There’s still life and laughs in this daft family comedy
C(BBC One) got off to a joyful start, two years on from the happy-ever-after ending of its third series. Hyperenthusiastic American Dale (Taylor Lautner) was still riding love’s euphoric wave after securing his relationship with Rachel (Esther Smith), while her father Ken (Greg Davies) was thrilled to be nominated for Lichfield’s Lawyer of the Year award.
This haphazard family sitcom has been a quiet success ever since it began in 2012; it was something of an oddity for having a fresh-out-of Saturday Night Live American comedian as its eponymous star. Andy Samberg appeared for that first series as the dippy hippy that Rachel brought home, having met him while travelling and hastily got married – much to the confusion of her very British parents (played by Davies and Helen Baxendale). But when commitments took Samberg elsewhere (to the Emmy-winning comedy Brooklyn Nine-nine), he was killed off and another unlikely American was cast instead – “Different guy. Just as Cuckoo,” went the line.
Best known for playing a studly werewolf in the Twilight films, Taylor Lautner proved his comedy chops as the sweetly naive Dale, who came looking for his long-lost father Cuckoo and was kindly taken in by the family. Then, at the end of series three, after a lot of sidetracking, Dale and Rachel, slightly awkwardly, got together.
Cuckoo’s formula – Ken’s ego blinding himself to his flaws and Dale making rash, nonsensical decisions – remained as true as ever in this opening episode. But one of the delights of Cuckoo is its ability to revel in its coarse daftness. Dale’s decision to take a job as a human statue during the local awards ceremony led to near-fatal skin asphyxiation when he covered his entire body in paint (“he’s gone and done a Goldfinger!” cried another human statue). And when Ken thought that he’d won the award (of course, this being a British sitcom, he was mistaken), he took the opportunity to triumphantly dress down his more impressive female colleague for, he believed, conspiring to take over from him while he was on paternity leave. “You have betrayed the sisterhood!” he bellowed. “You shower of s--thouses.”
The chaos does occasionally get a bit much, and it would be nice if writers Robin French and Kieron Quirke gave their female stars a better share of the jokes. But, even into its fourth run, this is a solid comedy that, unusually, still manages to find life – and fun – in its format.
Four years ago there was a flurry of news reports about the rise of the pound shop. In a recession-recovering society, middle-class journalists who were normally more at home in Waitrose were dispatched to marvel at its substantial bargains. But last month it was reported that the chain Poundworld would be closing its doors. And last night’s Saving
Poundstretcher (Channel 4) revealed how that other discount shop was also on the precipice.
Britain’s collective wallet is hardly bursting at the seams in 2018 – so why isn’t Poundstretcher booming? Desperate to revive his business, CEO Aziz Tayub brought in Poundworld’s former CEO Chris Edwards, who built his company up from his Wakefield market stall in 1974 then sold it for £150million in 2015.
As soon as Edwards walked into a Bolton store it was clear where some of the problems lay. The floor was covered in hazard tape, holding loose bits together. The shelves were messy and overstocked. Edwards couldn’t resist helping to tidy up.
Despite his Gordon Ramsay-style role of business saviour, Edwards was pleasingly far less vitriolic. The programme billed the combination of the two CEOS as a potential clash of personalities. But, refreshingly, everyone was largely polite; the tension was found, instead, in what wasn’t said.
The truth is, there’s more to the current decline of pound shops than messy stores. A changing economy, the fall of the pound, a crowded marketplace and less footfall on high streets have all been highlighted as factors. But that wasn’t discussed here. Instead the focus was squarely on getting the Poundstretcher stores in shipshape condition. The catharsis found in seeing the cluttered shelves reorganised is why programmes such as this are so popular, along with the chance to see the underdog fight back (after all, Poundstretcher is still a family run business). But let’s hope that there’s an examination of the wider issues in the next two episodes. Otherwise all this effort could be for nothing.
Cuckoo ★★★
Saving Poundstretcher ★★★