Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool

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Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool

Satisfied Fool title card.
Genre Documentary
Running time 24 mins.
Starring Karl Pilkington, David Icke, Will Self, Germaine Greer, Heinz Wolff, Ricky Gervais
Country UK
Network Channel 4
Tx. Date 22 October 2007
No. of episodes 1

Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool is a one-off documentary by Karl Pilkington, shown as part of Channel 4's 'Comedy Lab' series.

Plot

Karl Pilkington is an unassuming, unsophisticated man from Manchester who has little formal education and is known to his close friends (not to mention his many fans) as a fool, an idiot, a buffoon. In this Channel 4 documentary, he is on a quest to determine whether he would be happier if he was more intelligent. To find the answer, he seeks the counsel of scholars, philosophers and David Icke.

Reviews

TV Guide, The Times, 20 October 2007:

(Karl's) comic speciality is pretending to be thick, a role that he is able to play with immense assurance. In this amiable programme, he meets a bunch of brainy people -including Germaine Greer and Will Self - to find out if life would be better if he were more intelligent. But, in the end, he decides there's no point in trying because, even if it worked, he wouldn't be the same vaguely endearing idiot.[1]

Caitlin Moran, The Times, 20 October 2007:

Karl Pilkington... is an eccentric Rainman-type character. Gervais, with his typical “edginess”, is either doing his bit for mental health charities by helping him, or doing his bit for the postPC movement by taking the piss out of him; but no one can be quite sure which.
In Comedy Lab’s Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool, Pilkington has finally been given a solo pilot in the format of a Louis Theroux-type documentary. The subject here is “Cleverness – will it make you happy?” and the presenter is – well, the presenter is, in contrast to Theroux’s hateful faux naivety, genuinely naive.
He looks baffled as Germaine Greer tries to explain the difference between intelligence and cleverness, and almost bursts into tears when Will Self roars, “You’re just a satisfied pig! Get out of my house!!
There’s a winning unartfulness to it. It almost feels like a new kind of TV.[2], [3]

Music

Artist Album Song Title Start/Stop
I Am Kloot I Am Kloot Proof 00:00 - 02:19
Plays intermittently in the first few minutes.
I Am Kloot I Am Kloot 3 Feet Tall 03:01 - 03:30
3 feet tall with a head like a bowling ball - Karl travels from the Mensa test to Germaine Greer's house.
Candidate Tiger Flies This is The Way 08:01 - 08:36
Karl meets Prof. Heinz Wolff and his tea-making assistant.
Elbow Cast of Thousands Crawling With Idiot 10:14 - 10:35
Karl leaves Prof. Heinz Wolff, song plays up until the advert break. **Also features in the trailer
Stephen Fretwell Magpie Do You Want To Come With Me? 10:36 - 11:07
Karl gets the ferry to the Isle of Wight and meets David Icke.
Joy Division Substance Atmosphere 16:07 - 16:24
Karl reflects on his meeting with David Icke on the ferry home.
Brian Eno Music for Airports: Ambient 1 1/1 22:50 - 23:11
Karl talks about his meeting with Will Self and reads Wittgenstein on the park.
I Am Kloot I Am Kloot Proof 23:30 - 24:02
Karl walking down Gower St., London while the end credits roll.

External Links