Need some respite from head-banging debate over the future of the Anglican Communion? I have just the ticket: ‘Rev.’ — a brilliant church-centric comedy that began airing on BBC a couple of years ago. The first season is now available to U.S. audiences for free at www.hulu.com/rev. The second season will begin airing on July 21. I LOVE this show.
Check out this link for a clip. Oh, and here’s another.
I happened on a recent interview at monsterandcritics.com with Tom Hollander, who plays the show’s hero, The Rev. Adam Smallbone, vicar of a sorry little church in a gritty corner of west London:
Rev,’ as UK viewers will tell you, is a gentle comedy series. It derives a lot of fun from the situations and daily routines of Reverend Smallbone and the various colourful characters who make up his congregation.
However when talking about the evolution of the show that one thing that Tom is quick to point out is the fact that at no time does the series get laughs at the expense of the Church or the subject of Faith.
“An important characteristic of the show is that we don’t make a joke out of faith at all and that’s the crucial way in which it differs from Father Ted and most other religious comedies.
“We tread a line where the joke comes from the predicament of the Vicar, but not from believing in God because a feature of the show is that every episode had a prayer in it where he’s having a real chat… All be it an amusing one with his maker.”
Another thing that the team behind Rev have taken great pains to bring to viewers is the fact that although the Rev is tasked with a lot of responsibility, he is also human and as such is often caught in the middle of human conflicts, which he has to resolve in a peaceful and respectful manner. This is done by giving each episode a very different moral theme. …
If you haven’t checked out Rev already you really should. The series is a clever comedy that looks at the day-to -day life of a Vicar and his congregation and some of the challenges that they all face. The characters are likable and well worth spending time with.
You can read the entire Hollander interview here. And then by all means check out the show: http://www.hulu.com/rev