My favorite Philomena Cunk character from Diane Morgan, introduced as part of Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe current affairs simulation series, is it true once you have a name Philomena Cunk Do you need anything else?
This is the perfect title for a comic character with an overly fancy first name and a very terse last name with multiple comic “K”s that sound and always go hand in hand with a somewhat taboo Dirty words next to each other – not in the UK.
Cunk on Earth
Bottom line for a special Nice and occasionally educational introductions to goofy comic book characters.
Broadcast date: January Tuesday (
Netflix)
Stars: Diane Morgan creator: Charlie Brooker
then you get real Cunk initially appeared as a dim lightbulb interviewer/commentator in three- to five-minute segments characterized by her ignorance and spotty research. But then, somehow, the character and concept came to be Amplified in some half-hour specials, then in BBC Two series Cunk on Britain . Now her second extended series ,Cunk on Earth
(another BBC Two launch), so successfully expanded the character and made her so relatable that the new show is coming to Netflix to reach a global audience who may have missed all her previous incarnations.
Netflix)
Stars: Diane Morgan creator: Charlie Brooker
Of course you can watch most of Philomena Cunk’s previous TV shows on YouTube Cunk on Ear th, or you can check them out after Cunk on Earth. But that’s really okay, because it turns out that as Brooke and Morgan use Filomena Canker more and more, she becomes more and more interesting, which is an expansion of the original one-note character. Very abnormal. They achieved this without sacrificing the character’s sim core.
Over five and a half hours of episodes, Cunk on Earth is a constant Consistently zany, often enjoyable series that mixes high and low comedy at breakneck speed. The punchlines don’t always land—partly because of inconsistent ways in which characters evolve—but if an observation feels too glib or a goal feels too over the top, don’t worry. Philomena Cunk will move on to the next one. Damn it if I don’t see signs of real emotion and depth at the end of these episodes. They’ll make Philomena Cunk a real human!
I’m not kidding Cunk’s pace on earth . In five episodes, the documentary-style series covers the entirety of human progress from the first Homo sapiens
— “We often think that early Homo sapiens is stupid because they have bushy eyebrows and say ‘Ugg'” – from ancient civilizations to modern religions to the Dark Ages, from the Renaissance to the global expansion of Western Civilization to the Industrial Revolution to 20 War of the Century and century technology. There are too many materials, Cunk on Earth can’t help but feel superficial than Cunk on Britain
, with a hint of depth to explore. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had when Philomena Cunk embarks on a journey to explore the breadth.
Ego sees Cunk as a somewhat dead-eyed version of David Attenborough, traveling the world – either real or just via green screen – and with Highly decorated experts talk about all the most important things to do with civilization, including whether early humans had as many holes as we do, why societies are prone to violent conflict, and the enduring fun of Technotronic’s hit video “Pump Up the Jam.”
Netflix viewers may know Morgan from Ricky Gervais’s After Life
, He’s a confident performer with a wide range. She’s deliberately understated and even bland, but she’s capable of being thrown off a dune if the bit demands it, or smashed on the head by a plank wielded by a Jesus impersonator. The writing team, led by Brooker, gave Morgan stupidly illogical logic and ridiculous mispronunciation – I’m still giggling at her pronouncing “Bible” as something closer to “Bibble” – but she has a complex , often casually thrown joke structure chatter, such as praising smartphones as “very advanced, but at the same time so simple that a child can make it”.
I’m not sure Cunk’s Marxist-related skepticism—she’s particularly cynical about the expanding American empire—fits with Brooke’s worldview and persona, nor do I. Totally understands Cunk’s existential anguish when he realizes Laika, the first dog in space, died in space, but these things lend nuance to the character and are a reminder of how good and complete Morgan’s performance is. It’s in David Brent or Stephen Colbert — the guy from The Colbert Report , not the real guy — the vein of forgetting.
The series and characters are at their best in Cunk’s interviews with experts, as she politely, if a little coldly, offers various education jobs at Cambridge and Oxford Readers ask questions such as “Why do humans need to believe in something bigger than ourselves? Is it so that we don’t feel fat?” or “Why do humans feel the need to invent such killing machines?” Can you keep your answers to a short length? Whether or not the experts knew exactly what they were researching—some were previous Cunk sources, while others were used in multiple chapters in this series—they mostly tried to offer little educational light to counter the interviewer’s inability to Confusion to avoid. You won’t learn much from Cunk on Earth, but you will learn some bits and pieces of trivia or historical connections.
The best interviewees are able to find depth of knowledge in even the dumbest Cunk questions, which in turn makes Philomena Cunk frustrating, which in turn makes it all the more fun. When an interviewee takes the time to express concern about Cunk’s powerlessness, rather than merely hiding annoyance or frustration, it may be more than she deserves, but it’s definitely what we as viewers deserve.
In Cunk’s conception of the format as host of the landmark documentary, Cunk on Earth occasionally tries to Branching out stylistically. There’s a really funny faux ad in one episode, and I won’t spoil it – it made me laugh a lot. The episode about religion and the dark ages culminates in a bizarrely imaginative single-female fantasy sequence. Some The smaller flourishes are underwhelming, but at least they don’t last long.
Watch Brooker and Morgan figure out what new ones they can do with this character And different things, which are very interesting. For American audiences, Cunk on Earth is an introduction that needs no context. Worse, It’s always fun to say “Philomena Cunk.”
