Tonight, I want to share one of my favourite comedy shows The Inbetweeners with you. Well, when I say ‘share’ I mean discuss the hilarity of it – as I am sure you will have already heard of it. If you are American then you now have your own versions. Ordinarily, I would say you are lucky but unfortunately for you it is shite (sorry I don’t usually swear but I thought it would be in keeping with the tone of this show – plus the US one really is shite! No other word will do!) So you Yanks, get U Tubing the UK versions – the original and the best!
The Inbetweeners is beyond funny in my eyes. It is crude yes and bursting upon disgusting at times (like when Neil punches the fish? Or Jay talks about ‘clunge’ as if the search for it – and the women attached – is a daily occurrence like eating your breakfast!) The reason I find it so funny is because it reminds me of my boyfriend and his mates when we were at sixth form. Every time I watch an episode it is like I am reliving those days. Not just because of the lads – but two of my friends had Fiat Cinquecentos! Haha.
The two years at sixth form when I did my A levels were the best of my life. I mean University was great but sixth form slightly tops it. I met my boyfriend and lots of friends – who so far have become friends for life (or definitely life into my twenties!) Compared to Uni, I didn’t have to ‘survive’ on my own yet so I had the ‘college’ life without the added responsibilities. And boy did we have a laugh! The lads did some stupid things just like the lads on the show. One of my favourite ones was where some of them wrote a letter to one of the lad’s home claiming to be off the Head about him masturbating at school. They used proper school headed paper and everything! Very funny.
So yes, every time I watch, it takes me down memory lane and I can’t help but chuckle away to the ‘laddish’ moments and the the pickle they always find themselves in. I mean, how could so many things go wrong for four teenage boys? A day of ‘grown up’ drinking whilst they bunk of school turns into a disaster of projectile vomiting onto a six-year-old (Simon) and Will calling Neil’s Dad a bumder! Haha. And a trip to Thorpe Park ends up with a car missing a door, a half-naked Neil and Will insulting Down Syndrome boys. Nice one again guys. Not to mention a night clubbing in London to impress some girls results in Will being told he speaks like he is in a ‘black and white film’, Simon wearing pissed on trainers (previously owned by a tramp) and Neil ending up with a cut on his penis after weeing in a drink’s can. And not forgetting the caravan club episode where Jay promises the lads lots of ‘clunge’, but really gives them his foul-mouthed and rear ended father….. with Neil dancing like a piece of elastic and pulling a goth and Simon getting it on with a thirteen year old. You couldn’t make this stuff up could ya? Well the writers kinds of did but you know…….. I realise how wrong this all sounds when it is written down and I am sure, if you have never seen it, you are now thinking ‘What the hell?!’ But on the screen it works. It just does. It is side splittingly funny. And no. The boys at sixth form weren’t as bad as that 😉
Let’s think about the four lads:
Will
My favourite is Will. Aptly named, as he ‘will’ have a go and get there in the end – even if he makes, continuous mistakes on the way! He is, of course the geeky one – which is probably why I can relate to him! 😉 I love the first episode where he is starting a new comprehensive school (after being at an all boys’ school) He has a briefcase and then to add to his ridiculous appearance, he is given a badge declaring ‘I am new – stop and say hello!’ His parents have recently split up, hence the new school. He has no friends. Yet, he is constantly optimistic and has an answer (often under his breath) to each insult that flies his way. People don’t stop and say ‘hello’ but shout ‘brief case wanker!’, ‘posh git’ or any other weird and abusive things at him. He strides along saying ‘oh that’s a new one!’ or ‘thanks very much’ and stays in his own little bubble. The other lads don’t want a geek as a friend…. but he is like a bad smell that won’t go away. They eventually learn to love his briefcase, the fact that he gets caught having a poo in school (and in an exam: ‘Phil, Phil, I thought it was a fart! I thought it was safe!’) and the fact that he is 17 but wants a dinner party!
