The collaborations between BBC and Netflix They have given us great joys like ‘La Serpiente’ or ‘Desde Dentro’. The last to arrive on the platform has been ‘The Earth according to Philomena Cunk’one of the funniest comedies in recent years but that almost no one is watching despite being the new series of Charlie Brookerthe creator of ‘Black Mirror’.
The name of Philomena Cunk may not sound familiar to many, but the truth is that she is a character with a lot of history behind her. She is a fictional journalist who first appeared in ‘Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe’ and then it has appeared in several mockumentaries historical, a subgenre to which ‘The Earth according to Philomena Cunk’ also belongs, a title with which he achieved much greater exposure and proved to be one of the great comic characters of the 21st century.
to laugh
‘The Earth according to Philomena Cunk’ uses the structure of a historical docuseries to offer a review of the history of humanity. That includes both recreations of certain moments and multiple interviews with experts. I know it doesn’t sound particularly funny, but when it comes down to it, you crack up every few seconds.
To achieve this, ‘The Earth according to Philomena Cunk’ makes use of an ingenious script -the writing team is led by Brooker- full of jokes but always keeping them within the particular logic of its protagonist to read the history of humanity. This leads to multiple absurd reflections and comments that seem totally out of place, with the particularity of always making them with an apparent seriousness so as never to break the structure of those formats that he has as a model.
The other great key is the contribution of Diane Morgan, whom you may remember for her participation in the series ‘After Life’, as Philomena Cunk. She shows at all times that she has got the hang of the character and she moves like a fish in water to get the viewer’s laughter that lends itself to the game that is proposed here.
Obviously, the fact of covering something as broad as the history of humanity forces one to be a bit superficial in its treatment, but that does not prevent great sharpness in jokeswhich work just as well when they are phrases that seem said almost in passing as when you take a little more delight in a situation.
Of course, Not all of them work equally well, but the success rate is so high and the fluidity when it comes to always moving forward is enviable.and. In addition, there is space for all kinds of comments, from mentions of ‘Scooby Doo’ to denial of the trip to the Moon. It’s also appreciated that the experts don’t take his questions for granted, although given the character’s popularity, it’s inevitable that many of them already know it’s all a joke beforehand.
Unfortunately, the impact that its arrival on Netflix is having – it arrived on the BBC a few months ago – seems quite small. I encourage you to give it a try It would seem very strange to me that you did not have at least a few laughs and also there are only five episodes of just over 20 minutes each…
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