Not Going Out

Pun-heavy British sitcom staring Lee Mack and Tim Vine as best friends Lee and Tim. Lee lives with landlord Kate, Tim's ex-girlfriend; Kate moves back to America in the second series and is replaced by Tim's sister Lucy. Other supporting characters include Lee's cleaner Barbara (in series 2 and 3) and Tim's girlfriend Daisy (from series 2 onwards).


 * Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male: Betty attacking Lee in "Fireworks".
 * Averted with Miranda Hart's first appearance as an acupuncturist, which sees Lee attacking her as a background joke.
 * Actor Allusion: A subtle one. In "Art", Lee drops the line "everyone's a comedian" just after fellow comedian Justin Edwards leaves. Considering how many people in single-episode appearances or even walk-on parts were comedians, it's not far from the truth.
 * In a series 2 episode, Lee pretends to be a doctor to get access to Lucy's boyfriend's daughter. This is likely a reference to the time Lee Mack bluffed his way into an appointment-booking job at a hospital.
 * A Worldwide Punomenon
 * Cannot Tell a Joke: Kate
 * Daisy as well, due to being The Malaproper.
 * Curse Cut Short: Subverted in a series 3 episode, where Lee said "f-" before the opening titles interrupted him. After the opening, the scene picked up where it left off: "-uck."
 * Also, Lucy ends an episode telling Lee, "You can be a real c-" *closing titles*
 * Daddy DNA Test: The plot of one series 4 episode, where a 20-year-old girl arrives claiming Lee might be her father... only for it to transpire that her mother slept with Tim in the same week.
 * The Danza: Both of the main characters.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Everyone to an extent.
 * The Ditz: Daisy
 * Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Lee and Tim frequently invokes this when a Lesbian couple moves downstairs.
 * Hypocritical Humour: Lee rarely has a job, but constantly berates Barbara for never appearing to do hers.
 * Hurricane of Puns
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: At least once a minute.
 * Innocent Innuendo: When Lucy mentions she's planning to stay in with a bottle of wine and a "Chick Flick", Lee imagines it a completely different way.
 * Line-of-Sight Name: Lee pretends his son's name is George whilst he's trying to convince a drugs counsellor of his existence. The name 'George' comes from the (female) counsellor's shirt.
 * One-Hour Work Week: Barbara the Cleaner. Lee often jokes about the last time he saw Barbara actually clean something?
 * The Other Darrin: Tim and Lucy's father was recast between series 3 and 4.
 * Playing Against Type: Tim Vine usually plays the straight man despite his stand-up act being nothing but a stream of puns and one lines.
 * Promotion to Opening Titles: Daisy in series 4, replacing Barbara's spot in the sequence.
 * Pungeon Master: Lee more than anyone else.
 * Retroactive Wish
 * Shipper on Deck: Barbara, for Lee/Lucy.
 * Shout-Out: The cold opening to the episode Life on Mars Bars is a reconstruction of the opening to Life On Mars.
 * Suspiciously Apropos Music: The karaoke song Tim starts singing the same moment
 * Terrible Interviewees Montage: Lee's attempt at speed-dating.
 * Uncancelled: After the third series.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Lee and Tim.