The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
| 04 October 2007 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    martin-intercultural

    I adore AbFab, and have enjoyed Jennifer Saunders in just about everything she's done. So I really wanted to like this show. But I can't; it is much too excruciating a spectacle. Perhaps if it had been packaged as raw drama, it might have had its moments of brilliance. But presented as it is as "from the creators of AbFab", and echoing the AbFab narrative in more ways than one, it goes off the rails almost instantly. Simply put, it assumes that because AbFab won accolades for cruel jokes, angry rants and portrayals of addiction, then by extension -- more cruelty, more anger and more addiction will yield the mother of all comedies. It doesn't. "Watching a car crash" is a tired cliché, and yet so apt here: I was drawn in, yes, and at the same time not tickled or intrigued even for a second. Just pulled into masochistic voyeurism of no redeeming qualities.

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    KissEnglishPasto

    ......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, It's fair to say that we Americans fall into 2 categories: Those who don't particularly care for British humor; and those whose appetite for it is simply insatiable! Would you care to venture a guess as to where I fit in? Yes, from the country that gave us "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "Benny Hill", we present a veritable panacea for that pandemic feeling Americans have been grumbling about in a chorus that has grown constantly more vociferous in recent years: "American comedies just don't seem to be that funny anymore!" Unless you find chronic flatulence amusing, because a rather entrenched "I never met a fart joke I didn't like!" mentality, more often than not, prevails.Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public, we proudly present, Ms. Vivienne Vyle! You'll love her one minute, loathe her the next! She's one TV talk-show host who can instantly discern crass, exploitative, manipulative, ratings-driven interview situations from serious, balanced, well-grounded, the-truth-must- be-served interviews! And, of course, never flinches one single instant....... in taking the cheap shot! In going for the jugular! 6 episodes of 29 minutes each (Unlike their American counterparts, here the half hour shows are just that! Sure beats 22 minute ones!) Usually I can't countenance the little explanatory blurbs associated with each title, because they're, more often than not, so far from the truth. In this case, it's decidedly spot on! The "humour" (British spelling, mind you!) is so wretchedly invective, so perfunctorily twisted, at times you won't know whether to laugh or to cry! The interaction between Jennifer Saunders and Miranda Richardson is fiendishly inspired! The only "Vyle" misfire was during a turn-on-a-dime effort to switch gears into heavy drama. Fortunately, this ill-fated effort was a scant 10 or 12 minutes, so not difficult to overlook! 9* STARS*....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

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    dagarrat

    This series will definitely have its detractors, but I'm sure that both Jennifer Saunders and Tanya Byron already knew that going in. Still, they are holding up a mirror ...Sometimes it's incredibly brutal and tragic; sometimes shockingly so. Take a look around at our world. If you're honest about what you see, you'd see this show as an indictment of media corporations and the celebrities they produce for worship, true that. However, you'd also see regular, vulnerable people who don't even try to communicate anymore unless there's some bit of technology between them and others, be it television or the Internet or their celphones. A character says 'association by disassociation' and I think that's such an accurate and succinct description of the contradiction that many of the more vicious daytime talkshow hosts thrive off of.Meanwhile, we're all still here together: wanting to connect with others and struggling with our own difficulties wherever they find us.This show is brilliant. I'm actually surprised that it made it this far. Yes, there is hilarious comedy in there, too, but this is not garden variety satire merely for the sake of laughs. And Jennifer Saunders' amazing portrayal and that of her supporting cast is only heightened by the outstanding writing and direction. There were so many moments that literally took my breath away.

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    hesketh27

    This so called comedy is probably one of the unfunniest that I have ever had the misfortune to watch. For a start off it is years too late to parody trash talk shows. Anyone going to do it should have done it years ago when they were relatively new. Secondly, it seemed to rely on the use of obscene language throughout to try and get laughs. Absolutely Fabulous was a genuinely funny classic piece of TV, but is this puerile nonsense the level that Jennifer Saunders has sunk to? Similarly Miranda Richardson, what on earth was she thinking taking part in this garbage? There wasn't a single thing in the half hour that even made me smile let alone laugh. How on earth it was ever commissioned is beyond comprehension. Truly, truly awful and definitely not worth watching again.

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