I only started watching this at new Season 5 ... and became addicted. Fortunately the first four seasons are out there. Now, if you're not a fan of the Simpsons my initial comments won't work here. If you are ... this show reminds me of The Simpsons. How? In that it is funny ALL the time-non-stop clever funny. Every exchange is slick, perfectly timed and seriously amusing. Of course the satire is the core of it and that's both funny and tragic-because we can all so easily imagine the authenticity of it and be made to feel despair. But for the pure comedy of the situations and interactions, the honours must be shared evenly between the writers and the actors-both are superb with impeccable scripts and timing in the repartee of corrections, interruptions, dismissals, overrides, manipulations. It's the cream of Australian comedy writers and actors so it's hardly surprising that it is so good. Like the political cartoonist's exaggerated reresentations of those in the public eye, the characters are almost all caricatures and thus exaggerated in their non-stop amusing awfulness. But two characters stand out as entirely and unexaggeratedly authentic: the flawless Rob Sitch's long suffering Tony and Celia Pacquola's Nat. I've been a fan of Celia since Rosehaven but that irrepressible madcap is not on show here. Instead, a brilliant display of 'expression acting' (my lay term). The subtlety of her facial expression-or intended absence of one-is just beautiful to watch. Her eyes, intonation, body language, along with those expressions (or deliberate lack of them) perfectly but so subtly register her dismay, disappointment, disbelief, defeat and resignation at and by what comes her way. Her role playing as Naomi in S3/E5 'Start Up' is about the funniest TV I've ever seen. I love the whole show for its disquieting comedy but especially love the exquisite subtlety of Celia's minimalist acting masterclass. Bless her. Bless them all!
