How much do you get for writing a 10pm BBC2 sitcom, d'ya think?
― Dom Passantino, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Loadsamoney.
― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:18 (sixteen years ago) link
channel 4 has peep show, star stories, it crowd, nathan barley (both have 2nd runs forthcoming) i guess. listed like that it's kinda depressing.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:18 (sixteen years ago) link
because the BBC insist/demand a second series of all their comedy shows - refusal to comply has srs consequence. well done to Jessica Stephenson for having the balls to stand up to them and say no i say.
-- blueski, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 4:03 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
they *changed her name*, which was pretty harsh.
xpost
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:19 (sixteen years ago) link
nathan barley pisses all over hyperdrive, still game, saxondale, etc.
Peep Show must be on it's 4th series by now I think. I lost count after 1.
Actually I was watching Swiss Toni series 2 on DVD and found it pretty funny, and funnier than series 1. This may not be saying much.
― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:20 (sixteen years ago) link
'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.' 'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.' 'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.' 'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.' 'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.' 'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.' 'You're only interested in Jesus because you haven't got a boyfriend.'
nathan barley is MUCH funnier now than it was when it was on the telly.
― CharlieNo4, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:20 (sixteen years ago) link
xp
i have been told it's £3000 to write an episode of hollyoaks. i may have been misinformed. a days speaking part on dr who is a bit under a grand with dvd royalties at a later date.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:21 (sixteen years ago) link
so, er, work it out from that.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:22 (sixteen years ago) link
holy crap, that's loads.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:23 (sixteen years ago) link
one thing Still Game and Hyperdrive have sort of got right: lead characters are pretty likeable even loveable (altho Nick Frost's safe persona has got boring perhaps)
― blueski, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:25 (sixteen years ago) link
-- blueski, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 4:03 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
and chris langham amirite
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Altho Bex seemed likeable enough also - maybe it's just more difficult when the lead character is a woman (IT Crowd lass also likeable I think). And different rules apply to early evening sitcoms (people don't watch them expecting riotous hilarity, just something light-hearted to help your dinner go down).
― blueski, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:32 (sixteen years ago) link
-- That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:19
i didn't know you huffed glue, how's that working out for you?
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:38 (sixteen years ago) link
hyperdrive is a moderate giggle, still game and saxondale are two of the only things to force yourself to remember to watch.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Gervais being billed above Robert De Niro will do his ego the world of good...
At least he should be spending most of the film dead - not that stops his character, though.
― Forest Pines Mk2, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:46 (sixteen years ago) link
force yourself to remember to watch
wow, appointment TV still exists? who knew?
― CharlieNo4, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:47 (sixteen years ago) link
if you have to force yourself...
even if a show is quite funny i find i'm not that bothered about it/won't go out of my way to see it. i only ever watched all the US animated shows on a casual basis anyway (the Simpsons was pretty unavoidable back when i had Sky anyway). combo of age, jadedness and plateau/nosedive of the medium maybe (applies to lots of music and other art too wah kill me now).
― blueski, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:47 (sixteen years ago) link
i don't think tv's worse than it was -- even if there aren't many comedy shows i like now it's not like it was ever overbrimming with gold. it only takes a few really good shows to make something look like a golden age.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:50 (sixteen years ago) link
"if you have to force yourself..."
i kind of have to force myself to watch anything on telly when i could be doing something else (why don't you..). what i meant was inertia vs the rewards you get from the show. actually switching the box on is an effort for me.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:50 (sixteen years ago) link
hmm i dunno i guess it's easy to be revisionist but is there really anything of the quality of father ted or the day today or i'm alan partridge or blah, blah around at the moment?
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:53 (sixteen years ago) link
nathan barley and peep show are the closest we have to genius, peep show actually attains genius at times.
― Just got offed, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link
THE THICK OF IT, why do i keep forgetting, now that's the best thing atm
― Just got offed, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link
i.e. it is flat-out genius
no -- but they occupied 30 minutes a week for six weeks, and TDT ran for only six weeks in total. IAP ran in two separate years widely spaced apart. FT was about three series in four years. so TV as a whole wasn't upturned by their presence.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link
obviously i do see the mid-late 90s as a golden age, but you gotta fight that.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:56 (sixteen years ago) link
okay i have no idea if i'm going to get laughed at but the nicholas craig shows on bbc4 ie how to be edwardian, how to be science fiction, the mark lawson interview, have been the funniest things in ages and definitely on a par with early partridge.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 15:59 (sixteen years ago) link
oh yeh forgot peep show. no way is the thick of it genius tho.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:00 (sixteen years ago) link
part of what makes a golden age is the feeling that you're not in a tiny minority of smug media-savvy bbc4-watchers too, and while i do think 'the thick of it' is up there with the 90s stuff i mentioned (though i do think it's mean-spirited but those are the times we live in ;_;), i'm conscious it doesn't have that 'quoting it in the playground the next morning' vibe. granted i'm not at school, but i mean, people at work and even people i like don't know what the hell it is. likewise 'nathan barley', which is somewhat esoteric.
