League of Gentlemen UK Comedy Show, 5-4-2000
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NEW YORK POST . SUNDAY. JUNE d. 2000 .,. , .' . Sunday., -------------------- -------- And now for something completely different ••. THE NEI,I\I"i TV pn ON ; -, Up your nose: The " brilliant :~ and disgusting" league of -Gentlemen are (I-r) Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Jeremy Oyson. There 's a fourth gent - Reece 1• Shearsmith - but he's oH practicing to be a stalker. The League of Gentlemen is on its way to By MICHAEL GILTZ American TV after taking Britain by storm. ' : 11 ',' \'rl llf ~ r'l\,l'" fl)r Th,· · 1 ."II V,1I1' .. f Forget the Minister of Silly Walks - here j ;""11"1111 ' 11" /\ 11 1111'1''''' 8 M 11I1I1I·.",,·, .. lu ' \\\I"'II ' l'will comes Her Lipp, a German tour guide with a ''o· :d. ,.. lind " ~1 ""1 V ,'\ II".,,:' III," lilli' ,"" 'III,dy , ... 1,1", ... 1\ :, hllllalidt' ~t' I;' fondness for young boys. Of course, the ... 11 11 . 11 III tit., lU-\, Gentlemen don women's clothing at every I t ddHll~ fi ll t'ulIH'dv (\'l1lr:.1 .JUllt' If) :1110 U.S. a udlt'lIt,t':" han' It lut flf opportunity - they are British, after all. (:ald"n:.! lip to £III. "1'\\ ph,,· l'pi :.; odl·S have :-:t' II ~C a COOlf'd\,.M 1\ ltl'..;t {' r a· ~ I1\· (;clltlt-m:1I1 n \' til tl i .... l·II :--:-: thl' :1I1"(·d ill thl' lJ.K. s nags..:ill).,! ut lll'r ( ntics :-:: (· ttl~· iiII' ·'dis· .1l·rt· 11I ~· IhsHIl. who fllliv ... how Tht· founh :J lJ t\FTA Uhe Uritis h lUrlllll1( and-o r -hilarintls.- appca ~s m', scrcen in hri(:r mt'mllt'r - Ih'cCl' E 111 III \' I rt1 r Bl':-Il COOled \' Thl' fo ur-mt'mrn.·r truupe C;lmens. -II upl'fuJly. wi th a Silt'a r <.; mith - is and (:ntic:l1 an'laim uf ";1 i~ aho ul tn bunch " ·10- Iwlly hutton til' a nipl'l.· till "' 1'1'rlfllll~ hi" huli (i:1~.- Onl\' the Ll':lJ,!uc tlr 1IIIt': , ';\ '''lIrf. d:lll' ",UlTl l1wr '!!lIr in lilt' till' hal·k . \\" ,'1'1' ill ... , li:l l! ' ... t. dk'·I·. t;,·,;tll'l1H·l1 s pends it "" (JII' '" IIrt11 ... h P:II "'r said U.I~ . ttlt.'n...... ; 1 Chris tlll;ls glillJ,! al~llI l thaI III th.· A'Tnnli'lg ttl thl' nlhl·r ..... ~ pan' til11t, ~Ialkillg " fl/l'''.o.;. "Thl' 1.1':lgII C uf spl'cial .. ct roJ r filming III 1I111111 l'l1l . Ill," 111 F lnn' I1('t' fill' the :-oO\l' TIll'y'rc nil \\'olHic rillj.!' ir {;"IIIIt'lIh' Il " is "cunsistent· AlIg'u",t. and ;t dC\'{'r snap· II,' :lnd fi.· II O\\· (;.'nllt·I1It'11 pll' po ... ,' tlr trving tit such :1 di ~ t incti\,t'l\' British Iv hi·dli;1Il1. intl'l'l1Iittl'lltlv bunk wil l ht' on S:lIt· h\' till' Stc\'e Pl'lIIll1'rtull and glillll' .... ,· Anlhony· Hopkin ... ~{'rics <:;I n tra\'cl. $incc the Illj.!lltll1:1ri:dt. IInt'n dis. end IIf rhe \·t':lr. ~ I :lrk Giltiss :l re gatht'rt'd fi llllll l ~ "1I :lnninal.- ~t O ~l s h uw is alreadv airiJ1g- fi r :-:t' l til gu :-: l ill~ . nnd cC' l't:linl.v "The' btlok I'" hound in in till' 1.01101l1l "I'fin' "I' 01 h"I' nddhall shf1\\,~ J.,! t't air i'u F r :'lIIl·l'. 11111 III ;111\' ('UII\'I'nlilll1:d hUl1l an ... kill.- IIl ... i ... ts t·;I1 .. · tlll'ir 11I :IIl:ll.!f'lIu·n l t'llTIljl: I' W I'" d l':lIl S : l ~ ~taJkl·r .... Fi n land . 1t:!1 .\'. '\lIs tr:ll i;1 NEW YORK POST , SUNDAY, JUN E 4, 2000 TVSundav Calch-phrases 10 walch for on Festival in 1997, which led to 9 bumpy but ~uC'C'l~ f;sful The league of trnnJo;ition frum li ve net tu rodio show. Genllemen "Rlldio prf'~f' lIt l'l nil sorts of problems," says rat her tall Gentlem.n ~la .. k • This Is a local Gatiss_ '"You end up having shop for local to say, '1 am holding this jade sword in my hond people! whilst wearing a red hot .... The BBC soon C'nuJ:"ht on to • Okey-dokey, pig their cult following nnd in a pokey! ofTered the group n TV series. -It's a classic route to s ue • There's nothing ces8.