It is very rare to see a satirical correlation between humor in the United States and the United Kingdom. Each country’s humor varies according to its delivery and what constitutes as being “funny” in each region. Some comedies have been able to bring their cultures overseas, but their success rates in their new locations have not been what were expected from the creators. Today, I believe that I have found one comedy from the UK that has the potential to successfully thrive in the United States, one that many Americans can relate to and understand. The show is called Come Fly With Me.
ABOUT
Come Fly With Me is a British mockumentary about three pretend airlines and the daily lives of the employees that work there and the customers that utilize their services. Those airlines are FlyLo, a cost-efficient British airline, Our Lady Air, a low-cost Irish airline, and Great British Air, a major international airline stationed in Britain. The show is a spoof of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) documentaries Airport, a series about London Heathrow Airport, and Airline, a television program that focuses on the daily happenings of the workers of different British airlines.
Season One of Come Fly With Me was broadcasted on BBC One, a flagship station of BBC, and the first episode was launched on Christmas Day 2010. The success of this show led BBC to pick it up again for a second season.
CHARACTERS
The show, despite its array of characters, has only two actors. These two actors are also the creators of this show. They are Matt Lucas and David Walliams
Matt Lucas is an English comedian known for his acting, screenwriting, and stand ups. Before Come Fly With Me, Lucas worked on the BBC program Little Britain, a comedy sketch series similar to the United States’ Mad TV and Saturday Night Live that pokes fun at British lifestyles and foreign customs. The show ran from 2003 to 2006. He is also known for doing the voices of Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland and playing Donold David Dongalor in Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, a failed television program that was broadcasted on Comedy Central and in Britain back in 2009.
On the show, Lucas plays the characters of Precious Little (manager of airport’s coffee kiosk), Taaj Manzoor (roving ground crew worker for FlyLo), Keeley St. Clair (check-in staff for FlyLo), Mickey Minchin (airport’s in-house paparazzi), Fearghal O’Farrell (homosexual flight attendant), and Simon Trent (pilot).
David Walliams is an English comedian, writer, and actor who has been known for his consistent charity work for Sport Relief, a charity that uses different forms of recreational activity to help feed people in impoverished countries. He has been noted as a man with good wholesome family values, even though these qualities are not exhibited in this program. Walliams has also worked on the program Little Britain with Lucas.
On the show, Walliams plays Omar Baba (owner of FlyLo), Moses Beacon (Executive Passenger Liaison for Great British Air), Ian Foot (airport’s Chief Immigration Officer), Melody Baines (check-in staff for FlyLo), Buster Bell (airport’s in-house paparazzi), and Jackie Trent (pilot).
The other recurring characters on the program are check-in staff workers for FlyLo named Helen Barker (played by Sally Rogers) and Lisa (played by Pippa Bennett-Warner).
SEASON 1, EPISODE 1: PILOT (December 25, 2010)
This episode serves for the primary purpose of introducing the cast and the problems they deal with on a consistent basis.
This episode serves for the primary purpose of introducing the cast and the problems they deal with on a consistent basis.
We first meet the owner of FlyLo, Omar Baba. Baba is first introduced with a public relations issue, a situation which clearly indicates that his choices in the show will be affecting his airline and those that use its services. The situation— safety. Instead of putting safety vests on the bottom of the seats, Baba combats the negative publicity with installing an electronic device that forces passengers to purchase safety vests through the airline.
Second, we meet Moses Beacon, the Liaison of Great British Air. We see that he comes off like an English gentleman; however, he lacks the proper people skills in handling specific situations. In the show, we see him dealing with two customers. The first is him attempting to tell a woman that her dog was killed in the plane’s storage unit due to complications with the air pressure on board. He speaks to her about almost everything about the flight, except the issue with her dog. At the end of the scene, he is seen outside of the plane holding a sign that says “Your Dog Is Dead” and then waves goodbye as the plane takes off. The second is him helping an elderly woman fly for the first time. The woman takes advantage of his kindness and tricks him into buying alcohol, cigarettes, and other merchandise and using his own frequent flyer miles in buying her a first-class ticket. At the end of the episode, Moses learns that she has flown before in her life, numerous times, and it upsets him.
Next, we meet Fearghal O’Farrell, the gay flight attendant for Our Lady Air. Fearghal tries to help customers to the best of his abilities; however, his tactics are a little unorthodox. We first meet him commenting on a woman’s baby and then putting the infant in the overhead locker as part of his flight preparations.
We also meet the check-in staff women of FlyLo, but mostly view the interactions of Melody Baines and Keeley St. Clair. Melody and Keeley are seen doing their jobs properly, but acting in their own interests instead of the customers’ interests. We see them persuading people in buying priority passes and selling them to all the passengers instead of those they are specifically designated for. We also see them towards the end of the show hearing about a promotion that only one of them can receive. According to them, their friendship comes first, but their tone in voice suggests their desire for competition.
Other staff members that are formally introduced are Taaj Manzoor, Precious Little, Ian Foot, and Scott and Jackie Trent.
Taaj acts as a wannabe gangster that tries to use his “ghetto slang and attitudes” to pick up women and show the viewers how cool he appears on camera. When we first meet Taaj, he refers to the elderly women in the back of the rover his “bitches” and tries to pick up a female worker with his rover, mimicking a man trying to conduct business with a prostitute.
Precious is the manager of the airport’s coffee kiosk. She is a lazy worker. She tries to find issues that will prevent her from doing her job so she can go home early. One clear indication of her laziness is seen when the show first introduces her. She says that she “ran out of coffee because no one gave her the stuff to make it.” Precious is also a devout Christian who sings and hums gospel whenever things go her way.
Ian Foot is the Chief Immigration Officer of the airport. During the shoot, Ian states how people claim that he is biased and stereotypes everybody. In this episode, he accuses a man of using a faulty passport, claiming that he is not the 12-year girl in the photo. It is clearly obvious, yet he still conducts a full investigation. At the end, he told the man to update his passport and that he was allowed in the country.
Scott and Jackie Trent are one of the first husband-and-wife copilots that allow their problems to interfere with their job. We first see them holding hands acting lovey-dovey, but they are talking about how Scott cheated on Jackie and their fluctuation of trust with each other. Whenever he leaves her sight, Jackie assumes that Scott is off to have relations with other women, mainly stewardesses.
You can watch the pilot here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkv5fr_come-fly-with-me-season-1-episode-1_fun.
AMERICA’S POSSIBLE OPINION OF THE PROGRAM
Here, I took my opinions and biases and put them to the side. I am going to analyze the show here as if I am a concerned American citizen who warns the American public about potential mixed messages and discrepancies that they may come across when watching Come Fly With Me.
There is only one concern that some Americans may have with this program: the use of black face. The characters of Moses Beacon and Precious Little, both dark skinned, are played by white men. No problems are visibly seen with Moses; however, they portray Precious comparable to a southern African-American in the United States. Some might not care for this, while others might find it harsh and discriminatory.
MY OPINION
Personally, I find Come Fly With Me to be quite hilarious. The format of the program reminds me of The Office and Modern Family, where a camera crew follows the lives of people at work and home. The characters, all played by both Walliams and Lucas, all bring a special uniqueness to the show that gives it the ambiance of being at an airport and dealing with airline personnel, except one that is not properly managed. Their dialect is easy to comprehend, making it more enjoyable. I have nothing negative to say. Nothing should be changed. I recommend this show to everyone.
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