Suburban Shootout
Encyclopedia
Suburban Shootout is a British satirical
black comedy
television series produced for Five and Paramount Comedy
by Feelgood Fiction in association with Oxygen
. The first series aired in the UK on Five from 27 April 2006. It began airing in the United States on 22 March 2006 on Oxygen and in Germany on Comedy Central
in 2007. The second series began on Five on 6 September 2007.
town of Little Stempington from London. She soon discovers there are two rival gangs of housewives
, one headed by Camilla Diamond and one by Barbara Du Prez.
Once very good friends, Camilla and Barbara originally turned to weaponry and intimidation as a way of dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour, and gathered a small group of local women to help further their cause, but the group splintered into two smaller gangs when Camilla grew greedy and used their increased clout for her own personal gain, dealing in extortion, racketeering, coercion and threats to local businesses and residents of the town.
Barbara's gang continues to take extreme action against perceived 'threats to Little Stempington life' (planned low-cost housing
, teenagers wearing hoodie
s, etc.), while also working tirelessly against Camilla's gang. Timid Joyce, unfortunately, becomes a pawn in both gangs, enlisted by Barbara to work undercover as a way of getting closer to Camilla.
The plot later thickens with Camilla racketeering the local recreational drugs market with 8 times strength HRT
patches from their contacts in Marseille
(hence the twinning with Marseille in the town sign
).
and Addams Family
director Barry Sonnenfeld
directed and co-executive produced the pilot, which was filmed entirely in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York, in September 2008. The show stars Kelly Preston
as Camilla Diamond, Judy Greer
, Mary Birdsong
, Kerri Kenney-Silver
and Rachael Harris
. HBO has yet to announce whether or not the series will be picked up. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8cb71d29182efee634bd6ed3788684f8
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
television series produced for Five and Paramount Comedy
Paramount Comedy
Paramount Comedy is a 24-hour Spanish cable television and satellite television comedy channel available in Spain. It is owned by MTV Networks Europe and Viacom. In other parts of the world, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy, the channel is known as Comedy Central...
by Feelgood Fiction in association with Oxygen
Oxygen (TV channel)
Oxygen is an American cable television specialty channel with television programming marketed towards women, with a format similar to Lifetime.- History :...
. The first series aired in the UK on Five from 27 April 2006. It began airing in the United States on 22 March 2006 on Oxygen and in Germany on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in 2007. The second series began on Five on 6 September 2007.
Premise
Joyce Hazeldine and her policeman husband Jeremy move to what seems to be an idyllic home countiesHome Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
town of Little Stempington from London. She soon discovers there are two rival gangs of housewives
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
, one headed by Camilla Diamond and one by Barbara Du Prez.
Once very good friends, Camilla and Barbara originally turned to weaponry and intimidation as a way of dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour, and gathered a small group of local women to help further their cause, but the group splintered into two smaller gangs when Camilla grew greedy and used their increased clout for her own personal gain, dealing in extortion, racketeering, coercion and threats to local businesses and residents of the town.
Barbara's gang continues to take extreme action against perceived 'threats to Little Stempington life' (planned low-cost housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
, teenagers wearing hoodie
Hoodie
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...
s, etc.), while also working tirelessly against Camilla's gang. Timid Joyce, unfortunately, becomes a pawn in both gangs, enlisted by Barbara to work undercover as a way of getting closer to Camilla.
The plot later thickens with Camilla racketeering the local recreational drugs market with 8 times strength HRT
Hormone replacement therapy (menopause)
Hormone replacement therapy is a system of medical treatment for surgically menopausal, perimenopausal and to a lesser extent postmenopausal women...
patches from their contacts in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
(hence the twinning with Marseille in the town sign
Town sign
A town sign or city limit sign is a road sign placed at the side of the road or street at the boundary of the territory of a city, town, or village. In most cases town signs are placed for reading both by drivers entering the town and, in a different format, by those exiting it. Signs give the...
).
Cast
- Anna ChancellorAnna Chancellor-Family:Chancellor was born in Richmond, London, England, the daughter of the Hon. Mary Alice Jolliffe and John Paget Chancellor. Through her mother's mother, Lady Perdita Rose Mary Asquith, Chancellor is the great-granddaughter of The Hon. Raymond Aquith and the great-great-granddaughter of Prime...
- Camilla Diamond, head of the "bad" gang. Originally a very good friend with Barbara du Prez, and the two formed an all-female mafia system after accidentally killing a burglar. They used it to clean up Little Stempington, but Camilla saw what the crime could do for her own gain, and the two soon parted ways. Since then, she has had numerous plastic surgery operations, paid for by her racketeering and loan sharkLoan sharkA loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
ing, and her group is the main opposition to Barbara's, next to the recent incursions of travelling musical festivals and the French. - Felicity MontaguFelicity MontaguFelicity Montagu is an English actress, known for her performances in radio and television comedy series and films.Educated at Loughborough University and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Felicity Montagu has played the foil to a series of prominent comedy characters.-Television:Montagu...
- Barbara du Prez, head of the "good" gang. Originally a very good friend with Camilla Diamond, the two formed the original singular mafia after they were burgled and killed the culprit, using it to clear Little Stempington of 'dark influences' from outside forces and those inside as well, ranging from minor offences such as hoodies, to grave misdeeds like low-cost housing (Which she thwarts using land mines). The two parted company and the mafia splintered in twain once Camilla became greedy, and they have been at loggerheads since then. - Rachael Blake - Hilary Davenport, one of Camilla's sidekicks. Her vanity is only matched by Camilla's, and she is constantly considering how to pay for her next plastic surgery operation. She doesn't do very much in the series, other than offer an interestingly pessimistic (or perhaps simply half-drunken) point of view on most topics.