'peep show' is getting more popular as it gets more shit, and again i often find it more depressing than funny.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:04 (sixteen years ago) link
The Thick of It is great, I forgot that but, but it doesn't make me laff that much. It's a neat little send up of modern politics but no way is it The Greatest Sitcom Since Fawlty Towers (TM Alison Graham)It'll have two or three killers an episode but not Police Squad bang, bang jokes, bruv. Family Guy does. TV Burp does as well but that really should be an entree not a main course.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:06 (sixteen years ago) link
There's something about the name of that massive If You Don't Like Peep Show You Are Probably Not Worth Knowing facebook group that makes me think that is the perfect sitcom for our crypto-tory shitbag generation.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link
i'm not saying TV's worse - quality is constant because new problems replace the old ones.
there was a good thing on BBC Four about TV in 1974 a few weeks back. Unfortunately the clips they showed of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads made it look a rather worthy (Bolam sighs at sight of demolished factory etc.), boring affair with stifled laughter to match. Surely not the case.
― blueski, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link
"part of what makes a golden age is the feeling that you're not in a tiny minority of smug media-savvy bbc4-watchers too"
i'm not taking offense as such but i never mentioned anything about no golden age which i think is ridiculous anyway (in this context), what makes you think bbc-4 watchers are tech-savvy i'm certainly not in fact most of them are prob middle aged with string round their glasses, and "smug" ? bit douchey, no?
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link
-- acrobat, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 5:08 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link
yeah 100% otm. i hadn't realized this till recently when it got really massive. the jokes have become more sour over the last two series also, as mark as become the central character and jeremy the tosspot.
xpost i was talking about me and mine, frogman.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link
in any case, when the day today came out, did you not feel part of a clique/minority watching this tremendous/slightly overlooked thing at 10pm on bbc2? smug, perhaps?
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link
possibly -- but not with 'father ted' or 'brass eye' or 'i'm alan partridge'.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:14 (sixteen years ago) link
or 'the smell of reeves and mortimer'!
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:15 (sixteen years ago) link
imo Malcolm Tucker and Ollie are more likeable than Mark and Jeremy. maybe it's because they're such high status clever bastards (Tucker at least) and actually succeed most of the time. British comedy penchant for irritating losers really not a plus point.
― blueski, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:15 (sixteen years ago) link
'i'm alan partridge' was smug-inducing. brass eye was alienating to a lot of people. father ted was a legtimate universal sitcom tho.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:15 (sixteen years ago) link
ban anyone who uses the words 'smug' or 'genius' on this thread.
― blueski, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:16 (sixteen years ago) link
blueski banned!!!111
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link
i don't think IAP was smug at all.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah i am kind of using it because i disagree with the notion, however 'i'm alan partridge' is kind of sneering and loathsome and i don't think people who are obsessed with it are particularly nice.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link
nah iap is iannucci and coogan playing to the gallery. the student-wanker gallery.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:21 (sixteen years ago) link
i disagree.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:24 (sixteen years ago) link
i think peep show fits in quite well with programs like balls of steel even the apprentince. it shares space with media figures like gordon ramsey and jeremy clarkson. it echoes the elevation of boris johnson to godhead status. self satisfaction, complacency, meaness all are celebrated with unironic irony. g2 gentrification, the mainstreaming of hipster one up manship becomes playground tactics. everyone wants to be on the side thats winning.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link
hmm.
some cracking gags tho gromit.
― Frogman Henry, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:26 (sixteen years ago) link
all rooted in a slightly shitty view of the world.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:28 (sixteen years ago) link
at least they're not racists though.
― acrobat, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:31 (sixteen years ago) link
imo Malcolm Tucker and Ollie are more likeable than Mark and Jeremy.
Ollie isn't (especially not in part 2 of the special), Tucker certainly is. Whoever said it didn't have a laughing-out-loud vibe clearly didn't see Part 1. An hour's worth of belly-laughs, that one.
Brass Eye was alienating to a lot of people, most of whom were Mail-reading cunts.
― Just got offed, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 16:35 (sixteen years ago) link