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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think The Inbetweeners is crap?

182 replies

tvchoice · 13/04/2025 10:20

And Friday Night Dinner is much better (both containing Simon Bird)? Just find that the Inbetweeners is full of too much dirty language for no reason and irritating 'lad humour'. At least with FND, the dynamic between the family (particularly Jackie and Martin), but also brilliant supporting characters such as Jim and the two Grandmas, make it a much better TV show? Does anyone agree?
On the poll, YABU means the Inbetweeners is better and YANBU means Friday Night Dinner is better😊

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MusicMakesItAllBetter · 15/04/2025 18:02

I like them both but FND was (is) genius 👏🏼

AnAlpacaForChristmasPleaseSanta · 15/04/2025 17:51

JandamiHash · 15/04/2025 16:05

I actually do think Inbetweeners was a bit misogynistic in the way it portrayed the women and girls of one of two types of people: sex mad; or moody and stuck up. But it was of its time and it was about teenage boys who were total idiots and didn’t ever come out on top with women - except in the movies but then you have to have a happy ending in the movies!

I agree with you but in the second (and IMO superior) film Neil & Will's girlfriends had disappeared without trace, Simon's was revealed to be a psycho who was making his life hell and Jay had been dumped by Jane and was trying to front it out but his wobbling lip kept letting him down 😂. So they never really came out on top.

JandamiHash · 15/04/2025 16:05

I actually do think Inbetweeners was a bit misogynistic in the way it portrayed the women and girls of one of two types of people: sex mad; or moody and stuck up. But it was of its time and it was about teenage boys who were total idiots and didn’t ever come out on top with women - except in the movies but then you have to have a happy ending in the movies!

Thalia31 · 14/04/2025 23:39

MrPrehistoric · 13/04/2025 10:24

Respectfully, I think the Inbetweeners is a cultural masterpiece. I've never seen a show that relates so directly to a whole generation (Gen Z I suppose). It's truly like watching a documentary of a British secondary school, rather than a scripted comedy.

Gen-Z??? You mean millennials

echt · 14/04/2025 22:11

The girls are invariably presented as sensible and straightforward, having none of the delusions of the boys. They are never the butt of jokes, made to look like losers, if my memory serves me correctly.
For the most part, so are the parents are normal too, with the exception of Jay's repellent dad.
The head of sixth, Mr Gilbert, is priceless. I see him as saying out loud and all the time the very things that most teachers will have thought at some time.

Loopytiles · 14/04/2025 14:57

The sexism in the writing isn’t the bits where we laugh at the boys being idiots, it’s all the female characters.

Maaate · 14/04/2025 08:07

Kilroyonly · 13/04/2025 23:34

Are women honestly seriously offended by this tv show? What is the problem with life for some women. I’m so glad I’m happily married to a normal man that has sex with me regularly, cares for our children without being asked, clean, watches porn I’m sure & I honestly don’t care as we watch it together (any man that says he doesn’t is a liar). Is present in every aspect of our lives , has boundaries, has principles, has respect for me & I of him..is anything other than this what some people honestly believe is normal

Wow you're so cool 😎

SallyWD · 14/04/2025 07:58

fuckingangrybirdbrows · 14/04/2025 07:06

oh shush don't be so bloody serious.

the butt of the joke is always the boys. They don't tend to punch down at all

Exactly, we're laughing at the immature boys and how pathetic they are.

fuckingangrybirdbrows · 14/04/2025 07:06

Cyclebabble · 13/04/2025 21:04

I think Inbetweeners is quite funny in parts. I agree though that even though it is not that old it has not aged well. Male sixth formers being grossly sexist and immature does not sit right in 2024 in the same way it did 15 years ago.

oh shush don't be so bloody serious.

the butt of the joke is always the boys. They don't tend to punch down at all

SiobhanSharpe · 14/04/2025 01:42

I’m rewatching FND and find it very bittersweet, in retrospect. But i was also surprised to find nyself laughing out loud. Especially the episode where nice grandma gets locked in the boot of the car.
Yes, Pissface and Pussface can be annoying, likewise neighbour/‘friend‘ Jim but it’s the relationship between Martin and Jackie that was so touching. Tamsin Greig is superb and I’m still mourning Paul Ritter.
I’d love to see a one off special for a Christmas (!) show with Jackie widowed and the boys coming home with their families. Jonny would probably be divorced while Jackie has dipped her toe in the dating pool and has a new man friend.
The boys can’t stand him, of course and revert to their 28-going-on-13-yr old selves to get rid of him. And the repellant Jim would still be fruitlessly panting after Jackie (shudder).

hellywelly3 · 14/04/2025 00:50

Love them both as do my teenage and early 20’s kids.

