That’s Numberwang!

[James]

New Series of that Mitchell and Webb Look soon!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/thatmitchellandwebbsite/

And I can’t wait for Peep Show! Returns in May

BBC comedy

Wonderful!

Topic

[penny]

I tried playing Numberwang on the site and it still confuses me, much like understanding fully the space-time equation…I think you have it at one point and then it turns out you’re wrong or a bit right.

[pfm]

> BBC comedy

Wonderful!

Can’t remember the last time I could place those two together. Maybe when I was watching my Steptoe DVDs. No no no it was One Foot In The Grave, something I love more and more with every episode I see.

[si]

I’ve just got out my tapes of the last series of That Mitchell and Webb Sound on R4 – absolutely brilliant.

[si]

The Sky Sports sketch made me laugh until a little bit of wee came out.

[pfm]

Shame most of the rest of the episode was fairly lacklustre.

[John Hoare]

Shame most of the rest of the episode was fairly lacklustre.

I’ve heard quite a few people say this, but I totally disagree – I think it was just as strong as the last series, and stronger than some episodes. Pretty much every sketch made me laugh (The Numberwang Code aside) – but the gardens sketch in particular struck me. I was bored by most of the ‘real-life- sketches last series, but that was really good – I’m looking forward to more of them now.

And it also had the best closer to a sketch show I can remember in a long time.

[pfm]

Do you mean the ‘negativity’ sketch? Like a few of the others I thought it was a good idea wasted. Throwing the typewriter at the end was such a desperate way to end it.

The whole episode wasn’t crap but it just stank of laziness IMO. Much like ending a sentence with ‘IMO’. The garden sketch was 5 minutes too long and they resorted to slagging off ‘Two Pints…’ to get a laugh. I yawned at around that point. Maybe they really HAVE become the male French & Saunders…

And have they been getting the Dead Ringers writers in or what? The Numberwang Code was like something out of that – lots of time making something elaborate but with zero laughs.

God, I’m a miserable cunt…

[John Hoare]

Do you mean the ?negativity? sketch? Like a few of the others I thought it was a good idea wasted. Throwing the typewriter at the end was such a desperate way to end it.

Oh, I totally disagree – it was done brilliantly. It sounded *really* painful, and then that quick cut to black… I loved it. It’s exactly what Linehan was trying – and in my opinion failed – to do in Moss and the German in The IT Crowd, where Roy slaps the policeman – apeing the end of the Fawlty Towers episode The Hotel Inspectors.

The whole episode wasn?t crap but it just stank of laziness IMO. Much like ending a sentence with ?IMO?. The garden sketch was 5 minutes too long and they resorted to slagging off ?Two Pints?? to get a laugh.

The thing is, though – no comedy show on the BBC slags off Two Pints. We might do it all the time, but stick it into a mainstream BBC comedy show, and it’s very amusing. To me, at any rate. Especially the obvious contempt M&W have for it – and contempt is very funny.

There were so many nice touches in the show – the bawdy 70s-style hospital stuff is very amusing (and very well done) in itself, but when you name Robert Webb’s character “Doctor Askwith” – bringing to mind the differences between the Confessions and Carry On films… that just had me on the floor.

But like I say, lots of people seem to agree with you, though!

[pfm]

The 70s hospital was one of the things I liked. The music had me laughing. This is the kind of sketch they’re great at. What I didn’t like about the Two Pints thing or that whole sketch was the breaking of the fourth wall making them seem like BBC luvvies. French & Saunders annoy me in that way too. I always think ‘just get on with the fucking sketches!’

[si]

The only annoying thing for me was the ‘stone vs bronze’ sketch, which was originally done (a lot better, I think) on the radio show.

[pfm]

Right, I concede that I laughed at this –

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nGvH86wfrzk

Even though David’s voiceover is further example of the breaking of the fourth wall that just SHOULDN’T be present in this series.

This doesn’t do that, even though he’s looking straight down the lens. It works because he doesn’t break out of character to give a snide looking-off-to-the-side remark.

[ChrisM]

The Arse for a face sketch was very funny.

A similar idea was done before though. In an episode of Southpark I believe. (They had an entire family in that one.)

The documentary setting of this sketch though, poking fun at those of us fascinated by the Extraordinary People documentaries, gave it something original though.

[Ian Symes]

Even though David?s voiceover is further example of the breaking of the fourth wall that just SHOULDN?T be present in this series.

Surely breaking the fourth wall is one of the things TM&WL does best?

