Threesome (TV series)

Threesome (stylised as threesome) is a British television sitcom written by Tom MacRae and starring Blake Harrison, Marc Wootton and Jonathan Bailey (actor).[1] The series is focused around three friends—Bernard (Harrison), Mitch (Wootton) and Richie(Bailey)—who return home from a night out celebrating Bernard’s birthday and end up having a threesome, which results in Sam Richie’s Girlfriend (Laura Aikman) Instead of getting an abortion, the three friends decide to raise the baby as a trio.[2] The series began airing on 17 October 2011 on Comedy Central and Comedy Central HD. It is the first original scripted comedy commissioned by Comedy Central and is produced by Big Talk Productions.

Threesome
GenreComedy
Created byDan Zeff
Written byDan Zeff
Tom Edge
Directed byIan Fitzgibbon
StarringJonathan Bailey
Blake Harrison
Marc Wooton
Opening theme1234 Feist
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series2
No. of episodes14 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)Kenton Allen
Simon Curtis
Producer(s)John Rushton
Luke Alkin
Sam Ward
Editor(s)Paul Machliss
Running time25 minutes approx
Production company(s)Fudge Park Productions
DistributorBBC Worldwide
Release
Original networkComedy Central
Picture formatHDTV 1080i
Original release17 October 2011 (2011-10-17) –
12 November 2012 (2012-11-12)
External links
Website

In February 2012, it was confirmed that Comedy Central had renewed the show for a second series.[3] Although this included the possibility of a 22-episode third series,[4] this did not happen.[5]

Premise

Threesome is a sitcom about three inseparable friends on the verge of turning 30. Alice (Amy Huberman) lives with her boyfriend Mitch (Stephen Wight) and their gay best friend Richie (Emun Elliott). Together they form three points of an unlikely triangle, living, laughing and larging it together. After a big birthday party for Alice, they end up having an unplanned threesome during which Alice becomes pregnant. After discovering that he is infertile, Mitch tells Richie that he is the baby's biological father. They then decide to ditch the party lifestyle, have the baby, and raise it together as a threesome.

Characters and cast

Main characters
  • Alice Heston (Amy Huberman) is the female lead. Alice's long-term friendship with Richie leads to her relationship with boyfriend Mitch.[6]
  • Mitch Ennis (Stephen Wight) meets Richie at his brother's funeral, and the two become friends. A blind date leads to Mitch and Alice dating.[6]
  • Richie Valentine (Emun Elliott): Best friends with Alice (since university) and Mitch, but unable to commit despite an active love life.[6]
  • Lily Owen Valentine-Ennis: is the trio's baby whom Alice gives birth to in the last episode of the first series. She is to be one of the main cast in the second series. Her characteristics are currently unknown.[7]

Supporting roles
  • Lorraine Heston (Pauline McLynn): a self-created glamour-puss and a bit of a nightmare control freak. She loves her daughter Alice dearly, but that love more often than not expresses itself as a domineering cattiness. Lorraine is all about the tan and the chatter and loves a good party, but behind the champagne bubbles the claws are out. Lorraine is wealthy and lives in Tenerife most of the year, where she flirts with boys, tolerates Alice’s father Malcolm, and drinks way, way too much.
  • Sue Ennis (Paddy Navin): a woman who couldn’t be more like her son Mitch, or any closer to him; two peas in a pod who still love each other's company. Sue is down to earth, unpretentious and incredibly caring – as well as charmingly sentimental and a bit of a motor-mouth. Of all the mums, she’s the least demanding, and will probably end up being far and away the best babysitter.
  • Jenny Rouse (Joanna Roth): Richie’s mum couldn’t be less like Sue to look at. Jenny models herself on Anna Wintour; immaculate fashions and flawless styling, and is a design icon in her own right. Well spoken and perfectly poised, Jenny is every inch a lady – but she’s not above chatting up boys on Richie’s behalf. Jenny is desperate for Richie to find someone special and give her a gorgeous son-in-law to coo over.
  • Dave (Adam Garcia): Richie's boyfriend.

Episodes
Main article: List of Threesome episodes

Reception

The series has received a mostly positive critical reaction. Actor Russell Tovey praised the series. Catriona Wightman, writing for Digital Spy, also praised the series, coming to the conclusion that "it's really rather good indeed."[8] The British Comedy Guide said "after the double-bill opener, Threesome has made a fantastic start. The potentially quite unlikeable situation and characters have proved to be anything but, and some great set-piece lines and scenes really made us laugh out loud. We found it thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, and can't wait for the rest of the series."[9] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Catherine Gee said "Threesome throws up some funny moments and there's plenty of good chemistry between its stars."[8] In a slightly more negative-mixed-positive review, Lucy Mangan, writing for The Guardian, said "the jokes are weak but when it's not trying to be funny, Threesome is very funny."[8] Writing a negative review, again for The Guardian, Martin Skegg said "presumably it's meant to be funny, but you'll be searching high and low for the jokes."[8] David Crawford writing for the RadioTimes gave a highly positive review, saying "starting from a preposterous premise, this rambunctious comedy manages to get hearty, and frequently filthy, laughs from its unlikely situation. The humour is suitably broad for the subject matter, but there are neat gags, and wonderful physical comedy."[8] Liam Murphy, writing for On the Box, gave a mixed review, saying "this is a sitcom with potential and as long as it avoids the trappings of most comedy pregnancies (see season 8 of Friends) then I might just watch the rest of the series!"[8]

In January 2013, the British Comedy Guide gave the show the Comedy.co.uk Editors' Award saying: "We congratulate production company Big Talk and Comedy Central for giving this unique series the chance to grow. It seems to have boosted the channel's confidence in ordering more original comedy".[10][11]

DVD and Blu-ray release

On 17 October 2011, BBC Worldwide, released the series to download on the iTunes Store. Then as of 12 November 2012, series 1 became available to purchase on DVD-Video through 2 Entertain.

On 1 October 2012, series 2 became available to download through iTunes. A release date of series 2 on DVD has yet to be confirmed by 2 Entertain.

References
  1. "No Eye Contact, No Cock Touching | Threesome | Threesome | Episode 1 from Threesome - Series 1 | Video | Comedy Central UK and Ireland". Comedycentral.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  2. "Threesome / Big Talk Productions". Bigtalkproductions.com. 22 February 1999. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  3. "Threesome Series 2 confirmed! | News | Comedy Central UK and Ireland". Comedycentral.co.uk. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  4. "Comedy Central pushing further original UK projects - News - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  5. "No more Threesome for Amy Huberman as show scrapped". Independent.ie. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  6. "Threesome Series 2 - Cast". Comedy Central. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  7. "Comedy Central orders Threesome Series 2 - News - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  8. "Threesome - Reviews and Press Articles - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  9. "Threesome - Comedy Central Sitcom - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  10. Brown, Aaron (23 January 2013). "Miranda picks up top Comedy.co.uk Awards titles". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  11. Boosey, Mark (21 January 2013). "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2012". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
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