This Is A New Love

That Mitchell and Webb Look on BBC America is addictive.

I just set my d.v.r. to snag all of them.

I particularly loved this Sherlock Holmes skit.



Here's Wiki on some recurring sketches.

I confess Numberwang is now my favorite game show ever.

Recurring sketches

Numberwang - a deliberately nonsensical game show, starring Robert Webb as the ebullient presenter, and two seemingly permanent contestants, Simon and Julie (Paterson Joseph and Olivia Coleman). The game itself involves calling out random numbers until the host declares "That's Numberwang!", although what constitutes a Numberwang or how it is achieved is never explained. Midway through the game, before the final "Wangernumb" round, the board the contestants are seated on is randomly rotated (an homage to the much-earlier BBC game show, Blankety Blank), briefly revealing a non sequitur scene, such as the birth of Jesus or two soldiers playing Russian roulette with a loaded pistol. Related sketches have included a German version presented by David Mitchell, a spinoff using words entitled Wordwang, a documentary on the history of the show, a trailer for a film called The Numberwang Code, and an advert showcasing a home version of the game (featuring a small pair of 400-sided dice and a 37 volume set of rulebooks).

The Quiz Broadcast - A television game show transmitted by the British Emergency Broadcasting System in the year 2013 some time after "The Event", a never-explained incident which led to the apocalypse approximately two years before. As "The Event" destroyed much knowledge of the previous society, many of the questions asked either have unknown answers or blatantly incorrect answers accepted as correct. Prizes can be won in the "Conveyor Belt Round" (in parody of The Generation Game), where contestants can win prizes by correctly recalling them after being presented them carried by staff (as no one knows how to operate the conveyor belt itself). Prizes in the round include fuel, food, tablets, various stones, items claimed to be unknown, and plush toys of "frightening animals." Other rounds have include the "Film Round" (where contestants try to guess what happened next in the only surviving video from before "The Event"), and "Sudden Death" (shortly after this round was announced, a contestant suddenly passed out). The broadcast contains continuing messages for viewers to "stay indoors".

Ted and Peter - A pair of alcoholic, chain-smoking snooker commentators, known for their absurd banter and dishevelled appearances. Ted is played by David Mitchell and Peter by Robert Webb. They seem more interested in swapping anecdotes about the players than covering the game at hand, and these exchanges are sometimes laced with homoerotic overtones, such as when Ted delivers a short monologue praising one competitors prettiness, causing Peter to ejaculate. In a later episode Peter comes out as gay, a decision he discusses with Ted, who admits to having been homophobic before meeting his colleague.

The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken Caesar - A drunken, drug-addled tramp played by Robert Webb, who seems to be under the impression that he is a brilliant and intrepid Victorian detective, in the style of Sherlock Holmes. He and his companion Ginger - another derelict, played by David Mitchell, who serves as his Dr. Watson - commit various crimes (usually either theft or petty assault) whilst supposedly engaging in battle against the henchmen of their so-called "nemesis", a vague and undefined entity described simply as "some bastard who is presumably responsible". The sketch often ends with the pair being chased by somebody they've fleeced to the tune of Devil's Gallop. Although Sir Digby's past remains a mystery throughout the show, Ginger is provided with a certain amount of backstory. In one episode he alludes to having been sexually abused and repeatedly asphyxiated by his father, while in the third series we learn that his real name is Guy Pelly, and that he once had a wife and 12-year-old daughter whom he lost (and has since seemingly forgotten about) as a result of his severe alcoholism.

Big Talk - A debate show in the same vein as Question Time and hosted by the confrontational Raymond Terrific (Robert Webb), who loudly bullies his panel of so-called "boffins" into giving yes or no answers to huge social and philosophical questions (i.e. "is there a God?"). The bemused panel then try and reason with him by starting a sensible discussion, but never to any avail. In one episode Big Talk underwent a format experiment whereby, instead of the usual boffins, mindless 'celebrities' were brought on to discuss laughably small matters (i.e. "how's your day been?"); this new version was appropriately called Small Talk, and the embittered Raymond Terrific frequently voiced his disapproval of the change being foisted upon him throughout.

The Party Planners - A couple, played by Mitchell and Webb, discussing who to invite to their next party. The list is usually comprised of either historical figures or fictional characters, such as in one episode when they decide to ask Moneypenny along, but then worry that she may bring James Bond with her. The humour is derived from the way they sneer at the prospective guest's behaviour at previous parties; for instance, whilst deciding weather or not to invite the Scooby-Doo gang, they deride Shaggy Rogers' excessive eating habits and general cowardliness.

The British Broadcasting Corporation - An old fashioned black and white broadcast, in which characters talk about the wonders of the new medium of television, and how it enables people to see them talking to each other, or if it works like a telephone, but as 4 of the 5 televisions were in use at the centre, they were not sure if they were hearing through television or an open door.

Barry Crisp - Crisp (Mitchell) runs a range of attractions which are all unsafe, including charging £2 to jump off a cliff, or offering the chance to swim with a great white shark but with the shark inside the cage along with the diver. His middle class customer (Webb) assumes everything is "fine" because Barry has a sign, so it must be legitimate, and is seemingly oblivious to the obvious danger, always eventually agreeing to take part, much to Barry's surprise.

The Honeymoon's Over - Mitchell plays a rude, mean, condescending man who takes a variety of different jobs, in all of which he does his best to demean his customers (Webb and Colman) and make them feel uncomfortable and inferior. When Webb and Colman ask about the nice people they had seen in a previous visit Mitchell would always reply "She/He's gone, they're all gone, and we're back!" Jobs have included being a vicar, waiter and a tailor.

The Helivets - A pair of heroes clad in pink jumpsuits who claim they can rescue any pet in peril. A parody of TV shows following the Emergency Services.[7]
Lazy film/TV writers - In a parody of film and TV genres, two script writers, John Gibson (Webb) and Andrew Turner (Mitchell), can never be bothered to be original for their next project. Instead, they pick a genre, take its signature aspects, and put them together, to create something that is clearly a cheap cash-in on the genre. For example, in series 2 episode 3, they endeavored to write an "underdog" sport film about cricket despite knowing nothing about the sport.

Colin and Ray - Webb and Mitchell are co-workers in the same office, who have different jobs which tend to involve extraordinary plots. Colin works as a hostage negotiator, while Ray writes the plots to pornographic films.

Car boot sale - A car boot seller (Webb), amongst the normal tat, has unique items, such as the Holy Grail and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia books, at ridiculously low prices.

Get Me Hennimore! - A parody of 1970s sitcoms, each episode featuring Hennimore (Webb) being given an important task by his boss (Mitchell) which always ends in disaster due to Hennimore's often understandable confusion as the items and rooms he must not mix up actually look identical. For example, in one episode he is told that a group of Korean chefs in Room 1 should not come into contact with a group of dog lovers in Room I, but the room signs get mixed up.

Food Advertisements - A series of parodies of some already heavily over-advertised foodstuffs (these aired in series 3). For example, a parody of Lucozade shows a runner drinking a bottle of 'Glucozade Port', the world's first alcoholic, isotonic drink or Cressps, which taste terrible despite the slogan Once you cressp you can't splessp whereas another advertises 'Mar-mitts' Marmite flavoured gloves that are 'completely unsuitable for human consumption' and finishes with Webb collapsing and Bachmann announcing "I think he's dead!"