Funny Peculiar

With many commentators declaring the British TV sitcom dead, I'd like to present a couple more ideas for the kind of edgy comedies which could breath new life into this moribund genre. Actually, I can't claim credit personally for these concepts, that honour has to go to my brother. The first of his proposed scenarios is a new take on the old Odd Couple format, but with a political twist. Originally, the series was to be called Idi and Me, and feature former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin exiled to London and forced to share a council flat with a refugee Ugandan Asian. Much hilarity ensues. "Surely this must be political correctness gone mad," exclaims Idi, when he is told that he can't eat Asians. But, with Amin now dead, the series would either have to be a retro, 1980s set affair, or a still living hate figure substituted. The most obvious alternative would be Osama and Me, with the al Qaeda leader seeking political asylum in London, and finding himself sharing a flat with a Gulf War veteran. Much hilarity ensues. "Surely this must be political correctness gone mad," exclaims Osama, when told that he can't poison his nuisance neighbours with anthrax.

If that idea doesn't excite the TV executives, then my brother plans to submit an even more radical concept - Nonces. This would be the everyday tale of a group of sex offenders are - through some civil service cock up - released on licence into the community. Much hilarity ensues as, week-by-week, we follow their attempts to pass for normal. In one episode, for instance, a nonce convicted for stealing and sniffing women's underwear finds himself on a work placement in a launderette, where he has to handle women's underwear. Imagine the laugh riot which would result from his probation officer walking into the laundrette to find him dressed in a bra and panties. In another hysterical scenario one of the offenders could find himself put in charge of a children's play group. Oh,how funny! You know, I think there's a good chance we could sell this one to BBC 3. Damn it, they showed the awful Coming of Age, didn't they? Not to mention commissioning Grownups for a third bloody series! And remember, if you are in any way offended by these sitcom proposals, blame my brother, not me.