Grandma's House

It's four episodes in to Simon Amstell's sim-com, and I still cant decide whether or not I actually like it. I will be honest and concede that I've stuck with this show far longer than I would have had it been a freshman effort, based soley on Simon Amstell making Preston cry. For all the joy that gave me, I owe him that at least. I am afraid to concede, however, that this series has yet to win me over. The problem being, mainly, Simon himself. It's nothing to do with Amstell's woodchip acting (anyone who complains about Simons acting but goes on to praise the acting in Curb your Enthusiasm is nothing but a hypocrite by the way) but more the character he portrays. Simon Amstell is funny, Simon Amstell is likable. In Grandma's house he is neither of those things. He is self absorbed, neurotic and whiney or what Preston might term a “bitter, snotty nosed public schoolboy.” The character comes across as thoroughly unpleasant and I don't think that was the intention. I genuinely believe the makers thought that by now the audience would have started to relate to Simon a little bit. However, most people have real problems so seeing a young man with a good job facing an existential sense of doubt simply beacause he was mean to steps once is a bit much. His character can afford two mortgages, how about you stop residing up your own backside and live in the real world like the rest of us. This is in stark contrast to Simon's Granddad (the sorely missed Geoffrey Huthings) who, in one of the shows better pieces of writing, approaches his cancer with the kind of quiet dignity that would be completely alien to someone of Simons generation. This aspect of the show is handled extremely believably, with Hutching's stoic acceptance of this illness a nice contrast to Simon's constant bleating about his inner torment. The villain of the piece is Simon's soon to be stepdad, the confident materialistic Clive, played with absolute relish by James Smith. Simon handles their engagment with all the maturity of a six year old pulling on his testicles for attention. As a viewer we're meant to hate Clive but for some reason I don't. It could be because James Smith's endless Charisma means he could play Hitler and I'd still find him charming, or it could be because he's a much more acceptable arsehole than Simon. Yeah he's the sort of loud, over confident bellend who dominates dinner parties and organises activities that noone wants to do, but I find that far less offensive than Simon's self absorbed bumholery. Overall the show plays out as a weird kind of therapy for Simon Amstell (the man, not the character) as the replication of principal figures in his personal life, and the constant footage from his childhood (though not his diabolical appearance on GamesMaster, one might add) suggest he wrote the show to work through his own personal problems then stuck it on TV. So while there is a terrific cast and the odd good line, the whole things falls slightly flat for me. The pacing is far too slow for a comedy show, and the while the individual pieces are fine (the acting, the script, the characterisation) it just doesn't hang together properly, like a jigsaw put together with sellotape. Ironically for what is essentially a vanity project, it would have been far better removing Amstell's character completely and focusing soley on the rest of his family, as that would have made for a far more succinct, and likable, family drama.