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{{quote|''"I've made a psycho call to the woman I love, kicked a dog to death and I'm about to pepper-spray an acquaintance... I mean, what's happened to me?"''}}
'''''Peep Show''''' (2003-2015) is a ''very'' [[Black Comedy|darkly comical]] show about two very ordinary weirdos: Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne (Robert Webb), a manchild and would-be musician, and Mark Corrigan ([[David Mitchell]]), a fifty-year-old in a thirtysomething body. The show's gimmick is that (with very few exceptions) every camera shot in the show is taken from the point of view of one of the characters, whether Jez and Mark or just someone passing by. It also allows the viewer to hear the internal thought processes of both Mark and Jez as they bumble through their lives... and the show makes good on its promise of showing us ''everything'' going on in their heads.
The central pair are accompanied by a gradually evolving supporting cast of friends, friends' friends and girlfriends, including Mark's love interest Sophie, [[Jerk Jock]] [[
{{tropelist}}
* [[Achievements in Ignorance]]: Jeremy manages to win at poker by not knowing the rules and mistaking a crap hand for an unbeatable one. Later on, he impresses Zara with some rather idiotic statements that she mistakes for hipster irony gags...in fact, it's safe to say Jeremy pulls these off fairly regularly.
* [[Addiction Displacement]]: Super Hans (briefly) replaces drugs with olives, knitting and long-distance running.
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** Played straight when Mark rescues Jeremy from a book group he is attending in spite of having not read the book or ''any'' book, for that matter - apart from Mr Nice.
* [[Big Word Shout]]: Mark's use of the f-word as part of his inner monologue after Sophie tells him she's pregnant.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: If either Jeremy or Mark ends a series on a high note, its virtually guaranteed that the other will be losing out.
* [[Black Comedy]]: Few shows come darker than this one.
* [[Blessed Are the Cheesemakers]]: When Mark met Dobby. She carries ''personal cheese''.
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* [[Butt Monkey]]: Mark. Bloody. Corrigan.
* [[Canon Discontinuity]]: Jez used to be a nurse, but the writers have decided to "forget" this as evidenced by the first episode of series 7, where he has to have basic medical terms explained to him. Although this might explain why he is no longer a nurse: like most jobs he takes they don't tend to last long because he's useless at them.
** Likewise, Jeremy gets chlamydia twice in the series; once sometime before series 3 and the next in series 5. The first time round he knows its 'symptomless' yet the second time knows absolutely nothing about the disease and must have it explained to him.
** Also, Mark manages to drive Johnson's car very slowly in first gear in series 1, yet in series 6 he knows so little about finding the biting point that he damages the clutch of his instructors car. Most likely these throwaway bits of dialogue were discontinued to make for [[Rule of Funny|funnier jokes and plotlines]].
* [[Character Development]]: Jez begins to understand himself and how pathetic he is more as the series goes on. Also, the entire relationship between Mark and Jeremy; Jeremy goes from looking down on Mark to truly appreciating him in the later series. Even Mark shows signs of caring for Jez.
** Especially evident in the series 7 Christmas episode, where Jeremy buys Mark some well-thought out presents that he is genuinely appreciative of and even spends 'hours' on the internet researching what turkey he thinks Mark would appreciate best for Christmas dinner. While Mark doesn't do the same, but he's tight-fisted with everyone, including his family.
*** Although to be fair to Mark, he was unemployed and [[Money, Dear Boy|skint at the time]].
** At the end of the New Year's episode, {{spoiler|Mark arranges to move in with Dobby. Jeremy's plans to move in with Zahra have fallen through but even with no place to live, Jeremy realises that Mark wants to move on and lets him go.}} Of course, the next series will tell...
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Toni just vanishes between series 2 and 3 with no in-show explanation.
** Nancy also seems to disappear without explanation, particularly noitceable because {{spoiler|she and Jez got married so she (an American) could stay in England after her visa expired. Did they get divorced or what?}}
* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: Mark, after leaving a truly cringeworthy message on Sophie's answerphone.
* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: From the Quantocks episode:
{{quote|'''Jeremy''': I'll go get us help!
'''Mark''': No...don't go, Jez. [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|Because...and I'm not being rude...if you go, you won't come back. You'll leave me here to die.]]
'''Jeremy''': [[Comically Missing the Point|Aha! So you admit we might die!]] }}
* [[Continuity Nod]]: The show is remarkably consistant, briefly revisiting old plot points and character habits as throwaway [[Brick Joke|brick jokes]] for the more astute fans to pick up on.
