the first one is one of the weaker ones, so stick with it, but don't expect the thick of it
― caek, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 06:40 (eleven years ago) link
that's what i was expecting :(
― DG, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 10:13 (eleven years ago) link
amazing series, more watchable that TTOI because of JLD. just feels slicker and better-written too. first one or two eps not amazing but by e5 i was in awe
― NI, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
it's slicker partly because it's not as well written, but it's still very good by the end of the season
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 18:45 (eleven years ago) link
i am open to there being cultural differences in how satire translates on each side of the ocean, but that the writing of TTOI is superior seems beyond doubt, to me - veep, which is good!, still pretty regularly incorporated sitcommish zings and ad-homs, a bunch of which fell flat. its successes were more-good-original-swearing, &c. but the thick of it's so multi-layered & plays with conversational & power dynamics so powerfully. it fabricates all of these benign policy nooses that hang the characters, & some of the conclusions - like i am remembering malcolm promising to come up with an appropriate expert to corroborate the new argument of a flip-flop - seem so poignant & OTM wrt how things are now. malcolm's slow turn in the first scene of the first ep still kills me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSRN8O4ULQs
― blossom smulch (schlump), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 18:54 (eleven years ago) link
gonna have to rewatch ttoi to see how it compares but as a *comedy series* (not a political satire) i felt veep was a few steps beyond ttoi. just had so much swagger and confidence, seems to be a product of a proper writing team rather than one or two minds (not sure if the creation of either worked in this way but it definitely felt like that. plus julia ld far more charismatic and watchable and inherently funny than any of the ttoi blokes
― NI, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 01:49 (eleven years ago) link
full disclosure: the pompous unfunny shite chris addison spews on twitter has marred ttoi for me bigtime
Does it improve after the first episode? Because that was a horrible opener. (i'm talking about Veep btw, TToI was gold from the start)
― Blue Collar Retail Assistant (Dwight Yorke), Wednesday, 27 June 2012 08:10 (eleven years ago) link
Thought the opener was great, feels like a lot of people who say later episodes improved a lot just found it jarring to adjust to a half hour americanized Iannuci thing but then got to know the characters and liked them. In my opinion it stays good. But sticking with it you may find it grows on you, and there are better episodes later on.
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 08:18 (eleven years ago) link
Watched the first episode last night and enjoyed it, I like Anna Chlumsky's character and the obnoxious Jonah guy, not so sure about JLD. It feels very obviously an Ianucci creation and the potential's definitely there, but it's very obviously missing a Malcolm Tucker character (although maybe it wouldn't work in the US).
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 08:43 (eleven years ago) link
Think the first episode maybe suffered for lack of a proper crisis, those were very minor fires to have to put out.
'those were very minor fires to have to put out.'
That was the problem. Were we supposed to care about the incorrectly-signed card? Jeeze.
Also, yo, just because you add an unexpected 'fuck' to words/phrases doesn't mean its suddenly hilarious.
― Blue Collar Retail Assistant (Dwight Yorke), Wednesday, 27 June 2012 08:47 (eleven years ago) link
I wasn't completely sold on it (have only seen ep 1), but comparisons to TTOI were bound to affect my perspective. I think if it had come without the baggage I might have enjoyed it more.
― ailsa, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 09:43 (eleven years ago) link
my problem was not ttoi, my problem was quality/frequency of lols
― caek, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 10:30 (eleven years ago) link
I wasn't that taken with the first one, but it really hits its stride around ep 4 or 5.
― Desire is withered away from the sons of men! (aldo), Wednesday, 27 June 2012 16:54 (eleven years ago) link
Yeh, stick with it, it gets a lot better. I found myself gradually feeling warmer towards it and by the last 2 or 3 episodes I was anticipating the next one.
― give me back my 200 dollars (NotEnough), Thursday, 28 June 2012 07:19 (eleven years ago) link
Agreed, I wasn't completely sold to begin with but it keeps getting better, and the last two episodes are pure gold. Ep 7, directed by Chris Morris, is jaw-droppingly good - and dark.
― Crackity Jones, Thursday, 19 July 2012 14:43 (eleven years ago) link
this is back now.
― Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 04:48 (eleven years ago) link
first ep was gold, Morris is great for this show
Addison doing the next few? should help bring the nervous vibe
― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 05:17 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, really poisonous first ep
― gr8 tr∞lls i have known (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 06:33 (eleven years ago) link
dan bakkedahl is so good
i wasn't convinced that mr midnight caller's touted credentials as a cold-blooded operative were actually valid, though? he seemed sort of relaxed and then he got hit in the face with some lipstick and crawled away
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:06 (eleven years ago) link
that was shit
― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Thursday, 18 April 2013 01:16 (eleven years ago) link
someone actually wrote 'idontgiveafuckistan'
nah it was p good. ppl say dumb shit like that
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 18 April 2013 01:20 (eleven years ago) link
This is way more realistic than House of Cards
― HIGH-FIVES TO ALL MY COWORKERS AT THE QBERT SEX SWING (silby), Thursday, 18 April 2013 02:00 (eleven years ago) link
:D
― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 19 April 2013 07:17 (eleven years ago) link
Probably the best ep yet; surprising depth this go round.
