Customer Reviews

Summer Heights High

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Australia has given us some excellent character actors: script-ripping stagemen who can become larger than life caricatures. Think Crocodile Dundee, or -- better yet -- Dame Edna.

But Chris Lilley has come along and surpassed them all. Indeed, his versatility and roaringly off-putting humour surpasses any of the dark humour in 'Little Britain' or other such countrywide satires.

Now we in North America can enjoy 'Summer Heights High', one of the truly wicked and funny send-ups of a secondary school mini-universe, its cliques, turf wars, and teachers (who are barely more mature than the students).

'Summer Heights High' deserves proper sequential viewing -- one cannot simply dive into a later episode and acquire the plot. Lilley's immense talent for character-forming deserves close attention and patience as he lays down, through improvisation, innuendo, and sheer brilliance for skit acting, three distinct narratives (which amazingly never cross paths) in a suburban Australian school. Details of these three personas which he takes on can be found widely, so I won't repeat the background stories here. I just want to state that Lilley's ability to assume different characters is positively uncanny. I mean, uncanny. Take an excellent method actor and combine it with a razor mouthed pirrahna of improv and quick-thinking, and you get a sense of just how kooky and unpredictable Lilley is.

For my money, it surpasses the muti-headed hydra pranks of Cohen (of 'Borat' fame). Because Lilley can deliver sinister and scathing satire on racism, drugs, and just about every other taboo -- but just when you wonder if he's a nihilist, out comes a breathtaking moment of magnificent spirit and heart. The final scenes involving Jonah Takalua are simply headshakingly good, without any hint of that 'very special moment' that usually mars most dramas supposedly about teens.

Chris Lilley, you're brilliant, mate.

I'm not Australian and have never been there. I stumbled upon this show by accident and watched all 8 episodes in two days. It's really hilarious and I love how in Australia touchy subjects and foul language aren't censored! It makes things much more real and true to life. I wish there were more episodes but it's more fitting for it to end the way it did. My favorite was Jonah Takalua and his friends, but Mr. G and Ja'mie were hilarious too! I didn't realize Ofa was a girl until episode 3!

This show makes me want to search for more Aussie shows and to visit Australia for vacation. I've heard HBO has picked this up, I'd recommend everyone give it a try. if you guys liked Ali G & Borat you will surely love this!

Chris Lilley has done it again. Summer Heights High is his best work yet. This series is about three characters(all played by Lilley) at a high school in Austraila(where the series is based). We meet Jonah, a 13 year old delinquent. Ja'mie, a snobby, downright awful girl who was transfered from a private school. My personal favourite is Mr.G, the drama teacher, whos ego is as large as Aussie itself. This one isnt really for the kids though. Most of the humour will go right over their heads (plus the swearing).

This series is refreshing and new. I'm so glad it FINALLY came to America.
If you cant wait, buy the Region 4 dvd. It will work on some American dvd players.

I discovered Summer Heights High quite by accident. Someone else turned it on, and not really paying full attention for the first few moments I came to the realization that I was not being subjected to some sappy documentary about kids in school, but headed down the rabbit hole into an insane world dominated by Chris Lilley.

All I can say is that Chris Lily possesses the talents of every one of the Kids in the Hall, Monty Python and the first two seasons of SNL in his little finger. I watched eight episodes in rapid succession, and I'm still desperate for more, more, more!

Mr. Lilly -- wherever you are -- be aware that I am in awe of your talent!

Really, really funny. Good writing/improv, great performances! Why have so few people heard of this????

It is an odd funny, but when they get it, they REALLY get it! There were even a few really touching moments... and then they get you again!

I had turn on subtitles and Google a few words sometimes because I do not know Australian slang (eg. Povo, Pashing, etc.)

Sadly, the musical numbers in Mr. G's show are better than a lot of musicals I have seen coming out of Broadway lately! At least they are catchy... I caught myself humming one of the songs in the shower the other day! But the show sequences are brilliant... one of the funniest things I have seen on TV in a long time was the dog in the grand finale.

Yes, it is mean... that is why it is funny. Like so many great comedy shows, from South Park to Saturday Night Live, they do not discriminate... EVERYONE gets made fun of. If you are too sensitive to appreciate this type of humor, just skip it. I am gay (one of the big targets in the show), and I think it is hysterical!

My 22 year old daughter recommended this series, so I watched the first episode on HBO on demand. Well, that was all it took to totally hook me in. If you like shows such as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Flight of The Concords, etc. you will love this! Mr. G's character, in particular, is so over the top. It is very addicting.

High school is a fruitful, feisty and furtive time in our lives. It's something we endure, some thrive, others wither and die, setting a course of their lives. Chris Lilley, comedian, spreads his special take on this time through the "mockumentary" format of his show "Summer Heights High".

What impressed me most about his journey in this show is his creation of three absolutely complete and thorough characters. While they all somehow resemble each other, both in looks and in attitudes, they are extremely diverse, and there are times that you will love these people and hate them as well. His Mr. G, a flamboyant drama teacher who's ego cannot possibly fit in the staff room, puts on the musical of the year, about himself and a dead girl he never knew. Ja'Mie, a popular rich girl from a snobby school, spreads her charm (and lack of it) around the school with her gaggle of girls she's using to be in the popular crowd. And Jonah, a Polynesian student with a learning disability who's teased relentlessly for his race and struggles with culturally insensitive teachers.

Lilley's performance through the show is remarkable as he inhabits and lives in the skins of his people. While designed as a comedy, and certainly rife with many comedic moments, what struck me, as a teacher, was the serious issues he covers and uncovers in these eight all too short episodes. Most impressively, is the character of young Jonah, who never really has a chance to excel between his disability and his lack of adult protagonists in his life, save one teacher who loves him for who he is. That story touched me deeply, and as the series ended, it was his story that resonates. How many Jonahs have we lost in our schools for precisely the same reason?

Daring, risky, and occasionally on the edge between humor and inappropriateness, "Summer Heights High" is quite the show. I would love to see more.

Although I don't own the DVD (yet), I have seen every episode of this series, and I just want to say this guy is HILARIOUS. A rare comedy gem anyone is lucky to come across. You'll find yourself forgetting he's actually playing his three classic characters, and believing they actually exist. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy became huge in the U.S. in the next few years.

Chris Lilley is a genius. This show is genius. The humor is so multifaceted and sharp I love it. The best show i've ever seen. I can watch the episodes time and time again and still laugh. They're fantastic!

Chris Lilley's Summer Heights High is the most refreshing comedy to come along in years. He manages to convincgly play a Tongan troublemaker, an overenthusiastic self-obsessed drama teacher, and the 16 year old self-proclaimed "hottest" girl in the school.

If you haven't seen this series, do so! You will be laughing through every episode. Your only complaint will be that there were not more than eight episodes.