History YMMV / ThatMitchellAndWebbLook

** [[HeelRealization "Are we the baddies?"]]

* AcceptableProfessionalTargets: Two sketches absolutely skewer community support officers.

** The Quiz Broadcast runs on this, with a lot of the jokes based on how much information [[AndManGrewProud was lost and twisted]] after the Event.

** The Dead Actors sketch revolves around the two actors in question alternating the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson each night because each one wants to be the star. A few years after this sketch, [[Series/{{Sherlock}} Benedict Cumberbatch]] and [[Series/{{Elementary}} Jonny Lee Miller]] starred in a stage production of ''Frankenstein'' in which, famously, the two actors alternated between the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature each night. Fewer glass vases were smashed over heads in ''Frankenstein'', however.

* {{Padding}}: One sketch featured a quiz show host who dragged everything out for as long as possible, interrupting or ignoring the contestant's attempts to give the right answer and repeating himself. [[spoiler: [[TomatoSurprise It turns out that it's not a quiz show at all, but they're on board a spaceship headed for the Sun, the host has six months to live and he wants to drag it out as long as possible.]]]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** The sketch "Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit", which is about a duo of superheroes with vastly different power levels and the tension this creates. Though one can say the duo's contrasting popularity was frequently played with throughout the show with both actors acknowledging this, this sketch becomes a rather apt metaphor for Mitchell (Angel Summoner) and Webb's (BMX Bandit) later careers following the show's run.
-->'''BMX Bandit''': Your ability to summon a horde of celestial superbeings at will is making my BMX skills a bit...redundant.
** The OrphanedPunchline about Creator/JimmySavile receiving three life sentences. "You think you know a guy, and then he does something like that..." Although, considering that it was allegedly an open secret at Creator/TheBBC, it may simply have been a deliberate (if slightly sick) InJoke that "got out".
** The post-apocalyptic Quiz Broadcast, set in the aftermath of some vague but devastating "Event" that wiped out a significant portion of human life, and which repeatedly reminds its viewers to "REMAIN INDOORS", hits rather differently in light of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.

* HarsherInHindsight: Robert Webb's character telling a supervillain to "go back to Planet Tranny" in a ''Captain Todger'' sketch looks even worse after Webb himself said he was a "gender-critical feminist" and sided with Graham Linehan in his spat with trans charity Mermaids.

** The "Friends of..." sketches are all about reinterpreting fictional characters through the lens of being real people, specifically how terrible they would be to know. For example, [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Shaggy]] is interpreted as being a CasanovaWannabe and recovering drug addict who is extremely bitter over not being able to train his dog to talk, while Scooby's cowardice is the result of coming from an abusive owner. Conversely, [[TheScrappy Scrappy Doo]] is actually characterized as being a very ''good'' party guest, due to being both braver and better at speaking than his uncle is.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** While the actor was already recognisable in the UK, most American viewers will recognise Creator/PatersonJoseph in the "Numberwang" and "Big Talk" sketches, as he is best known for his role as Alan Johnson in ''Series/PeepShow''. Funnily enough, the show also stars Creator/DavidMitchellActor, Creator/RobertWebb and Creator/OliviaColman.
** Future ''Film/GetOut2017'' and ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' star Creator/DanielKaluuya shows up in one of the "Speedo" sketches as a young black kid who is on trial for a crime he didn't commit.

** Recurring actress Creator/OliviaColman would become even more recognisable within prestige TV and successful films, and in particular [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome her Oscar win]]. She is by far the most recognisable face in the show to a modern international audience.

** The Dead Actors sketch revolves around the two actors in question alternating the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson each night because each one wants to be the star. A few years after this sketch, [[Series/{{Sherlock}} Benedict Cumberbatch]] and [[Series/{{Elementary}} Jonny Lee Miller]] starred in a stage production of ''Theatre/{{Frankenstein}}'' in which, famously, the two actors alternated between the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature each night. Fewer glass vases were smashed over heads in ''Frankenstein'', however.

** While the actor was already recognisable in the UK, most American viewers will recognise Paterson Joseph in the "Numberwang" and "Big Talk" sketches, as he is best known for his role as Alan Johnson in ''Series/PeepShow''. Funnily enough, the show also stars Creator/DavidMitchellActor, Creator/RobertWebb and Creator/OliviaColman.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** One of the last sketches in the show had Mitchell claiming that ''Series/PeepShow'' will end soon, in which it eventually did in 2015.
** The Quiz Broadcast [[LifeImitatesArt scarily resembles]] the UK government's press briefings in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
*** On top of that, the web exclusive sketch "After the Event" is eerily prescient of people hoarding massive quantities of toilet paper during the pandemic.
** Robert Webb's character telling a supervillain to "go back to Planet Tranny" in a ''Captain Todger'' sketch looks even worse after Webb himself said he was a "gender-critical feminist" and sided with Graham Linehan in his spat with trans charity Mermaids.

