As a lover of Britcoms, I was delighted to discover Outnumbered earlier this year. A single-camera comedy that follows the fortunes of Pete and Sue Brockman and their three children, it could so easily be just another family sitcom. Instead, it's the performances of the three kids that elevate this show to a comic masterpiece.
Jake is the oldest son (age 15) and is a moody teenager. Definitely the most stable child of the trio, he nonetheless is constantly getting into arguments with his sarcastic father and has to deal with his family serving as a never-ending source of embarrassment. Ben, the 11-year old, is a hyperactive liar, fond of running around, pretending to shoot things, yelling out wildly inappropriate observations, and generally driving his parents to distraction. The youngest child, Karen, is a precocious 9-year old, fond of arguing her dizzyingly nonsensical points and constantly perplexing her parents with her weird view of the world that is largely informed by watching too much reality TV.
The thing that makes these kids so amazing is that the show's writers don't always provide them with set dialogue to memorize. Instead, the children are given free reign to improvise a lot of dialogue and come up with typical observations that only a child could dream up. As the kids grab hold of a topic and go to town, you can watch Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner (the actors who play their parents) struggling to react sensibly to their comments and not devolve into helpless giggles. Pete and Sue are themselves the source of constant hilarity, overwhelmed by their kids, their jobs, and the societal pressure to be seen as acceptable parents. They are doing the best they can, but when faced with the onslaught of Jake, Ben, and Karen, it's little wonder that they are outnumbered.
I just started watching the third season and found myself bursting into laughter as the family went on one of their hapless family outings through London. At one point Ben insists he has seen Barack Obama, prompting the following exchange:
Pete: "No, Ben, Barack Obama does not drive the Number 42 bus!"
Ben: "He's the leader of the free world, he can do whatever he wants!"
Later, Karen is upset with her father for shouting at her when she ran away for a bit. In typical Karen fashion, she plays the wounded martyr, declaring, "I'm still seven, I'm still learning, but you should have learned to control your temper because you're...whatever age you are!" At another point she is discussing democracy with her father and proceeds to outline a view of how elections are run that coincides more with the X Factor voting process than the actual workings of a democracy. After declaring that children ought to be allowed to vote because their brains are "big and juicy" as opposed to the "small shriveled up brains" of older people, Pete resignedly asks her who she would elect as Prime Minister. Without hesitation she declares, "Simon Cowell."
These are very British people but this is a universally hilarious family, guaranteed to make you laugh. As the winter TV hiatus is upon us, you could do worse than to find episodes of Outnumbered online and give it a try. Once you've seen these kids in action, you'll wonder why child stars are forced to stick to the script so often when they can clearly come up with much better material on their own. As an example, I'll leave you with this clip of Karen and Ben discussing the Queen and how she is so much more boring than the Queens who came before her:
Jake is the oldest son (age 15) and is a moody teenager. Definitely the most stable child of the trio, he nonetheless is constantly getting into arguments with his sarcastic father and has to deal with his family serving as a never-ending source of embarrassment. Ben, the 11-year old, is a hyperactive liar, fond of running around, pretending to shoot things, yelling out wildly inappropriate observations, and generally driving his parents to distraction. The youngest child, Karen, is a precocious 9-year old, fond of arguing her dizzyingly nonsensical points and constantly perplexing her parents with her weird view of the world that is largely informed by watching too much reality TV.
The thing that makes these kids so amazing is that the show's writers don't always provide them with set dialogue to memorize. Instead, the children are given free reign to improvise a lot of dialogue and come up with typical observations that only a child could dream up. As the kids grab hold of a topic and go to town, you can watch Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner (the actors who play their parents) struggling to react sensibly to their comments and not devolve into helpless giggles. Pete and Sue are themselves the source of constant hilarity, overwhelmed by their kids, their jobs, and the societal pressure to be seen as acceptable parents. They are doing the best they can, but when faced with the onslaught of Jake, Ben, and Karen, it's little wonder that they are outnumbered.
I just started watching the third season and found myself bursting into laughter as the family went on one of their hapless family outings through London. At one point Ben insists he has seen Barack Obama, prompting the following exchange:
Pete: "No, Ben, Barack Obama does not drive the Number 42 bus!"
Ben: "He's the leader of the free world, he can do whatever he wants!"
Later, Karen is upset with her father for shouting at her when she ran away for a bit. In typical Karen fashion, she plays the wounded martyr, declaring, "I'm still seven, I'm still learning, but you should have learned to control your temper because you're...whatever age you are!" At another point she is discussing democracy with her father and proceeds to outline a view of how elections are run that coincides more with the X Factor voting process than the actual workings of a democracy. After declaring that children ought to be allowed to vote because their brains are "big and juicy" as opposed to the "small shriveled up brains" of older people, Pete resignedly asks her who she would elect as Prime Minister. Without hesitation she declares, "Simon Cowell."
These are very British people but this is a universally hilarious family, guaranteed to make you laugh. As the winter TV hiatus is upon us, you could do worse than to find episodes of Outnumbered online and give it a try. Once you've seen these kids in action, you'll wonder why child stars are forced to stick to the script so often when they can clearly come up with much better material on their own. As an example, I'll leave you with this clip of Karen and Ben discussing the Queen and how she is so much more boring than the Queens who came before her:
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