Walking and Talking vs Keeping Up with the Kardashians

 
So after years of fannying around the edges of drama and comedy, Sky has decided to grow up and put its spikes on. The result is the TV equivalent of Usain Bolt sauntering over to Crewe & Nantwich Athletics Club during a practise session and asking if he can have a wee go himself.

For those of us who tore ourselves in two struggling with the idea of propping up the devil’s empire, Sky Atlantic’s early weeknight schedules have proved the final nail in our soul’s coffin. Alan Partridge, Veep, Mad Men, Hit & Miss. In the words of Lord Leveson (if there’s any justice in the world): Murdoch, you utter bastard.

The channel brims with knockouts, but perhaps most endearing of all is Kathy Burke’s relatively unheralded comic drama, Walking and Talking. There isn’t much to it. It’s just a handheld camera following a couple of 14-year-old girls as they march, skip, wiggle and swagger along the street chattering about boys, music, their bodies, the future and how they see the world.

Their dance is occasionally punctuated by scenes shared with the local Glaswegian nutter (Jerry Sadowitz in a very rare TV spot) and a hilarious two-way with a couple of nuns, one of whom (the hard, joy-killing Irish bitch) is played by Burke herself.

Based on Burke’s own experience of being the sparky, funny, ambitious girl who no one fancied, it’s a rare gem. We don’t see believable, funny teenage girls taking the lead on TV very much; I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them portrayed more convincingly and with such charm.

Walking and Talking is drama born of truth. Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a documentary in a pink bubble floating over la-la land. For those not in the know, the Kardashian family are the A-listers of fake reality TV (sorry, TOWIE).

The new series sees hustling mother Kris leaning on daughter Khloe to take a DNA test to find out if it’s possible that she doesn’t share a father with her siblings (it might explain why she can’t keep the weight off, at least!)

It’s grotesquely fascinating, as long as watching over-privileged, self-fixated fame hunters with little education and less class fill their fridges, shop for make-up and swap wealthy husbands for wealthier boyfriends floats your boat. After an hour, though, it’ll make you feel dirtier than you would cleaning out James Murdoch’s swimming pool. 

Catch up with Walking and Talking on Sky Anytime