We all need a Will in our lives and he would be the one I would choose as a boyfriend – now that I have matured a little! Back then, I probably would have chosen Simon 😉 But Will’s sense of humour (often aimed at one of the others – especially Neil – or his Dad!) and his absolute refusal to keep within social norms make him hilarious to watch. He is who he is, he makes no apologies for this and he has a very thick skin – apart from when his first heart-break occurs 😉 And he has his first drug experience 😉 ‘I really want my Mummy. I think I might be dead!’ Bit of a drama queen at times then……
Simon
Simon is probably the one, like I said, I would have fancied at school. He is that stereotypical boy next door. He has the cute hair – which is fondly referred to as the ‘Statue of Liberty’ by Jay 😉 He has that baby face going on. He seems to be ‘nice and normal’. What makes me laugh with Simon is how absolutely unreasonable he is with his family. He screams at his Mum for commenting on his hair gel: ‘Why do you always do this?!’ and continually tells his younger brother to ‘F*ck off’. Even a mention of his Mum and he says ‘stupid bitch!’ And when his parents may be splitting up, his first thought is to ask for a new car off his Dad (because he was so ungrateful for the yellow Fiat he got when he passed his test.) Not such a nice boy then.
Surprisingly, Simon seems to have the most luck from girls. Carly turns hot and cold like a tap, yet he follows her constantly – as obvious as his bright yellow car! It works for a brief period, though and he gets his wish. He manages to get a few girls interested like Lauren on the field trip – but getting naked on the boat after falling in doesn’t help matters. The sock on his penis helps even less. He also gets a girlfriend ‘Tara’, but after getting naked and his penis failing to work for him, she loses interest too. So, things tend to go wrong for Simon, funnily enough, when he gets naked! And let’s face it, he is a bit of a sap isn’t he? 😉 But I like how he accepts Will into the group – whilst still remaining good friends with the polar opposite Jay – a friend to all is Simon. Just don’t let him near your little brother 😉
Neil
Neil is the character we laugh at 80% of the time and laugh with the other 20%. But it could be 40% as Neil would have no idea that percentages need to add up to a hundred. Like he doesn’t know where Swansea is. Like his idea of intelligent dinner party conversation is to ask ‘how many Lego pieces you put up your bum.’ Like how he accepts an invitation to a field trip for Geography and Sociology (subjects that he doesn’t do) in order to help out an acclaimed paedophile teacher 😉 I do wonder to be honest how Neil got through school education in the first place, let alone get into sixth form! He says things like wanting to ‘drive a plane’ or when asked what he wants from the newspaper experience he says he won’t ‘nick anything!’. When asked for petrol money, he says, ‘what for?’ Er petrol Neil. He gives the other three brilliant opportunities to ‘take the piss,’ which from my own experience is half of what sixth form is about 😉
I love how in the film Neil ends up with the female version of himself. Perfect ending for the dopey simpleton. And remember, they both have ‘effics.’ (aka ethics) 😉
form 😉
Jay
Jay provides us with many of the catch phrases from the series. You know, the ones that make the T-shirts and people can say or shout and everyone will know where it came from and instantly fall about laughing. I must admit, I bought my boyfriend a ‘Friend!’ T-shirt (with thumbs up signs). Jay didn’t come up with that one but it was aimed at him because he dared to be friendly to someone outside the foursome. Being insecure and embarrassed as he is (with a Dad like that, we get why!) he doesn’t laugh off the ‘friend’ comments or ignore them. No. He jumps on the ‘friend’s’ car. Until he damages it. As you do….
‘Bus Wankers,’ ‘Minge Mobile,’ and ‘Pussay Patrol’ are classic Jay quotes. He makes the others laugh with his pure filthy mind and gross insults. He also keeps them entertained with his exaggerations and, quite clearly, blatant lies. He has tried out for a famous football team, had sex with every girl within a ten-mile radius, has a drug dealer, who is ‘away’ when they want to use him. He goes clubbing ‘all the time.’ Has mates in the upper six who no one has heard of. He learned to drive when he was ten. Drinks all the time, yet can’t get served. And the list of bullshit goes on…….. Providing us with many funny moments – especially when the others always have a come back – as they are clearly on to him 😉
So, if you need cheering up then these are your lads. If you don’t find their disgusting anecdotes amusing, or their guaranteed calamities hilarious or just their faces really funny – then you can always relish in the fact that your life cannot be any worse than theirs 😉 On the bright side for them…. after sixth form things do get better – or at least they did for me and those I went to sixth form with 🙂
Anyone think there should be another movie? Maybe of them coming back after their first year at Uni? Again another ‘inbetween’ stage of life and again one that, with these guys, would be excellent viewing, I reckon!
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Samantha Holmes' Writing 