Sean's Show
Sean's Show is a British television situation comedy, first broadcast on Channel 4 between 15 April 1992 and 29 December 1993. Stand-up comedian Sean Hughes co-wrote and starred as a fictionalised version of himself, aware that he is living in a sitcom.[1] The show's style drew heavily on It's Garry Shandling's Show (1986–90).[2][3][4]
| Sean's Show | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Created by | Sean Hughes |
| Written by | Sean Hughes Nick Whitby |
| Directed by | Sylvie Boden |
| Starring | Sean Hughes Victor McGuire Jeff Shankley Michael Troughton John Barrard Eileen Way |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 14 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Mike Bolland |
| Producer | Katie Lander |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 15 April 1992 – 29 December 1993 |
It received a nomination for the 1992 British Comedy Award for Best Channel 4 Sitcom.
Production
In common with a number of British shows of its era, humour often came from the repetition of catchphrases or situations. These included Sean's love of The Smiths and Morrissey; conversations with a spider who was actually Elvis Presley; messages on the answerphone from Samuel Beckett and God; "That sock's still not dry"; phone calls from a girl called Angela who Sean definitely "did not lead on"; refugees in the bedroom who do nothing but comment inanely on television programmes; attempts to get scrambled egg from a saucepan and many, many more.
The first series ended with the entire main cast other than Sean killed off in various ways. When he was granted a second series, he was forced to resurrect them all in the first episode.
Episodes
Series 1
Series one is based around Sean's life on a set much like his home in Muswell Hill. He pursues his love Susan while avoiding Angela "who I did not lead on". In the last episode, all of the cast bar Sean are killed off.
| Number in series | Number in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Jelly and Blizzards" | 15 April 1992 | |
| Windsor Davies pops around and sets a lot of jelly in his bath and Angela - a girl Sean can't stand - will be moving in. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Badgers" | 22 April 1992 | |
| Due to a deeply embarrassing night out with his best friend Tony, Sean has discovered that a woman is lying, snoring, in his bed. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Autobiography" | 29 April 1992 | |
| Life looks good for Sean. He gets it together with his girlfriend Susan, he writes a best-selling book and gets to be interviewed by Tracey MacLeod from The Late Show. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Greek Holiday" | 6 May 1992 | |
| Whilst Sean is on holiday in Greece - falling in love with Alexi - his best friend Tony has to fill in for him. This turns out to be a disaster as Tony falls madly in love with Susan, the woman Sean loves. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Gordon" | 13 May 1992 | |
| Sean discovers that he has a twelve-year-old son called Gordon who demands £175 a week for sweets. He later finds out that Gordon isn't actually his son. Sean finds out that his father is dying. Under the bed in the spare room are five musicians. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Blind Date" | 20 May 1992 | |
| Sean decides to take control of his pathetic life, and writes the script himself. Inevitably he throws a party for his beloved Susan in an attempt to win her heart. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Disappointed from Dublin" | 27 May 1992 | |
| The final show of the series and it's Sean's last chance to get together with Susan. Or is it too late? | ||||
Series 2
In series two Sean owns a house in Chelsea "near the football stadium" (a recurring gag is Sean hitting back footballs, occasionally for Crystal Palace F.C.), with his killed off co-stars resurrected as identical twins of their characters. Running jokes include a spider that is the reincarnation of Elvis Presley, cleaning scrambled eggs off a plate, and Bosnian refugees in his spare room.
| Number in series | Number in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "Fear Itself" | 17 November 1993 | |
| A year has passed and Sean has moved to Chelsea - the Stamford Bridge not the Sloane Square end - with a ferocious dog and a couple of Bosnian refugee telly addicts. Special guests: Pulp and Bea Arthur. | ||||
| 9 | 2 | "I'm Watching" | 24 November 1993 | |
| It's been a bad week for Sean Hughes. Bobby The Builder presents Sean with a £7,000 phone bill and Tony persuades him to watch a sophisticated sex video which incurs the wrath of God. God sends Brother Shaw (Brian Cox) to sort him out but Shaw organises a party instead. Can Sean score or has he forgotten how? | ||||
| 10 | 3 | "Don't Eat Meat" | 1 December 1993 | |
| Love is in the air when Sean meets Lizzie (Joanna Riding) at the garage where he works. Will romance blossom, or will Elvis the spider and the death of Bobby the Builder foil his plans? | ||||
| 11 | 4 | "Tea With Agatha" | 8 December 1993 | |
| Who killed Bobby the Builder? Sean's night of passion with Lizzie has been rudely interrupted by 'Bill' and 'Ben', two policemen. Was the murderer Lizzie (who turns out to be Bobby's daughter)? Or Barry, Lizzie's lover? Or is - gasp, horror - the killer Sean himself? | ||||
| 12 | 5 | "Great Socks" | 15 December 1993 | |
| Sean has met Trudy (Meera Syal) and, determined to prove his days of one-night stands are over, he has asked her to move in with him. But he faces an emotional dilemma: she wants a baby. Fast! Is Sean ready? And why is Vinnie Jones there? Special guest: Vinnie Jones. | ||||
| 13 | 6 | "Sean's Show" | 22 December 1993 | |
| Sean, Tony and Barry are in hospital, and each of them has a very different memory of Sean and Trudy's dinner party. But only Mrs Pebbles knows the full truth... | ||||
| 14 | 7 | "Sean's Show" | 29 December 1993 | |
| It's the final episode and Sean must face some grim realities. Trudy's left him, he discovers he was adopted and God tells him he's thinking of packing it all in. Are his friends mere metaphors, can Palace win, and is The Cure's Robert Smith his real, long-lost mother...? Special guests: The Cure, Chris Armstrong, Chris Coleman, Gareth Southgate, Andy Woodman. | ||||
Home media
Sean's Show: The Complete First Series was released on DVD in October 2007.
References
- Berger, Arthur Asa (16 October 1998). The Postmodern Presence: Readings on Postmodernism in American Culture and Society. Rowman Altamira. ISBN 9780761989806 – via Google Books.
- Lyons, J. (18 December 2013). America in the British Imagination: 1945 to the Present. Springer. ISBN 9781137376800 – via Google Books.
- Rotondo, Andrea M. (12 February 2014). Tom Petty: Rock 'n' Roll Guardian. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857128683 – via Google Books.
- Cashmore, Ernest (16 October 1994). #NAME?. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415091305 – via Google Books.
External links
- Sean's Show on Channel 4
- Sean's Show at IMDb
- Sean Hughes's channel on YouTube (including series 2 of Sean's Show)