Alan Partridge comes to BBC America

my assistant! my assistant!

https://partridge.cloud/grabs/S02E01/gif/3fhpSp05G0uj.gif

maybe those people were caught short

i wonder if she ever got to meet benjamin netanyahu

Bit confused about the format of this now, previously news led me to believe it'd be a spoof magazine show a la kmkywap, but if lynn's in it that suggests there'll be at least part of it that's a fly-on-the-wall thing

perhaps the “Further casting will be announced in due course” is michael

Michael is confirmed to have died sorry

Bit confused about the format of this now, previously news led me to believe it'd be a spoof magazine show a la kmkywap, but if lynn's in it that suggests there'll be at least part of it that's a fly-on-the-wall thing

perhaps lynn will play madge the badge to alan's dame edna?

I don't think they'd limit themselves by confining it just to the studio now that they've got a BBC budget

"bbc budget" possibly not quite as elephantine as you imagine

Michael is confirmed to have died sorry

as per alan the reliable narrator

xpost

"300k or we take it to Sky"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t39E5xMD5I

I'm Alan Partridge and I am delighted, or at least content, to invite you to a special preview screening of my (and BBC One's) upcoming magazine show 'This Time with Alan Partridge' (my emphasis).

The show marks my return to BBC Television after two decades in various doldrums (depression, radio, Sky Atlantic) and you've been carefully selected because you're either a journalist with a pleasant disposition or a friend or representative of an institution with whom I currently hold no specific grudge.

Limited refreshments will be provided. I think it works out at about two drinks a head, although around a third of you won't drink so some of you can have four. Food-wise, expect light snacks; those of you with a large appetite or poor impulse control should probably eat before you get there.

Toilet facilities are also on hand, catering for the full spectrum of gender and disability - but again, if you have more bespoke needs, try to go before you arrive.

Dress code: Just show a bit of respect really.

Have some manners and RSVP.

You couldn't POLL a cat: it's the 'I'm Alan Partridge' episode poll

I liked that, but the 'live show' format puts me on edge where KMKY didn't.

(The Edge is fine etc)

yeah it was too much or something. i dunno, i laughed a couple of times, i don't think i'm interested in whatever this sort of thing is any more.

i loved it

That's about what I thought, yeah. The presentation bits and Simon w/ the digi-wall just weren't very funny imo. It was about the stuff in between for me, that was nice.

"A b.... Bolshevist with a bee in his bonnet" is a keeper. Anyone remember the first 'b' word in there?

xp to kinder

fluck/clunt left me cold i looked pretty much everything else. When did Lynn become an almighty bitch though?! she has had her moments, I guess...

*, I liked everything else

I liked it on the whole, but feels like something I'll have to get used to - the combination of densely packed comedy with this ultra-bland format which makes me feel like tuning out and ignoring it, feel like it's kind of unexplored territory and will take a few episodes to start not feeling wrong. Ultimately though think putting Alan in such an uncomfortable situation will ultimately be a wise move, the sheer discomfort of everything seems like pretty fertile territory.

He's turned the Richard Madeley up to 11. Is it going to be studio bound the whole time? Hope not

haven't seen the whole episode yet, but the rote partridgeness of that clip does not bode well.

this was pish. the acting was awful.

When did Lynn become an almighty bitch though?! she has had her moments, I guess...

she's doing her job, assisting and supporting Alan. Jennie is undermining him, and Lynn's pointing it out & giving Jennie a little of her own medicine.

(Alan absolutely doesn't deserve either the pointing out nor Lynn's loyalty at all, but she has taken her job seriously for at least 22 years of Partridge continuity!)

On the evidence of the first episode, the Gibbonses should have left Sidekick Simon in Norfolk; it makes no sense that Alan should be given so much airtime for this ridiculous diversion on his initial stand-in night. If his ineffective standing up to Mickey was rewarded in the second week, that would be a chance to bring Simon in (then fuck up & either not be seen again, or start being part of an 'Alan brings success down around him' narrative)

This was funny, but would have made more sense if they'd given him the full series to reconnect with Brexit Britain, as was initially suggested, rather than framing it as a temporary stand-in.

not seen it yet, but hearing a bothersome milksop like Tim Stanley praising it on thought for the day is enough to put me off for another day.

It felt a bit rushed and forced - like we know Partridge is awkward etc and there wasn't really enough chances for his character to emerge. I'm not sure setting him up directly opposite another character is ever going to work, he just sort of engulfs the co-host who isn't written particularly well even as a foil.

The bits where he sort of had space to be Alan were amusing enough, the grandad monologue and especially his report about washing hands.

Will probably continue watching but it was only okay really. Weirdly the more lo-fi Sky Atlantic stuff prob suits him better, this actually had the sheen of the One Show and the BBC or something and not solely in an ironic way.

