Rolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2011/01/06/12513/little_britain_could_return

And Walliams admitted that Little Britain had fallen out of fashion, but would one day become a ‘classic’ that people would want resurrected.

‘We’re waiting for it to become classic,’ he told ITV’s This Morning. ‘There’s a bit where the recent past is naff. Look at Take That. Just after they finished, the thought of seeing them back together wasn't that exciting. Ten years later and suddenly we all want to see it.’

Once you get past the sheer arrogance of that quote, clearly the lads are openly engineering their own revival. I mean.

Add to that Walliams's dismal performance in that shit-awful clip show he's doing and he's well on track to be the next crusty old has-been of British television.

Not really British TV (it's on Showtime in the US but downloadable), but anyone seen the first two episodes of, er, Episodes? Steven Mangan & Tamsin Grieg are successful sitcom writers, lured over to LA and their show ends up changing beyond all recognition and stars Matt LeBlanc, everything goes wrong etc. Was surprisingly un-sitcommy.

Mangan and Greig as a married couple is megalolz after their Green Wing relationship. Can't wait.

It wasn't laugh-out-loud by all means but promising. I'm aware it's probably because I am a Britisher in CA (no hueg mansion in LA tho)

btw this is absolutely British TV, it's produced by Hat trick and goes out on BBC2 next week.

Ah cool. It has Daisy Haggard in too who I can't really believe as an LA media type but that's because I've been re-watching Psychoville where she's a total ditz.

Produced by Hat Trick; paid for by Showtime - it's pretty genuinely co-pro'd.

Yeah but it counts in this thread is what I mean.

Come Fly With Me officially racist

Jim Davidson has come out in support of Matt Lucas and David Walliams' new comedy Come Fly With Me.

Right, no one watch Episodes. Abysmal.

Yes, fairly poor really.

Every scene was so laboured.

Richard Griffiths looks very fucking strange these days doesn't he?

Aye, seemed like it was the first 5 minutes of a normal comedy show stretched to 30.

I think I might stick with it for another week to see if it gets better, but I basically appreciated the idea of it rather than actually liked it. The running gags were awful.

Also, Tamsin Greig playing it as Emma Thompson was really annoying.

I am rapidly becoming the Geir of this thread.

Episode 1 is slow but ep 2 picks up the pace. Really enjoying it so far.

it did spin up towards the end, but a bit laboured and cliched. Worth another week at least.

ping as lindy-hopper on ed reardon = perfect

i don't know what enter of those thing are

not 'in the loop' of uk lol industry

enter=any

God, Episodes really was abysmal. In the absence of any laffs seemed to rely on the same weird failed UStv production values as the terrible BBBC4 adaptation of Money. Not even Daisy Haggard could save it.

Yep, I agree, I thought Episodes 1 was a bit slow-but-kinda-interesting and then it really picks up the pace. It's not thigh-slappingly hilarious, but succeeds in being a good mix between Extras, 30 Rock and Curb.

actually, I don't agree at all.

hey, how is Richard Griffiths younger than my dad??!

I'm not seeing the pace ramp up at all with Episodes. Studio boss is still an ignorant dick, uptight bickering English people are still uptight and bickering.

New development! Joey has a big cock! Let's have some of that social awkwardness that really seems to amuse people ten years ago.

I like all that, really. British couple fall for nearly every trick in the book, and you're kept guessing as to whether Matt LeBlanc is a complete moron or an evil genius. Studio boss is a mahoosive two-faced arsehole. And I really like the red-head director lady - she's like an LA cyborg or something.

onimo's got a point, there's nothing about this show that screams 21st century. It's not bad or anything, just not doing anything new or pushing any boundaries.

Yeah and also it's quite bad.

disgree on both points. i can't remember many other fourth-wall satires on the many facets and entanglements of the UK/US television divide. this is a subtle commentary on the nature of audience demographics, personal values vs marketability, selling out, and the underhanded nature of the entertainment machine.

For instance I like the way LeBlanc convinces the male lead that changing his much-beloved lesbian character to a straight romantic interest, not because of American family values, but because of the sheer length of a US comedy series compared to a British one.