― brb buying poppers w/my employee discount (forksclovetofu), Monday, 29 April 2013 04:22 (ten years ago) link
some great lines. the "you timed that metaphor out for that shitty ding" thing. the "tiny hands" gag.
― Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Monday, 29 April 2013 04:45 (ten years ago) link
"better than my shitty legs. i hate my legs."
― Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Monday, 29 April 2013 05:06 (ten years ago) link
So glad this is getting another season. Hitting its stride.
― Popture, Wednesday, 1 May 2013 22:58 (ten years ago) link
it's pretty decent, but i'm even more glad that this introduced me to "the thick of it." what an amazing show
― chilli, Thursday, 2 May 2013 01:16 (ten years ago) link
it makes me laugh like once an episode, and those are always lines that feel like they were written for the thick of it ('i would rather set fire to my vulva', 'rubber idiots', etc.). i mean i'll keep watching and it's been held to an unfair standard, but it's not very funny and i've got a horrible feeling they're going to Make A Point about something at the end of this season with these multi-episode plots they keep touching on.
― caek, Thursday, 2 May 2013 08:58 (ten years ago) link
Multi-episode plots last season as well.
Feel this is basically as good as most TTOI at this point. And I don't see why people still claim it's copy paste. Especially in season 2, with the old characters settled and unique and new ones not having TTOI counterparts at all. The arsenal is pretty robust at this point, someone like Sue on the side holds up as an episode lead.
― abcfsk, Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:02 (ten years ago) link
Thick of It is obv next level, but I'm laughing far harder at this series of Veep than the last. So many nice little moments in E3; the "robust" farce set-up, "procrasturbate", and a touching ending as the responsibilities of office intrude upon the career politician, which didn't happen at all last season (I may have forgotten that tho)
― give me back my 200 dollars (NotEnough), Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:12 (ten years ago) link
Yeah it's the combination of multi episode stuff and the attempt at a touching ending this week that makes me nervous
― caek, Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:26 (ten years ago) link
Also my complaint is not that it's like/not like ttoi. My complaint is that it's nowhere near as good.
― caek, Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:27 (ten years ago) link
do i need to know anything about british politics to get into The Thick Of It
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:32 (ten years ago) link
No
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:51 (ten years ago) link
Not really. Political shananigans cross the atlantic quite well. My grasp of US politics is a bit shaky but I've no trouble with Veep. The pop culture references might be more problematic tbh, tho maybe they're not quite as parochial as I remember.
― give me back my 200 dollars (NotEnough), Thursday, 2 May 2013 09:59 (ten years ago) link
you'll be fine h4a, check it out
― caek, Thursday, 2 May 2013 10:10 (ten years ago) link
i dig veep. its not Hilarious but i get some chuckles out of it and i like the actors and im just into the general vibe
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Thursday, 2 May 2013 10:27 (ten years ago) link
liked the first season, but it definitely feels like this season stepped up a bit, really great right now.
i was on the set for a couple hours a few months ago, worked on a psa w/ J L-D, was really cool to see random cast members walking around and see the sets -- it really looks like they're in cramped old government buildings on the show but it's all these huge sets in a giant warehouse in columbia, maryland.
― love bullets featuring skylar grey (some dude), Thursday, 2 May 2013 12:00 (ten years ago) link
jld elevates this into something far superior to ttoi imo
― NI, Thursday, 2 May 2013 18:28 (ten years ago) link
interesting that chris morris and chris addison directed the first 2 eps but barely seemed different to the rest, in tone, etc. (thankfully as addison has shown himself to be grimly unfunny outside of ttoi)
― NI, Thursday, 2 May 2013 18:29 (ten years ago) link
i don't think he's terrible in mock the week. but yeah ianucci's group seem pretty good at sticking to a consistant house style
― chilli, Friday, 3 May 2013 01:28 (ten years ago) link
not seen him in that but his twitter account is a hive of smug 6th form bants
― NI, Friday, 3 May 2013 14:09 (ten years ago) link
so like his ttoi character?
― abcfsk, Friday, 3 May 2013 14:43 (ten years ago) link
― NI, Thursday, May 2, 2013 3:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
nuh uh. langham & capaldi operate in such singular territory, i think jld's really good but i don't think she's doing something so novel or engrossing as to beat out ttoi. i think i said stuff upthread about the specifity of that show trumping veep's broad-brush stuff, but yeah this season is so much better, ep 2 in partic.
― daft on the causes of punk (schlump), Friday, 3 May 2013 18:15 (ten years ago) link
yeah imagine that guy but one who isn't saying words written for him by the best comedy brains britain has to offer. and without a malcolm to brutalise him for his obnoxiousness. not quite as good huh
― NI, Friday, 3 May 2013 23:55 (ten years ago) link
and yeah i get that ttoi is v novel and singular and all that but i simply don't find it as watchable, amusing or as engaging as veep. v rare i'd say that about any uk>us comedy but like i said, largely because jld plays that role so well, and her character is so well-written - maybe more cartoonlike than any of the brits but hey.
btw that's not to diss, ttoi's great but i found myself agreeing with a lot of the stuff in this article: http://richardhcooper.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/how-to-write-thick-of-it.html (esp re final series)
― NI, Saturday, 4 May 2013 00:07 (ten years ago) link