The not so Mighty Boosh… November 17, 2007

The long-awaited ‘new’ series of The Mighty Boosh was broadcast on Thurs 15^th November at 10.30pm. I use the word ‘new’ loosely because a) it had already been premièred on-line prior to it’s BBC3 transmission date and b) Well, in short, I felt I’d seen it all before!

 

Although The Mighty Boosh appears to all intents and purposes ‘random’ and ‘unpredictable’, when it comes to plot it often follows a basic format- Vince and Howard at home or at the ‘Zooniverse’ (or now in ‘The Nabootique’) they banter to highlight their differences, Vince has a new trendy venture which Howard mocks, Howard gets into trouble, Vince attempts to save him but gets distracted with something shiny, Naboo comes to the rescue- and the third series begins with little variation from this.

 

In previous series this simple format was the ideal way to create a framework for the fantastical flights of fancy that Vince and Howard would go on…but the third series opens with an episode all too pedestrian and the fairytale nature of The Boosh boys adventure seems too ordinary. The banter between the characters Vince and Howard used to be inventive and funny and given to the audience in short spurts, but in this episode it goes on for too long and becomes one-note. In addition the main villain of this episode was The Hitcher basically doing what The Hitcher does best- being evil, having a Cockney sing-a-long. Of course The Hitcher was funny and sinister at first but we’ve seen him do all this before…but better. Or should I say worse? The Hitcher just seemed a bit too slick somehow.

 

The same goes for the design of the show, such an important element in The Mighty Boosh. It is now too streamlined and not ‘rough round the edges’ like before. Gone is the reliance on green screen for the fantasy elements… ‘The Nabootique’ looks just too well made, and the sets no longer resemble a disused zone from The Crystal Maze- ‘The Zoo-Zone’ as they did in series one. Come to think of it, Vince’s outfits often resemble Richard O’Brien’s Crystal Maze look, coincidence…?

 

Moreover, The Hitcher no longer looked like he was a Frankenstein’s monster in fancy-dress made from Polos and masking tape. In short, the homemade charm that made The Mighty Boosh unique and special has just about gone.

 

Although I do hope they can inject a bit of the old magic into this series, for the moment at least, it seems The Boosh boys have become so expert at their own style that they’ve forgotten to be original, innocently quirky and most of all funny. Perhaps like a child growing up, The Boosh has become basically very self conscious.

 

However, all was not lost in this episode; I watched with utter joy the return of Rich Fulcher glamming it up as a woman in fur-coat, with a long cigarette holder and full 50s style make-up with her amorous call of “hellooooooooooooooooooooooo”, printed in full on her calling card of course! Her passionate advances to Howard (and who can blame her ) were more sinister than anything The Hitcher had to offer in this episode.

 

Why won’t somebody give Rich his own comedy series?

Oh wait…they did. It was called Snuffbox and hardly anyone watched it.

The fools.