Watching the title hero of Keen Eddie, as he chased a portly suspect (Alexi Sayle, best known in the U.S. for his roles on The Young Ones) through a London market to the strains of Madness' "One Step Beyond," I found myself thinking so this is how we treat our allies these days.
Consider: twenty-five years ago, when we flew an American fish-out-of-water to Swingin' England, it was John Wayne in Brannigan. Now it's this goofball: a twenty-something N.Y. cop (Mark Valley) who in the first five minutes of the pilot nearly burns down his own apartment. (He has a map of the city, see, where he charts his busts with unused matchbooks.) Keen Eddie Arlette owns a pit bull named Pete with a predilection for humping cats and attacking his own master, plus that brand of willful Yank ignorance we're supposed to find endearing but could really get old after two episodes. This guy is so America-centric that he doesn't know if British currency comes in grams or pounds - something any fifth grade kid with a passing knowledge of Sherlock Holmes could tell you in an instant. Watching our hero fumble his way 'round London Town, you can only come to this conclusion: man, our public education system really does suck!
Eddie's been sent to Eng-a-land with Pete to catch the figures in a drug-smuggling ring that's been distributing oxycodene in souvenir statues of Big Ben. (So what you have, then, is a gang disseminating stuff to other Britishers via tacky souvenirs of the town where they reside.) Arlette is the only one to've seen two key players - a sultry brunette who has his dick wrapped around her manicured finger, plus the aforementioned Sayle, who claims to be a pharmaceutical whiz. With the aid of Scotland Yard (and a randy Detective Inspector named, I kid you now, Monty Pippin), he finds the latter. But by the time he's uncovered the vixenish bird's digs, she's already flown, presumably so she can torment our hero in later episodes.
Article comments
1 - Brad
Actually, Pete is an English Bull Terrier, not a Pit Bull. Pit Bulls are banned in the UK. Obviously the reviewer never actually watched the show.
2 - Dr Dreadful
I can't believe it took five years for this review to et its first comment. Somebody must have been Googling Sienna Miller... ;-)
I remember Keen Eddie. Quite enjoyed it, even if it did perpetuate just about every stereotype American popular culture has about the British.
For instance - why do Americans think the only British police rank is Inspector?
3 - Bill Sherman
Obviously the reviewer never actually watched the show.
No, obviously, the reviewer is an ignoramus when it comes to correctly identifying dog breeds!