Twenty Twelve: The Complete Series

A Satiric British Mockumentary Series About The Days Leading Up To The 2012 Olympic Games
Note: I wish both seasons of "Twenty Twelve" had been packaged and released for all markets prior to the Olympic Games! Seems like great cross-promotional opportunity was missed!

A perfect companion piece for the recent 2012 Olympic games, "Twenty Twelve" is so of-the-moment that I'm afraid it will be forgotten soon after the games end. And that would be a shame! This incisive British mockumentary series expertly skewers the trails and tribulations of the individuals responsible for prepping London for the impending competition. Shot over two seasons, the entire run of the series is only 13 episodes with Season One comprised of six and Season Two of seven. I watched both seasons back to back and that seemed an ideal prelude to seeing the Olympics in an amusing new light. What "Twenty Twelve" does well, it does exceedingly well. Strikingly, the show feels both incredibly real and absolutely absurd and this is a difficult balancing act to pull off. It's not an easy job...

My New Favorite Show
I love this show. My only complaint is that there is not more it. Twenty Twelve follows the fake Olympic Deliverance Commission as they prepare for the London 2012 Olympic games. The cast of characters is highlighted by established comedic and dramatic British actors such as Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes, and Olivia Colman. The more they say, the more you realize that they're all good at talking, but not at creating anything of substance. The show follow The Office style of filming, but each exchange is carefully crafted to feel as real as possible while still leaving you laughing and frustrated. Its too bad that BBC America buried this late on a weekend night, because I think it could have been huge in the states. However, that has now been remedied by the release of the complete series on DVD. The only thing lacking is special features as the included cast and crew interviews are all too short. There may only be 13 episodes, but they're well worth the money if you like...

Hysterically Real
I really wish they had been able to continue this series, it is absolutely priceless. Some people will hate it (my husband) but I loved it and couldn't wait to buy the DVD. It is so realistic and SO funny. I actually started reading the newspapers to see what would happen next in London because of what I was seeing when watching Twenty twelve, and as I read the paper it was as if it was a satire piece about the Olympics! Twisted my mind in a great way.

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