The latest spin on the TV prank show takes its cue from TV itself, which is long overdue a bit of a decent satirical kicking. Glitchy features a team of comedians pretending to be fronting genuine programmes which unsuspecting members of the public have chosen to appear in.
Actually satirical kicking is a bit strong. What Glitchy does is more like satirical tickling. A talented cast fronted by Ryan Sampson from Plebs and including Ellie White, Gaby Best and Colin Hoult put ordinary people in situations which range from the mildly embarrassing to the downright confusing.
The best of the sketches is the running gag for the fictional Ronseal-titled Are You Good Enough To Date My Daughter? in which Sampson plays a flirtatious oligarch’s wife auditioning TOWIE-type men. As the candidates are whittled down their tests become increasingly extreme, with suitably comic consequences.
Elsewhere property programmes, shopping channels and street magic are among the obvious but deserving targets. Ellie White is very good as a QVC-type presenter putting an unwitting newbie through her paces. It’s a benign kind of stitch-up though - she never leaves her ‘victim’ totally in the lurch.
The most well-executed send-up is Sampson’s street illusionist Mezmo, who actually turns out to be more of a street thief. You know that thing where magicians take your money then return it? Mezmo only does the first half of the trick.
After the likes of Off Their Rockers and Impractical Jokers Glitchy feels like just another fun twist on a well-trodden genre. It is not daring like Ali G or Balls of Steel or subversive like The Revolution Will Be Televised. It is not going to win any awards for originality, it just takes formats that we know backwards and flips them onto one side rather than on their head.
I guess what it does do well is slightly mock people who, in most cases, want to be on television. I suspect a lot of people rumbled them and didn't make the edit. One thing is certain, if I’m ever approached by a TV street magician like Mezmo I’m going to do the fastest disappearing trick you’ll ever see.
Glitchy, Tuesdays from Oct 6, ITV2, 10pm,
