There aren’t many positive things to be said for our favorite series going on their annual summer hiatus, but, occasionally, the networks manage to surprise us with a summer replacement that’s A) not yet another reality show, and B) actually worth watching. “Creature Comforts” – airing at 8:00 PM tonight – definitely succeeds on the first front, and as to the second…well, it’s the kind of show that’ll probably wear out its welcome before the half-hour mark, but it’s still clever enough that you can count on various segments from the series becoming instant and longtime YouTube favorites. (In fact, you may have already seen the original short that inspired the original British series, which in turn inspired this American adaptation.)
The premise of “Creature Comforts” is that the creators have gone through and done interviews with ordinary people, recorded their responses, and then had the fine folks at Aardman Animations (“Wallace & Gromit,” “Flushed Away”) set the people’s voices to animated animals. You get the idea almost immediately, as the opening segment has two dogs sniffing the butt of another, offering comments that were obviously made during a wine tasting. (“It smells…pretty ripe. I’m getting medium to dark notes.”) The humor is relatively dry for the most part, but, then, some of the comedy comes not from the lines but, rather, from the facial reactions of the other animals in the scene; for instance, one lion is answering the question, “Have you ever killed a man,” and the other lion’s eyes are darting back and forth, as if to say, “Shit, man, he’s gonna give us up!”
Your mileage on the show will undoubtedly vary. It has its highs and lows, and once you’ve gotten the idea, either you’re either going to be in for the long haul, or you’ll shrug, say, “Heh, that’s a funny idea,” and keep on flipping. I’m fearing it’s going to be the latter, unfortunately, but given the fanbase for Aardman’s other works, the up side is that, even if it should only last for a few episodes, “Creature Comforts: The Complete Series” will almost certainly be released to DVD.
