So another episode of Little Britain tonight. I saw the second (??) episode last week and was shocked - not in a Outraged from Tunbridge Wells kind of way - but at how unfunny it was. Nothing made me laugh. Not even a snigger. The whole show seemed barren of ideas.
Now there seems to be a myth - started by Fawlty Towers and carried on by Ricky Gervais - that classic comedies should only last a couple of series, and a few LB apologists have been saying that maybe the third series is too far. I think this is rubbish, and was glad to hear in a Simon Mayo interview last week that David Mitchell and Robert Webb agree. David and Robert are obviously from the excellent Peep Show, which is also in its third series and, in my opinion is as strong as ever.
Basically, to paraphrase David, if you're any kind of comedy writer and you have a great idea, you should be able to get a load of mileage out of it, not just 12 amusing situations. Look at the US shows, for Chrissakes. And don't go on about big teams of writers, cos I don't care. And so the good news is that Peep Show looks like it could be running for a while yet. In addition, David and Robert are recording the pilot for the transition of their sketch show from radio to television, which is also something to keep an eye on.
When I was mentioning my dislike for the current series of Little Britain, a friend said it was most probably because I found it offensive. This is of course rubbish - although I am considered the "prudish one" amongst my dad's side of the family. I think this arose from me dissenting a Jethro video once. Now if that's prudish, then stick a white wig on my head and call me Mary.
However, one thing that I have been finding offensively over the past few months is Neighbours.
Yes, I watch Neighbours. It's on at the right time for when I get back from uni, and... wait, I don't have to justify why I watch it, I just do. Over the past few months, maybe even a year (time is hard to measure in Neighbours) the older women have broken up from their respective spouses and started finding new love. Fine - a not unheard story development in the world of soap operas.
What I do object to is the footage of the old couples (and I put anyone above the age of 40ish into this category) kissing. Lin Scully and Jo Mangle. Susan Kennedy and Max's dad. Lin and Max's dad. The big blonde one and Max's dad. Susan and her new old bloke. Lil and David. Lil and Paul. Paul and Izzy. I think Lou was even shown kissing someone, but thankfully I've blanked it out. To use an outdated US teen saying, EEEeeeww.
It's horrible, and I'm usually eating my tea/dinner/supper (delete according to regionality) when it's on, and it's pretty deappetising, I can tell you. Can't they just pan away to a fluttering cutain or a lava lamp or the like? I feel a letter to PoV coming on...
3 comments:
Hmm, interesting points. I have some views:
a) Little Britain has basically never been funny (well it used to be occasionally, but not often). Certainly, it has always been overrated (a guy in a wheelchair who gets out to do stuff while his mate is talking to someone else and then gets back before he notices is kinda funny. Once).
b) Series Three of Peep Show has made me laugh out loud at least three times each episode so far. I never laugh out loud at TV shows. When Mark was pooing with no door on the bathroom last week, I let out some actual wee. Best series yet.
c) Having said that, it may be a context thing. I mean, not sure it means you are a 'bad' comedy writer to give up before an idea becomes stale. Some ideas (eg The Office) were great, but I think however much they tried a third series may have been too much for that particular programme. The other option is just that they want to move on. Spaced, for example, had plenty of room for a third series, but they just felt like doing something else. We may still get a third series one day. I think it just depends. It is brave to know your own limitations and the limitations of your ideas and not flog a dead horse for the cold hard cash. So many do…
c) As long as it’s not your parents, old people gettin’ a bonk on shouldn’t bother you that much. Soon you'll be old, and then what are you gonna do? Turn away from your own love life in disgust. Get over it. Before it’s too late.
d) You SHOULD justify watching Neighbours (assuming such a thing is in fact possible). Or better still don't watch it. This goes in my ‘reasons why Gary sucks’ column, next to the cat thing and the Strokes thing. These are balanced against an ability to find out what mystery bug songs are and he-man video finding capabilities.
Personally, I'm more repulsed by James's use of the phrase "old people gettin’ a bonk on" than anything Neighbours can throw at me. Though I do share Gary's dislike of old people kissing. That advert for dentures with the lingering snog between the two pensioners really turns my stomach.
I'd also like to register my disdain for Little Britain (I've never seen it, but I think I get the general gist) and John's raging, almost obsessional hatred of it (which is part of the reason I have never seen it). Isn't it pretty much only watched by prepubescent boys, anyway?
Catherine
In reply:
a) Yes LB has always been rubbish, but a couple of my friends (plus my "let's rent Kangeroo Jack" dad) keep going on about how good it is. In addition it had massive audience figures, which annoys me because execs take this as a sign of goodness, which I wanted to underline as not being the case. At all.
b) Yes Peep Show has been superb this series.
c1) It's a tricky one. I agree that, for some shows, there is a natural stopping point, and I would have said this was perhaps most true with the Office. And I definitely don't think it makes you a bad comedy writer if you're moving on to do something else - I would just like to see a few more series break the 2/3 then out format that so many shows seem to follow.
c2) The use of the phrase "old people gettin’ a bonk on" definitely invalidates any of your comments, James. And I still think that watching old people kiss is wrong. It's making my skin crawl just typing about it.
d) I don't think I could justify watching Neighbours - however, I will say that it isn't that bad - it's got some of the best soap characters ever (Karl Kennedy playing guitar in Lassiters pub is one of my top 20 tv moments ever). and I will admit that each episode this week has made me laugh out loud at least once. There I've said it.
I also think that having a mild distrust of cats and occasionaly watching a throw away Ozzie soap are pretty harsh reasons to be used in the case for Gary sucking. I can think of a few better ones...
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