Leonard & Hungry Paul Overview: A Calming Comedy Narrated by the Hollywood Star Provides the Perfect Remedy to Contemporary Living

In a quiet area of Dublin, a man is standing in his driveway, wearing a tank top and sharing his thoughts. “I feel my voice is fading. Harder to see,” states Leonard, staring into the darkness. “One thing’s led to another and at this point I believe without a change, I’ll just carry on in this simple, peaceful routine.” Hungry Paul, his only companion, considers these words. “Nothing wrong with that,” he answers, his bathrobe flapping with the wind. “Superior to striving for recognition and ending up damaging things.”

For those weary by the chaos and fast pace of today’s TV terrain, Leonard and Hungry Paul steps in similar to a warm cover and a comforting beverage of blackcurrant juice.

Like its quiet characters, the series – a half-dozen installment program developed by the writing duo, based on Rónán Hession’s understated book – looks disapprovingly on contemporary society; looking skeptically over its prematurely middle-aged glasses toward anything related to disturbances, quick actions or – goodness forbid – an abundance of ambition. This show on the contrary, an ode to introversion; a gentle tribute of those satisfied to pootle around out of the spotlight. And yet. He (a further distinctly original turn from the star) feels restless. He notices a creeping “desire to unlock the entryways of my life … a little.” The passing of his beloved mother has whisked the rug out from under him and Leonard, an anonymous author, now finds himself reconsidering the choices that have brought him to this point (single; defensively moustached; working on several kids' reference books for an employer who ends messages with the phrase “ciao for now”).

And so Leonard begins an exploration for personal satisfaction, alongside his more outgoing friend Paul (the actor) acting as his close companion, life coach and ally in a weekly board games evening which acts as discussion (“Does the pool feel warm because kids pee in it, or do children urinate as it's heated?”) and refuge.

(What's the origin of "Hungry" Paul? It's unclear. The source of the moniker is shrouded in mystery. Maybe the postal worker once ate a sandwich unusually quickly, or reacted to a tense moment by panic-peeling several snacks with his teeth).

Into Leonard’s gentle world cartwheels a vibrant character (the performer), a fresh spring-loaded colleague who lightheartedly proposes to eliminate his terrible supervisor (the character) during the office fire drill. The rushing noise you can hear represents Leonard's calm life undergoing a shake-up.

In another part in the initial show of a series not heavily plotted and more on what younger viewers might call “mood”, we are introduced to Hungry Paul’s dad (the consistently great the performer), a worn-out individual who privately views, records then replays television game programs to dazzle his adoring wife through his fact recall.

Leading viewers through all this minor-key niceness we hear a narrator that sounds very much like – and truly is – the Hollywood icon. Truly, the star. If you are thinking, “certainly the inclusion of such a famous actor contradicts the show's modest approach and at first acts merely as an interruption?” you would be correct. Still, Roberts does a good job, and dialogue like “The issue with Leonard is that he lacks a look of sudden insight” contribute to ensuring that early misgivings give way if not full admiration, then at least acceptance.

No more criticism currently. The show's core is well-intentioned: which is “sitting on a park bench in the company of gentle comedies, indicating its favourite duck.” The program that strolls leisurely in comfortable attire, sometimes gazing upward toward the sky, sometimes downward at its slippers, serenely certain that there is nothing in life as uplifting as passing time alongside dear pals.

Throw open the portals within your world, slightly, and let it in.