“Creature Comforts” (Series Premiere)
We’re dogs, but we talk like people… REAL people
I’ve been getting e-mails about this show from CBS for what seems like months. It wasn’t until a week or so ago that I actually took the time to figure out what exactly they were going to be putting on the air.
The show, in short, is a british import, animated by the great Aardman studio (responsible for “Wallace and Grommit,” “Chicken Run,” et al) and is nothing more than interviews with actual Americans covering a wide variety of topics and then animated with animals that have big googly eyes, lips and teeth. More after the break…
The minute the episode starts you instantly “get it.” The opening scene from last night featured three dogs, two of them smelling the ass of the third. The audio came from a couple of wine conesures as they discuss the intricate smell of a particular varietal. It’s kind of obvious, but the humor comes more from the very straightforward audio track than the visual.
The brilliance of Creature Comforts is in the fact that you can get a more realistic response from an interviewee if a camera isn’t present. For their purposes, all they need is the audio. Audio is less intrusive than video and because of that people will say things they might not have otherwise said to a complete stranger. Ultimately Creature Comforts is an expertly crafter radio documentary on Americana.
This isn’t to say it isn’t fun to look at. Aardman is as good as Pixar at giving life to those things that probably shouldn’t be quite so living… I think it’s the googly eyes and teeth.
Most striking about the show was that it made absolutely no sense being shown on broadcast television. It was almost too straightforward. There was no fancy theme song. No crazy bumpers. It just was. I felt like it should have been on HBO.
I have no idea if this show will find an audience but I hope it sticks around. It’s a positive presence in a mostly bleak American broadcast television landscape.
I will say the program is best in eight minute chunks (which is exactly how its presented), though having three of those chunks grouped together into a single episode might be a bit much. In a way, its a shame we don’t live in a world where something like this could bookend other series.