This was funny, but would have made more sense if they'd given him the full series to reconnect with Brexit Britain, as was initially suggested

there's still room for this to become a major thread of the series! but in this interview the Gibbons say they're about to make another Partridge series which takes a documentary look at British history, so maybe more of those ideas have been held over.

Seems like the review is glowing mostly because he's back, not for the actual 30mins we saw last night. It felt flat.

Best laugh I had was hearing a man shout 'Partridge you wanker' in the background when he was walking down the street for his hi-jean report.

Chinaman square?

I get that Lynn supports Alan, but going on the offensive with the judgmental blouse remarks seemed fairly bold for her...

yes but I loved that! it contextualises her staying with him for so long. a glimpse of tenacious competence when seen from outside Alan’s horrible treatment of her - a perspective we almost never see (eg him not even naming her in the books)

btw the hacktivist is the Pls Like guy

xp oh yeah I did enjoy it!

broadly enjoyed it although if the whole series is going to be entirely contained in the TV studio with that dense joke format it feels like it's going to run out of steam

things like Sue Barker references kind of betray an inherent cosiness but I'm not really fussed by that personally

it seems clear that this is all building to something, and that this episode is laying the foundation for some great story arcs, but… it was dry. i don’t think i laughed at all in the last 10 minutes, and moments which they clearly crafted to death (mainly the toilet mime) just felt forced.

i assume they’re playing up the precedent of people like madeley and piers morgan somehow continuing to be on the telly, making this conceit (just barely) believable.

yeah I had a constant running background thought of 'could I imagine watching a viral clip of Richard Madeley doing/saying this' which mostly produced affirmative answers

Very few highlights I thought - the Diana Dors joke, "Partridge, you wanker", Chinaman Square, another mispronunciation one I can't remember but will pick up on a rewatch, the co-host stealing his joke for the second time, Lolly Adefope disagreeing with everything he said while the co-host was always "exactly right".

Maybe it'll get there but the Sidekick Simon stuff fell horribly flat and the Emily Maitliss stuff felt like contractual obligation rather than scripted comedy.

oh wow i’ve only just worked out what chinaman square is

Actually that was a thing that annoyed me - Alan seemed to be deliberately adopting weird pronunciations of words (not including the two mispronunciation times) which I don't recall him doing before.

Presumably the leopard seal sounding like Gary Numan was supposed to be a callback to Music For Chameleons.

Actually that was a thing that annoyed me - Alan seemed to be deliberately adopting weird pronunciations of words (not including the two mispronunciation times) which I don't recall him doing before.

it’s all through his sky atlantic stuff. he thinks he elevates his class in a daily mail reader sort of way by saying ‘w---hhhat’ and ‘tellolist’.

Weird, I didn't pick it up there at all. Mea culpa.

There was a bit too much crammed in maybe - Knowing Me Knowing You works because there's only three guests per episode and everything gets time to breathe. As pure KMKW it might have worked better but they're trying to tell the backstory around the sides and that's the bit that isn't quite working.

As far as I know it's all going to be onset like that.

There's a sort of parallel but unintended irony at work in the fact the BBC are actually promoting this in HD as a flagship show, putting the likes of Maitlis in as a cameo etc. Even that email that went around to BBC staff yesterday. I think this is bad and gives it a glossy feeling that is very anti-Partridge. The sad thing is The Trip imo really suffered when it moved to Sky Atlantic as such a quintessentially BBC type of show, the Spanish series was really low budget compared to the first two, whereas Sky Atlantic actually gave Partridge a sort of retro British feeling in terms of how it looked and felt. They were channelling this for the handwashing report on last night's show but not sure there was enough of it.

Some of the all-time best Partridge moments are in Crooked Isle and the like.

agree with the general sense of disappointment

I think Mid-Morning Matters worked so well because it was Partridge completely in his element. Obviously, there's comedy to be had in him awkwardly trying to fit into a "proper" TV show but it's just not as funny as stupidly confident local radio Alan

Yeah agree - watching someone, who seems to just be "a normal BBC presenter" thinking he's a moron and vaguely negging him doesn't really yield much joy.

No other *colleague* in my decade at the BBC has taught me so how to go ‘hands-free’ in a train toilet.
Thanks, Alan.pic.twitter.com/IyTl1MAtgD

— Tim Johns (@timoncheese) February 25, 2019

i agree with pretty much everything itt but i'm staying focused on the fact that they're trying to do something completely different with alan, so i don't want to judge it too harshly on what we've seen so far. the series is a complete piece and we're still in act 1, so it's had to take its time to set up the characters, the format, etc. if it's going to go horribly off the rails (and it will, it's partridge), it needs to show us what the show looks like when it's on the rails.