MATT LUCAS - MIXED REACTION TO "CRUDE" LITTLE BRITAIN AFTER US DEBUT

MIXED REACTION TO "CRUDE" LITTLE BRITAIN AFTER US DEBUT

Matt Lucas and David Walliams' new show Little Britain USA has received underwhelming reviews from stateside television critics.

Influential industry paper Variety labelled the show "crude" and said its humour "seldom rises above what's scrawled on a school bathroom wall".

Washington Post critic Tom Shales said a number of sketches were "too tasteless even for a celebration of bad taste" while the San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman said Lucas and Walliams seemed "more intent on shocking than on being wildly, but hilariously inappropriate".

The HBO programme features a number of the sketch show's regular characters, such as Daffyd Thomas and Vicky Pollard, while newcomers including astronaut Bing Gordyn and barely-dressed bodybuilders Tom and Mark.

The latter seemed to shock Rob Owen, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who claimed audiences may be "stunned" by "full-frontal shots of their anatomically correct, muscley prosthetic body suits".

However, not all of the critics' reactions were negative, with Hollywood Reporter writer Barry Garron calling it "delightful" and IGN's Jonah Krakow praising the show for being "as absurd and outrageous as ever".

The show debuts in the US on Sunday September 28th before appearing on BBC1 on October 3rd.