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* [[Eating Lunch Alone]]: This turns out to be a saving grace for Mark when he finds Dobby eating lunch alone. He sits next to her after returning to work due to everyone else hating him for 'jilting' Sophie.
* [[Even the Guys Want Him]]: Mark has this for his boss, Alan Johnson. Jez has it for Stu the monk.
** Among fans, it's Super Hans.
* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: The entire ''premise'' of the series. Each small success just sets the main characters up for a big fall.
* [[Fanfic]]: Sort-of '[[Live Episode|live]]' version, as one enterprising fan [http://tomdavenport.tumblr.com/post/221291048/peepshow?dsq=20891557 tweeted]{{Dead link}} as the characters ''while the episodes were broadcasting''
* [[Flanderization]]: Jeremy becomes more selfish and childish in series 5 and 6.
** He seems to be getting better as of Series 7, notably the Christmas episode in which he buys Mark many presents he knew he would love.
** Johnson's accent also seems to get more exaggerated and ridiculous as the show goes on.
** Let's not forget Big Suze, who goes from posh accented but nice to, for lack of a better term, posh bitch for the later series.
* [[Faux Yay]]: Invoked when Jeremy and Mark are caught in Ben's flat. Ben doesn't buy it.
{{quote|'''Ben''': You aren't gay guys! You two look like shit for gay guys!}}
* [[Feigning Intelligence]]: In series 7 Jeremy tries this approach in an attempt to woo beautiful intellectual Zahra. Interestingly it is heavily implied that Zahra is ''herself'' using this trope, coming across as something of an intellectual poseur who is neither as deep nor as bright as she seems.
* [[Foreign People Are Sexy]]: Elena, Nancy. Uncommonly for its genre, the show tends to have foreign love interest characters come from English-speaking countries: American Nancy, Canadian Merry and Australian Saz.
* [[Freudian Excuse]]: When Jeremy joins the cult he cites a rocky childhood with his dad leaving when he was 10. Moreso is Mark; it is implied he had a miserable childhood, with a switch from private to state education, neglect/emotional abuse from his father and infidelity from both parents. This is turned up to eleven in Series 7 when we get to meet Mark's father and understand how much of a [[Unusual Euphemism|cocknob]] he is.
* [[Friendship Moment]]: More than you'd expect from a black comedy. One which stands out is Jez coming to sit in the car with Mark after his wedding day has [[Gone Horribly Wrong]].
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Jeremy remarks in series 7 that his intentions are to juggle his job and trying to have sex with the boss's girlfriend "until it all blows up in [his] stupid face". In the same episode, Mark wonders what he is going to do that will prevent him from staying with Dobby immediately after getting together with her.
* [[Girl of the Week]]: In almost every episode in series 5, Mark finds a new love interest who he thinks might be 'the one', only for them to leave him at the end of the episode.
* [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]]: Played with. Jeremy initially doesn't mind Elena two timing him with a woman [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"because it's hot!"]] but he later becomes very jealous, possibly murderously so.
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* [[Insult Backfire]]: Jez about Mark. "He took the insult as a compliment! Shit, he could become invulnerable!"
* [[Intentionally Awkward Title]]
* [[Jaded Washout]]: Mark, with the "glory days" replaced with more trauma.
* [[Jerk Jock]]: Jeff Heaney, an arrogant and confident bully who believes men are programmed to do two things: "Kill, and knob". Hopefully one day Mark will give him a nice punch in the chops for all the abuse he's received.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Jez. Granted, it's not a lot of gold. Maybe an atom or two. But it's there, so it technically counts.
* [[Just Eat Gilligan]]: Many, but not all, of Mark's problems would be avoided if he cut Jez (and by extension Superhans) out of his life.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: The treatment that Mark gets in the workplace after he ''ostensibly'' goes through with the marriage having been caught hiding in the church.
** Closely followed by a very [[Unusual Euphemism|literal]] [[Pet the Dog]] in the stationary cupboard with Dobby.
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** [[Word of God|Word Of Actor]] describes it as [http://twitter.com/#!/RealDMitchell/status/20265785125502976 "The worst thing you can possibly imagine but less hygienic".]
