Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge - The Complete Series

"Whenever you hear the word A-HA, you will become a little scary monster!"This is one of countless classic moments in this hilarious series which showcases the further broadcasting adventures of the Alan Partridge character. KMKY combines a wickedly hilarious script, superb comical acting and a knack for making the viewer feel silly, uncomfortable and ready to burst with spontaneous fits of laughter all at once.I watched one episode of this series on BBC America and instantly became hooked. Having watched several cheesy talk shows in my time it was refreshing to watch a character like Partridge successfully spoof the genre as a whole. Steve Coogan's portrayal of Partridge is performed with a whole-hearted dose of comical cheese, ignorance, stubborness and cluelessness. From his silly grin and 70's sportscaster wardrobe to his plastic like hairdo, Partridge epitomizes, again, the schmaltzy "I think I'm larger than life" attitude of all the Regis Philbins, Geraldo Riveras and Jerry Springers put together.Lots of great extras are included on this 2 DVD set, including a test pilot which is every bit as funny as the series itself and the KMKY Christmas Special.After KMKY ended the Alan Partridge character continued in a series of his own (which also airs on BBC America) called "I'm Alan Partridge." Hopefully the BBC will give that series a proper DVD release in North America as well so those of us across the pond can fully enjoy the genius of Coogan's comical mind.And on that bombshell......

Watch Alan Partridge as the chat show host you'll love to hate as his "moribund" chat show spirals further and further downward. During each episode, Alan's guests of C-list celebrities become harder and harder to control. But funniest of all is Alan himself as the self-absorbed, arrogant host who can't help but speak his mind when he should not.For all of you who are tired of all the political correctness so replete in today's world, you'll love to see Alan's complete lack of tact or understanding as he says the things we all wish we could say at times.In short, this show makes fun of the all too prevalent chat shows of today with their overly staged perfection. This is the chat show you've always wanted to see but couldn't seem to find.This set contains all six episodes of the series plus many fabulous extras involving Alan including the side splitting Christmas special, "Knowing Me, Knowing Yule," which degenerates into Alan's shameless begging for a second series with the BBC. These special features are not to be missed.Also of note, if you enjoy this show, don't miss the hilarious sequel, "I'm Alan Partridge," due for release on October 24, 2006.This is truly one of the funniest Britcom's available on DVD. So don't miss the opportunity to own it now.Smash B

Steve Coogan's toothy, self-satisfied Alan Partridge gives Ricky Gervais's David Brent a serious run for his money as one of New Britain's most smarmy upwardly-mobile creations. Coogan's got Partridge's class position down pitch-perfect: Norwich wine bars, childhood vacations in Spain, two A-levels, a disdain for Oxbridge liberals, and an instinctive "little Britain" conservatism that's quite happy to grab all the goodies a burgeoning Europe offers. The show's funny, but I found myself less interested in the laughs than in the world Coogan builds around his character, so that you feel you know him much better than you should after six short shows. The skits are also clever in a low-key offbeat way, like the recurring segment where Alan Partridge interviews other people with the name of Alan Partridge. "Knowing me Alan Partridge knowing you another Alan Partridge, A-ha!"The thing about Partridge, like Brent, is that as loathsome as you're supposed to find him, you end up kind of pulling for him. They're basically overgrown boys, not vicious so much as clueless, British lads baffled by a PC world. The historians of the future will have a field day working out why post-Thatcher Britain turned to characters like these, and why they play so funny over here.

Loved Steve Coogan in 24 Hour Party People, and saw this on BBC America ages ago. Watching someone be so awkward, clueless, yet somehow self-aware of his many shortcomings never gets old.

I imagine there are folks who think Steve Coogan's character of Alan Partridge is not funny. Not the case for me. This set had the complete series of 'Knowing Me: Knowing You': episode after episode it gets more cringeworthy and funnier. Well worth watching, and I'm sure there'll be some day in the future when I'll throw it on again. A-ha.

I knocked off one star because of the DVD itself. I have to go through all the commercials for BBC America, etcetera before I can watch the episodes. I already bought the product. Why alienate me by making me watch stupid commercials every single time? The fast forward and skip functions are disabled so I have to wait every time. Stupid and annoying.

Given how willfully unbearable the character is, this wears very well, even after all this time, even in a binge viewing.Coogan's concentration and willingness to let a bit go on and on while still sustaining the laughs is amazing.Docked a star for not absolutely killing in the Christmas episode, but still great.

This is quite possibly one of the best fake talk shows ever produced. Coogan's boorish Alan Partridge is a perfect mix of arrogant and petty, essentially torturing each guest in a new way. As Chapter 1 in the Partridge saga (followed by I'm Alan Partridge, a must see,) it is the perfect beginning to a character that's already become a cult favorite.