- Amelia BullmoreAmelia BullmoreAmelia Bullmore is an English actress and writer. She was born in London and studied drama at the University of Manchester. Bullmore started working as an actor but turned to writing in 1995...
- Joyce Hazeldine, the naïve newcomer to Little Stempington. She was first acquired by Barbara du Prez, but was sent underground into Camilla Diamond's group as an undercover spy soon after. She is not very brave to begin with, but soon learns to stand up to the villainous Camilla and by the end of the French incursion, she has managed to learn enough to threaten Camilla with exposure. When Camilla frames Barbara with several thousand pounds worth of HRT patches, Joyce is unexpectedly coerced into taking her place whilst she sits her stay in prison. - Cathryn BradshawCathryn BradshawCathryn Bradshaw is an English actress, perhaps best-known for her role in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.-Background:Bradshaw trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and graduated in 1987.-Career:...
- Margaret Littlefair, a sidekick of Barbara du Prez. A remarkably ditzy woman who seems to know a lot about making explosives and handling guns, for this she seems to be the 'good' counterpart to Lillian, with the slight difference that her aim is worse than Camilla's vanity. She was the one who managed to slip guns onto the ferry to France when Barbara and others left to help Joyce. - Lucy RobinsonLucy Robinson (actress)Lucy Robinson is a British actress working mostly in television. She has had roles as Robyn Duff in the fifth series of Cold Feet, Mayoress Christabel Wickham in season two of The Thin Blue Line and Pam Draper in Suburban Shootout....
- Pam Draper, a sidekick of Barbara du Prez. She is likely the most posh member of the 'good' gang, and she is always seen in a clean and pressed suit. She has very little actual compassion for the people she combats, even threatening to castrate a man if he didn't start speaking 'the Queen's English'. Overall, she can be very nice, but like Hilary Davenport, plays little role in the actual series. - Emma KennedyEmma KennedyEmma Kennedy is an English actress, writer and television presenter....
- Lillian Gordon-Moore, one of Camilla's sidekicks. A definite tomboy, Lillian has more than a passing passion for firearms, and can handle virtually any weapon you put in her hands. Usually dressed in leather trousers or jodhpurs, despite saying little she exudes an air of menace. She seems to have a growing crush on Joyce, and held her in a rather suggestive position upon pulling her from Emile de Prez's detonated car. She had planted the explosive, an out of date model, saying that she had thought she had gotten a bargain, more likely to save Joyce. - Ralph InesonRalph InesonRalph Ineson is an English actor best known for playing the character of Chris Finch on the BBC television programme The Office. He has a rich Yorkshire accent and is an avid supporter of Leeds United A.F.C. Ralph Ineson was educated at Woodleigh School, North Yorkshire...
- Jeremy Hazeldine, Joyce's husband and the new local superintendent. He's very much used to the hustle and bustle of the larger city police force, so is always so remarkably bored in Little Stempington, where the housewives ensure that everything is kept calm and quiet. At one point he thinks Joyce is having an affair, and at others he is drugged with Viagra by Camilla, but eventually things calm down and he honestly starts to enjoy life in the "quiet" town. - Vincenzo Nicoli - Emile Lesoux, the French drug dealer Camilla gets her drugs from. He seems to adore Joyce in an odd way, even after being shot in the leg and being cheated out of his money, and because of his phone calls Jeremy begins suspecting Joyce of having an affair. Initially, Joyce tells Jeremy that he's a cheese merchant, but eventually he is caught for several crimes include drug trafficking and kidnapKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
.
Production
- The Little Stempington town sign was only seen in the first four episodes in season one, because the writer, Roger Beckett, stole it from the set. It is currently under his bed in his house.
- Most of the filming was done in PinnerPinner- Climate :Pinner's geographical position on the far western side of North West London makes it the furthest London suburb from any UK coastline. Hence the lower prevalence of moderating maritime influences make Pinner noticeably warmer in the spring and the summer compared to the rest of the capital...
, London.
American Spin off
The HBO cable network commissioned a television pilot of a U.S. version of "Suburban Shootout" in 2008. Men In BlackMen in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
and Addams Family
The Addams Family (film)
The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams....
director Barry Sonnenfeld
Barry Sonnenfeld
Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He worked as cinematographer for the Coen brothers, then later he directed and produced big budget films such as Men in Black.-Life and career:...
directed and co-executive produced the pilot, which was filmed entirely in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York, in September 2008. The show stars Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston is an American actress and former model.- Early years :Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Linda, was an administrator of a mental health center, and her father, who worked for an agricultural firm, drowned when Preston was three years old...
as Camilla Diamond, Judy Greer
Judy Greer
Judy Greer is an American actress, known for portraying a string of supporting female characters, including Kitty Sanchez on the Fox series Arrested Development and Cheryl on the animated comedy series Archer...
, Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer.Birdsong was born on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, one of five sisters. She may be best-known for her role as Deputy Cherisha Kimball on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. She is a former correspondent on The Daily Show and...
, Kerri Kenney-Silver
Kerri Kenney-Silver
Kerri Kenney-Silver is an American actress, comedian, singer and writer best known as a cast member on MTV's The State and for her role as Deputy Trudy Wiegel on the Comedy Central series, Reno 911!.-Early life:...
and Rachael Harris
Rachael Harris
Rachael Elaine Harris is an American actress and comedian.-Early life:Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School...
. HBO has yet to announce whether or not the series will be picked up. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8cb71d29182efee634bd6ed3788684f8