“Self-Indulgent? Moi?” or “We’ve created a monster!”

Taken from the Chris Lilley fansite:

January 26, 2010
Angry Boys update

I just wanted to quickly update you on the progress of Angry Boys. We’ve been shooting for a few months now and have started up again for 2010. It’s a really long shoot. And a really big show. So it’s going to take a while to put together. But its looking pretty good so far and hopefully quite funny. We’ve been shooting in all sorts of interesting places and we’re heading overseas in a while to shoot another component of the show. There’s lots of new characters, new wigs, new situations and surprises. The supporting cast is huge! And they’ve all been really good so far and it’s been really fun on set. Lots of laughs. Thanks for all your messages of support and for being patient in waiting for the new show. The shoot is flying by for me so hopefully we’ll have it all together and on tv before you know it. It’ll be on HBO in the U.S., BBC in the U.K. and ABC in Australia so stay tuned.

What didn’t get mentioned there – and only seems to have been announced in the middle of a press release yesterday – is that Angry Boys won’t screen here (or anywhere) until 2011. So we’re being told right now, in the second month of 2010, that Lilley’s latest series will not be finished for at least another year.  What the hell is he doing? Building an atomic bomb from scratch?

At a guess, I’m betting the “huge” supporting cast is mostly supporting Lilley in his need for drinks and snacks when the cameras aren’t rolling, because the only way this timeline makes any kind of sense is if he’s playing every single on-camera role himself.  Which, judging by the obvious trend in his work over the years, is in no way meant to be a joke. Fingers crossed that Angry Boys turns out to be a classic of the genre whenever it finally screens: at the rate he’s going, none of us will live long enough to see him finish his follow-up.