The Backyard Broadcast is a weirdly fascinating time capsule

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much patience you have for child performers reciting lines that clearly weren't written by anyone who has actually spoken to a human child. If you like the idea of watching a bunch of kids try to do a nightclub act in their backyard, you’re in for a weird treat. If you need a plot that makes sense, keep walking. 📺

The whole thing feels like a fever dream of 1930s variety shows. These kids are doing impressions of Major Bowes' program, and there's this weird transition where the backyard just… becomes a nightclub. I don't know how they paid the electricity bill for that lighting rig in a residential yard, but we aren't supposed to ask, I guess.

The awkward bits

The dialogue is the main hurdle here. It’s stiff. Like, cardboard-stiff. The kids deliver these lines with such earnest intensity that it becomes kind of uncomfortable. You can see them thinking about where to stand next. There’s one shot where someone forgets to look at the camera, and the director just left it in. It’s charming in a way, I suppose.

It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Hollywood Party, but without the massive studio budget to hide the cracks. Everything here is out in the open. The seams are showing everywhere.

• The Moylan Sisters have more stage presence than half the adults I’ve met.
• The transition from 'backyard' to 'nightclub' is hilariously abrupt.
• I’m pretty sure one of the kids is just staring at a stage hand for five full seconds.

It’s not trying to be a deep, cinematic masterpiece like These Three. It just wants to show off some kids singing and dancing. Sometimes, that’s enough. Other times, you just want the scene to end so you can stop cringing at the delivery of a punchline that landed with a thud.

There is a strange, disjointed rhythm to the whole thing. It feels like someone took a bunch of different skits and just taped them together. It’s not smooth. But hey, it’s honest. It’s not trying to trick you into thinking it’s high art. It’s just kids doing their thing. ✨

Also, notice the costumes. They look like they were pulled from a trunk that hadn't been opened since the turn of the century. Some of these kids look like miniature adults, which is a vibe I can’t quite shake. Definitely an odd watch for a rainy Sunday.