TellyDrone

[Seb Patrick]

Inspired by talk in the ‘MovieDrone’ thread. I thought it’d be good to have a straight-out TV thread. Thanks to the benefit of a television I managed to see something stupid like some programmes in my living room last year and I’ve actually become even more passionate about telly as a result. So would everyone be so kind as to put forward a suggestion or two with their favourite TV gems and the reasons behind them.

Btw did anyone see else see ‘The Krypton Factor’ last week?

Topic

[Seb Patrick]

Capps and Jo : one step at a time, eh? I’ve watched ONE episode of Studio 60 so far, so let me at least get through that season before contemplating tackling the behemoth that is The West Wing. Especially as I’ve also got House of Cards, Our Friends in the North and The Singing Detective queued up on Lovefilm.

[Tarka Dal]

Ta. I wasn’t trying to be arsey. All the talk of West Wing and Studio 60 has me wanting to watch them. I figured we could easily fill a thread about TV.

You should have given it a better name though ;-)

[Pete Part Three]

I’m trying to think of something that you probably haven’t already seen, Seb.

This is hard.

[Phil]

The. Venture. Bros.

Otherwise…I’m kind of with Pete. You’re at least as cultured as I am as far as television goes, and anything else I’d think to recommend for you is stuff I know you’ve seen!

[Jonathan Capps]

> Capps and Jo : one step at a time, eh?

Well, I did actually say this in my last post… But, yeah, I agree.

In American TV news I saw the first two episodes of Scrubs season 8 yesterday and they were very good but I’m still a bit bit creeped out by them being in wdescreen.

[Seb Patrick]

Oh, there’s plenty of stuff I haven’t seen. I made a list about a year or go of stuff I wanted to watch because it was classic and I hadn’t – it was in fact an attempt to do a “blog project” like my current one, but I just didn’t have the time to get the stuff off Lovefilm and watch it. I’m a bit more single now, so I’ve got a bit more time to watch whatever I feel like ;-)

Anyway, on the list there was :

Cathy Come Home
The Naked Civil Servant
The War Game
An Englishman Abroad
Blue Remembered Hills
Nuts in May
Hillsborough
Boys from the Blackstuff
Edge of Darkness
The Singing Detective
Pennies from Heaven
Quatermass and the Pit
Talking to a Stranger
House of Cards
Brideshead Revisited
I, Claudius
The Jewel in the Crown
Our Friends in the North
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
This Life
7/14/28/etc Up
Life on Earth
The Ascent of Man
Civilisation

So… yeah. Lots to catch up on. And that’s to say nothing of US stuff like The Wire and the West Wing.

Now when it comes to comedy… yeah. There ain’t so much you’ll catch me out on. But drama? It’s like I am with a lot of films – I know plenty about ’em, but I haven’t actually SEEN ’em…

[Seb Patrick]

Incidentally… I wasn’t actually asking for recommendations. I was quoting Karl ;-)

[Pete Part Three]

Well, with the exception of Cathy Come Home and This Life, I haven’t seen any of that lot either!

[James]

The Alan Clark Diaries and Paul Abbott’s State of Play , might interest you Seb. And they are in my list, yes a suggestion.

[hummingbird]

Re Seb’s list: yes, yes and yes.
Well worth watching, or re-watching as most of these haven’t been shown for years.

[Pete Part Three]

There’s this programme I saw a while back that may interest you, Seb. It was set on a ship and had Lloyd Mullaney, Jif MicroLiquid, Polo Mint and that man from Blockbuster Video.

Don’t think it’s on any more, mind.

[Tarka Dal]

> Incidentally? I wasn?t actually asking for recommendations. I was quoting Karl ;-)

But you’re getting them anyway it seems.

[Ben Paddon]

I’m currently trying to introduce my girlfriend to the cream of British television. As mentioned, she’s not a fan of sitcoms with a laughter track, so Red Dwarf has been a bit of a strain for her (I’ve suggested she perhaps give the books a go instead, and she’s agreed). I also think Coupling would be right up her street if it weren’t for the laugh track.

