After neglecting to make plans for a Friday night, I was sitting in front of my computer bored out of my mind, trying to find something entertaining to do. I decided to switch on my computer and log on to Hulu.
Avid Hulu users may have seen ads for various British comedy shows, such as Whites, Green Wing or Spy. I remembered seeing an ad for Spy while getting my daily dose of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and thought it looked pretty funny. I was right. Three hours later, I had watched the entire first season.
Generally, British humour is downright hilarious, and at the risk of sounding like a grandma, far less vulgar than typical American humor; Spy is a show that you can watch with your parents and little siblings, for the most part.
Darren Boyd stars as Tim Elliot, a lazy British man whose son, Marcus, and ex-wife, Judith, hate him for a multitude of reasons, mainly because he has no plans for his future besides working at Computer Galaxy, an electronics store. He works with his best friend, Chris Godard, a deadbeat Oxford graduate, who is also doing nothing with his life.
When Tim realizes that the reason his nine year-old son hates him is because of his lack of aspirations, he quits his directionless job as an electronics salesman and applies for a job in the civil service. When he goes for his interview, he gets lost and stumbles into a room of testing MI5 recruits. He aces the test, gets called back for an interview and ends up as a spy in training, learning how to use weapons, hack software, and numerous other skills a spy may need.
Tim also has to attend family counseling with his son, ex-wife and his ex-wife’s partner, Philip. Ironically, their counselor is a certifiable basket case, with strong feelings for Tim that he does not reciprocate. At all.
A refreshing change from most comedies, the majority of Spy deals with Tim’s family problems, which are furthered because of his job as a ‘civil servant.’
After the series finale of Chuck in January, Spy is a good replacement, even if it lacks high-budget action sequences and is only 30 minutes long. My main gripe is the pathetic brevity of the first season with only 6 episodes.
Spy has been renewed for a second season in the fall of 2012, which I am definitely looking forward too.
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