― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:21 (twenty years ago) link
― pete s, Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:33 (twenty years ago) link
― pete s, Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:35 (twenty years ago) link
― stevem (blueski), Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:41 (twenty years ago) link
― pete s, Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:45 (twenty years ago) link
High expectations, anyone?
I must say I rated it very highly last time; only caveat being the obtrusively 'edgy', malcontented camera work. The material needed a more classic sitcom approach in this way; while I accept a lot was based around interior monologues, did the visuals have to be as self-conscious? A moot point, perhaps... I do feel it harmed it slightly but not irrevocably.
But yes: good actors (that's the key! nothing they do is stand-up mugging or 'routine') are the main pair, and gratifying underplaying in the wider ensemble - though I loved that rather exaggerated businessman grotesque, Johnson. Looking forward immensely to this returning. The new Peter Kay show is on before it in the schedules, also.
― Tom May (Tom May), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 20:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 21:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Friday, 12 November 2004 22:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Friday, 12 November 2004 23:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Friday, 12 November 2004 23:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― **%@, Saturday, 13 November 2004 00:04 (nineteen years ago) link
Friday's episode did impress me; a good deal of tenderness, and a commendable avoidance of obvious moves: unlike the preceeding "Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere", which I hoped would have something of the Tinniswood Uncle Mort & Carter Brandon radio-travelogue about it... but that was sadly rather tired with its irrelevant 'parodies', 'ironic' musical telegraphing. It had potential, but lacked the poetry required; how much better those silhouetted "Dirty Dancing" parodies would have worked with the Ingmar Bergman, or Mike Leigh, silence behind them? Nothing too deep was wrung out of the situation; not enough absurdity, not enough muted feeling. Maybe it'll improve, but I'm skeptical.
"Peep Show" is sharper with the non sequitur, and actually manages to surprise a bit; 't plays often as an onanistic "Bottom" crossed with "The Office". Admittedly, I do have to agree with Jed that the Mark actor is the more skilled... v. good supporting cast; must say that Olivia Colman is right for that role.
An episode without the inner-monologues could be a masterstroke, actually; like moments in the "Office" Christmas Specials where inter-relations appeared so differently without the 'docu'-framing. Being so used to the show's conceit would make such an edition a different take on things, and add a bit more complexity: maybe change how we view the main characters, not being given their innermost thoughts, once in a way.
― Tom May (Tom May), Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:03 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tom May (Tom May), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:19 (nineteen years ago) link
not sure who you mean at all here, but it was a good episode and v funny at times (certainly more than Max & Paddy)
― Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Archel (Archel), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― RickyT (RickyT), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:49 (nineteen years ago) link
the line about "HAVING A GREAT BIG WANK" was particularly well-received chez carsmile...
― CarsmileSteve (CarsmileSteve), Monday, 15 November 2004 10:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 15 November 2004 11:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ste (Fuzzy), Monday, 15 November 2004 11:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 15 November 2004 11:28 (nineteen years ago) link
? disagree there - it seems to be fulfilling the mandate 'make people laugh while presenting sitcom in a relatively novel way' - assuming that IS the mandate
constant POV shots = dud
whole point tho!
― Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 15 November 2004 11:39 (nineteen years ago) link
hasn't mark gotten fat???
― stevie (stevie), Monday, 15 November 2004 12:19 (nineteen years ago) link
ya. still doesn't work though.
― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 15 November 2004 12:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 15 November 2004 12:51 (nineteen years ago) link
"Wow, this crack is really moreish"
― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:35 (nineteen years ago) link
so otm about racist friends too.
― Hari Ashurst (Toaster), Saturday, 20 November 2004 01:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Saturday, 20 November 2004 03:50 (nineteen years ago) link
i should think so
― Hari Ashurst (Toaster), Saturday, 20 November 2004 12:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 07:09 (nineteen years ago) link
"I'm gonna broom you! I will, you'll get the broom, I promise!"
"Now your girlfriend and my best friend are going off to fuck, and what are we gonna do? Make a tent in the lounge and eat Dairylea Triangles? Is that what you want? Cos that's exactly what's gonna happen."
I fucking love Peep Show. It's never going to cross over like The Office did, being (I think) too close to the bone for mass mainstream consumption - ie although these character types no doubt exist in every office/pub/block of flats in the country, nobody really wants to think about that fact too deeply - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I wouldn't recommend it to my mum and dad, certainly...