She liked the UK version of The Office but found it depressing in comparison to the US version, which she loves. She’s going to give Extras a go this weekend. It’ll be interesting to see what she thinks of it – I personally prefer Extras, but we’ll see.

She likes the new Doctor Who, and found the classic stuff interesting. I was quite surprised when she was distracted by the switch in film type between studio and exterior shots, but having grown up watching telly flit from one type of film to another it never really bothered me. Different sensibilities, I guess.

She hasn’t watched Torchwood yet. I’ve suggested she start watching season one before she sees the last three episodes of Doctor Who series three, so I’m going to let her borrow my season one Blu-ray. She’s going to hate it. I bet she’ll love season two, though. I did.

I’d like to show her Life On Mars, Blackadder, and a few other British shows. The problem is I have most of my UK stuff as Region 2 discs and she doesn’t own a multiregion player, so the only way she can watch them is if she’s up in LA, which isn’t often. I may have to take a DVD player down to her.

[peas_and_corn]

Maybe play her the extended episodes on the series VII DVD? those don’t have laugh tracks.

This year there’s a new show on Australian TV- “Triple Zero Heroes” (000 is the emergency number here). Sounds pretty bad…

[Ben Paddon]

peas_and_corn is gender-neutral…
Maybe play her the extended episodes on the series VII DVD? those don?t have laugh tracks.

It’s an idea, but it’s also an idea that involves asking her to watch the show from near the end, without any of the character history. Plus there’s that thing where I am the only person in the entirety of the Multiverse who thinks that series VII was good.

[ChrisM]

>Plus there?s that thing where I am the only person in the entirety of the Multiverse who thinks that series VII was good.

Not the only one. I liked most of series 7.

Comedy without a laugh track… what about Spaced?

You’d be taking a bit of a chance as it’s a bit indy but taste – especially humor – is so subjective there is always a risk anyway.

[Jo]

>Capps and Jo : one step at a time, eh?

Just give us a shout when you fancy giving The West Wing a go, both Me and Cappsy have all the seasons on DVD so one of use can lend those to you rather than you have to order them on Lovefilm, which I imagine would take forever one disc at a time! :oS

[Ben Paddon]

Michelle loved Spaced before we’d even met, which was a surprise. She’d imported the Collectors Edition boxset from the UK and modded her classic Xbox so she could watch it.

I bought her the US release (which, incidentally, is brilliant. You should snag it).

[JamesTC]

But Red Dwarf doesn’t have a laughter track, it is just filmed infront of a live audience, even Series VII was shown to an audience to record the laughter.

[peas_and_corn]

I suppose it’s referring to ‘a comedy where you can hear people laughing, canned or real’

[Pete Part Three]

A “laughter track” doesn’t automatically mean “canned”.

[Tarka Dal]

To get through Series VII I have to get pretty canned.

[Andrew]

> Series VII was shown to an audience to record the laughter.

Thus creating what’s known as ‘a laughter track’.

[Ian Symes]

As mentioned, she?s not a fan of sitcoms with a laughter track

As mentioned, DUMP HER.

[Ridley]

It?s an idea, but it?s also an idea that involves asking her to watch the show from near the end, without any of the character history. Plus there?s that thing where I am the only person in the entirety of the Multiverse who thinks that series VII was good.

I started watching with Stoke Me A Clipper.

[ChrisM]

>I bought her the US release (which, incidentally, is brilliant. You should snag it).

A mate bought me the British box-set for Christmas. (He asked me what I’d like and I gave him a couple of links to reasonably priced items. The other was Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The idea was he would pick and choose, but he got me both, bless him.)

