The Old Guys is a quirky, intimate show that I've quickly come to love. The core cast works wonderfully together, though I have special affection for Katherine Parkinson (who doesn't?) as an insecure daughter and Roger Lloyd-Pack as her self-obsessed father who still seems astonished that he's a day over 50. The comedy is definitely not cutting edge, but the situations are fun and the cast adds spark and unexpected delivery to ordinary lines such as Parkinson's admiration of her boss, "I'd love to be able talk to her about some of my ideas. I've got a hell of a lot of ideas. Over fifteen!" And every now and then there are pure moments of the sublime, such as Roger Lloyd-Pack's improvising on Auden's "Funeral Blues" with "Stop all the clocks...completely. No exceptions...And turn off the phone. Or put it on vibrate...Shut those bloody dogs up!"
I think the show was cancelled after only 12 episodes, which somehow equates to two seasons in UK time. Wikipedia suggests there may be a third season coming in 2011 or 2012, but I've haven't seen anything to corroborate this. I'd be thrilled if it was true.
Now as for the show's theme song, to my ear it must surely go down as one of the worst in TV history (no offense to Ivor Cutler). I get the song's irony, but it just doesn't work as a TV theme and it makes the show seem slighter than it is. If they do bring the show back, I hope it is with something different or even with no theme at all.
