As a Brit, I hate to say it, but we have really struggled to devise some good comedies lately to emulate those gems of the past and to rival US shows like "Friends", "Frasier" and "Ally McBeal", which are really popular with people over here. "Chambers" is one of the latest in a series of dreadful comedies desperately manufactured by the BBC in the last few years. It is a little reminiscent of the style of 80s comedy "Yes, Minister", in that the humour is supposed to come from a stupid bureaucrat working in a profession in which he couldn't possibly have succeeded in real life. This show, though, isn't remotely funny. John Bird is just plain irritating in this (he's much better on Channel 4's "Bremner, Bird and Fortune"). Another interesting factor is how the aforementioned American shows connect so well with younger people. I can't imagine how this show, about an ageing barrister and his entourage, could possibly appeal to young people. And it won't. In fact it won't appeal to anyone, and the BBC will pull the plug on it very soon (the second series is currently being shown on BBC1). It will just go down in the archives as one of the BBC's many modern comedy flops. In fact, I can't believe I've found so much to say about it.
