I think it needs time to develop side characters. People like Blinky Ben, etc...
There's also a different dynamic from The Thick of It. Everyone listened to/was scared of Malcolm, and the politicians tended to need to be shepherded around. JLD seems to have all the agency in Veep, where everyone else is just scrambling to fix her mistakes or get her what she wants.
Also the US doesn't have an equivalent of the civil servant, so we don't get a Terri.
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
you guys realize this isn't an adaptation, right, it's a different show by the same creator
― Poor Turrican (some dude), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
original title was "The Veep of It" iirc
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
the thick of eep
― Poor Turrican (some dude), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
In the Veep
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
ah, british humour.
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
some dude is british?
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
lol no, i don't think so
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
oi mates some dude is
these political shows that Iannucci has done, do they have any of the same absurdity of the 'Armando Iannucci Show'? I saw the first episode of 'Veep' and it didn't, though it was funny enough in its own right.
― boxall, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
no. at least not the surrealism.
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
though his next show for HBO, Armando Iannucci's Veep Trumpet, probably will
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
the early thick of it is blackly absurd in the best sense, some of his more freeform stuff is a bit winsome
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
blimey blood sausage, i've been outed
― Poor Turrican (some dude), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
too right guv'nor
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
Some of the lines felt quite British or straight out of TTOI like 'massive and total shit' and 'Tom Hanks might die'. This is not nec a bad thing but slightly jarring?
― kinder, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 05:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
American innovation on stale British sitcom formula = something nice occasionally happens to the lead character, instead of being dangled in front of them and snatched away.
― Andrew Farrell, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 06:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
Obviously I'm against it.
― Andrew Farrell, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 06:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
^ six series
― thomp, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
what i mean about classical british sitcom in re: the thick of it would be something like:
- enclosed environment- all conflict is created by strict pecking order amongst characters- each episode follows a rising action plot ending with someone making a tit of themselves
― Poor Turrican (some dude), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 03:14 (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
iirc ianucci was 'developing' an american version of 'the thick of it' for ages and then it wasn't being mentioned and then his name was attached to this? i mean ... c'mon. it's the same show. sort of.
― thomp, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
no, as far as I know there actually was a pilot for the American version of The Thick Of It directed by Christopher Guest
― Number None, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
In October, 2006, ABC announced that it was developing a U.S. version of “The Thick of It.” Mitchell Hurwitz, whose show “Arrested Development” had just been cancelled, was named executive producer and co-writer. In a recent e-mail, Hurwitz said that he saw similarities between “Arrested Development” and “The Thick of It,” which, in his reading, was about “people whose big outward and ‘important’ lives are run on a very small and impaired set of inner resources.” He went on, “That just really appeals to me comedically. . . . Big people with small hearts. Stupid people with high I.Q.s.”Christopher Guest directed the pilot. Iannucci barely had a role. Peter Bennett-Jones, Iannucci’s agent in the U.K., told me, “It seemed to be in good hands, but they just didn’t listen to Armando.” The pilot, which never aired, starred Oliver Platt as an almost avuncular (and non-swearing) envoy from the office of his party’s Whip, and John Michael Higgins as a peppy congressman who has never heard of “The Daily Show.” Seen today, the pilot seems flat. And there is no hint of melancholy, as there was in the British version, no sense of ideals eroded over time. Iannucci said, “It’s not awful, it’s just dull—which, you know, is a good trick to pull off.” Hurwitz defended the pilot, but admitted that it had “lost the sense of mania of the original.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/26/120326fa_fact_parker?currentPage=all
― Touché Gödel (ledge), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh, sure, if you want to rely on external evidence
― thomp, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 10:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
look i just called old mandy on the old dog and bone and he said for bobby moore that he developed this show as a version of his other show but for the bloody septics and now he's confirmed it let's have no more talk about it, right? right
― thomp, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 10:02 (1 year ago) Permalink
Solid premiere ratings. If people liked it as much as I do it should get a couple of seasons.
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
it'll do fine. you practically have to kill a few horses to get less than 2-3 full seasons on HBO these days.
