Nathan Barley is the first television show I've watched entirely on youtube. Just goes to show how many gems the BBC is keeping for themselves, while throwing us Americans their scraps of Cash in the Attic and What Not to Wear.
The premise did not initially fill me with curiosity: british comedy skewers hipsters, but when I heard that comedic idol Chris Morris had a hand in it, my interest was piqued. Turns out the witty, spiteful laughs are squarely focused on an obnoxious web star/ party promoter and (yuck) a British Vice Magazine, which is a-okay with me.
Always an equal opportunity sharp tongued attacker, Morris aims his brutal sarcasm not only at the “idiots” of the new subculture, but pretty much anyone and everyone in the camera's sights: documentary film makers, anti-hipster journalists, recovering drug addicts… everyone.
That being said, it is also one of those distinctly British comedies, where it's not so much about jokes and one-liners, but a gradual understanding of these people, their faults and feelings; we begin to care for them as much as we wince at their lives (see David Brent). You're left laughing but with a pit in your stomach of mild depression. Can be seen on youtube.
But what do you think?