I first heard of this show when my Mum was ill in bed watching T.V and talking about 'this chat show host who insults his guests.' Like many other viewers, and reviewers, she thought it was a genuine chat show! On a recently aired documentary, even the late Roger Moore's dad thought his son was meant to be appearing on the show, and gave him a telling off, only for the late 007 to tell him that it was a satire! Having been subjected to seemingly endless, boring chat shows in my younger years, Steve Coogan aka Alan Partridge, brought a breath of fresh air to the somewhat jaded concept of the thrice weekly chat show presented by Terry of Wogan (who former London Evening Standard Columnist Victor Lewis Smith dubbed 'Wigon.'). Who'd have thought that this humble sports presenter, with a penchant for Abba and that time honoured look of sports casual, favoured by the late Ronnie Corbett during his infamous monologues on The Two Ronnies, would get his very own chat show? It's a delight! Monsieur Partridge has a lavish set, his own house band (the name of which changes every week! But Glen Ponda is the conductor in residence, and their banter is brilliant, if a little awkward, as Glen is batting for the other team, if you get my meaning, something that doesn't sit well with the straitlaced Alan!). As it's a spoof (and a very well executed one at that!) expect to see the same actors taking on various roles as some widely diverse characters, reflecting all walks of life. Nothing has been left to chance, and the comedy lies in the polished presenter trying to regain control of his chat show vehicle as his guests continually take the wheel and turn it into a car crash! Also, his lack of tact, in that he speaks his mind and asks questions later! It's like an instructional video of sorts, about how NOT to host a chat show! Along with the six shows from the T.V series, there's also the 'Noel's House Party' inspired,'Knowing me, knowing yule,' Christmas special. I much preferred this to the subsequent Partridge based outings that followed on from this, as this is where you get to see him at home, getting his big break on T.V, before his fall from grace. Comedy gold!

Alan Partridge is considerably more crass and socially unaware than any real host you will find on tv. That's what makes Knowing Me Knowing You extremely funny. Partridge is a very poor interviewer - discourteous, narrow-minded and dour are words that spring to mind. There are many horrific (read hilarious) moments during his painful gem of a series and the fictional guests are just the right mix of famous, infamous, quirky and banal. These extra characters are played well by a reliable and talented stable of Coogan chums, such as David Schneider, Patrick Marber and Rebecca Front. AP slaps all of them down in some way and a few of them hit him gamely back with barbed comments that at times have the audience squirming. I think that some of the studio spectators believed KMKY to be a genuine show, as i understand that some home viewers complained to the BBC after the original airing, convinced of the same thing. One can only imagine what these people thought of the scene where Alan accidentally kills one of his guests.I particularly liked the episode that was set in Paris. Co-fronting it was a chic and professional Parisienne doomed to suffer quite shameless Frog-bashing from Alan. At the end of that episode, after he'd insulted the French to the point of no return, AP glibly announced that he hoped Britain and France would be just a little closer because of his ground-breaking show.The Yule one showed AP managing to offend both Christians and Jews, pyrotechnicians, his disabled guests,his gay co-presenters and patients in the local children's hospital. The episode resolved a few things touched on in the earlier programmes, especially AP's boasting of the mega bucks spent on his tacky studio sets in comparison to the need for dialysis machines. Special guest on that show (To Alan, because he wanted to schmooze) is Tony Hayers (Schneider), the commissioning editor for BBC tv. Hayers finally pulls the plug on the expensive sets, the product placement and lastly, on Alan's career. This cringey crescendo provides the set up for the Patridge/Hayers animosity and sensitivity in the next series.I didn't think much of the "extras" of this DVD but then I never buy DVD's for anything other than the movies/programmes themselves. This is a 5 star series and Alan Patridge is one of the great, comic monsters.

Not having watched the forerunner of the Alan Partridge TV series at the time it was televised it appears a little un-professional now but that was probably the idea then! This DVD is the spoof-chat-show (that apparently fooled many when it was originally broadcast into believing it was genuine!) and Steve Coogan already has the mannerisms and character of Partridge off to a tee. Obviously these were perfectly honed in the later series' where he (Partridge) would be moved away from his "chat-show" onto Radio Norwich.For me this series is not as brilliant as the later ones and a minor irritation is that, despite their best efforts of disguise, his "TV guests" were mostly played by the same actors.Overall, though, if you like laughing at other people's misfortune or embarrassment then the Alan Partridge series is for you. There are also some very clever human observational moments, which the writers get just right. One minute you warm to Alan the next you find yourself cringing at something he's said. That's what's so "loveable" about him! Partridge does not intentionally say unpleasant things to his guests; his almost childlike character does not really understand what he's saying!Having already bought the other two Partridge DVDs (obviously from Amazon!) this was a welcome addition to the collection and sets the tone for the others. If you've not seen Alan Partridge this is a perfect introduction. Some people compare Partridge to other popular comedic characters such as David Brent (The Office) or Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers) but I believe Alan is unlike any other!

A catalogue of disasters on an even more epic scale than is usual with Alan Partridge. A mock up of Alan's home is created in the TV studio for his Christmas special, peripheral guests wander round in a daze eating boaster biscuits and drinking mulled wine, and the main guests are subject to the ritual humiliation we have come to expect from the most inept chat show host in the history of broadcasting. A transvestite chef who specialises in double entendres ("D'you want stuffing? You don't look the type - whoops, pardon!"), a paraplegic ex-golfer and his wife, a giant Christmas cracker which catches fire and causes Alan's big musical number to be cancelled, and finally Alan hitting his new boss with a turkey when he discovers he won't be given a second series. And on that bombshell, Alan's career tips headlong into the abyss...

Not the best partridge, but worth a watch. Just to see how his character evolves over time. The last episode is classic partridge though. A must for partridge nuts.