A day at uni. A day at work. I finished reading 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I really enjoyed it. I think I should read it again, but maybe not straight away. I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to. Perhaps I should aim to read a book per week. For now though, some more Comedy Influences.

Graham Linehan
I'm a huge fan of his writing and there's just so much of it. Recently there has been 'The IT Crowd' and 'Black Books' but then there are all of his collaborations with Chris Morris, very edgy stuff. I really liked that first season of 'Big Train' but then you could really notice the difference when he stopped writing for it in season two. 'The Fast Show' is something I've been meaning to see more of as well. Most of all though, I love 'Father Ted'. I can remember watching it when I was in primary school I think, it was on late at night on TV. In particular, I remember they always showed the Christmas episode every Christmas, appropriately enough. The show was just a wonderful take on the sitcom genre, with such an original concept and brilliant characters. It really stands up to repeated viewings today and is one of my favourite shows ever.

Chris Lilley
I reckon 'We Can Be Heroes' and 'Summer Heights High' are easily two of the best Australian comedy series of all time. Chris Lilley's characters are spot on, brilliantly written and acted. They're just observational gems. I think the great thing about Lilley's comedy is that there is always an underlying truth to it, he takes recognisable Australian characters and finds the inherent humour in them. These shows don't rely on catchphrases for the sake of catchphrases either, such as in a show like 'Little Britain'. Instead, if a character such as Jonah happens to have a catchphrase it is because it is integral to the way they speak, in fact, it is integral to their character as a whole.

The Office (US)
I'll preface this one by saying that the original British 'The Office' is a favourite of mine but currently I am really into the US version. Initially I wasn't a fan of the 'The Office' (US), mainly because the first season borrows heavily from the British one and it feels like a pretty pale imitation in comparison. However, as each season goes on, the series really finds it's feet and becomes a totally separate entity. That's a great achievement, to start off with a hugely successful model and then to diverge from it so significantly that something totally new and different is created. The cast is brilliant and the characters and stories have really developed around the talents of the cast members. It's a show that consistently makes me laugh, it's smartly written and you actually feel quite connected to the characters.

That's it for now.