While there are some things people will never say or do, there's nothing they'll never think. Welcome to the private world of Jeremy and Mark -- two very ordinary weirdoes. Wannabe pop star Jeremy (Robert Webb) is a lazy man with big ideas, mostly about himself. His old friend and roommate is the astonishingly tragic Mark (David Mitchell), an obsessive loser with a no-pain, no-gain view of the world. In an inventive twist, Jeremy and Mark's inner thoughts can be heard - whether they be dark, stupid, or embarrassingly over-blown. Or sometimes all three...

CRITIQUE

To put it simply, I had a sort of blast watching Peep Show. I didn’t read anything about it – I thought it was a show where two hosts prank people, but it turns out I was completely wrong – and so I went in completely blind. Watching Mark and Jeremy interact in petty discussions and ramble on about this and that, as well as trying to get ahead with the ladies, is quite entertaining. The show is not consistently funny as there are some quiet moments, but I was smiling most of the time and had several very big laughs, mostly directed at Mark’s ineptitude. The stories for the six episodes in this first season are entertaining to watch and the show’s concept works quite well as all sorts of absurd thinking goes on in the heads of Mark and Jeremy. Robert Webb and David Mitchell are fun to watch and do a darn fine job acting like dorks. Also, likeable and important to the show are love interests Elizabeth Marmur playing Toni, the guys’ divorced neighbor, and Olivia Coleman playing Sophie, Mark’s co-worker and object of flirtation.

My favorite episode has to be the third one in which Mark and Jeremy go to a party and later smoke pot with two women in the bathroom of the Lazerbowl bowling alley, which leads to some interesting conversations and lucky situations (mostly for Jeremy). The fourth episode sets up a funny but also somewhat embarrassing scenario involving Mark making friends with charismatic Alan, a business partner. Also worth noting is the fifth episode in which the guys overcome their mutual dejection (Mark gets passed over promotion at work while Jeremy is fired from his new job at a music studio) through a combination of phone stalking and pepper spray. And the sixth episode prompts Mark and Jeremy to turn the terminal illness and subsequent death of Jeremy’s uncle Ray into a vehicle of romantic conquest. In the end, Peep Show offers an interesting concept and runs with it quite well, making for an entertaining comedy series.

THE VIDEO

BBC presents Peep Show in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. Decent video presentation. The quality varies sometimes, but nothing that distracts. Optional English subtitles are available for the deaf and hearing impaired.

THE AUDIO

BBC presents Peep Show in English Stereo. The audio sounds fine, but there isn’t much to speak of. Dialogue is presented clearly most of the time, a few times the speakers lack some power. Not a big distraction, however, just turn up the volume on your TV a little bit.

THE EXTRAS

First up is audio commentary on the first and last episode by the show’s creators/writers and the two actors. The audio for the two tracks is too low which kind of sucks, and overall there is not a great deal to be gleaned from the comments. A few interesting tidbits pop up here and there.

Also available are six specially filmed scenes featuring Mark and Jeremy (they each get 3 scenes). Mark’s scenes are fine, while Jeremy’s are quite hilarious especially the last one.

Mark’s Extras include Mark’s C.V. (3:26), Scorpion Patrol Part 1 (3:59), and Scorpion Patrol Part 2 (4:06).

Jeremy’s Extras include Jeremy’s Audition Tape (3:18) for Big Brother, Last Will & Testament (2:50), and "Outrageous" AKA Celsius 488 1/3 (2:27) which is his music video to his dreadful yet funny song featuring characters dressed in political masks (Bush, Blair, bin Laden) doing some inappropriate things (or “outrageous” things as is the case) to and with each other - that’s all I’ll say.

FINAL THOUGHT

Peep Show is funny stuff, and while perhaps not as creative and original as BBC’s other comedy show Little Britain, it’s still a good program featuring six funny half-hour shows. I’m recommending this DVD to fans of comedy.