“Garth Marenghi’s ‘Darkplace.'”
This series – which originally aired on the BBC in 2004 – made its U.S. television debut last night on the Sci-Fi Channel, and I think I laughed harder at the premiere episode than I’ve laughed at any TV show since “Arrested Development” went off the air.
A description will never do it justice, but the best summary I can offer is that Garth Marenghi is a famous horror writer – think Dean Koontz – who, in the ’80s, created a drama called “Darkplace,” about a British hospital that just so happens to have a hellmouth within its walls. Margheni not only wrote and directed the show, he also starred in it, but the series supposedly suffered so many problems that, by the time it was cancelled, “it had already claimed six lives, caused three nervous breakdowns, and been subject to at least one visitation.” Now, however, in the midst of television’s creative drought, it’s finally being allowed to be shown again…and it’s interspersed with interviews with the former stars.
Oh, I should probably also add that Garth Marenghi is fictional, the show never existed, and it’s all a big put-on…or did you not figure that out from the above photo?
I can only imagine the Brits think it’s about ten times funnier than I do, since it’s parodying the low-budget, poorly-acted sci-fi / supernatural dramas that were all over their airwaves in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
If you go here, you can see the first episode. (It’s split into halves, but both parts are available to view.) Trust me, you’ll want to. I’m sure not everyone will think it’s funny, but, personally, I nearly pissed myself laughing.