I just checked the regions 1 Spaced spec. online. I didn’t realize they had some extras we don’t! (GRRR. Wish they wouldn’t do that. Tarantino is actually in one of the commentaries!) Never mind, the version I got was still a great package with lots of stuff I’m still working my way through.

[Tarka Dal]

> Garth Marenghi?s Darkplace

This. Especially since it’s more a pastiche of US period shows than British ones.

[ChrisM]

I saw Darkplace a while ago when it was broadcast and it tickled me. Brilliant and silly. Amusing how they do the commentaries in character too. (Well… their actor persona is what I mean.) Part of me wishes they’d done commentary tracks as themselves though, cos it’s not so much about what they feel, or how they did something as how their persona would think.

[Tarka Dal]

Yes part of me feels it’s a shame that they didn’t record two seperate commentaries. However I also like how the ‘in-character’ feel of Darkplace and Deano’s after Dark is maintained at all times. When Holness, Ayoade and Berry did the Darkplace DVD signing at the Virgin Megastore in Piccadilly Circus they were all dressed in their ‘talking heads’ (older) personas and stayed in character throughout, right down to Todd Rivers becoming ruder and more abrasive as the signing wore on.

[TheLeen]

Oh man, I wish I’d see that.

[JamesTC]

Plus there?s that thing where I am the only person in the entirety of the Multiverse who thinks that series VII was good.

I thought Series VII was fantastic, it is the first series I can remember watching on original broadcast, I remember watching ‘Blue’.
I can’t understand why people don’t like Series VII, it is probably the worst out of all of Red Dwarf’s Series but far better than any other TV show ever made. Give me Series VII over Doctor Who or Seinfeld any day!

[hummingbird]

> Oh man, I wish I?d see that.

ditto
so much love for Darkplace

>I can?t understand why people don?t like Series VII

do you want the list?

[Ben Paddon]

I still think Series VII was some brilliant television. It wasn’t the Red Dwarf we were familiar with at the time, but I believe that there are some of the show’s finest moments in that series. The broadcast version of Tikka To Ride is absolute gold, save for the “giant pizza” line (another example of Lister being made to look stupid for the sake of humour). Duct Soup is brilliant character writing. Stoke Me A Clipper is interesting, if a bit ridiculous, but has that brilliant opening sequence. The production values for the series overall are top-notch.

I understand why it has a bad rep with Dwarf fans but, honestly, I don’t think it’s that bad.

[ChrisM]

>It wasn?t the Red Dwarf we were familiar with at the time
I think that’s the main reason people (particularly fans) disliked it. Suddenly confronted with something rather different (at least to start with) can take a bit of getting used to.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder, if Red Dwarf had started in that way, would the same people have reacted differently? I.e. a new show. No previous conceptions…

Possibly. I found the Kryten jealousy stuff amusing to start with then grating after a while. I don’t mind it now though. Beyond a Joke is even one of my favourite episodes in series 7- (not for the whining itself but there is a lot of great characters and a decent story in there) and I know I’m in the minority there.

I agree, 7 has a lot of good stuff.

>The broadcast version of Tikka To Ride is absolute gold, save for the ?giant pizza? line

I loved that line, but I have a bit of a sick sense of humor.

As for broadcast vs extended, I liked the extra scenes at the end involving the curry supplies and Kryten’s flying eyeballs. It feels tacked on though and the broadcast ending feels the most natural. (I’m not sure ‘natural’ is the right word. It feels the best is what I mean.) On the other hand you have the link to the curry supplies at the start so…. I like them both in different ways, if that makes sense.

[hummingbird]

Tikka is a good ep – not a funny as it could be, but still a good ep, I like it.
The rest of VII has some good scenes, but I find it difficult to sit through whole episodes.

But I judge it in comparison to other RD. It’s still more entertaining than most of the crap on telly.

[Tarka Dal]

7 and 8 aren’t without their charms. Doug can still write some fantastic comedy, so in amongst the ‘crap’ there are still some great gags. Likewise 7 and 8 seem just as quotable as the other six series.