** Mark, in "Jeremy's Manager": "We promised not to do the funny voices anymore! Not after ''that week.''"
** The two of them occasionally remind each other of their university days as the ''El dude brothers''. Mostly when one wants the other to do something. How they earned that nickname or how they actually met, is never revealed.
* [[Odd Couple]]: Mark (uptight, socially retarded, clean freak) and Jez (relaxed, socially capable, a bit grubby) at first glance. However they're both introverted and neurotic, with Jez more socially uptight than Mark in many ways. He's desperate to appear cool in front of people like Super Hans, but ends up looking smug and pretentious.
* [[Operation: Jealousy]]: Toni having sex with Jez in front of her estranged husband, Nancy telling Jez to sleep on the couch because she's planning of bringing home a one night stand after discovering {{spoiler|he cheated on her}}, Sophie flirting with Jeff after she walked out on Mark after he tried to get out of marrying her by hiding on their wedding day and Jez's unsuccessful attempt to make Elena jealous by flirting with Mark's sister.
** At the end of the 4th series he realises what (funny though he is) an arse Super Hans is.
* [[Pac-Man Fever]]: Averted. In early series, Mark is shown to be playing Blitzkrieg and Tetris Worlds, then relatively recent games. [[
** "The Playstation! I'd nearly broken through on [[Medal of Honor]]! [[Crowning Moment of Funny|That was 120 hours of quality 'me' time!]]"
** "The sofa's out, Jeremy's busy murdering pedestrians on [[Grand Theft Auto]]."
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* [[Sadist Show]]: Pure and simple.
* [[Sanctuary of Solitude]]: Jeremy stumbled across Mark praying in the church on the latter's (much-dreaded) wedding day. Mark unconvincingly insisted he was simply "kneeling".
* [[Serious Business]]: Johnson talks about the [[
* [[
* [[Sociopathic Hero]]: Jez, if you don't mind stretching the definition of heroism quite a bit.
** Mark, a history buff, envisages everyday social interactions in terms of epic historical military campaigns.
* [[Stalking Is Love]]: At least in Marks eyes. He hacks into Sophie's email account, spys on her through his offices security camera, manipulates situations to spend time with her, and follows her on dates.
** This is Mark's usual strategy for all women; Sophie is just one in a long line of er... catches. Let's not forget he managed to 'do a Columbo' and collect information on April the shoe shop girl, then track her down and find her at university. Mark also goes so far as to catch five buses to get across town to see Dobby, as well as spying on her when she was at a party with Gerard. Luckily for him, Dobby knows Mark better than himself so takes a more lenient stance on his behaviour than Sophie did.
* [[Stylistic Suck]]: The song that Jeremy is shown working on in the very first scene of the series.
* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: "Of course I did all the lessons! What else would I have been doing, watching the frankly overrated ''The Wire'' on DVD day after day?"
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Controlling, scary, kinky, insane Michelle, who turns up between seasons to replace controlling, scary, kinky insane Toni. Sophie's mildly unhinged Jeremy-worshipping little brother Jeremy is also replaced by Sophie's mildly unhinged Jeremy-worshipping cousin Barney. They don't even try to hide it, casting people who even look like the character they're replacing.
* [[Talking Heads]]: Due to the way the show is filmed, it's a fresh spin on the old formula.
▲* [[Ted Baxter]]: Jeremy acts like one. Unusually, he's aware of how pathetic he is but hasn't got a clue how else to behave.
* [[The Ghost]]: Mark's semi-legendary father up until series 7. Also, the two have a friend called Peg who is frequently mentioned yet never seen.
* [[The Teetotaler]]: {{spoiler|Johnson}} is a teetotal former alcoholic before he snaps at the end of series 7 during {{spoiler|Big Suze's}} New Year's Eve party.
* [[Those Wacky Nazis]]: "[[Putting on the Reich|I'm becoming the Fuhrer]]! The Fuhrer of Laughs!". Mark also dresses up as a German soldier for a WWII reenactment.
* [[Took a Level
* [[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth]]: One of the New Year's parties where Mark and crew are trying to find Dobby; it's so depraved it makes Super Hans think it's too much. Mitchell describes it as "[http://twitter.com/#!/RealDMitchell/status/20265785125502976 the worst thing you can possibly imagine but less hygenic]".
* [[12 Angry Men]]: Jez just can't resist any opportunity to "stick it to [[The Man]]" in this scenario, no matter how belated.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:British Series]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Britcom]]
[[Category:Peep Show]]
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