The Old Guys

• Main
• YMMV
• Wikipedia
• All Subpages
• Create New

Tom and Roy

"I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy. I'm happy, I'm happy, and I'll punch the man who says I'm not."

The Old Guys is a sitcom starring Clive Swift and Roger Lloyd-Pack and was created by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, the minds behind Peep Show. The show follows Tom (Lloyd-Pack) and Roy (Swift) as they navigate their twilight years. Sounds idyllic, right? They're basically expies of Mark and Jeremy, so their twilight years consist of verbal abuse, lusting after unattainable women, and Failure Is the Only Option.

Tropes used in The Old Guys include:

• Comedic Sociopathy: Sally and Tom.
• Cringe Comedy
• Deadpan Snarker: Roy. "Partial rather than abject humiliation, hurray."
• Expy: Picture Jeremy and Mark in 30 years. Actually, just check the top of the page!
• Failure Is the Only Option: If Roy tries to convince everyone that he is not a doddering old man whose mind is going, he will invariably end up on the floor of a public toilet, having just accidentally peeked on a man with his trousers down, pretending that he's senile to escape the usual fallout.
• Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Sally, the next-door object of the boys' desperate affections. Also "Sexy Barbara", the Hot Librarian.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: Tom and Roy. One episode involves Tom trying to get Roy to marry him as part of a pension scam, and Roy agrees after Tom promises "No bed stuff!"
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Roy, Clive Swift, is Richard of Keeping Up Appearances and Lloyd-Pack was Owen on The Vicar of Dibley.
  • I think Richard finally got fed-up with being hen-pecked and ran off to another show and changed his name to get away from Hyacinth!
  • Tom's daughter Amber is Jen from The IT Crowd, and Amber's boyfriend, Steve, is 'Blinky' Ben Swain.
• Not So Above It All: Roy appears very sophisticated, but he's not above getting involved in childish tests of will, like who will break and do the big shop first.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Tom and Roy again. Roy is normally polite, but Tom is a Jerkass.