HOW YOU QUEUIN’: THE INBETWEENERS

I’ve been Queuin’ for a year, so let’s celebrate with more British television!

Wow, it’s been a full year since I started How You Queuin’.  I’ve watched a lot.  Good TV, bad TV, horrible movies… I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  Now if you’re a regular reader you’ll know I have a bit of a British tellie obsession.  I have watched so many shows but I have a confession: until this week I have never seen The Inbetweeners, a cult favorite I always hear about.  I know, scandalous for an Angophile like me, but the show wasn’t as easily available as it is now.  Both Netflix Instant and Hulu have added The Inbetweeners and I’m finally on the bandwagon.

Will is a pretty goofy-looking, kinda rich kid with a hot mom that’s taken out of his fancy private school to go to public school (that’s the British-to-American conversion, right?)  He tries to get in with the crowd, but instead commits social suicide by outing all his underage classmates at a pub.  But somehow Will makes friends with the trio of Simon, Neil, and Jay, and gets into usual teen guy shenanigans but in a much funnier way than yours probably were.  I’m four episodes in and man is this show hilarious.  The Inbetweeners deals with the same mundane teen topics all TV shows do, but it’s just the acting and great writing that makes it stand out.

Skipping school and getting drunk?  Seen it.  Getting so drunk that you puke on your crush’s brother?  Classic.

Despite the “awkward teen years show” being a true TV trope, it’s great when you find a show that still makes that cliché fresh.  That’s how I feel about The Inbetweeners now, making me feel a bit shameful for not seeking other ways to see it earlier.  There’s some heart to it, but overall the show gives off just immense, hysterical laughter.  It’s enjoyable to laugh at the failures of four jerky teen guys whose lives revolve around picking up “birds,” surviving school, and finding ways to buy booze.  I especially love the cringe humor like, yes, puking all over a child or Will’s horrible attempt at sex with the hottest girl in school.  Those moments where you shudder, that’s when you know they’ve got being a teenager right.

Brits have the cringe factor down pact.

The Inbetweeners first two seasons (AKA series) can be streamed on Hulu or Netflix Instant and I’m going to recommend you watch this British hit before the MTV remake ruins any goodwill.  I’ll never understand why MTV feels the need to remake British shows instead of just buying the rights and airing episodes here.  Do they think teens can’t understand accents?

Thank god Hulu and Netflix know where to invest, and that’s in solid UK programming.  Here’s to another year of finding good (and fantastically bad) entertainment out there for us to keep Queuin’!