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TCA Press Tour: BBC America’s new ‘InBetweeners’

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If you don’t understand some of the Britspeak on BBC America’s new comedy, ‘The InBetweeners,’ here’s some advice from its co-creator, Iain Morris: ‘When in doubt, think genitalia. Male or female.’

Indeed, much of the show is as one-track-minded as teenage boys, which makes Morris the ‘British Judd Apatow,’ BBC America chief Garth Ancier noted. Ancier would know, by the way, since he canceled Apatow’s ‘Freaks and Geeks’ years ago on NBC.

‘I’m a poorer version of Judd Apatow,’ responded Morris (‘Flight of the Conchords’).

But Morris admitted he even ‘borrowed’ a joke from ‘Freaks and Geeks’ to pay homage to the show that inspired his and breaks ground in British television by exploring the humiliations of adolescence in a most honest way. It premieres in the fall.

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‘There didn’t seem to be a British comedy that dealt with that age group,’ Morris said. ‘So we were looking at North America to be inspired ... We wanted to write a show about friends and we talked about how do you show friendship? Through joking and instinctively knowing where the boundaries are.’

Actor Joe Thomas, who participated in the panel, compared the language and tone of his show to another American series.

‘It’s like ‘The Wire,’ really ... very prescient.’

--Maria Elena Fernandez

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