Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge [TV Series] (1994)

Review by All Movie Guide
Simply put, Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge: The Collection is one of the wittiest dissections of the chat show format ever committed to the small screen. This show succeeds where many other showbiz satires fall flat because it manages to be absurdly funny and oddly plausible all at once. The key to this strange duality is actor/co-creator Steve Coogan's ability to make his Alan Partridge character as believable as he is monstrous. Whether he is passively-aggressively belittling a guest with a fake showbiz smile or indulging his obsessive love of ABBA by forcing a popular musician to participate in a gruesome medley of the group's songs, Partridge is the kind of egomaniac whose perverse anti-charm ensures he always remains fun to watch. The show also benefits from excellent work by a skilled cast that dons a variety of identities to bring the show's various guests to life: Patrick Marber excels as a variety of smart Alecks who provide an excellent foil to Partridge's humorless "professionalism," and Rebecca Front makes an excellent straight-woman to the snide antics of the host. Director Dominic Brigstocke wisely plays the material straight, keeping the show's look and feel as close to the stereotypical, antiseptic chat show format as possible so the hilarious performances and writing are allowed to speak for themselves. In short, Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge is a must for aficionados of British television comedy and anyone who enjoys seeing showbiz get skewered. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide