The rhyming genius of ‘Peep Show’
For many reasons, Channel 4’s longest-running comedy, Peep Show, is a cultural marvel. Whether it be memorable characters, locations, or even the theme tune, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain’s series has every component necessary to transcend its time and speak to something more significant. A comment on the persistence of suffering in humanity and why ordinary people can, at times, be quite evil, Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usborne will go down as two of the finest creations British comedy has ever seen, alongside their associates like Super Hans, Alan Johnson, Sophie and Big Mad Andy.
From hopeless attempts at love to conspiring against each other, Corrigan, played by David Mitchell, and Usborne, by his long-time collaborator Robert Webb, are wholly despicable creatures. They’re locked in a type of real-life purgatory spanning from their 20s to 40s as they refuse to change and stifle the trajectory of each other’s lives.
Peep Show is a masterful title in that it is endlessly rewatchable, as with every great comedy. It is a British phenomenon and has found a special love amongst Millennials and Gen Z who are more keenly described as diehard fans than casual comfort watchers. Accordingly, Matt King has taken Super Hans on the road and been greeted by legions of ecstatic fans as he regales them with a mix of classic floor fillers and his character’s songs from the show.
Elsewhere, we’ve seen the rise of the popular community Dobby Club, and Big Mad Andy actor Liam Noble has moonlighted as a Peep Show quizmaster. It is remarkable that even 20 years after its debut and nearly eight years after its conclusion, Peep Show has never been so prevalent, a clear testament to its quality.
Whilst many aspects have allowed Peep Show to retain its freshness, one specific element has been key to all of its success: the weaponisation of the rhyme.
Many of the show’s most quotable and memorable lines are rhythmic. Not only does this augment the comedy value of a scene when taken in tandem with the comic excellence of the actors, but it also pushes the quote into long-term memory. These phrases will pop into your mind when reminded of the sequence in broader life or even when you’re doing something entirely removed from the world of Mark and Jeremy.
From the first episode on September 19th, 2003, to the final effort on December 16th, 2015, Peep Show creators Armstrong and Bain provided an extended list of rhymes that rank among some of the series’ most memorable moments. As has been pointed out in a Reddit feed, some of the best of this collection include Jez’s motto, “sign and recline”, and Super Hans’ New Year’s advice to Mark about women: “Want the knack, get smack”. Elsewhere, in an episode from the first season in which Jeremy attacks Super Hans with a length of floss, he repeats, “floss is boss”. A nearly daily refrain for those dentally inclined.
Perhaps the most memorable and laughable example of Peep Show‘s rhyming genius appears in the season five episode ‘Jeremy’s Mummy’. Jeremy, acting the most petulant we ever see him towards his mother, Jackie, after she arrives with her new boyfriend, Martin, becomes something of a spoilt man-child. He demands: “Mummy, coffee, fucky-hurry-uppy”, in a rhyme so insane that it instantly takes up a seat in the recesses of your mind.
One of the most adored elements of Peep Show is the endless wisdom that Super Hans provides over its duration. Outside of telling Mark that he would succeed more with the ladies if he got “smacked up”, he has multiple other more remarkable insights because of his rhythmic delivery. On the topic of rental snakes during the season six episode ‘The Party’, Hans provides life advice to those in the vicinity. Concerning the colour of his rental snake’s correlation to the danger it may or may not pose, he says: “Red next to black, jump the fuck back. Red next to yella, cuddly fella”. In more pressing guidance, he tells Jez in the very first episode: “It’s not who you know, it’s who you blow.”
Other notable rhymes featured in Peep Show are lines such as “grief thief”, “equals pequals”, and Johnson’s menacing but mystifying question to Mark, “Can you put a lid on the squid?” when pressing him to call off the JLB survivors group. There’s also Jez’s post-masturbation message for Mark: “Always wipe, Mark. ‘Discharge your pipe, then have a wipe.’ That’s the rhyme.” Finally, the horrid signature jingle of ‘El Dude Brothers’ brings the dedication to rhyming into focus: “There’s no quim likes to party like the quim down in Darty.”
A genius deployment of a simple technique, no other show will be able to pierce the collective imagination by using rhymes quite like Peep Show.
