Feud for thought
Witty sparring partners ‘Vicious’ & delicious
PBS DOESN’T pick up a lot of sitcoms. But the network wisely chose not to pass on one that features Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Ian McKellen.
In “Vicious,” the two British icons play a couple who have been together for 48 years.
Freddie (McKellen) is an actor with a theatrical manner, deep vanity and a sharp tongue.
Stuart (Jacobi) is a bit more vulnerable, but clearly has learned to hold his own in the verbal duels that have become their affectionate shorthand, much like the characters in “My Cousin Vinny” or almost any Noel Coward play.
The Coward comparison is not incidental, because the level of wit and delivery in “Vicious” often rises to that imposing level.
Nothing in “Vicious” calls to mind the two better-known extremes of British comedy, the darkness of “The East Enders” or the slapstick of Benny Hill.
This six-episode series is quite content to be a literate half-hour built almost entirely on words.
Nor is it just a two-man show. Freddie and Stuart entertain visitors, often quirkier r than they are. They also befriend a good-natured young man, Ash (Iwan Rheon, from m “Game of Thrones”), who quickly becomes their favorite. te.
As for the fact Freddie and d Stuart are gay, it isn’t treated as anything more than that: a fact.
While it would be possible e to find lines of dialogue that could be called stereotypical, , that’s just how comedy works. s. Overall, it would be impossible to argue that, overall, “Vicious” does anything but humanize.
It’s a breath of fresh television air. dhinckley@nydailynews.com