NEW YORK POST.</p><p> SUNDAY.</p><p> JUNE d. 2000 .. ,.' . ., Sunday ., -------------------- -------- And now for something completely different ••.</p><p> THE NEI,I\I"i TV pn ON ; -, Up your nose: The "brilliant :~ and disgusting" league of 1-Gentlemen are (I-r) Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Jeremy Oyson.</p><p> There's a fourth gent -Reece • Shearsmith -but he's oH practicing to be a stalker.</p><p> By MICHAEL GILTZ 8':11',' \'rlllf~r'l\,l'" fl)r Th,·· 1."IIV,1I1' .. f j ;""11"1111 '11" /\11 1111'1''''' 11I1I1I·.",, ·, .. lu'\\\I"'IIM'l'will ''o·:d. ,.. lind "~1""1 V ,'\ II".,,:' III," lilli' ,""'III,dy , ... 1,1", ... 1\ :, hllllalidt' ~t'I;' ... 11 11.11 III tit., lU-\, It ddHll~ fill t'ulIH'dv (\'l1lr:.1 .JUllt' If) :1110 U.S. audlt'lIt,t':" han' It lut flf (:ald"n:.! lip to £III.</p><p> The League of Gentlemen is on its way to American TV after taking Britain by storm.</p><p> Forget the Minister of Silly Walks -here comes Her Lipp, a German tour guide with a fondness for young boys.</p><p> Of course, the Gentlemen don women's clothing at every opportunity -they are British, after all. "1'\\ ph,,· l'pi:.;odl·S have :1I1"(·d ill thl' lJ.K. snags..:ill).,! :J lJt\FTA Uhe Uritish E 111 III \' I rt1r Bl':-Il COOled \' and (:ntic:l1 an'laim uf ";1 1IIIt':,';\'''lIrf. (JII''" IIrt11 ... h P:II"'r said "Thl' 1.1':lgIIC uf {;"IIIIt'lIh'Il" is "cunsistent· Iv hi·dli;1Il1. intl'l'l1Iittl'lltlv Illj.!lltll1:1ri :dt.</p><p> IInt'n dis. gu :-:lill~ . nnd cC'l't:linl.v 11111 III ;111\' ('UII\'I'nlilll1:d :-:t'II~C a COOlf'd\, .M 1\ltl'..;t utlll'r (ntics :-::(·ttl~· iiII' ·'dis· lUrlllll1( and-or -hilarintls .- Thl' four-mt'mrn.· r truupe i~ ahoul tn bunch " ·10- d:lll' ",UlTll1wr '!!lIr in lilt' U.I~ . ttlt.'n ...... ;1 Christlll;ls spl'cial .. ct roJr filming III AlIg'u",t. and ;t dC\'{'r snap· bunk will ht' on S:lIt· h\' till' end IIf rhe \·t':lr. . "The' btlok I'" hound in hUl1lan ... kill.-IIl ... i ... ts t·;I1 .. · {'ra·~I1\· (;clltlt-m:1I1 .1l·rt· 11I~· IhsHIl. who fllliv appca ~s m',scrcen in hri(:r C;lmens. -II upl'fuJly. with a Iwlly hutton til' a nipl'l.· till till' hal·k. \\",'1'1' ill ... , li:ll!' glillJ,! al~llI l thaI III th.· 1I111111l'l1l.</p><p> II,' :lnd fi.·IIO\\· (;.'nllt·I1It'11 Stc\'e Pl'lIIll1'rtull and ~I:lrk Giltiss :lre gatht'rt'd in till' 1.01101l1l "I'fin' "I' tlll'ir 11I:IIl:ll.!f'lIu·n l t'llTIljl:I' n\' til tli .... l·II:--:-: thl' ... how Tht· founh mt'mllt' r -Ih'cCl' Silt'ar<.;mith -is "'1'1'rlfllll~ hi" huli (i:1~.- ... t.dk'·I·.</p><p> A'Tnnli'lg ttl thl' nlhl·r .....</p><p> Ill," 111 Flnn'I1('t' fill' the :-oO\l' pll' po ... ,' tlr trving tit glillll' .... ,· Anlhony·Hopkin ... fillllll l~ "1I:lnninal.- ~tO~l 01 h"I' nddhall shf1\\,~ J.,!t't WI'" d l':lIlS :l~ ~taJkl·r ....</p><p> Onl\' the Ll':lJ,!uc tlr t;,·,;tll'l1H·l1 spends it"" ~pan' til11t, ~Ialkillg "fl/l'''.o.;.</p><p> TIll'y'rc nil \\'olHicrillj.!' ir such :1 di~tincti\,t'l\' British ~{'rics <:;In tra\'cl. $incc the shuw is alreadv airiJ1g- fir :-:t'l til air i'u Fr:'lIIl·l'.</p><p> Finland. 1t:!1.\'. '\lIstr:lli;1 Calch-phrases 10 walch for on The league of Genllemen • This Is a local shop for local people! • Okey-dokey, pig in a pokey! • There's nothing for you here. • What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here. • Are you local? nnd Canada (among other countries), the answer is clearly yes.</p><p> MThc LcagUl.' of Gentlemen" is a S0:111 npCnl ur !'IortJ4, u Guth ic nlllll'oy ~ct in the IicLionol northern lown of Huy~lon Vmulry. tTho tiih"ll Ic:u..linK intn town ;rcads ominously "Htlj'ston :Vassey -You'll Never .</p><p> Leave!") iThiS h:lmlct has morc f than its fair share of I sadists. swingers. toad- ~worshippcr s. xenophobes ;nnd nudists. ; Amon,:::: the many not;lblcs i Inro: Edward nnd Tubbs. ; : ~~~c\~c fc~~O~f'~~'~ ~rs~\~:~ . customers: Hilary Driss, the ~Iu('a) butcher who adds :Hl addictive "special" inj.!'rcdi· 'ent-to his meal; HC'rr LIPP. . 0 German lour guide With a fu"dncss for the lowl lads; and :\1r.</p><p> Chinnery, <I partie 'uloriy bold vcterinnrinn . : Pcrhllps hc~t. of 011 i~ 'P:lUIiIll', the tyrnnniC':11 IW:ld of the locol ullempluy mL'llt. onice. "People are Itkc pen.!