Artimidor Federkiel British actor Steve Coogan's versatility ranges from his talents as impressionist, playing multiple roles (and this includes a female character!) in his stand-up comedy over voice acting, writing and producing and even starring in very serious feature roles like the Oscar nominated "Philomena" (2013) - and whatever he does, he does it with fervor and consequence. In this spirit his alter ego wannabe "star" Alan Partridge was born, a fictional TV personality at first known for radio programmes and an infamous regional chat show, which would be "Knowing Me, Knowing You". An unlikeable character developed that Coogan slips into regularly in his stand-ups as well, later he based a TV series on him and brought him to the big screen. But it all started in earnest with these few chat show episodes. So what's so special about Alan? Well, Alan Partridge is the type of character who's so full of himself that his shameless displays of narcissism combined with his social awkwardness make his interviews prone to go further downhill without even having started at a notable high point. Partridge is one of the first who understood how to make cringeworthy comedy work for the audience, he's embarrassing, politically incorrect, condescending, pompous and whoever shares time with him on screen, he or she is not the issue - it's basically all about him. Throughout the show numerous fake guest stars help us to familiarize us with the phenomenon that is Partridge, but even then he sneaks in guest "stars" that are "famous" for being his namesake, and quite regularly minor and major catastrophes hit the show which eventually goes out with a bang - literally! The appearances of Alan Partridge over time in different formats vary considerably in quality, but all of them contribute to the manifestation of Coogan as a comedic genius in his alter ego. Not even a misfired bullet can kill off Partridge's career, just like Coogan himself can dodge media bullets with elegance as his superb "Everybody's a bit of a c*nt sometimes" performance shows in his 2009 stand-up, which is as snarky and to the point as Alan Partridge's tongue has an aptitude to screw up royally and with precision. Check that one out to get the picture. And on that bombshell recommendation we'll leave you to discover Alan Partridge and the man behind it. Once you get into it there's only one word to describe what you've been missing so far: A-Haaaaa!

jc-osms Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge character just wouldn't lie down. After filling the sport slot in Christopher Morris's brilliant TV news show spoof "The Day Today", Coogan and his co-writers devised this devilishly funny and close-to-the-bone mickey-take of the ever-popular celebrity chat programme, with all the accoutrements of real-life prototypes by the likes of real-life stereotypical hosts (we know who they are) complete with guest house-band, fake starry guests and all their other familiar trappings (mix and match guests, the shared couch, the shallow content).Coogan in particular rips into the title character with relish, a gormless, ignorant, sexist, bigoted, power-crazy narcissist who says what he thinks before he even thinks it. To play his guests, stock supporting actors like Rebecca Front, David Schneider and Patrick Marber change clothes and personalities from show to show, but somehow always end up as the unwilling victims of Partridge's prejudices.All of the shows in the series are big on laughs, my favourite characters being the dead-on-his-feet ventriloquist act Cheeky Monkey, the cringe-worthy "Knowing Another Alan Partridge" section involving a recently deceased namesake and of course his quite literally go-out-with-a-bang climax.Once you settle down to watch it, so convincingly played are the characters that you actually do end up thinking it could somehow be for real on an obscure satellite channel, although after the final bombshell which ends each episode, you snap out if it but realise how close to the truth it actually was.For Coogan the character has never gone away, spawning the brilliant "I'm Alan Partridge" sequel and most recently a movie incarnation "Alan Partridge Alpha Papa", which I've not yet seen but it will be hard-pressed to beat the plentiful laughs on show here.

J. Wellington Peevis Satire, satire, satire...A very funny send up of the dreaded ubiquitous chat show. Actor Steve Coogan plays show business blight, Alan Partridge, a thoroughly unlikeable character who hosts an odd assortment of meaningless guests on his ridiculous chat show that is ridiculously titled, Knowing Me, Knowing You. The title of course is taken from the ABBA song of the same name, and Partridge himself mysteriously uses the A-Ha refrain from the song as his personal catch phrase. Completely idiotic but completely funny and eerily cogent. Alan Partridge the man likewise is as completely idiotic as he is pompous, condescending, moronic, cruel, vindictive and completely out of touch with reality. He also just happens to be 24 karat comic gold. In Alan Partridge, Coogan has created the perfect embodiment of an entertainment show-biz phony, cardboard jackass. An all too familiar character that sadly we as viewers now accept as normal. His pathetic C minus guest list parades one low-level pseudo-personality whacko after another. Said guests are all so excellently portrayed, that not being English, I initially was unable to tell if the people were actual Britsh celebs or not. Though Coogan is definitely top banana, the show in actuality is more troupe sketch format a la Monty Python then a solo tour de force. We see the same 4 or 5 actors switch disguises to portray each and every guest, with only a few exceptions sprinkled in now and again. They all deserve equal credit for the show's success. Knowing Me, Knowing You is the Sammy Maudlin bit from SCTV taken on as an entire show. Personally, I never got enough of Sammy Maudlin. In terms of this type of fare, there is no American counterpart. Forget that satire itself has very little in the way of broadcast outlets, American entertainment simply does not or will not go after its own a la the Brits. That might well be because producers think American wont laugh at show business parody, but somehow cynicism makes me seriously doubt that. Even the terrific Larry Sanders show, ostensibly a similar type satire of the chat show genre, though hilarious, never once made Larry Sanders himself look professionally incompetent. To be fair, Knowing Me, Knowing You, is a fictional chat show of the type we don't really have in America, as its a hybrid of a Letterman format with a Regis daytime format. They may not have them in England either. Evening chat shows are likely in America to be very stiff, formal and almost nerve wracking as the hosts do their very best to keep celebrities ill at ease, in further glorification of the said host. I wont argue with success. So though the satire might be hard to relate to, the comedy makes that fact immaterial. I will say that if you have an aversion to British comedy in general, you will not change your opinion after watching this show. Yet the converse is definitely true. British comedy fans, this is what you live for!

wilss888 This is one of my favourite comedies, I so wish they had made more of this series. "I'm Alan Partridge" was good, but the 2nd series of that started going downhill a bit, like he was trying too hard.But this is ultimate Partridge, the jokes and laughs come thick and fast, he's so bad at doing his job and insults the guests all the time, but your always on his side, especially in the French one, which happens to be one of my favourites. "What if your arm bursts?" I recommend this to any comedy fan, it's just so funny. Hopefully one day he'll get his 2nd series of his chat show.But don't let me deter you from his two "I'm Alan Partridge" series though, the first series of that is also fantastic!