"Are you saying we can't be friends just because I'm stalking you?"
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 08:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― splooge (thesplooge), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 21:42 (nineteen years ago) link
I don't like Peep Show because they talk to the camera when they are supposed to be talking to each other. This is wrong. Over the shoulder shot and counter-shot is bad, but this is worse. Also it has too much swearing and appears to be genetically engineered for young people. Steptoe and Son wasn't specifically for rag and bone men, was it? I mean, I'm sure they enjoyed it, but you could still get into it if you were a roadsweeper.
― Puddin'Head Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 23 December 2004 11:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 26 December 2004 19:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 26 December 2004 19:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 26 December 2004 19:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 26 December 2004 20:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― cºzen (Cozen), Sunday, 26 December 2004 20:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― Not Starry, Sunday, 26 December 2004 20:32 (nineteen years ago) link
my fave Superhans bit: "i tell you what that crack is really moreish"
― Bumfluff, Sunday, 26 December 2004 21:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 26 December 2004 21:55 (nineteen years ago) link
This second series really did impress me, especially as it moved along. The characters - if not perhaps so strongly the situation - were pushed into interesting waters. And why is a developing, serial situation now seemingly what I want in a sitcom? Probably a bit too much Reggie Perrin watched of late (though of course the brilliance there, is how the basic melancholy situation is eventually reaffirmed, after, say, the novelties/experiments of new identities, Grot and the commune...) ;)
The occasionally more 'reflective' tone of this was very pleasing; just the sort of thing I was looking for after the last series. Questions remain as to whether the show can perhaps 'speak to' a larger audience, and extend further its reach (aye, maybe change the whole dynamic by removing the POV? would throw up a whole new set of questions about the characters)... but it was more than good enough to be getting on with.
― Tom May (Tom May), Sunday, 26 December 2004 23:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― RJG (RJG), Monday, 27 December 2004 00:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tom May (Tom May), Monday, 27 December 2004 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― RJG (RJG), Monday, 27 December 2004 00:51 (nineteen years ago) link
I'll third the admiration for the "That crack was really moreish" line. Greatest line of the year, all the more so in the light of Pete Doherty's ongoing self-destruction.The university episode was particularly heartbreaking. The Columbo bit was genius, Peter Capaldi was on fine form (stop taking easy money voiceover jobs and ACT man), and Mark's awkard dealings with the girl were really close to the bone. We've all been there at some point. The final episode even had its own mini Brent telling Finchy to fuck off moment when Mark asked that knob to leave.And that Nancy girl is totally hott.
― stew, Monday, 27 December 2004 00:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― RJG (RJG), Monday, 27 December 2004 00:55 (nineteen years ago) link
this show is weak. should be happy it exists but it's meh at best so far
Objectively wrong
― circa1916, Saturday, 16 September 2017 11:51 (six years ago) link
not sure if it's been mentioned but RW's book is the number 1 selling non fiction hardback book in the Uk.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJWN7jgX0AAoxRp.jpg
― piscesx, Saturday, 16 September 2017 13:03 (six years ago) link
well, look at the fucking state of that lot. You can only read a finite amount of books in a lifetime, folks. Choose wisely!
― calzino, Saturday, 16 September 2017 13:11 (six years ago) link
Circa - yeah I was wrong. This has grown on me
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Saturday, 16 September 2017 16:41 (six years ago) link
I generally have an instant annoyance of animal-related storylines in sitcoms. (Same with Mummy the dog in Peep Show). So I'd rather it did without that, or maybe I'm just dead inside.
― kinder, Saturday, 16 September 2017 18:01 (six years ago) link
I loved the Mummy plot.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 16 September 2017 18:43 (six years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/6ECdo6p.png
― Wichita prepares for totality (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 19 September 2017 00:09 (six years ago) link
"back" is pretty enjoyable so far
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Friday, 13 October 2017 07:09 (six years ago) link
that was the last one, wasn't it? (the cancer test one).