~ says Pemberton, for you here. "going back 40 or 50 years. Spike ~lillig.n , 1'he Goo n • What's all this Show' [with Peter Sellcr. /. they all followed the s.me shouting? We 'll path." have no trouble They didn't .11 cnd up wit.h characters as strange here. 85 Harvey and VnL a seem ingly normnl coupll.' whn • Are you local? have l 'C'ry stringent rules for houseguests, including color-coded towels for the nnd Canada (among other drying of ... arious body parts countries), the answer is and 8 downstairs toilet that clearly yes. mus t ne\'er be used for MThc L cagUl.' of pi1s~in~ "solids." Gentlemen" is a S0:1 11 n pCnl ut thry (III crull·1i up ur !'IortJ4, u Guth ic n lllll'oy quittin", thl'ir day juhs ~ct in the IicLionol northern Bond the Lellgue of lown of Huy~lon Vmulry. Gentlemen folluwed. tTho tii h"l l Ic:u..linK intn town Pemberton is n't working ; rcads ominously "Htlj'ston anymore for the London :Vassey - You 'll Never office of \ariety; Dyson is . Leave!") doing a reading ot a book· iT hiS h:lmlct has morc shop in Leeds rather than f than its fair share of working behind the counter I sadists. swingers. toad- and Gatiss is still writing ~ wo r shippcr s . xenophobes the occasional ~Doct o r Who" ;nnd nudists. no\'el - but only when he ; Amo n,:::: the many not;lblcs wants to. i I nro : Edward nnd Tubbs. Now the pcrfonners (ull in their early 305) are trying to ;: ~~~c\~c fc~~O~f'~~'~ ~ rs ~\~: ~ find the balance for !' uCt'ess . customers: Hilary Driss, the 2 ~ I u('a) butcher who adds :Hl ~e; ~~i} ! s~~!~~f~ r' I~J~~ addictive "s pecial" inj.!'rcdi· typical U.S. sitcom), some ' ent-to his meal; H C' rr LI PP. cntic8 are urging them to . 0 German lour guide Wit h a quit while they're ahe.d, fu"dncss for the lowl la ds; "There i3 the 'Fawlty and :\1r. Chinnery, <I pa rtie Towers' principle everyone ' uloriy bold vcterinnrinn. hos in the bock of thei r : Pcrhllps hc~t. of 011 i~ minds," admits D y ~on. ' P:lUIiIll', the tyrnnniC' :11 alluding to the John Cleese IW:ld of the locol ullempluy f'erics that produced just 0 mL'll t. onice. "People are Itkc handful of episodes uve r pen .!-l ." says Pauline. "If they mnny years and thl'n C:ll1l'd do n't work. yo u s hake them. it n dny. If thry still don't work, yuu liI,fllft· thnt dnv rOll\t' M, thl' thrflw IIH'm nwnv." J,,' ''.:tUl uf l:Ul lllt' lllIIll 1111 111 ' Tin' ~hllw ' ,, ' Jill 1'1 h"lIlnf tn lilt lill' bill JIII' n ' t'lI , ,,1114 ' 11 /-: " III I!" '" lit l'Ullildlili til/ow. With mt "mull 1\ 11I1t1~t't "I( 1I\\ l ly poIk"'!"!1 l 'lIlIlI'fI.v hilM ltllt" ihlc. "I lllluk Munty 11'" .. lt' I"M fu r "Tit" .';/1111 \'ython'" i>t-!'t film i~ The ~1 "l\ l y" o lit I tlH.' like' with lIoly Grall: snyl'l Gntiss, {' o l1tinu i ll~ stul'y lil1(,~ nhout "because that's the one llie: ; pcn ersl', frustrated where they'vc got no muOl"Y." Ii ve~ of it ~ recurring charnc Their fondest dream hu\\, ters': Three little pigs: Next from the oddball team of Brit l'\'C'r is ('ven mure pervcrse: Ud ianLly weird - the comedians Is a scrapbook - "bound in human skin," "What we really wnnt is for :- hlJ\¥'s scc~l1d ~ COSOI1 begnl1 JoO omeo nc in the States to \\'lth a truly bizarre plot episode nnd made on e"tra ing- theater in \\'akcfi(' ld. huy the rights and remnkc feJturing- a macabre circus s huw or two out of the bits whi le Dyson studi("<i phllns it." says Galiss. "We would· performcr nnmed Pnpn ond pieces. So it makes it ophy at Ll.'cds linivers ity. n't wont anyone else to cver La-zarou - "Thc Lcogue of even weirder thun it wa~ , if Though t lwy'd 111.' \'('r SI!C it. of course. Just us." (;entlemell" mny seem even that's poss ible. workl'd tflJ,!ctlll'r. tlwir lirs t Pl.'l11hcrt on s pontaneously more' ~ lIrrc al tu Amt..'ricall "Some cpi~ode~ nre nctu stnge appcarnlll:c W:lS as delivers the sho ..... ·s biggest \'1 '\fers. ally strong-cr because they purt of a roundup of the catch phrase in a hilariuus -The ' Comedy Centrol focus in on just one or two "best IIf the Yl'ar." 10nc nct Southcrn twong: "This is a cpisodes ore 22 minult~s . stu ricH," he says. couldu't be reunited. so tlll'Y lucnl shop for local people!" UO\vn from half nn hour, The story of how the fill ed in.1 Thl'Y ,II laugh ,nd sud (' xplnins Gentleman Stcve troupe h('gnn is mllch morc They I:1t (' 1' Sl'o rC'fj lup dt'nly a Dl'C'P South sister Pemhe rton.