Only just seen the first episode. I liked The Numberwang Code and the Sky Sports sketch a lot, most of the rest of it was acceptable, but the Helivets and Padlock Origami sketches were rubbish. A bit lacklustre overall, and a tad disappointing.

Wasn’t the Extreme Negative Feedback sketch a rip-off from Absolutely?

[si]

Padlock origami wasn’t rubbish, it just went on too long.
Also, I didn’t like The Numberwang Code – give me normal(?) Numberwang anyday.

[John Hoare]

The Numberwang Code I didn’t laugh at at all – but I’m presuming that’s because I don’t know much about The Da Vinci Code. Helivets seems to have been disliked by pretty much everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot – if only for the music. Maybe it would have been better received as a quickie sketch in the middle of the show – it perhaps wasn’t a suitable series opener.

Padlockgami I enjoyed a lot, though – it reminded me of a Rutland Weekend Television sketch. Specifically, the one 1:52 into this YouTube clip.

Not seen last night’s episode yet.

[Andrew]

> Padlockgami I enjoyed a lot, though

Me too!

> Not seen last night?s episode yet.

Me too!

[Pete Part Three]

>I don?t know much about The Da Vinci Code.

You’re strongly advised to keep it that way.

[Ben Paddon]

The Da Vinci Code is a terrible mess of a book.

[Seb Patrick]

The Arse for a face sketch was very funny.

A similar idea was done before though. In an episode of Southpark I believe. (They had an entire family in that one.)

It wasn’t original when South Park did it, though, either. The comic Preacher did it before them – and they may not even have been the first.

[John Hoare]

It was the faintest of faint raspberries that emerged from arseface boy that made me lose control for the rest of the sketch.

[Andrew]

> the faintest of faint raspberries

Which is also how South Park had handled it…

The identical imagery didn’t bother me, though, after it became clear that the sketch’s target – ‘freak’ documentaries – wasn’t the same as SP’s.

[Seb Patrick]

>it became clear that the sketch?s target – ?freak? documentaries – wasn?t the same as SP?s.

Well, exactly. Again, this is something that people decrying it as an SP ripoff have failed to grasp.

[John Hoare]

Bloody good prosthetic, too.

[Baz]

‘Twas also reminiscent in many ways of the “Bum Eyes” episode of Weebl and Bob.

[Ridley]

If you’re counting Arseface then James Vance did it before that.

[Ian Symes]

And instead of a mouth, he’s got four arses.

[si]

Let me get one thing clear – Mitchell and Webb are brilliantly funny, and very clever.

Which is why it’s a bit of a shock when you only find yourself smiling at the show.

The Pantomime sketch aside (which was sublime), last night’s show was only…alright.

And at least we’re getting closer to proper Numberwang.

[Ian Symes]

Wasn?t the Extreme Negative Feedback sketch a rip-off from Absolutely?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BN7285XklSQ

[John Hoare]

Oooh, it’s very, VERY similar, isn’t it? Still, I doubt it was a conscious lift – it’s such an obvious idea for a sketch that they were almost certainly developed independently.

The Absolutely sketch is better – but M&W has a better punchline.

Hooray for the Absolutely boxset out soon, anyway!

[pfm]

> but M&W has a better punchline

The interviewee in the Absolutely sketch still has the plaster on his head from being hit with the typewriter from the M&W one.

[Jonathan Capps]

Quick! 1471!

[Seb Patrick]

They made the same mistake (or, rather, bit of laziness) we did, of having 1471 instantly call back the previous number ;-)

[Ian Symes]

I always assumed Doug pressed 3 immediately after, but didn’t bother to say it.

[Seb Patrick]

I actually did hit an extra key, but I couldn’t remember which one it was, so it probably wasn’t 3.

Webb definitely only pressed four keys, though. I think.

[John Hoare]

Watched episode 2. Perhaps not as good as the first ep, but still loads to enjoy.

“No, Timmy. Cos that would be *shit*.”

One problem I have though, is that there are far too few sketches done in front of the audience in the studio. These are often the highlight – the negotiator/writer sketches, for instance – and there arne’t enough of them. The first one last night was nine minutes in! Which, as much as anything else, means the change in tone feels slightly jarring when they *do* arrive…

[Pete Part Three]

Series 2 is as disappointing as Ashes to Ashes.

bah.

[John Hoare]

I thought tonight’s episode was excellent. Back to Life Back To Reality was caused huge shrieks in my house.