** In one episode from Series 1, there's a sketch where Mitchell and Webb are getting prepared for the "chicken dance" in the hope to win a BAFTA. Shortly after when the series finished airing, the show won a BAFTA in 2007 in the "Best Comedy" category.
** One sketch had David dreaming about being married to actress Creator/KeeleyHawes - in 2013, he starred in the Creator/{{BBC}}2 series ''Ambassadors'', with Keeley playing his character's wife.
** The "Dead British Actors" sketch (in which two feuding actors play Franchise/SherlockHolmes and Dr. Watson, by alternating roles each night) is hilarious now given Creator/DannyBoyle's stage production of ''Franchise/{{Frankenstein}}'' has the same setup between Victor and the Creature. Doubly hilarious considering that the actors involved (Creator/BenedictCumberbatch and Creator/JonnyLeeMiller) both went on to star in DuelingShows in which they [[Series/{{Sherlock}} played]] [[Series/{{Elementary}} Holmes]].
** "The Quiz Broadcast" has a RunningGag of post-apocalyptic survivors trying at all costs to avoid remembering "the event" becomes downright hilarious in the wake of the failed American sci-fi drama ''Series/TheEvent'', which had a marketing campaign that revolved entirely around obfuscating what the titular event is, and was also a massive disaster.
** The villain in the ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' spoof doesn't look much like Le Chiffre, but he does resemble later Bond villain [[Film/{{Skyfall}} Silva]].
** BMX Bandit now has an anime counterpart, if anything even more OvershadowedByAwesome, in [[Manga/OnePunchMan Licenseless Rider.]]

** "Numberwang" becomes this if you know how [[https://www.coindesk.com/information/how-bitcoin-mining-works/ cryptocurrency mining]] works.
** One "Sir Digby Chicken Caesar" sketch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zchHfDKCTzE had a scene]] in which a little girl knights Sir Digby in the beach. Nine years later, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLHDyY1p8oU Nigel Farage]] had a [[LifeImitatesArt similar experience]].

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: To "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", [[AlternateAesopInterpretation discussed]] in a courtroom scene following the boy's death.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Many of the characters in a few sketches (including one off ones) are prone to be popular with the audience:
** Sir Digby Chicken Caesar is without a doubt a very notable character who is popular with the audience, mainly because of his AwesomeEgo.
** Cheesoid seems to be a very popular character despite only appearing in two sketches.

** The sketch "Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit", which is about a duo of superheroes with vastly different power levels and the tension this creates. It is a rather apt metaphor for Mitchell (Angel Summoner) and Webb's (BMX Bandit) later careers.

** The joke about finishing ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' before [[Creator/RikMayall one of the actors dies.]]
** The Quiz Broadcast sketches became one after the advent of the 2019-2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

** The OrphanedPunchline about Creator/JimmySavile receiving three life sentences. "You think you know a guy, and then he does something like that..." Although, considering that it was allegedly an open secret at the BBC, it may simply have been a deliberate (if slightly sick) InJoke that "got out".

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The "David Mitchell's wife" scene, which plays on his "confirmed bachelor" image, is rather touching now that he actually is married.

** In the radio version, Olivia Colman plays Queen Elizabeth II in a sketch involving the Queen getting ridiculously excited over a bunch of D-grade acts being contracted to play the Royal Variety Performance. In 2017, it was announced that the role of Elizabeth II in seasons three and four of ''Series/TheCrown2016'' was going to be played by... Olivia Colman.

** Recurring actress Olivia Colman would become even more recognisable within prestige TV and successful films, and in particular [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome her Oscar win]]. She is by far the most recognisable face in the show to a modern international audience.
** While the actor was already recognisable in the UK, most American viewers will recognise Paterson Joseph in the "Numberwang" and "Big Talk" sketches, as he is best known for his role as Alan Johnson in ''Series/PeepShow''. Funnily enough, the show also stars David Mitchell, Robert Webb and Olivia Colman.

* EndingFatigue: A one-episode recurring gag where Mitchell and Webb play co-workers in various professions who end every scene with a quick kiss.

** The "Friends of..." sketches are all about reinterpreting fictional characters through the lens of being real people, specifically how terrible they would be to know. For example, [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Shaggy]] is interpreted as being a gay CasanovaWannabe and recovering drug addict who is extremely bitter over not being able to train his dog to talk, while Scooby's cowardice is the result of coming from an abusive owner. Conversely, [[TheScrappy Scrappy Doo]] is actually characterized as being a very ''good'' party guest, due to being both braver and better at speaking than his uncle is.

** The "Friends of..." sketches are all about reinterpreting fictional characters through the lens of being real people, specifically how terrible they would be to know. For example, [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Shaggy]] is interpreted as a gay CasanovaWannabe and recovering drug addict who is extremely bitter over not being able to train his dog to talk, while Scooby's cowardice is the result of coming from an abusive owner. Conversely, [[TheScrappy Scrappy Doo]] is actually characterized as being a very ''good'' party guest, due to being both braver and better at speaking than his uncle is.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Hennimore is actually messing up his boss' commands on purpose, because otherwise you would expect him to get the complicated tasks right almost half of the time.