Not Going Out Series 1-4

  

I wasn't a fan of Lee Mack in the beginning but the more I watched Would I Lie to You? he kinda grew on me and once I saw his stand up routine I was sold and sought out his sitcom, 'Not Going Out.' Overall I enjoyed the series immensely. I thought it was well written and with some pretty good gags. However not all of it meshes well together. The first series stars Megan Dodds as Kate, an American who rents the flat but allows Lee to stay there rent free all the while hating her ex, which also happens to be Lee's best friend Tim. When I first watched the first series I thought it was great, mainly because I loved the American/English dichotomy with the misunderstandings of words. It hits close to home which is probably why I like it. But I also like the love triangle between Tim, Lee and Kate which disappears in the following series. 

Kate the American is replaced by Lucy Tim's sister played by Sally Bretton. Tim still doesn't want Lee to sleep with his flatmate but this time for different reasons. Unfortunately I feel this relationship grouping is less effective. What does work is Miranda Hart as the hapless cleaning lady Barbara. What a great character and Miranda and Lee work well together, its a slightly odd pairing but its quirky so it works. Katy Wix (Who I first saw in Torchwood) is also a good additive to the bunch. 

The jokes, which is really the main selling point of the show are packed in there in each episode. Lee talks so fast that sometimes it takes me a while for my mind to catch up but its still hilarious. The problem I find with it is that its hard to then retell a joke to someone else. I find something super funny and want to remember it later to retell to someone else who hasn't watched it but completely forget what was so funny or more often than not, how the punchline actually went. The only episode that I found rather hard to watch was the series finale of series 4 'Life on Mars Bars' where Lee is hit by a car and goes into a dream state where he imagines he's with Lucy and their married with lots and lots of children. I don't do to well with absurdity stuff so the birthing process was taken too far for my tastes.

The one thing that bothers me throughout the entire series is that they leave the front door open all the time! I don't understand why they can't seem to close the door. A little annoyance that keeps creeping up whenever I watch it.

The series, which was initially cancelled by the BBC and brought back for series 4, will continue with series 5, airing in 2012.