‘Gavin & Stacey’ Easy to Hang With

By David Kronke

“Gavin & Stacey” manages to be pretty crass and very sweet at the same time, which is a nice trick. It’s a love story about ordinary, run-of-the-mill love, which is to say, love that climbs out on a weak limb, walks the plank, does what seems foolhardy in the extreme, all for the mere pleasure of being happy with another person.

Gavin (Matthew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page) are office drones who work for the same company at different regional outlets — he in Essex, England; she in Wales. They met and befriended one another on the phone, discussing business, and, as tonight’s episode begins, are planning to meet each other in person for the first time.

In case things don’t work out, each brings a friend along — Stacey brings Nessa (Ruth Jones), who’s outsize in girth, personality and sexual ravenousness, while Gavin brings Smithy (James Corden), who’s a bit of a simpleton with a fondness for beer, any beer. When Smithy sees Nessa, he grouses to Gavin, “This is a nightmare of epic proportions. Look how big it is.” (The line’s even funnier, and crueler, when you know that Jones and Corden, who are, in fact, an item, created and wrote the series.)

But things work out. Swimmingly. For Gavin and Stacey, and, to a lesser extent, for Smithy and Nessa, but to the largest extent for the series in general. Gavin and Stacey would seem to be perfect for one another, but there’s a lot of nay-saying and doubt and irksome recriminations among family and friends.

Initially, it seems that Corden and Jones have populated the couple’s families with cardboard-cutout eccentrics: Stacey’s uncle (Rob Brydon) is an amusingly not-so-tech-savvy tech geek, while Gavin’s mom (Allison Steadman) sweats every detail of how she’s perceived by the world at large. She’d fare far better if she didn’t fret so much.

But the writing is actually far more nuanced: Everyone is allowed moments of grace and wisdom amid their foibles. “Gavin & Stacey” is equally at home with quietly touching scenes and crowd-pleasing laughs.

The show had a designed short run of 13 episodes, which accounted for two seasons in England (the first season of six episodes, which were made available for review, led up to the couple’s wedding day).

BBC America will present the entire series (which won England’s equivalent of the best comedy Emmy and is being adapted by NBC as an American sitcom) without interruption over the next 13 weeks.

“Gavin & Stacey’s” insights into matters of the heart are surprisingly sage: Love isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but it’s love, and what’s better than that?

David Kronke, (818) 713-3638

david.kronke@dailynews.com

www.insidesocal.com/tv/

GAVIN & STACEY – Three and one half stars

>What: A woman from Wales and a man from England seem made for one another – if their friends and family don’t ruin things.

>Where: BBC America.

>When: 8:40 tonight.

>In a nutshell: Funny enough, with a very sweet vibe.

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