― some dude, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
i'm excited for 2-3 full seasons of this
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
How many eps is a typical HBO season?
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
SATC generally did 18 - sometimes as few as 12 or 8 (first season + when two of the actresses were pregnant respectively)
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
deadwood and curb were/are 10-13
― caek, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
dramas i think tend to be ~12
eastbound + d was 6-8
it seems to be inconsistent, even within a particular show's run
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
Stoked for this, it'll feel good to watch a US sitcom from the beginning at the same time as America.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
I doubt there have been 18 episodes of The Thick of It in total!!
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
16 iirc?
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
enlightened had 10 and it's getting a 2nd season
i enjoyed this tho i kind of hope future episodes are less...stuffed
― y'tulip, y'pea-brained earwig (donna rouge), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
there are 8 episodes of this season of Veep
btw i might've mentioned this in a previous thread but a lot of the show was shot in Baltimore instead of D.C. and i was this close to getting to spend a day on the set a few months ago, am really bummed that didn't pan out. maybe next season.
― some dude, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
The first episode is good if a little slow-burny (certainly compared to TTOI, but I should make a conscious effort to not compare the two too much). Excellently acted all round.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
kind of reminded me of early parks & rec in that I didn't know what the stakes were, so there was just a bunch of quality comic actors all playing clueless. It's just the pilot, though.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
reminds me more of Lisa Kudrow's HBO show The Comeback than anything else
― some dude, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
dumb Brit speaking but i've never actually understood exactly what HBO means. is it pay per view? is it cable only? over here we have some satelite/ cable stations where you *have* to pay for the channel month by month (Sky Sports, etc) but some are free with a basic 'freeview' box and so you pay once for that, then never again to watch any given channel. is that how it works over there with HBO? i was never sure also why that means you get more swearing and nudity and suchlike in HBO shows than other non HBO shows. hey i could WIKI this shit but i want the fun version from you guys.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
i don't know if it's the fun version, but HBO is cable that you pay an extra monthly fee to get
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
HBO's pay-cable (you have to pay specifically for it, as opposed to getting it with a basic cable package) status means it can show movies unedited and make tv series with no restrictions as to content as opposed to Broadcast (heavily regulated by the FCC) and basic cable (which is more self-regulated than anything, but is dependent on advertisers and cable companies paying subscriptions), because you don't specifically choose those channels.
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
also having no advertisers means it's not dependent on ratings, and as it's paid for monthly it has a lot more money than anyone else.
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
aha it all makes sense. thanks. i wish Mad Men was made by HBO.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
have not seen this but am suspicious of the choice to make it vague what party anyone belongs to. or is it not vague, upon viewing?
― goole, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh it's vague. I get the motivation but it kind of devolved things to "Looks like those clowns in government did it again. What a bunch of clowns."
― da croupier, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 18:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
JL-D's character is trying to push for "green jobs" in this ep so i'd guess dem but they don't really explicitly state it, no (/notreallyaspoiler)
― y'tulip, y'pea-brained earwig (donna rouge), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 19:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
i imagine they felt it would distract you from what the show is about and i think they're probably right; maybe they'll spill the beans after a couple more shows though?
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 19:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
really! i think it's improved greatly this season!
― klaus dingeldore's rhinelander monkey keeper father (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 19 May 2013 20:12 (3 days ago) Permalink
why did the midnight caller ask for mike again? he wanted him so much that he basically bribed VPOTUS. why??
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 19 May 2013 20:16 (3 days ago) Permalink
ohhh to get rid of jolly green jizzface perhaps
sometimes you just have to write it down and then you know
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 19 May 2013 20:17 (3 days ago) Permalink
it's got more ambitious this season i suppose. it's still not gotten funny imo.
― caek, Sunday, 19 May 2013 21:19 (3 days ago) Permalink
i love it
― Mordy , Sunday, 19 May 2013 21:24 (3 days ago) Permalink
xxposts -- common interest in boating i thought made him think of mike as someone appealing to work with.
― stefon taylor swiftboat (s.clover), Monday, 20 May 2013 05:27 (2 days ago) Permalink