TV review: The American Roadtrip: Obama's Story; Harry & Paul

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/oct/28/the-american-roadtrip-obamas-story

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Matt Frei has himself a pick-up truck; he's hitting the road, going in search of the American Dream. "Somewhere along the line I know there'll be girls, visions, everything," he says dreamily, arm hanging louchely out of the open window. "Somewhere along the line the pearl will be handed to me."

Oh, sorry, no he doesn't, my mistake; that's Sal in On The Road. But Frei does seem to be feeling the freedom of the open road, released from the seriousness of being a serious Channel 4 news person (Washington correspondent, now presenter).

This – <strong>The American Roadtrip: Obama's Story</strong> (Channel 4, Sunday) – is serious television; Frei is testing the temperature in the crucial midwest swing states ahead of next week's election. But he does have a Dodge Ram 1500 dual cab. He can let himself go a bit, put on a pair of sunnies, lose the tie. It's a bit like bumping into your teacher during the holidays, at the beach.

And there may not be pearls or visions, but there are girls. There's Glenda, his "road trip mistress", she who must be obeyed, otherwise known as the sat nav. "No, darling, I'm not going to turn left on highway 280, I'm going to carry on on this one," says Matt with masterly authority. And there's Karen, a Mormon elder, whose knickers Matt wants to talk about, her magic Mormon knickers (because of Mitt Romney's faith). They're an expression of her covenant with God, says Karen. Do men and women wear them? Yes. Does she wear them? Yes.

Matt's got Karen's pants between his teeth now, so to speak. He's shaking his head from side to side like a terrier; he's not going to let go until he's got to the bottom of them, so to speak. Does she find it awkward talking about her underwear? It's not something they usually talk about. Wouldn't it be better just to put them out there? Oh Matt, just ask her if you can see her knickers, you clearly want to. To be honest, I do, too. What do sacred Mormon pants look like? I'm guessing, given that the idea is to ward off temptation not beckon it, that they're not like the sort that come from Agent Provocateur.

Matt doesn't ask. But he does ask other brave questions. In Northwood, Iowa, he asks a gun shop owner whose phone ringtone is the sound of an AK47 what this election is all about.

In Kentucky, he asks a Tea party Bible basher if he hates Obama because he's black. In Gary, Indiana, he asks a man if Mitt Romney is a brother by another mother, slightly embarrassingly.

This is "fly-over America", the bit in the middle that most visitors don't get to see. Where the second amendment is a basic human right. Where "Yurr-rup" is mistrusted, an insignificant place a long way away, probably somewhere between "Eye-raq" and North Korea. Where once great industrial towns lie crumbling and abandoned. Where, these days, a middle-class couple has to work 100 hours a week between them just to keep the bailiffs from the door. Where the next generation is going to struggle to be better off than this one. Where the American Dream is dying and Obama's health-care reforms aren't going to save it.

It's a fascinating place, even though it's often a forgotten place. Except in the runup to a presidential

election. When it suddenly becomes just about the most important place in the whole world.

Speaking of important places, <strong>Harry & Paul</strong> (BBC2, Sunday) seem to have moved to my north-west London manor. Oi, that's the bus stop up the road. "What a wonderful place Willesden is," says Victoria Wood who joins in to play, alongside Harry, a pair of minor royals, visiting a corner shop in a less salubrious part of town than they're used to. It's one of the hits.

What, hit and miss? A sketch show? Really? Of course it is. You could even argue that this kind of traditional sketch show shouldn't have much of a future. But television would be poorer without Harry & Paul, because it can be so good.

It's not about the gags – if you looked at the script, you would probably just think: eh? It's all about the characters, and the interaction of the characters. Enfield and Whitehouse don't just dress up and put on silly voices, they possess their characters. The hits are big hits. "Probable quare" still makes me laugh. And the one at the end where it all goes Nordic noir is a joy.