Why's it all about you?

I don't recall the disclaimer "The characters in the following programme represent every gay man you will ever come across".

Was that it? As in 'she doesn't know that Zac Efron is a person rather than a place'? If so, that strikes me as very lazy. Almost like they thought name-checking a flavour of the month celebrity would constitute a joke without the need to actually write... well.. a joke. And then to repeat the same thing twice! It's not as if 'Zac Efron' sounds like a legitimate place for it to work.

I absolutely loved it.

All the acid tongued one liners could've gone ott but IMO they were hilarious. They kind of reminded me of my grandma. The friend was funny too.

And anything that has gorgeous Iwan Rheon in it gets my approval too.

It's bound to get a BAFTA nomination then!

Surprised nobody's picked up on the 'Doctor Who' & 'Coronation Street' references, both shows have featured an appearance or two by Ian & Derek... though I don't remember Sir Ians character ('Melvin' I think?) 'murdering a prostitute in Corrie'..

Nice-naff, but harmless enough.Will be watching next week.

Well I liked it

I would like a couple of neighbours like those two

I liked it

I wasn't sure at the start, as the 'audience' laughter seemed a bit OTT and forced, which spoilt it a bit, but it settled down and got better

Because I'd only seen the preview clips and not the whole episode. Have I really just had to explain that?

Apparently the laughter wasnt canned and was the actual studio audience. I just dont understand why they laughed so loudly and clapped throughout as if the jokes were amazing ? Seriously...

You can't legistlate for the ignorance of some people, in this case Violet sometimes. If she was trying to 'get down with the kids' by quoting his name without being sure who or what he was.

The type who irritate me are those who are surprised they would be expected to know anything that happened before their birth.

''its been 48 years'' yes Ian, 48 years too late

I really enjoyed it.

Completely my humour. You can't beat a bit of camp.

What's a gay stereotype?

Too much audience laughter for my liking

I actually know a couple like that complete with faghag !

How dare ITV put on something slightly different. Maybe they should have just repeated Benidorm instead to keep people happy.

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Loved the silliness of the curtain scene and immediate return to normal when they closed again.

The laughter track was annoying. Just because something is filmed in front of a studio audience doesn't mean they used that reaction exactly as it was. They didn't say they hadn't enhanced it or manipulated it to suit. That was obviously doctored.

The theme song of Never Can Say Goodbye was very appropriate given the relationship of the lead characters. Perhaps a different version of it would have been more suitable though.

Being 'different' isn't the issue. Being 'dreadfully unfunny' is.

I'm watching it now on the ITV player and it's atrocious. Really monstrously unfunny.

I ended up really enjoying it! It's very silly, but for me it worked. I feel it could do with being toned down ever so slightly, it was very shouty and hetic which jarred a little, but it shows great promise and made me laugh several times.

That would be Glaswegians, not Scots thank you.

It's like saying Cockneys = English. I can assure you there are numerous others from north of the border that don't fit the C U Jimmy character BBC Glasgow continually export.

I can never take anything that exaggerated adjective users write seriously.

Fair enough, but how many non-camp, non-bitchy, non-desperate gay men have their ever been on TV?

To be honest, i could probably think of more gay characters which don't fit stereotypes than that do. Soaps seem to have the best portrayal, but even in comedies (Where the idea is that most characters are over exagerated) there are an equal balance (Will from Will and Grace is the biggest example, but you've got Richie from Threesome, Michael in My Family, Simon in Grandma's House) I think there's quite a good representation now.

Well while that is true I can honestly say I know more "slightly" camp than "straight acting" gay men. I think my bf is one of the few that I would say is not obviously gay... Its his love of the theatre and musicals that give it away ... But he is quite masculine sounding and normal... I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but I hope you know what I mean... He can pass for straight. I know there are a lot of the gay stereotypes in it but its all in jest and a bit of fun. Most things have stereotypes in them nowadays

Loads!

I do think if it was offensive then the cast would not be involved and considering one of the Will and Grace writers works on it, I would say there is a fair number of gay people linked to the show. I see it as more of an exaggerated caricature of gay men. I LOVED Gimme Gimme Gimme for being outrageous and over the top with unbelievable situations at times and the toilet humour

It seems to have gone down well with the homophobes at least. Here's a comment left on The Telegraph's review:


Nice one, McKellan. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for ever being involved in such a thing.