"The Catherine Tate show" is your typical sketch comedy show ala "Saturday Night Live," "Kids In the Hall," and "Mad TV." In the show, Tate takes on the persona of over fifteen characters in brief comedic shorts over the course of 6 episodes. Some sketches are genuinely funny such as the bratty teenage Lauren who always has to have the last word and the bored office woman who annoys her co-worker with questions. As with most sketch comedy shows, there are a few stinkers as well. The 30 year old plus majorette named Bunty and the Irish nurse Bernie sketches both fall flat and don't even provide a chuckle.

Another problem with Tate's show is the sketches tend to get old. There's no denying Tate's talent as a performer and a comedian, but she often repeats the same one joke characters several times each episode. I understand Tate is already doing multiple characters, but the show needs more of a variety of characters. You can't have popular reoccurring characters every episode because you will wear out the character. The last thing you want to do is bore your audience. The show needs to be spiced up.

The DVD

Video:
The video quality leaves something to be desired. The picture is often grainy and lines through the picture were noticeable during darker scenes.

Sound: A solid Dolby Digital track all around. This isn't the type of show that you would display your sound system with, but it works for the type of program.

Extras: Nada.

Final Thoughts:
While a bit repetitive, "The Catherine Tate Show" is amusing nonetheless. Fans of British comedy should definitely give it a rent. To be honest though, I am more looking forward to her stint on series four of "Doctor Who" in 2008. It will be interesting to see what she will bring to the table and if she can branch out of sketch comedy.

Film and television enthusiast Nick Lyons recently had his first book published titled "Attack of the Sci-Fi Trivia." It is available on Amazon.com.