Badults

Series one, episode one
Oh, men – sometimes you can be such silly-billies! From ‘Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?’ through to ‘Bottom’ and ‘Men Behaving Badly’, TV has a recurring soft spot for men old enough to know better.

The latest addition to this infantile strand is ‘Badults’. The name does most of the work here but, just to clarify, it’s about three male flatmates in their late twenties getting into scrapes. The only sensible character is their lady friend Rachel, who pops in from time-to-time to make the boys look even more puerile. Pappy’s, the sketch-comedy trio who are the creator-stars of ‘Badults’, are beloved of many for their live work, but this first episode – which sees them accidentally withdraw £5,000 from their joint account – misses the mark.

There’s no faulting the imagination at work (at one point, they re-enact the French Revolution), but their linking gags and repartee are twee, cloying and weaker than your nan’s squash. What made ‘The Inbetweeners’ such a rare gem was that the weekly antics were appropriate for the character’s ages. ‘Badults’ is just another slightly cringey example of men behaving badly.