7 on reflection had so much change counting against it. There was a huge backlash. I know series 6 apparently came in for stick from some fans, but the internet wasn’t so established back then whereas by the time series 7 as aired there were hundreds of Red Dwarf geocities fan pages, several mailing lists and a lot of message boards available for the fans to moan.

From memory Doug’s intro at the start of the series 8 script book acknowledges a lot of what ‘the fans’ didn’t like about the series and so for series 8, presumably to please his audience; back came not only Rimmer, but Red Dwarf itself, the studio audience and the bunk-room scenes. It was in effective a nostaglia trip.

I’m much less keen on Series 8 than I am 7. 7 I can accept now did the best they could in the circumstances and made some brave attempts to evolve the format, stop the show from getting stale and smooth the transition to the big screen.

I don’t like not having a studio audience either, but you don’t have a studio audience for a movie. Plus a sci-fi movie, even a sci-fi comedy movie, still has carries with it the expectation of impressive effects and sets for example Galaxy Quest.

Series 8: Sure it has more jokes, a more immediate in-your-face and back-to-basics approach. However should the fans be able to bully the showrunner into the type of show they want? Is the show the want even actually what they think they want or by attempting to please everybody do you end up pleasing nobody?

Danny will never be able to pull off the atheletic young cat as convincingly as he once did. Craig instead of a cheeky young scouse wag is now a middle-aged aged bloke most famous for being a cabbie in Corrie. Chris should not be asked to be series I Rimmer, he evolved that character into something so much more.

This all makes me sound hugely negative about New Dwarf… I’m not. Red Dwarf is at it’s best when it’s building upon what’s gone before, new enviroments, new situations and new moments of comic gold with characters that like us are still growing up and learning all the time. The last two series of Red Dwarf, particular series 8 saw the thrusters fired into reverse. It’s warm, it’s cosy, but it’s old ground.

‘Going round in circles for fourteen months!’

So for the specials I hope we get ‘new’ characters and a ‘new’ story.

[Seb Patrick]

STOP TALKING ABOUT RED DWARF ON OUR RED DWARF FORUM.

Or, more specifically… this is the “Telly that isn’t Red Dwarf or Doctor Who” thread, y’bastards.

[Tanya Jones]

I’m genuinely confused about the hate your girlfriend has for laughter tracks, Ben. Do you think it’s a result of growing up with too many crappy sitcoms?

[JamesTC]

From memory Doug?s intro at the start of the series 8 script book acknowledges a lot of what ?the fans? didn?t like about the series and so for series 8, presumably to please his audience; back came not only Rimmer, but Red Dwarf itself, the studio audience and the bunk-room scenes. It was in effective a nostaglia trip.

Makes it sound like Doug Naylor is John Nathan Turner, give the fans what they ask, get fucked over when they don’t like what they asked for.

[Pete Part Three]

This is going to be about Doctor Who again, isn’t it?

[consults Wikipedia]

[Tarka Dal]

> Makes it sound like Doug Naylor is John Nathan Turner, give the fans what they ask, get fucked over when they don?t like what they asked for.

This isn’t really true. I’m a fan, I didn’t ask for any of the bits we got in series 8 (save the return of Rimmer). The trouble with a writer trying to be a populist and listening to an outcry on messageboards is that a lot of people complaining on messageboars talk utter shite (Yep. I know, a moment of self-awareness). So a group of people get worked-up about bring back bunk-rooms scenes or setting the show back on the ship. What seems to be missed that their not thinking about what they want, they are answering with ‘what I liked’. Would any of us really give a shit where the characters were or what situations or additional characters were involved so long as it was A) well-written and B) funny?

The trouble with trying to please everyone, is that you often end up pleasing no one. It’s Doug’s show. He only has to please one person… himself. RTD made mention of this in The Writer’s Tale. The creative process is not a democracy.

[Author]

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