The fifty-second TV show: #845 The Trip
The third season of this show dropped around the time I started my rewatch of the first two series for this list. At this point I've finished all three (again) and it's been a worthwhile journey again. The formula is simple: comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon travel through an area of the world - first the north of England, later Italy and Spain, and visit six restaurants to write a review/travelogue for the Observer.
What we get is a story of these two men traveling, hanging out and having fun together while in the background their demons come through. They are, at times, antagonistic, but what comes through is that first of all, they enjoy hanging out, trading impressions and at times just singing in their cars. As far as I can tell they play exaggerated, less self aware versions of themselves, playing on their public persona, but they are at their most delightful when they drop that act and just have fun together.
The other part is how they play on how they portray themselves. Rob Brydon is the family guy, happy with his place in life, not too worried about doing something different from what he does already. Steve Coogan has aspirations, as writer and serious actor (especially after Philomena) and it's clear that more often, he wants to outdo Rob. Both work well, and despite his more antagonistic feeling attitude, the frustrations he feels are so recognisable that there are times where I agree when he wants them to shut up. Then again, if I was in one of these nice restaurants and they would be sitting two tables over doing their impressions and so on, I would be so annoyed.
This show strips it down to the best parts though, keeping it the most fun it can be. I am genuinely hoping for the fourth series.