SUMMER HEIGHTS HIGH = AMAZING 
HBO has done the smartest thing this past week. No, they didn't decide to bring back The Wire or The Sopranos or Six Feet Under. You're a heartless bastard for just thinking it. Instead, they decided to pick up the rights to broadcast the Austrailian import Summer Heights High for the summer. You've likely not heard of the show yet, but it's impossible to believe that after the word-of-mouth success of Flight of the Conchords that this too will go unheard of. The reason? The incomperable Chris Lilley.
Who? I know, I said the same thing. The guy has a few shows on his resume, none of which have any profile in America, but We Can Be Heroes is certainly something I'm all over now. This one got some heavy press for being totally politically incorrect. I've had this show for a while now, but the HBO news finally prompted me to breeze through all four hours of it. This guy is the perfect Aussie blend of Sasha Baron Cohen and Ricky Gervais by way of Christopher Guest. Impossible, I know, but unbelieveably true. How has he not made the crossover to America yet? He can sing, he can dance, he's good looking, and he's fucking hilarious. This show's a mockumentary style piece taking place over a semester of an Austrailian high school with Lilley playing three very distiguished and different roles: a way-over-age, troublesome student in 8th grade named Jonah, a bitchy it-girl named Ja'mie, and a flamboyant high school drama teacher who calls himself Mr. G (very reminicent of Cookie St. Clair). He and director Stuart McDonald hit all of the mockumentary themes and timing perfectly without feeling tired or stale. Lilley imbue the characters with a grounded sense of reality throughout the series, and turn the cartoonish origins into real creations of chaaracter, and they take on a greater form. This is why Lilley is incredible. It's not just funny in a nerve hitting fashion, it's working as a social commentary and a satire as well. It becomes rather serious and emotional at times, and it's really hard to believe if it's supposed to be amusing or not. I sincerely love the idea of crossing the line between humor and emotion, two things that shouldn't be blended at all for fear that one reaction either way will be too strong. This reminds me all the more of the first time I saw The Office. These characters are all deplorable in their own way, hilariously racist or bigoted, and all three are certainly egocentric. The show's very mean spirited, and I really love that sorta "wrong" humor. There are frequent references to mentally handicapped kids that are quite uncomfortable to begin with. Remember how Ricky Gervais made you curl into a fetal position on The Office? Extras to some extent, too? Same thing here. Painful comedy. Even better? Continuing the foreign idea of conquering shows in one 6-10 episode series is simply wonderful. Eight episodes, and they're done. I don't know if I'd want to see these guys again for another season, so instead it makes a huge mark and gets out quick. Brilliant.
Check out a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH5nN9IFGDM
This starts airing in June on Friday nights. If you're impatient, or don't have HBO, I'm sure you can track it down in the meantime. It's an absolute new favorite of mine, and it's bound to be one of yours.
-M
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-M