And did I also spy a long and extended piss-take of Dave Gorman?

Only two criticisms really – the film scriptwriters piece went on far too long. I think they would have been better off editing the piece to the pace of what an actual trailer would have been like. And yet again, I want more studio sketches – it’s one thing I think the series is badly missing, and if you have too few of them, it starts to feel odd when they *do* pop up, like in the advertising execs sketch. (Note: to solve this, I want *more* studio sketches – not them got rid of completely…)

But apart from that, great stuff. It’s nice to have a sketch show that consistently makes me laugh again.

[pfm]

I liked the madness of the line ‘coal doesn’t turn around and suddenly tell you “Dick and Dom aren’t very BBC Three”‘.

I actually liked the writers/cricket sequence. I nearly pissed my sides when Mitchell’s character said ‘I used to coach the Manchester United team, the year they won the European Cricket Cup.’ His delivery rules, unlike Webb who plays the same character in most sketches…

The only thing I would have added to that spoof was someone coming up to Webb’s character and saying ‘by the way, we’ve just heard, your brother’s died…and you’ve got a disabled son…and your wife’s spending every other scene in bed with your best mate…’ ‘oh, so I suppose it’s time for me to collapse on the floor and cry like a baby ’cause me life’s gone to pot?’ ‘That’s right. Now get on the floor, you stereotypical northern hardman with a heart!’

I agree that there should be more studio sketches. After a couple of opening pre-records it should then go to the studio, so in this one it would be the coal sketch followed by the (crap) Helivets, then a studio sketch, then alternate between roughly 2-3 pre-records and one studio.

[Pete Part Three]

I nodded off before the end. That Cricket sketch was waaay too long.

[Turk Thrust]

I actually thought that it was the weakest episode so far this series. Too many sketches went on far too long and the one with the robot was the worst offender.

[Pete Part Three]

WEBB: Hi David. Is it time for another of our sketches where the characters are just us sitting around in between filming of the series?

MITCHELL: Yes, Robert. I believe it is. Even though we went as far as we could with this gag last series and it’s all painfully reminiscent of French and Saunders, we do have 28 minutes to fill.

WEBB: Couldn’t we just do a call-back to an earlier sketch?

MITCHELL: That’s all we’ve done so far. This whole episode is just a constant rotation of 4 sketches artificially stretched to breaking point.

WEBB: We’d better do something surreal. Maybe do a telly in-joke. Or reference another comedy show that’s only marginally worse than what this has become.

MITCHELL: I can’t think of anything.

WEBB: We could just sit here and wait for the sketch to end with no punchline.

MITCHELL: That’s how most of them end.

WEBB: Good point. I guess being likeable comedians isn’t enough to sustain a sketch show with only two or three decent jokes. Did we learn nothing from Peter Serafinowicz?

MITCHELL: Apparently not. Oh well, shall we go and do another series of Peep Show and tarnish that now? Or should we make another illogical Mac advert? Or should we make another rotten British movie?

WEBB: Let’s do them all!

MITCHELL: Ok, Peep Show Series 5 then…

WEBB: That’s Numberwang!

MITCHELL: Oh fuck off.

[Anonymous]

Now THAT is funny.

[Turk Thrust]

> Now THAT is funny.

It seriously isn’t.

[Pete Part Three]

Ouch, Nick. Ouch.

[Anonymous]

Everyone’s a critic.

[Tanya Jones]

>Wasn?t the Extreme Negative Feedback sketch a rip-off from Absolutely?

It was originally performed in The Bodgers, the radio series predating Absolutely, consisting of the Scottish contigent of the Absolutely team. They later teamed up with Morwenna and John for Bodgers, Banks and Sparkes, and the rest is history. Well, the bit before was as well, but I’ll stop being a smug comedy fan now.

[pfm]

Oh god, don’t remind me of the ‘cheese/petrol’ sketch. Truly, utterly horrible. Why exactly are the audience still laughing for the millionth time it says ‘cheeeese’? Really really weak.

[Ridley]

Petril

[John Hoare]

I really liked the Cheesoid sketches – not least because what started as a vaguely sensible sketch that I thought looked slightly boring ended with a robot covered in stringy cheese and saying “Petril”. The change in tone was unexpected and amusing.

Also: “cheese status”.

[Andrew]

I had the same reaction – not taken with it at the start, loving it as it became dafter.

I missed the show and had to watch it on the iPlayer – which is a lot less annoying now I’ve hooked a line from my Mac up to the TV.

[Author]

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