Why you're going to love Him & Her...
You wait ages for a new comedy and then two come along at once. Hot on the heels of The King is Dead is another new show which I think you're going to love. Him & Her is an excellent sitcom featuring a young unemployed couple, Steve and Becky, played by Russell Tovey (George in Being Human) and newcomer Sarah Solemani. They spend their days happily lazing around their flat; hanging out, watching daytime TV, having sex, bickering and farting.
Have a look at this video diary that the cast and crew made on the first day of filming and you'll get the idea....
When I went to meet Russell and Sarah, I was intrigued to see whether the actors would be as open about their lives and bodily functions as their characters...
Becky and Steve spend the series trying to do as little as possible other than spending time together. What is it that they love so much about each other?
Russell: I think they're strangely aspirational in the fact that they do nothing but they're just kind of cool and so completely normal. They're just like the average couple and there's nothing starry about them, nothing special, but they're in love with each other and it's their love story.
Sarah: There's a level of contentment that they have which you don't really see in a lot of portrayals of young people. They're not searching for something or ambitious or frustrated. Their space is quite special to them.
Russell: They're completely happy, they've just found each other, everything is paid for and they're just enjoying themselves. There's no rush to get a life because, to them, this is like the best life ever.
What do you think people are going to love most about the show?
Russell: They're just going to fall in love with the characters. It's such a character driven show. The script is amazing but it's just about the simpleness of this group of friends and you just hope that people are going to connect with them. It's also a 'grower' show; the more you watch the episodes, the more you understand each of the characters. So when Laura (Becky's sister) turns up there might be an inner cheer and when Dan (their neighbour) turns up. I think people are going to have their own favourites who they look forward to.
Sarah: And I think the skill of Stefan Golaszewski, the writer, is that actually in each episode there is a plot, a little story. It's not a big story but it's a big story for the characters. And each episode is a well-contained story, almost like a play, in that it never leaves the space of the flat and it's in real time. It's refreshing and it's a truthful observation on how young people are behind closed doors.
Russell: I think that so many people will get it on so many levels especially teenage boys who like Men Behaving Badly and farting and crapping. They're going to absolutely love it and they're going to have a massive crush on you Sarah. You're going to feature in their fantasies...ha ha ha...
Sarah: Yes!...ha ha!
It's a brutally honest portrayal of the intimate moments in a relationship. You literally show everything; the mundane chats about sex, farting, weeing with the door open...were you comfortable with that from the beginning or did you ever get embarrassed on set?.
Russell: I think it was probably pretty hard for you Sarah, as a woman, because men do openly fart, burp and talk about crap. It's hilarious amongst your mates if someone lets a stinker off, whereas I don't imagine it is with girls....actually maybe that's a massive sexist statement?
Sarah: I dunno, I mean I do talk about poo and stuff with my friends. I think women are more visceral and they talk about their digestion and periods and they're open about their bodies. So I didn't mind it so much! I mean the space that we filmed in became our dirty, private cesspit and it became our home. If you found it difficult it probably would have been a problem to shoot the whole show.
Russell: Yes you had to commit to it. We did a pilot before so we got used to it in that situation. But the thing with this script is that we'd end up talking absolute filth to each other not realising there were other people in the room, there'd be sound guys with earphones and booms and you'd just ignore them. They would be able to hear every word we were saying - it was absolute filth!
Sarah: Yeah working with that material did affect me. After we filmed the pilot, I was with my friend and her mum who's this professor and I looked out of the window and I was like 'Oh that chimney looks like a big black penis"...ha ha ha....and it did! In the skyline there was a black chimney and it did look like a penis. And the mum went "yeah"... and it was that part of my brain that was so well exercised that I couldn't leave it behind! ha ha!
Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani star in Him & Her which starts at 10.30pm Monday on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Three.
Wait that's not all...Russell and Sarah will be back with part two of this interview here on the blog next week and you can find out why they played a tense quiz about Inspector Morse!
Tell us your thoughts. Add your comment.
Have a look at this video diary that the cast and crew made on the first day of filming and you'll get the idea....
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
When I went to meet Russell and Sarah, I was intrigued to see whether the actors would be as open about their lives and bodily functions as their characters...
Russell: I think they're strangely aspirational in the fact that they do nothing but they're just kind of cool and so completely normal. They're just like the average couple and there's nothing starry about them, nothing special, but they're in love with each other and it's their love story.
Sarah: There's a level of contentment that they have which you don't really see in a lot of portrayals of young people. They're not searching for something or ambitious or frustrated. Their space is quite special to them.
Russell: They're completely happy, they've just found each other, everything is paid for and they're just enjoying themselves. There's no rush to get a life because, to them, this is like the best life ever.
