Twenty Twelve - a humorous view of the Olympics

It's been three years since the 2012 Olympics in London, an Olympics that many consider to be a huge success.  Ever wonder how they managed to plan it all?  Maybe not, but it would be fun to see a comical version of Olympic planning filled with awkward mishaps, quirky characters, and absurd-but-maybe-not-that-far-off scenarios and bureaucracy.

That's the television series Twenty Twelve in a nutshell.  I stumbled across this show several months ago, and it's a great way to unwind with a laugh.

Twenty Twelve is a mockumentary about the London 2012 Olympic planning committee and stars Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame.  The cast is full of talented actors, including the brilliant Olivia Colman of pretty much everything on British TV.

If you work in business or government, you may recognize some of the ridiculous situations the characters find themselves in, but it's done in a way that makes you laugh and appreciate the joke even more.  I managed to enjoy it without being traumatized by personal flashbacks to unnecessary meetings where nothing is really said or gets done.


It's the type of show where you want to watch more.  Luckily the first season was such a success that they added a second one, but even after that, I still hadn't had enough.

With the Olympics over, a third season wouldn't make sense, but they did create a new show that's kind of a continuation of Twenty Twelve called W1A, which brings Hugh Bonneville's character to the BBC.  For those of you lucky enough to get access to it, you should also check that out after finishing Twenty Twelve.