Much like Kelly, I was very impressed with the concept of Him and Her, and found it a very refreshing change of pace from the majority of comedies on both American and British television. I absolutely love the idea of showing the smaller moments of what it’s like to be in a relationship. So much of television romance seems somehow cheap and fake, and this show perfectly captures that true love comes out the best in those small interactions that no one else sees. I think the real time and bottle methods of the show help convey this very much as well. It all comes together to create a show that seems very real, a show that portrays how real life is often just as funny as television.
That being said, I felt like the show actually didn’t take things far enough. First of all, I thought the “wacky neighbor” trope had no real place in a show like this. As…interesting as that character was in this episode, I felt like he took something away from what Stefan Golaszewski was trying to do. The sister and her husband were better, but I still felt like they didn’t quite belong in this universe. I understand that characters have to enter the universe of Becky and Steve in order to keep things fresh and interesting, but I feel like in real life everyone runs into all sorts of people who are amusing but not too over the top. On the other hand, I felt like the old woman DID work, so maybe I’m just nit-picking for the sake of it.
Essentially, I found the concept of looking at life’s little moments to be a brilliant and refreshing idea. I don’t think such a show would every fly in America, but I plan on watching the other episodes just to see how well Mr. Golaszewski and his team have pulled it off so far. I would be interested in seeing a similar show with even less of the zany side characters, because I feel like this is a show that could really speak to people who want their television to be a little less manufactured and a little more real.
I completely related to Becky and Steve when the sister and boyfriend came over. That element I found extremely entertaining and hilarious. The neighbor, on the other hand, was definitely too much for me to handle. I agree that he was over the top to a point that it did not make the humor believable. The couple themselves showed a part of relationships that aren’t normally broadcast on television, but I don’t see an American audience embracing it the way the British one did. We thrive on the crazy journey to the happy ending, and the mundane, but completely real, quality of Him and Her would not be a popular hit. Maybe it could find a smaller, niche audience but overall I don’t see it fitting in with the typical US sitcom genre.