What do you think people are going to love most about the show?
Russell: They're just going to fall in love with the characters. It's such a character driven show. The script is amazing but it's just about the simpleness of this group of friends and you just hope that people are going to connect with them. It's also a 'grower' show; the more you watch the episodes, the more you understand each of the characters. So when Laura (Becky's sister) turns up there might be an inner cheer and when Dan (their neighbour) turns up. I think people are going to have their own favourites who they look forward to.
Sarah: And I think the skill of Stefan Golaszewski, the writer, is that actually in each episode there is a plot, a little story. It's not a big story but it's a big story for the characters. And each episode is a well-contained story, almost like a play, in that it never leaves the space of the flat and it's in real time. It's refreshing and it's a truthful observation on how young people are behind closed doors.
Russell: I think that so many people will get it on so many levels especially teenage boys who like Men Behaving Badly and farting and crapping. They're going to absolutely love it and they're going to have a massive crush on you Sarah. You're going to feature in their fantasies...ha ha ha...
Sarah: Yes!...ha ha!
Russell: I think it was probably pretty hard for you Sarah, as a woman, because men do openly fart, burp and talk about crap. It's hilarious amongst your mates if someone lets a stinker off, whereas I don't imagine it is with girls....actually maybe that's a massive sexist statement?
Sarah: I dunno, I mean I do talk about poo and stuff with my friends. I think women are more visceral and they talk about their digestion and periods and they're open about their bodies. So I didn't mind it so much! I mean the space that we filmed in became our dirty, private cesspit and it became our home. If you found it difficult it probably would have been a problem to shoot the whole show.
Sarah: Yeah working with that material did affect me. After we filmed the pilot, I was with my friend and her mum who's this professor and I looked out of the window and I was like 'Oh that chimney looks like a big black penis"...ha ha ha....and it did! In the skyline there was a black chimney and it did look like a penis. And the mum went "yeah"... and it was that part of my brain that was so well exercised that I couldn't leave it behind! ha ha!
Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani star in Him & Her which starts at 10.30pm Monday on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Three.
Wait that's not all...Russell and Sarah will be back with part two of this interview here on the blog next week and you can find out why they played a tense quiz about Inspector Morse!
- More about Him & Her
- Watch more video diaries filmed on set
- Find out how filming of Being Human series 3 is going
Tell us your thoughts. Add your comment.
Comment number 1.
At 4th Sep 2010, joooos wrote:I can't wait for this!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 6th Sep 2010, Tom In Oz wrote:Hope this get's great viewer reaction. Russell Tovey is MR WONDERFUL! But please Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú take the blocking device off the video samples so they can be viewed around the world. The team over at Being Human took all the blocks off for us poor folks in Australia.
Tom in Oz
c/o Russell Tovey blog
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 6th Sep 2010, Bellhouse Hartwell wrote:Is this a British version of what looks a very similar series currently being broadcast in France?
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 7th Sep 2010, Leftygb wrote:This is without a doubt the WORST programme I have EVERY seen on TV, it is a complete waste of my License Fee and has absolutely NO merit whatsoever, I actually managed to struggle on for 15 minutes from the start before I had to turn off.
Him & Her is the reason that Man invented the Off switch on the TV
If whoever wrote this thinks that I want to watch someone pooing on the toilet and some inane mindless banter performed VERY badly, i would rather have myself strapped into a chair and be forced to watch all series of the Xfactor back to back!
This is NOT a good show.
PLEASE can we not have some decent, funny, amusing even Eccentric comedy but take this OFF!!!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 12th Sep 2010, blurglex wrote:I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one. Well done Beeb. I don't think the previous poster really understood the target audience for Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú3...
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)
Comment number 6.
At 13th Sep 2010, jaine9 wrote:I loved it. I don't know if I'm Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú 3's target audience or not and I really don't care. For some reason it appealed to me and I'm looking forward to the next one. If you don't like it then don't watch it but try and remember that other people have different opinions which are just as valid as yours.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)
Comment number 7.
At 18th Oct 2010, Molly wrote:This looks like "Not going Out" and "Game On" and all the other one room cheap comedies that have gone before - oooh it's rude it's dirty, maybe but it doesn't look funny. It's just a younger version of the Dawn French and Alfred Molina disaster where they have just got in - the first line said by the mum character sums it all up.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)
Comment number 8.
At 17th Nov 2010, jay_jay wrote:are they going to do another season of this
cause a love this
its the best show
its basic in a flat
but its brilliant
season 2 plzzzzz
dont even bring a season 2 out just more episodes haha
Complain about this comment (Comment number 8)