Ganymede & Titan - Barrie's Moment in The Sun - Comments

A poor man’s Mike Yarwood.

si — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:47:06 +0000

A poor man’s Mike Yarwood.

Yes, I used to find Bremner

John Hoare — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:50:54 +0000

Yes, I used to find Bremner really funny in his ‘Michael Fish’ stage. But when he started getting more earnest, I completely lost interest.

I used to adore Rory

si — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:43:38 +0000

I used to adore Rory Bremner, and now I just don’t think he’s very funny at all. He was on an episode of Whose Line..? the other day, and he was hopeless. The same goes for the early Mock the Week’s. He just stands and gurns his way through Bush or Blair.

> Mock the Week is about as

Nick — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:55:37 +0000

> Mock the Week is about as hard-hitting as Balamory. And HIGNFY is incredibly patchy nowadays.

HIGNFY has always been patchy. If you watch some of the really old eps that are on sometimes then you’ll see that the pace was very slow and gentle compared to what it is nowadays.

Some of the jokes that they do on Mock the Week, for example about Princess Diana having a gangbang in a minefield, would obviously trespass on what Spitting Image would do.

The same goes for Bremner, Bird and Fortune.

Also satire is everywhere nowadays. Even serious shows and publications contain elements of it and the shock value that helped to make Spitting Image such a success all those years ago would be gone now. That’s one of the reasons, along with a decline in quality, that made viewing figures so bad for the show in the first place.

I really like the US version

Pete Part Three — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:54:35 +0000

I really like the US version but don’t think it touches upon the original. The US one works much better as a traditional sitcom but, as a result of this, it loses a little of what made the UK version so good. The US version strives to shoehorn a proper “plot” into each episodes, which wasn’t in the original remit. As a result of this, a lot of the episodes start with the talking heads reeling out exposition which feels a little clunky.

Quite appropriately, I think that the differences between the two are like comparing the UK and US versions of a documentary/docu-soap (for example, The Apprentice).

US shows like that always seem… far less believable. (I’m trying not to come across as a rampant xenophobe here) but there always seems to be an indication that the vast majority of it is staged. Of course, as Charlie Brooker recently demonstrated, pretty much every docusoap, regardless of origin, is 80% fake, but American programmes seem far less grounded in reality and trying to convince you that’s it’s not a big lie.

The US Office seems to come across the same way and it becomes less believable (and less funny as a result). For example, when Tim confessed his love for Dawn in the UK office he took off his microphone and took her to a private room. When Jim did the same thing with Pam in the US, he did it in front of the cameras.

>Mock the Week is about as

Dave — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:41:10 +0000

>Mock the Week is about as hard-hitting as Balamory

Balamory is remarkably clever. The insights into sharing and playing nicely with friends have deep parallels with many of the world’s problems.

>Shows like HIGNFY and Mock

Seb Patrick — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:28:03 +0000

>Shows like HIGNFY and Mock the Week are as hard hitting as Spitting Image was

Mock the Week is about as hard-hitting as Balamory. And HIGNFY is incredibly patchy nowadays.

The only truly great topical satire show since Spitting Image’s heyday is the Friday/Saturday Night Armistice. I’d kill for Iannucci and co. to give it another shot nowadays.

The Office is approximately

si — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:49:53 +0000

The Office is approximately 39 times better than The Brittas Empire.

There. I’ve said it.

[Hides]

I hate Ricky Gervais. Cannot stand the man. Loathe the sight of him.
To such an extent, that upon seeing him upon the cover of a DVD recently given away free with the Radio Times, I had to cut him out so as not to risk poking my own eyes out.

Indeed it is. Blatantly.

Nick — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:46:13 +0000

Indeed it is. Blatantly.

> No matter what Gervais

Andrew — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:27:14 +0000

> No matter what Gervais says The Office isn’t a sitcom

Yes. It is.

> This is supposed to be

Nick — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:02:00 +0000

> This is supposed to be about Spitting Image!! It shouldn’t come back because it would be so crap compared with how it was. NOT because of the ‘PC Brigade’ but because comedy in general has gone down the shitpan. Comedy producers aren’t afraid of offending anyone, just apparently afraid of producing a funny show. Maybe someone will laugh!! And we can’t be having that!

This is bullshit of course.

There are a number of reasons why Spitting Image probably shouldn’t return but this isn’t one of them.

It would be very unlikely that a new version of the show be able to attract the same standard of writers and it would also not be as innovative as it was. Shows like HIGNFY and Mock the Week are as hard hitting as Spitting Image was and can be made for less money. With lots of satirical stuff around already there would be no point in bringing it back.

The US Office just doesn’t

Phil — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:40:06 +0000

The US Office just doesn’t do it for me. I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried again, and I just can’t get absorbed in it.

And it isn’t a matter of “which is the better version?” syndrome. It’s just that, on its own, it isn’t television that urges me to return to it. I really have tried. It’s no fault of the actors and I’d be hesitant to say it’s any fault of the writing. There’s just something about the feel of the show that isn’t communicating anything of substance to me at all.

In fact, I feel about the US version of the office the same way John seems to feel about the UK version: I understand why people would like it…but I’m not one of them.

I’ve only seen one

Dave — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:11:51 +0000

I’ve only seen one episode, about competing Chistmas parties, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The character that seemed to benefit the most in the US version was the ‘Gareth’ character, the American plays it with so much believability and conviction.

The US Office is better than

Seb Patrick — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:30:09 +0000

The US Office is better than the original, which I’ve said many times. It’s got more characters, there’s far more development, and at times it’s downright funnier. Wait until season three rolls on some more - you won’t be disappointed. I thought season two was hard to top, but the latter half of season three managed it. Four has been a bit disappointing by comparison (before it stopped for the strike) but is still ace, and there’s a pretty major plot shift (compared to the original) that’s made for some thoroughly enjoyable stuff.

There’s actually an excellent article on it just published on OTT. Might have a few spoilers for season three plot developments, though. And it’s right about the fact that the Gervais/Merchant episode just felt… wrong, somehow. Still funny, but they weren’t comfortable writing Michael Scott at all.

No matter what Gervais says

performingmonkey — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:56:10 +0000

No matter what Gervais says The Office isn’t a sitcom, it’s more of a spoof doco with comedy/drama thrown in. The US Office shows how much life there is in that format.

I watched what I assume is the first episode of season 3 on ITV2 last night and it was excellent. It was the one with the gay co-worker (oh look how American I sound using the word ‘co-worker’…). I don’t know about anyone else but I was nearly crying laughing when Michael (the Brent equivalent) was going in to kiss him to show how tolerant he is. I like how they can throw in some serious bits too, like the Gervais/Merchant Office could. But this episode was up there with the best of the original, easily.

Anyway, Brittas is like the polar opposite, both the show and the character. One thing you could never say about Brittas is that he’s lazy and unenthusiastic, but that’s what Brent is, a really negative character where Brittas is overly positive. Brent is more realistic, despite being a bit of a monster (people exactly like him DO exist, I’ve met a couple of contenders). Despite the staff always whingeing about him Brittas isn’t THAT bad really.

This is supposed to be about Spitting Image!! It shouldn’t come back because it would be so crap compared with how it was. NOT because of the ‘PC Brigade’ but because comedy in general has gone down the shitpan. Comedy producers aren’t afraid of offending anyone, just apparently afraid of producing a funny show. Maybe someone will laugh!! And we can’t be having that!

Barrie's Moment in The Sun

Tanya Jones — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:35:19 +0000