BLOGS

Summer Heights High: Reaching New Comedic Heights?

I was so excited to watch Summer Heights High, the new HBO series that debuts this weekend. The press release had me at "Mr. G, a self-important, high-strung drama teacher." And it had a lot of other checks in the pro column: It's an Australian import. It's a mockumentary. It involves a production of Anything Goes. It has one guy playing multiple roles. All things I typically enjoy. And to be fair, there were some moments of genius, but mostly I was just bored by the first episode. Maybe it gets funnier as it goes along? Fingers crossed.

Writer/creator Dan Lilley plays Ja'mie (a stuck up teen girl), Jonah (the school bully) and the aforementioned, awesome Mr. G. Perhaps if this show was all Mr. G, I'd love it more. It would be like a weekly installment of Waiting for Guffman meets Camp (which is kind of my dream TV show).

Ja'mie is fine. She's your typical spoiled princess who is an exchange student from a local private school, where she's the most popular non-Asian attendee. Lilley makes a surprisingly attractive teenage girl.

Mr. G (a.k.a. Greg Grayson) is incredible. He's a nutty drama educator who has to swap off on directing musicals with another teacher each year. Unfortunately, while she's directing your typical fare (such as Anything Goes), he's stifled by being just a choreographer. There are posters plastering his office of the kind of avant garde pieces he prefers. My favorite (and this made me laugh out loud) was "Ian Thorpe: The Man, The Music, The Water." (If you don't know who the Thorpedo is, think Australia's answer to Michael Phelps.) Mr. G also proudly sports a T-shirt for his production of Tsunamarama, which was a musical about the tsunami, set to the music of Bananarama. Very clever.

Unfortunately the show kind of lost me with Jonah, who is a badly behaved kid who just spouts profanity and promotes his bullying ways. It doesn't help that he kind of looks like the "Are You Havin' a Laugh?" character that Ricky Gervais played on Extras, but a much less funny version. And once I remembered how hysterical that was, Jonah immediately paled in comparison. Plus, he's kind of a one-note jerk. He just swears a lot, occasionally breakdances, and acts like an ass. I just didn't find him entertaining at all. Maybe it's just me.

I'll give the show another shot (primarily for Mr. G), but I wasn't all that wowed. Let us know your thoughts.

12 Comments

November 7, 2008 6:34 PM
Camp
Reply

It gets better. Seriously. The last episode is by far the best, but there are moments of gold from episode 3 onwards.

November 8, 2008 7:13 AM
Vicki
Reply

Mr G. is pure entertainment in his own right, Ja'mie is fascinating for just how accurately she is portrayed. I felt the same way about Jonah in the first ep as well- again recognising him from my school days - but his story ends up being a brilliant, subtle, complex and heart-rending journey. Camp is right- the last episode is BRILLIANT!

November 8, 2008 9:15 AM
powderfaith
Reply

Like above, Jonah oddly ends up being the most (really, only) heart-rending story. While Mr G and Ja'mie are and continue being awesomely bitchy (poor Rodney), Jonah actually made me *sad* in the last episode.

November 8, 2008 9:48 AM
Lauren
Reply

I definately agree it gets better. I think the moment that sticks out is the 'There's a paedophile in the school!' part. Me and my friend were actually crying from laughter. Jonah made me sad in the finale too.

November 8, 2008 7:02 PM
jess
Reply

and it's Chris Lilley, not Dan Lilley. Please get it right.

November 8, 2008 9:39 PM
LucyofOz
Reply

I agree it definitely gets a LOT better - I actually didn't really enjoy the 1st episode at all when it first screened here but ended up absolutely loving it.

Jonah's story is more of a gut-wrenching tale as the series unfolds unlike the arc of Mr G & Ja'mie which are played for pure satirical laughs & silliness.

November 9, 2008 2:36 PM
Kikishua
Reply

I saw this from the 2nd episode and loved it. "She's a party girl with a bad habit, bad habit for drugs". Chris Lilley is amazing.

November 9, 2008 3:42 PM
Supun
Reply

You'll find as the series goes on that Mr G and Ja'mie are very hard to like while Jonah becomes the one you are drawn to.

And the day after this aired, di*ktation was on every single school in australia.

And as Jess said earlier, its Chris Lilley, not Dan.

November 9, 2008 3:42 PM
Supun
Reply

You'll find as the series goes on that Mr G and Ja'mie are very hard to like while Jonah becomes the one you are drawn to.

And the day after this aired, di*ktation was on every single school in australia.

And as Jess said earlier, its Chris Lilley, not Dan.

November 9, 2008 6:00 PM
AussieGirl
Reply

Summer Heights High is awesome. Jonah gets seriously funny and Mr G is an instant classic.
Watch "We Can Be Heroes" of Ja'mie's backstory. Not as funny as Summer Heights High, but still Chris Lilley = funny.

November 9, 2008 11:42 PM
Annie
Reply

Jonah is an islad boy from Tonga - hard to understand unless you have lived in Australia. The Pacific islanders are discreetly discriminated against in Asuuie. Hence the role. It is the BEST show in many years I have seen.

November 10, 2008 2:40 AM
K
Reply

I agree with Annie above - Jonah is probably very difficult to get unless you're Australian or have experienced an Australian school. He is a hilariously note-perfect imitation of thousands of Aussie schoolboys and his storyline gets quite touching toward the end.

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