Fantastic!

Admirable film.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

..and no, I'm not exaggerating. From Chris Morris' self-important tone of voice, to Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge, to illegal backstreet dentists, to Peter O'Hanererhanerohan, to The Bureau.. this show is a non-stop roller-coaster of insane ideas presented as reality, and has to be the best satire of news media ever done (possibly topped by Brass Eye). My favourite has to be Steve Coogan's road safety advert, 'well do I look cool? Do I really look cool? WELL DO I??'It's a combination of performers who subsequently went on to do other brilliant stuff, but all of them combined is quite something.Put simply, if you haven't seen this show, YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS.

Although similar to Brass Eye, the difference with The Day Today was that it wasn't meant to be taken real, rather it was a satire of news shows and, I may say, a rather brilliant satire at that. It is rare (and not something I like) that I disagree with prolific reviewer Theo Robertson but on this title the only thing I agree with was the sentiment that he "don't get it". To me The Day Today (along with Brass Eye) captures Chris Morris at his best and sharpest, with sterling work from satire master Armando Iannucci. Together they have produced an exaggerated news show that has enough in common with reality to be recognisable, is exaggerated enough to be hilarious but yet again doesn't seem a million miles from the truth. The fact that the rolling news coverage is starting to get closer and closer to being just like The Day Today just shows how bang on it was and just how acutely the writers saw the direction that television news coverage was taking.This can be seen most obviously in the things like the silly computer graphics, the simplification of the story, the forced interplay between presenters, pointless contributions from the public, the crazy weather forecasts and the tired clichés of the sports presenter but it is also in pretty much every part of the show. Those expecting consistent belly laughs might be disappointed because, although they are present, the main joy is the consistent invention and the regular hitting of ripe targets. Morris would also make good targets of the media with Brass Eye but he is just as good in other regards here, linking his weird sense of humour with a firm structure (something that was lacking in, say, Jam).The different elements of the show all work together. Coogan's Partridge is so on-target that he struggled to completely get out of the shadow of his character for many years. He does great with the sports clichés and produces some very funny moments. Front is well suited to the material and looks well in the part of serious but "warm at the flick of the switch" like so many female news presenters. Schneider is helped by his funny looks and he produces the goods here as he regularly does. Marber is less memorable but his scenes with Morris are funny.Overall this is a very funny satire on news shows that hit the mark then and, to the shame of news shows, is more on target than ever. Within the show's structure, Morris' sense of humour is controlled and is better for it as the show is both recognisable but yet also exaggerated and hilarious. Easily stands alongside Brass Eye as a fantastic piece of satire.

The day today was recently repeated on the British cable/satellite channel UKG2. I didn't manage to see the programme before, but I am a fan of Chris Morris and had been awaiting this repeat for some time. I thought it was brilliant and I think the BBC should have repeated it, as they were the network that originally screened the show. The absurdity of some of the "reports" was fantastic. The ideas of a soap opera being set in a bureau de change or the war correspondent kicking the door down of a house, shooting a woman and setting up broadcasting equipment was so surreal, it made it obviously not a real news report. The closest things to reality were the graphics and Chris Morris' portrayal of the newsreader [the graphics only were if you ignored the voiceovers of stupid phrases and the newsreader only if you ignored the madness of the news stories.]It was excellently written with a near-perfect cast and it even spawned a major character, Alan Partridge [whose segments were not that funny in my opinion.] Going back to previously, most of the acting was realistic, the things the actors were depicting wasn't.

`The Day Today' is a good show, not a great one. Carrying on in many respects from the classic `KYTV', `The Day Today' is basically a satire on tabloid TV news.While maintaining the same high production values and calibre of actor as "KYTV", the show does fall short in a few places. The show distinctly drags in places because rather than developing a character's quirk, the show falls into the trap of creating characters that do and say practically the same thing every episode (I'm thinking specifically of Steve Coogan's character here).There is still a strong British flavour to the comedy here, so many Americans will find themselves lost - perhaps even insulted - by the comedy employed.It's a shame the show wasn't given more time to develop - as I remember it, the last episode was probably one of the funniest.As a fine example of British comedy that wasn't either totally degenerate or else heavily influenced by the shrink-wrapped American sit-coms, `The Day Today' is a good place to start - especially the episode where they cover a war!8)