Almost Royal
{{Short description|British-American television series}}
{{Infobox television
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| genre = Comedy
| creator =
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| writer = {{unbulleted list | Ed Gamble | Jason Hazeley | Amy Hoggart | Samantha Martin | Joel Morris | Seamus Murphy-Mitchell | Tom Neenan | Piers Torday}}
| director = Chris Faith/Marcus Liversedge
| creative_director =
| presenter =
| starring = Ed Gamble, Amy Hoggart
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| voices =
| narrated = Gemma Whelan
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| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_seasons = 2
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| executive_producer = Clive Tulloh
| producer = Seamus Murphy-Mitchell
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| channel = BBC America
| first_aired = {{Start date|2014|06|21}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2016|02|08}}
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}}
Almost Royal is a British-American faux-reality television comedy series on the BBC America network. It is their first original first-run comedy series. It follows the lives of two clueless British aristocrat siblings—Georgie and Poppy Carlton—visiting the United States for the first time. The series stars Ed Gamble and Amy Hoggart as Georgie and Poppy, respectively. It is produced by Burning Bright Productions and premiered on June 21, 2014.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/worldwide/2014/almost-royal | title=BBC AMERICA's Commissions First Original Comedy Series Almost Royal | work=BBC America | date=March 25, 2014 | accessdate=June 20, 2014}} Although Georgie and Poppy are both portrayed by actors, the Americans with whom they interact are not aware of this.{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/feature/a589224/almost-royal-what-you-need-to-know-about-e4s-cheeky-new-show/|title=Almost Royal: What's E4's new show about?|website=Digital Spy |date=10 August 2014|publisher=}} On December 4, 2014, the show was renewed for an eight-episode second season, which started airing on January 18, 2016.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2014/12/almost-royal-renewed-second-season-bbc-america-1201308933/|title='Almost Royal' Renewed For Second Season By BBC America|first=Denise|last=Petski|date=4 December 2014|publisher=}}
Plot
The series begins after Georgie and Poppy's father suffers a fatal accident. His dying wish was for his children to travel to the United States, a country he loved. Thus, Georgie and Poppy travel across the Atlantic, first to Los Angeles, then to Boston, and other well-known American cities.{{cite web | url=https://www.avclub.com/review/almost-royal-takes-down-posh-and-patriotic-205856 | title=Almost Royal takes down the posh and the patriotic | work=The A.V. Club | date=June 19, 2014 | accessdate=June 20, 2014 | first=Caroline |last=Framke}} Georgie hopes to become more manly from learning about the United States, while Poppy hopes to procure a job that does not require very much work, such as acting.{{cite web | url=http://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Almost-Royal-review-Silly-slice-of-BBC-America-5554350.php | title='Almost Royal' review: Silly slice of BBC America nobility | work=San Francisco Chronicle | date=June 15, 2014 | accessdate=June 20, 2014 | last=Wiegand |first=David}} Georgie and Poppy often try out new things they deem "American" such as shooting guns, meeting a barista, making a Twitter account, and working at a car repair shop. Usually, Poppy takes the spotlight even in areas she is bad at, and Georgie compliments Poppy no matter her skill level.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/almost-royal/about|title=About the Show - BBC America|publisher=}} In the introduction to every episode their ranking in line to inherit the throne changes, always 50 or more places away.
Episodes
=Season 1=
| class="wikitable" | |||
| # in line | |||
| #
!Title ! colspan="2" |Order for Throne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 50th | 51st |
| 2 | Boston | 83rd | 84th |
| 3 | Texas | 74th | 75th |
| 4 | New York | 78th | 79th |
| 5 | Detroit | 98th | 99th |
| 6 | Washington DC | 69th | 70th |
| 7 | Nashville | 50th | 51st |
=Season 2=
| class="wikitable" | ||||
| # in line | ||||
| #
!Title ! colspan="2" | Order for Throne !Airdate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beauty | 60th | 61st | 18 January 2016 |
| 2 | Great Outdoors | 68th | 69th | 18 January 2016 |
| 3 | Sports | 78th | 79th | 25 January 2016 |
| 4 | Romance | 80th | 81st | 25 January 2016 |
| 5 | Future | 58th | 59th | 1 February 2016 |
| 6 | Law and Order | 59th | 60th | 1 February 2016 |
| 7 | Work | 70th | 71st | 8 February 2016 |
| 8 | Holidays | 63rd | 64th | 8 February 2016 |
Critical reception
According to review aggregator website Metacritic, Almost Royal has a score of 71%, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/tv/almost-royal|title=Almost Royal|website=Metacritic |publisher=}} One favorable review was written by Brian Lowry for Variety, who praised the show for its "...mix of deft writing and [Amy and Ed]'s deadpan improvisational skills."{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-almost-royal-1201219399/ | title=TV Review: 'Almost Royal' | work=Variety | date=19 June 2014 | accessdate=20 August 2014 | author=Lowry, Brian}} On Rotten Tomatoes, Almost Royal's season 1 has an aggregate score of 75% based on 9 positive and 3 negative critic reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Almost Royal refreshingly lampoons both American and British cultures without abjection and benefits from Gamble and Hoggart's keen improvisational skills."{{Cite web |title=Almost Royal |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/almost_royal/s01 |access-date=September 3, 2022 |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}
International airings
Almost Royal began airing on E4 in the UK on August 9, 2014{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/bbc-americas-almost-royal-this-boratstyle-royal-spoof-isntquite-out-of-the-top-drawer-9660051.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814142132/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/bbc-americas-almost-royal-this-boratstyle-royal-spoof-isntquite-out-of-the-top-drawer-9660051.html |archive-date=2014-08-14 |url-access=limited |url-status=live | title=BBC America's Almost Royal: This Borat-style royal spoof isn't quite out of the top drawer | work=The Independent | date=10 August 2014 | accessdate=20 August 2014 | author=Jones, Ellen E.}} and on The Comedy Channel in Australia on November 23, 2015.{{cite web|publisher=The Green Room|first=Charles|last=Purcell|url=http://community.foxtel.com.au/t5/Foxtel-Blog/New-This-Week-Nov-23-A-Place-To-Call-Home-finale-American-Music/ba-p/100509|title=New This Week (Nov 23): A Place To Call Home finale, American Music Awards, F1 and more |date=19 November 2015|accessdate=21 November 2015|archivedate=20 November 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120232524/http://community.foxtel.com.au/t5/Foxtel-Blog/New-This-Week-Nov-23-A-Place-To-Call-Home-finale-American-Music/ba-p/100509}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.bbcamerica.com/almost-royal/}}
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3727552/?ref_=nv_sr_1 IMDB page for Almost Royal]
Category:2010s American mockumentary television series
Category:2014 American television series debuts
Category:2016 American television series endings
Category:BBC America original programming