― koogs, Friday, 13 October 2017 08:18 (six years ago) link
This is pretty brutal https://t.co/e0SFKXAQol pic.twitter.com/2whBIrMgZG— Tom Gara (@tomgara) March 7, 2022
I wonder how much of this is just bluster and how much reflects how people would actually act in that situation, it reminded me the Peep Show episode where Mark and Jez talk about whether they would have joined the resistance had they been in nazi-occupied France
Mark: I dunno, Jeremy. It would have been a terribly difficult time, but I would probably have kept my head down.Jeremy: You're kidding! I totally would have joined up.Mark: That's very easy to say, Jeremy, but you would have risked death not just for yourself but for your family.Jeremy: I'd probably have just got on a train to Berlin and taken Hitler down. Boof, the whole thing's over.Mark: Well, I guess we'll never know for sure.Jeremy: Oh, I know. I definitely know. No question about it.Mark: Well, congratulations. You would have been a brave, brave man.Jeremy: I can't believe you wouldn't be in the Resistance with me. I'm really disappointed in you.
obviously Jeremy is not any braver than Mark, he's just has a more conceited, less realistic self-image - but maybe the person with the deluded self-image is more likely to actually do the heroic thing when the moment comes because they've rhetorically backed themselves into a corner, whereas the self-critical person is more likely to not do the heroic thing because they're already prepared to do that, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy? Being constantly self-critical can make you a bad person because you have a ready made explanation/excuse whenever you do bad things?
(I guess the difference is that joining the resistance would have been unarguably the morally right thing to do, but whether staying to fight for the US would be the right thing to do is more ambiguous?)
― soref, Monday, 7 March 2022 23:14 (two years ago) link
jeremy would, of course, have run like hell and/or become an informer
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 12 March 2022 15:56 (two years ago) link
relaxing video of los dude bros coming to life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnshhIWdEfk
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 14 December 2023 19:18 (four months ago) link
It's so weird, my first reaction was, huh, Peep Show is still on? Then my second reaction was to look up when it stopped airing. Then my third reaction was to try and determine if we've seen every season, and ... I don't know! It's been so long I can't remember if we ever finished it, but reading the episode descriptions is no help at all. Maybe we did? Maybe we didn't? Were there really *9* seasons? No idea! I could have sworn we stopped at 5, which for some reason I thought was the end, but scanning the summaries I think we went past there, but no idea how far. Might have to start over. Or maybe just pretend we finished and thought it was all very funny.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 14 December 2023 19:28 (four months ago) link
I feel like the 'Mark and Jez eat a dog' season is where a lot of people understandably jumped off the train but it's worth hopping back on because it did quickly and admirably redeem that epic misstep imo.
― Great-Tasting Burger Perceptions (Old Lunch), Thursday, 14 December 2023 19:34 (four months ago) link
It's solidly funny all the way to the end imo
― nate woolls, Thursday, 14 December 2023 19:36 (four months ago) link
There’s a lot of great episodes from the later seasons, like when Mark finally publishes Business Secrets of the Pharaohs—a rare example where Jez is the (relatively) sane one and Mark is unhinged. Or "Chairman Mark", which has a great election speech from Mark as he tries to become chairman of the freehold committee (tho as an American, I’m not really sure what that means… like being on a condo board, maybe?)
― blatherskite, Thursday, 14 December 2023 20:13 (four months ago) link
It's a shame people remember the dog eating episode mainly for the dog eating, this scene from the same episode has one of the series greatest ever lines
"Unfilled?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkjeorS12F0
― nate woolls, Thursday, 14 December 2023 20:34 (four months ago) link
good timing, I decided to watch Back this week. it starts off really badly imo. was really jarring to see them basically playing the same characters in what starts off as quite a lame trad sitcom with trad sitcom jokes. it gets better after about 3 episodes, but apparently because it got cancelled they never resolve anything, but am going to finish it anyway
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 15 December 2023 03:05 (four months ago) link
re Peep Show, I did have the impression it started sucking after about series 5 but I rewatched it last week before watching Back and it's actually still quite funny most of the time and some of the episodes I don't like are in the early seasons - I think my least favourite one is the one in the gym where they accuse that guy of shitting in the pool and touching up Mark.
I looked up the guy that wrote Back when I was hating it and he also wrote the Peep Show episode where Mark gets raped which was another low point.
What I did notice was both Peep Show and Back have the same bullshit nonsense about tracking people's IP addresses which just isn't how this works but strangely the Back guy didn't write that episode.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 15 December 2023 03:08 (four months ago) link