Thanks to the wonders of ABC iView, I finally got to watch Woodley, the new show by Frank Woodley, formerly of Lano and Woodley.

Just in case I didn’t say it enough in the last sentence…, Woodley.

Ok, so I’ve been a fan of Frank Woodley for many year, through all the various things he does. He is a thoroughly entertaining man, who keeps you on the edge of your seat, because you know he is going to do “something”, and it’s rarely what you expect. So when I first saw on twitter his new show described as “OMGZ Woodley is like the new Mr Bean”, I will admit my alarm bells rang. Thankfully they didn’t ring for long, once I started watching it.

Yes, the show has minimal dialogue, but it’s not because there is no need for it, it’s because we simply don’t go through life talking about every single moment. We don’t need everything explained to us as a running commentary, because we can see it all happening right there in front of us. What the show does is engage the audience, so we become involved with the story, filling in the blanks as we see it, and then later we have those thoughts questioned or confirmed later in the show. Woodley is world class television. It wouldn’t matter if the show as based in Melbourne, Milan, or Manchester, the story would fit the city, and it’s people.

I laughed, I cried, I got drawn in further and further, and felt my time watching the show was well spent. I really hope people don’t look at the few bits of visual humour that happen in the show, and try to find something that correlates with Mr. Bean, then say Woodley is a copy of that. Because if you make that comparison, why not go back and look at the silent cinema era and see the correlations there? It’s visual humour people, and what Woodley is doing, is showing us the things that could happen, not in our wildest imaginations, but if those little 1% things swung the other way.

If you’re looking for entertaining television, something the whole family can watch, even brain dead teenagers who can only grunt, then this is a great show to watch. I may only be one episode in to the show, but I’m hooked, and look forward to many more episodes to come.