Reality television is always open to satire and there have been many fine examples of the genre getting sent up (The Office and Arrested Development are two shows that come to mind). The BBC recently released two of their reality television satires on DVD — one worth checking out, and one a disappointment.

The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle comes from the mind of the talented Jennifer Saunders, one half of the hilarious Absolutely Fabulous. Saunders plays a talk show host whose show would fit perfectly between airings of Jerry Springer and Ricki Lake. In the first of the three episodes on the DVD, Vivienne is crushed under an overweight crew member when a segment on her show goes wrong. Vivienne experiences an epiphany and decides that she wants to veer into Oprah territory and move away from the kind of trash television she helps perpetuate. Problem is, none of her people, who include her longtime/gay companion, Jared (Conleth Hill) and her drug-addicted producer, Helena (Miranda Richardson), want her to change. They all know her show is a cash cow and don’t see any reason to disrupt the status quo. But Vivienne persists and changes are made.

Saunders is dedicated as the diva Vyle and her supporting cast is top notch (the cast also includes Jason Watkins as Dr. Fowler, a psychologist roped into working on the show). Direction of the show is fine and all technical aspects are held to a high standard. The problem with The Live and Times of Vivienne Vyle is that the writing tries to be biting and dark, but I found the show tedious. (more…)