-l." says Pauline. "If they don't work. you shake them.</p><p> If thry still don't work, yuu thrflw IIH'm nwnv." Tin' ~hllw ',,' Jill 1'1 h"lIlnf /-:"IIII!" '" lit l'Ullildlili til/ow. 1I\\lly poIk"'!"!1 l'lIlIlI'fI.v hilM 11'" .. lt'I"M fur "Tit" .';/1111 ~1"l\ly" o lit I tlH.' like' with {'ol1tinu ill~ stul'ylil1(,~ nhout llie: ; pcnersl', frustrat ed Iive~ of it~ recurring charnc ters': UdianLly weird -the :-hlJ\¥'s scc~l1d ~COSOI1 begnl1 \\'lth a truly bizarre plot feJturing- a macabre circus performcr nnmed Pnpn La-zarou -"Thc Lcogue of (;entlemell" mny seem even more' ~lIrrcal tu Amt..'ricall \'1 '\fers. -The' Comedy Centrol cpisodes ore 22 minult ~s.</p><p> UO\vn from half nn hour, ('xplnins Gentleman Stcve Pemherton. "They've cut out j'ight minule:i frol11 each NEW YORK POST, SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 2000 TVSundav Three little pigs: Next from the oddball team of Brit comedians Is a scrapbook -"bound in human skin," episode nnd made on e"tra shuw or two out of the bits ond pieces.</p><p> So it makes it even weirder thun it wa~ , if that's possible. "Some cpi~ode~ nre nctu ally strong-cr because they focus in on just one or two stu ricH," he says.</p><p> The story of how the troupe h('gnn is mllch morc strnightfClrwnrd .</p><p> Three uf thcm were study-ing-theater in \\'akcfi('ld. while Dyson studi("<i phllns ophy at Ll.'cds liniversity.</p><p> Though t lwy'd 111.'\'('r workl'd tflJ,!ctlll'r. tlwir lirst stnge appcarnlll:c W:lS as purt of a roundup of the "best IIf the Yl'ar." 10nc nct couldu't be reunited. so tlll'Y filled in.1 They I:1t('1' pri1.e nt the Edinburgh Sl'orC'fj lup pJ'(·:-.tiginus C'lIlllt,ciy Festival in 1997, which led to 9 bumpy but ~uC'C'l ~f;sful trnnJo;ition frum live net tu rodio show. "Rlldio prf'~f' lItl'l nil sorts of problems," says rat her tall Gentlem.n ~la .. k Gatiss_ '"You end up having to say, '1 am holding this jade sword in my hond whilst wearing a red hot ....</p><p> The BBC soon C'nuJ:"ht on to their cult following nnd ofTered the group n TV series. -It's a classic route to sue ces8.~ says Pemberton, "going back 40 or 50 years.</p><p> Spike ~lillig.n , 1'he Goon Show' [with Peter Sellcr./. they all followed the s.me path." They didn't .11 cnd up wit.h characters as strange 85 Harvey and VnL a seem ingly normnl coupll.' whn have l'C'ry stringent rules for housegue sts, including color-coded towels for the drying of ... arious body parts and 8 downstairs toilet that must ne\'er be used for pi1s~in~ "solids." But thry (III crull·1i up quittin", thl'ir day juhs ond the Lellgue of Gentlemen folluwed.</p><p> Pembert on isn't working anymore for the London office of \ariety; Dyson is doing a reading ot a book· shop in Leeds rather than working behind the counter and Gatiss is still writing the occasional ~Doct or Who" no\'el -but only when he wants to.</p><p> Now the pcrfonners (ull in their early 305) are trying to find the balance for !'uCt'ess . ~e; ~~i} ! 2 s~~!~~f~r' I~J~~ typical U.S. sitcom), some cntic8 are urging them to quit while they're ahe.d, "There i3 the 'Fawlty Towers' principle everyone hos in the bock of their minds," admits Dy~on. alluding to the John Cleese f'erics that produced just 0 handful of episodes uver mnny years and thl'n C:ll1l'd it n dny. liI,fllft· thnt dnv rOll\t'M, thl' J,,'''.:tUl uf l:Ullllt'lllIIll 1111111' tn lilt lill' bill JIII'n't'lI, ,,1114'11 With mt "mull 1\ 11I1t1~t't "I( \ltllt"ihlc. "I lllluk Munty 'ython'" i>t-!'t film i~ The lIoly Grall: snyl'l Gntiss, "because that's the one where they'vc got no muOl"Y." Their fondest dream hu\\, l'\'C'r is ('ven mure pervcrse: "What we really wnnt is for JoOomeonc in the States to huy the rights and remnkc it." says Galiss. "We would· n't wont anyone else to cver SI!C it. of course.</p><p> Just us." Pl.'l11hcrton spontaneou sly delivers the sho ..... ·s biggest catch phrase in a hilariuus Southcrn twong: "This is a lucnl shop for local people!" Thl'Y ,II laugh ,nd sud dt'nly a Dl'C'P South sister cily to Royston Va!'sey Sl.'CII1S \'1..'1)' fI.':l1 indecd.
