America is full to the brim with shitty television. Between Jersey Shore and Wipe Out, I think we are single-handedly responsible for the general dumbing-down of the population. There are some gems, mind you, such as The Office. A bad example, really, because it was originally started on British television. Okay, scratch my entire argument. American television is seriously bad most of the time.
Being an avid collector of all things weird, I decided that my choice in programming should be extended overseas as well. I took on the challenge of trying to access any foreign shows online, but the rest of the world knows how America likes to ruin things and so they make it nearly impossible to access the videos from the US. Luckily, Youtube helped me out quite a bit, and with a bit of direction from my friend Christian, I ventured into the world of Australian television, more specifically Summer Heights High.
Summer Heights High is a mockumentary following the lives of three separate people, all played by an Australian comedian named Chris Lilley, as they go through a year of public school. There’s Ja’mie (Ja-may), a spoiled private school student who is participating in an exchange program; Jonah, a Tongan miscreant trying to get through the year without being expelled; and Mr. G, a drama teacher with a god-complex. Lilley has two other shows as well, the first is called We Can Be Heroes, and the second is called Angry Boys, premiering on HBO this summer. Both are the same style, mockumentaries in which he plays all the main characters. Lilley commits so fully to each character that you can’t even tell it’s the same guy wearing different wigs. Every line he writes is hilarious, the plot is edgy and ridiculous and so believable. I can watch this show a hundred times and have tears of laughter streaming down my face without fail. It’s a little hard to find, but if you’re up for the challenge it is well worth your time.
This was a guest post brought to you by Monica Amneus. Go to her hilarious blog or see the post we did about it awhile ago.<