Okay, we've had Extras which touched on a few points but had too many wacky moments and didn't quite delve deep enough with the subject. Curb was mostly farce about an old guy struggling with day-to-day life and 30 Rock, brilliant as it is, was comfortable dealing with US TV on its own rules. This show deals almsot entirely with the question - Do you or do you not sell your little private homegrown creation to a much larger market, and how much do you let them remold it until you put your foot down?

i can't remember many other fourth-wall satires on the many facets and entanglements of the UK/US television divide. this is a subtle commentary on the nature of audience demographics, personal values vs marketability, selling out, and the underhanded nature of the entertainment machine.

ooh, ooh, where can i get a dvd?

For instance I like the way LeBlanc convinces the male lead that changing his much-beloved lesbian character to a straight romantic interest, not because of American family values, but because of the sheer length of a US comedy series compared to a British one.
Yeah, I was pretty impressed with that too. There's serious potential for the use of intelligent concepts in this show. It's not taking the viewer for a mug, basically.

Bollocks.

Do you or do you not sell your little private homegrown creation to a much larger market, and how much do you let them remold it until you put your foot down?

Yeah, maybe this makes sense if you're in the 0.02% of the audience that has a little private homegrown creation (or even the 0.5% that *thinks* it has one) and you therefore give a a flying fuck whether that's a good idea or not. I guess I'm in the other part of the audience though, the part that just wants lols and doesn't get them.

Liverpool's transfer deadline day to thread.

Lol just came to make that joke

Yeah, maybe this makes sense if you're in the 0.02% of the audience that has a little private homegrown creation (or even the 0.5% that *thinks* it has one) and you therefore give a a flying fuck whether that's a good idea or not. I guess I'm in the other part of the audience though, the part that just wants lols and doesn't get them.

― JimD, Tuesday, 1 February 2011 04:11 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I don't give a shit about local councils but I watch Parks & Recreation. Not sure what your point is.

dl was basically saying "this is a good show because it's about X", which only works as an argument for people who care about X. P&R isn't good because it's about parks, it's good because it's funny.

See you're just doing opinion now.

Oh wait, I see what you're saying now.

I offered to put on 10 O'Clock Live. Wife said 'what's that?' I told her it's the UK comedy/news thing with Carr and Brooker and Mitchell and Laverne, and she said she didn't remember it. Within one second of it starting she said 'oh, you should have said it's that thing with too much colour.'

Limmy's Show is back, and the first episode is possibly the overall strongest one he's done.

I mostly don't get Limmy.

Episodes finally got funny with the fight scene that briefly seemed like it could be a gay makeout session. It did take its time to get into its stride.

10 o'clock live on the other hand bugs me enormously that they think they could compete against Question Time. I foolishly watch both.

funniest bits on Limmy

his intro

"kill jester"

the" man-ia twain" thing esp. the third one

still not seen the first series tho :o

limmy needs a thread of his own and when i get the time im gonna do it. new series is fucking amazing

what's the verdict on this friday night dinner series on ch4? haven't heard anything of it until just now checking robert popper's twitter - apparently he co-wrote it. worth a watch?

I kind of feel the 30-min sketch show isn't the right format for Limmy - stretches him a bit thin, though there is usually one clearly genius moment per episode. So much of his comedy is in his expressions: actually wouldn't mind seeing him in a conventional sit-com.

Limmy walking into a messy room with happy hardcore blasting out of the stereo and just staring at the camera in total contempt made me laugh more than anything else in ep4

limmy quite patchy but find the bad patches easy to ignore as they are usually unresolved wee ideas that come to nothing or are otherwise slightly disappointing rather than offensively unfunny like most sketch shows and the good patches are fantastic unlike most sketch shows. happy to sit down for 30 mins and through the less good bits for the few really good bits without having to imagine him a revolutionary format. he was in an ep of the I.T. crowd.

friday night dinner not bad - repetitive but deliberately and amusingly, good acting despite the guy from the inbetweeners being the guy from the inbetweeners. fairly gentle humour with some good moments. feels limited and brief in good ways and as though that's what it's aiming for.

I'm willing to forgive Limmy a lot just cos he's likable unlike the majority of tv comedians these days. I think this series is a definite step up i quality too.

Episode 4 was pretty great imo.clowning and the beast bit especially. Polises' 1st day pretty pish tho.

Gonna give him another go, just hope I don't get bummed out with another "party on the Finnieston Crane" sketch.