NoRoseTintedGlasses · 14/04/2025 00:31

I wasn't a big fan of Inbetweeners when it first came out but as I've matured I think it's a masterpiece. No way would something like that be acceptable nowadays. It's hilarious, relatable and so noughties (late), before all these snowflakes were melting

EmeraldDreams73 · 14/04/2025 00:24

I absolutely love both.

I'm in my early fifties and love being able to watch both with my daughters, who also love them.

The genius of Inbetweeners is that the "lads" have zero luck with girls (except Neil, who doesn't even really try). Their characters are enduring despite their awful attitudes because we see just enough of their home lives/parents to feel a modicum of sympathy for Jay with his awful father, for example.

I watch FND with my elderly parents who also find it hilarious. Absolutely wouldn't watch IB with them though!

Crazybaby123 · 14/04/2025 00:04

In betweeners was really funny, I found found FND a bit boring. (Millenial here)

JandamiHash · 14/04/2025 00:03

Mnetcurious · 13/04/2025 23:47

It took me two goes to get into it. Watched a few episodes and gave up. Tried again a few years later and now I’ve watched all the series twice. Same with Schitts Creek which also took a couple of tries but is now one of my favourites ever.

Edited

YES YES YES to Schitt’s Creek! I always tell people to persevere because the later seasons are the best.I nearly gave up on it but so pleased I didn’t

Mnetcurious · 13/04/2025 23:47

JandamiHash · 13/04/2025 17:15

I really couldn’t get in to Friday Night Dinner. I maybe just need to give it another go only watched a few episodes

It took me two goes to get into it. Watched a few episodes and gave up. Tried again a few years later and now I’ve watched all the series twice. Same with Schitts Creek which also took a couple of tries but is now one of my favourites ever.

ThatsNotMyTeen · 13/04/2025 23:37

Jc2001 · 13/04/2025 21:12

I was in my mid 30s when it came out and I found Inbetweeners very funny, as did much of my peer group, some a lot older than me, so it wasn't aimed at teenagers at all. It had quite wide appeal.

Same

ThatsNotMyTeen · 13/04/2025 23:36

Mnetcurious · 13/04/2025 23:35

Haha, we say “too jazzy?” all the time, about loads of things. Brilliant line.

Us too

ThatsNotMyTeen · 13/04/2025 23:35

BinChicken1 · 13/04/2025 10:28

I love the Inbetweeners 😂

Fully appreciate it has not aged well. But I don’t care.

I loved FND as well, but they are two very different shows and you can’t really compare them, IMO.

This

love them both

Mnetcurious · 13/04/2025 23:35

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/04/2025 11:39

Neil had a sweet gormless innocence to him.

My daughter will always say "Too Jazzy?" When I look at clothes and am undecided

Haha, we say “too jazzy?” all the time, about loads of things. Brilliant line.

Kilroyonly · 13/04/2025 23:34

Are women honestly seriously offended by this tv show? What is the problem with life for some women. I’m so glad I’m happily married to a normal man that has sex with me regularly, cares for our children without being asked, clean, watches porn I’m sure & I honestly don’t care as we watch it together (any man that says he doesn’t is a liar). Is present in every aspect of our lives , has boundaries, has principles, has respect for me & I of him..is anything other than this what some people honestly believe is normal

singlewhitetrashheap · 13/04/2025 23:30

tvchoice · 13/04/2025 10:20

And Friday Night Dinner is much better (both containing Simon Bird)? Just find that the Inbetweeners is full of too much dirty language for no reason and irritating 'lad humour'. At least with FND, the dynamic between the family (particularly Jackie and Martin), but also brilliant supporting characters such as Jim and the two Grandmas, make it a much better TV show? Does anyone agree?
On the poll, YABU means the Inbetweeners is better and YANBU means Friday Night Dinner is better😊

Yep. It's absolute shite.

Mnetcurious · 13/04/2025 23:29

MrPrehistoric · 13/04/2025 10:33

I was born in 2001, and firmly relate to this. Shall we agree it is a late millenial/early gen Z show?

No because me and my husband are late gen X and we’ve always liked it!

Mnetcurious · 13/04/2025 23:18

I love both. First watched the inbetweeners when I was still relatively young (late 20s), maybe I wouldn’t enjoy it so much if I watched it for the first time now (mid-40s) but I do still watch repeats and find it funny. Yes there’s crass humour but you’re laughing at them and their silly youthfulness rather than actually finding the characters funny.

doreeen · 13/04/2025 23:10

Someone on TikTok does ‘the inbetweeners if it was modern day’ and it’s brilliant