty to her parents...there's a lot swearing in this series and adult themes. A little nudity too.Just by the by, the music used in this series seems familiar...perhaps Chris uses a motif throughout all his work?Whilst this series/character initially doesn't sustain interest/entertainment value, it does turn around. Not for everyone, but an acquired taste, especially here, as Chris doesn't spread the comedy workload among multiple main characters.The end of the final programme also had a promotion for his next series..."Jonah", which was a popular character of his from "Angry boys". Hopefully Lilley will be able to sustain a single character comedy series more successfully next time.

As a huge fan of We Can Be Heroes, SHH, and Angry Boys, I basically knew this was going to be a great show. However I think this one has missed the mark. Don't get me wrong, Lilley does another fantastic job (as always) with Ja'mie. It just feels so repetitive. I went through the first 2 episodes without even laughing really, maybe cracking the odd smile. With the show focused just on Ja'mie it allows us more time to explore her life as opposed to her getting only a third of the screen time. In Lilley's past shows it seemed very fresh to keep changing scenarios with his many other characters waiting in the wings, but now that its all Ja'mie it just seems so blahhh. Very girly humour, very familiar situations, and same old Ja'mie. I would still rate it an 7 or 8/10, but its far inferior to Lilley's other works. But what do I know, Im Canadian.

Ja'mie, the character we all loved and quoted many times from Summer Heights High and is back with a spin-off."Ja'mie: Private School Girl" Documents Ja'mies life as she finishes her final year of schooling.I must say I really enjoyed watching the first episode. Ja'mie's comments, critiques, insults, and melt downs are featured throughout the whole episode and I hope the whole series can maintain this. Basically it is exactly like a little "skit" we see from time to time on Summer Heights High except compiled into one whole episode with all attention on her (like it's never been that way)I base my score on this episode not from a media perspective but more on the character as it is a spin-off. I must say it seems like nothing has changed since the end of Summer Heights High character wise; it's just escalated to another level. My expectations were met with this episode. The character remains like we got to know her, but with majority of screen time based on Ja'mie, it's a lot better. I hope to see in the future of the series Ja'mie visiting or contacting the friends she made at Summer Heights High and totally slam them off as she does with her old friends, or possibly still be friends? This isn't something that would fit in with Ja'mie's character but seeing her old friends incorporated will be awesome. My main 2 negative for this episode was the use of the world "Yolo" (which I hope isn't over used throughout the series) and the fact that the principle character straight away reminded me of Doug Peterson. The tone of his voice and the dialogue was very similar. Other than that it was a pretty hilarious episode!If you liked Summer Heights High then I highly recommend watching this. From someone who hasn't seen it and doesn't know what to expect from this character, they would probably have mixed reviews about it.