It's easy to feel sympathy for Rick Gervaise and Stephen Merchant: everything they do in future will inevitably be compared to The Office; equally inevitably, everything will fall short of that high standard. At least though, they have the kudos of having created the show. Spare a thought for the creators of pretty much any other sitcom likely to emerge in the next few years: they will struggle to compete, without any of the glory of having done something great.
I enjoyed the first episode of BBC2's new comedy The Cup. It is a mockumentary portrayal of a kids' football team. Slightly predictably, the parents are far more competitive than the kids. The strongest moments by far featured cringemaking father, Terry McConnell's, attempts to make a name for his son. His misplaced ambition, and lack of self-awareness when addressing the camera, were both clever and funny; nevertheless, I couldn't help thinking that I've seen it all somewhere before.
I'll watch it all the way through, and no doubt enjoy it, but I am still waiting for the next groundbreaking sitcom.
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