The names Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are rightfully legendary in British comedy.
Vic & Bob launched their careers whenVic Reeves Big Night Outwas broadcast in 1990.
Lucky Sexy Winnersis very much in the Vic and Bob tradition.
And as ever, its wonderful!
Theres the same low rent glitz.
The same non-sequitur questions.
And the same surreal sketches punctuating the proceedings.
Dan Skinner returns as the score master but in the guise of epically bearded warrior Johnny Meringue.
And Vic & Bob effortlessly carry the show with charm and cheek in equal measure.
Theyve been doing this for so long, its business as usual for them.
And thats the problem here.
And broadcast for the first time ever,Poppadoodledandy.
These pilots were attempts at breaking out of theBig Night Outformat but Channel 4 wasnt interested in anything else.
After defecting to the BBC, their biggest success came withShooting Starswhich now hangs over their career.
Its not thatLucky Sexy Winnersis a bad show.
Its just that TV is swamped with a dozen indentikit comedy panel shows currently.
Their free flowing, eclectic and genuinely surprising style of humour deserves a bigger space to explore.
Giving them another panel show just seems like a lazy choice.
There are still some inspired moments here, but theyre just glimpses of what could and should be.
Let Vic & Bob run free!
The Weekenders is available to see on 4OD and the UK version of itunes.
