Offensively snooze inducing...
I used to like him. As previously stated; he was the only one I'd consider watching Mock The Week for. His dark analogies were refreshing, especially after the bald dude with the tache shouted something soul-numbingly obvious. Frankie Boyle was ingenious comparably, but then he felt stifled by the BBC's tight racism/sexism laws, not to mention their poo pooing of paedophilia jokes, so he left and made his way swiftly to Channel 4 - to expose himself as the lazy fraud he really is.
I tried giving it a chance. I wanted to like it. But after watching the first show of Tramadol Nights, there was a feeling of being piddled on. In hindsight, that was probably his intention, but it was SUCH a disappointment. As mentioned in the TV highlights, it was like a prolonged and particularly boring bout of deja vue. None of the "jokes" were new. Most of them had been previously uttered in prior interviews and during his live tour - which I bought tickets for, I'm ashamed to say. Interesting crowd. I went to see a delightfully warped mind conjure up some inventive tales. Instead we got very basic "kiddie fiddler" - and I use this term exceptionally loosely - "jokes". A mountain of them. When he wasn't gleefully rabbiting on about abuse, it was rape, the handicapped (mentally or otherwise), more rape ('cause that's particularly hilarious, just ask Seth McFarlane), and more abuse - people who stereotypically aren't able to defend themselves (hello to you, Harvey Price and Baby P). But he never had the balls to get into race. No, he decided to wait until he was being broadcast to potentially millions before he'd play that jaded card.
In the vain hope of it being better than the first 30 minutes of brainless swill, myself and the fellah tuned in on Tuesday night. We saw the mole who pretended to be Australian in a bygone series of Big Brother (you might also recognise her from a drink driving ad from about two years ago), dressed as a sexy Super Mario, gyrating like a lap dancer. She then squawked "Hello to P***y's everywhere!" That was the end of that sketch. Apparently the 'N' word was used as well but I'd switched off at that point.
It was the "sketch" involving a "Cookie Monster" who thought he was a "p*ssy monster" which sent me over the edge. At the risk of sounding like bleedin' Mary Whitehouse, it was sheer tripe. There was the blue "Cookie" thing, molesting a newsreader, which she wasn't really into. Then it cut to them having sex on the news desk - 'cause she went from enduring uninvited breast groping to wildly enjoying full on intercourse, just like in real life - then cutting to her violently fellating him. Yeah, I'm aware blue furry sexual predators don't exist in real life, and some might find the ridiculousness of it all amusing, but it's just so puerile and ultimately booooooooring.
Now Boyle's being talked about by MPs, with the likes of John Whittingdale musing: "The words n***** and P*** are deeply offensive to a large number of people. I don't think even in comedy it is justified. Frankie Boyle is becoming a serial offender. I really think Channel 4 will have to think whether it's appropriate to screen programmes which are regularly causing offence to a lot of people. It might be a breach of the Broadcasting Code. Ofcom will have to determine that."
As expected, I are waving their "satire" card: "Channel 4 strongly refutes any suggestion we are endorsing or condoning racist language by our broadcast of Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights. This cutting edge comedy (that he clearly wrote about four years ago and has been parroting every since) is clearly intended to ridicule and satirise the use of these words - Frankie Boyle was not endorsing them (unlike his endorsment of rehashed homophobic taunts). Channel 4 would not have broadcast these words had they been used in a racist way. All the jokes highlight the unacceptable nature of this language."
So, there you have it, Channel 4 are proclaiming Frankie Boyle to be a modern day Oscar Wilde. Or Charles Dickens, or Lewis Carroll. They also evidently equate hs work with that of Alan Bennett, Bill Hicks, Stephen Fry, Woody Allen, Christopher Guest, Chris Morris, Jon Stewart, Matt Groening...
