SkyAndSun

[SkyAndSun]

Coogan makes some good points whenever he’s on these programs and I respect him for standing up like that. But you’re right, i can’t figure out how he can justify allowing Partridge on Sky. It really undermines all the other stuff he says.

[SkyAndSun]

I enjoyed it for the atmosphere and good characters. But I can’t get fully behind the ideas primarily because the writers seem to talk about the Christian religion being ‘correct’ – there’s a white glowy heaven and a fiery hell, there’s ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and somehow we’re judged before moving on to one of these places after we die. As an atheist, I can’t really take any of this seriously and I much preferred the LOM ending because it avoided religion, heaven and hell entirely. I mean, there are so many religions, even singling out one as the ‘correct’ one is… well, a bit silly, IMO. (like in that episode of South Park. ‘Ah, no. It’s the Mormons. The Mormons got it right. Everyone else – sorry.’)

Still, the character of Gene Hunt is a fantastic creation, and LOM the best British drama in decades, IMO. Even with A2A improving dramatically from S1, I do feel it was a bit unnecessary, or at least maybe should have taken a different direction.

[SkyAndSun]

It’s good but still not as good as LOM, IMO. For a start, Gene Hunt, while fun, seems tame compared to his LOM incarnation. He ‘insults’ people but is no longer offensive – there hasn’t been anything like ‘moving slower than a spastic in a magnet factory’ in A2A. Usually his one-liners these days are more like inventive insults – I can’t imagine A2A Gene Hunt saying ‘get off me, you fairy’. And we all know that behind his rough exterior beats a strong, good heart; in LOM, while definitely a hero, his rough exterior was a lot rougher. Similarly, Chris and Ray are shallower than their LOM counterparts; the stupid yet good one, the inoffensively offensive one. Would A2A go with a storyline where Ray killed a suspect by forcing him to OD on cocaine? I don’t think so – the closest we get is his botching a sting operation because he’s not that bright.

Secondly, yeah, the cases aren’t that interesting, but that’s forgivable.

I’m also not convinced it’s that well written. There seems to be a predictable formula – each season, drop in a mysterious nasty person. Have every third sentence hint at hidden depth. Any radio has to give Alex a message. LOM was better than this; or at least, it was fresher then.

Having said all that, it’s still very watchable, but often it’s the Sam Tyler link that keeps me watching, and Gene Hunt, who isn’t as good as he was.

[SkyAndSun]

I Screamed When I Saw Your Final Destination Was Another Shitty Saw Movie Last Summer versus Jason On A Plane Part 4789 in London in Space 2

[SkyAndSun]

I don’t really know that much about the circumstances around Rob’s leaving. I wouldn’t class myself as a ‘hardcore’ fan, in that I really only watch the shows – the conventions and extensive behind-the-scenes knowledge aren’t really for me (though I became more interested in the latter when BTE was announced). Given all that, I figured it was a reasonable question to which I received a reasonable response :)

[SkyAndSun]

It’s him, I think – in response to @bobbyllew: ‘It is indeed I. Doc Sympathy at your service. Hope you can make it to Hereford. Bring a friend and double the audience.’

I also sent this to @realrobgrant: ‘Hi Rob, apologies if this is an annoying question – but what did you think of the recent Red Dwarf special? Thanks!’

His reply: ‘Hi Dude. Not annoying, no. Didn’t see it.

[SkyAndSun]

It made me smile and I don’t see anything wrong with it :)

[SkyAndSun]

Well, I did say it wasn’t a constructive comment. :P

My reasons for disliking, occasionally verging on detesting, Big Brother are broadly similar to those you’ll see elsewhere. It strengthens the prominence of the now almost unavoidable Z-list celebrity culture; associates 1984 with what seems to me to be its intellectual opposite, as well as something related to the society about which I think George Orwell was worried; and, perhaps the strongest reason of all, viewers derive pleasure and companies profit from people whose mental health sometimes seems to be genuinely questionable. And so on. I’ll happily admit I’ve watched little of the show, though; and being true to the theme of not wasting much energy on it, I’ll step out of this thread.

[SkyAndSun]

I’m glad this shite is going. Not a constructive comment, but, yeah.

[SkyAndSun]

Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll check them out. Really glad to have discovered these films, even if I did via their creator’s death :(

[SkyAndSun]

I watched 2/3 of Ferris Bueller yesterday and will finish it tonight, probably. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in ages. So joyful. What other John Hughes films would you recommend? (aside from Home Alone, which I’ve seen).

[SkyAndSun]

Hello!

[SkyAndSun]

Johnnies?

[SkyAndSun]

When it comes to RD ‘a lot of talk’ doesn’t mean as much as perhaps it should… still, nice to read…

[SkyAndSun]

I bought Funland from HMV recently (a bargain – ?5 including delivery for 11 episodes), which is interesting to compare to Psychoville, as they’re both written by part of the LOG. Psychoville feels tamer, in a way, maybe because it’s slightly more unbelievable (as was the LOG), though I’m not sure which I prefer.

As for the Psychoville ending, as long as there’s a second series relatively soon, I’m satisfied. Though the writing quality dropped, I think, when they randomly introduced the locket in the last five minutes.

[SkyAndSun]

Apparently you can solve the problem of stocatto dialogue by going into the original game and increasing the text speed.

[SkyAndSun]

I laughed a lot. Though I did get the feeling that he had to really push, sometimes, to get a reaction.

[SkyAndSun]

“I don?t think we?re going to go back to a studio audience situation.”

Interesting… yet Bobby Llew says the audience was missing purely for budgetary reasons.

[SkyAndSun]

So his master plan, implemented over a period of many months, is to one day stop posting here? Except we won’t know it’s him, because for some reason he’s in disguise, so it’ll appear that someone else just isn’t currently posting?

Shane G is evil.

[SkyAndSun]

:(

[SkyAndSun]

That essay is kind of depressing.

I don’t completely understand his calculations, though, and there are always lots of people around me in happy – or unhappy – relationships, so I doubt things are as bleak as he believes. I kind of got the sense this was an expression of the ‘My hopeless life is beyond help’ attitude that some young people have (including me, though nowadays, rarely).

[SkyAndSun]

I’m not sure if this has been mentioned, but in RD it’s obvious that the audience affects the actors’ performances, making them funnier.

[SkyAndSun]

> Well sure, but why is it we never see them in a room together?

Tee hee. I meant to distinguish the character, whom Phillip Glennister might not have played, from the actor.

[SkyAndSun]

Sometimes A2A feels unnecessarily complicated as a result of trying to distinguish itself conceptually from LOM. I still think it’s one of the best shows on the BBC, though, greatly due to Phillip Glennister and Gene Hunt.

[SkyAndSun]

From the commentary I sensed it was more for budgetary than creative reasons – though I’m still unsure how filming the emotional scenes before a live audience would have worked.

And as I’ve said before, the lack of an audience didn’t bother me, really. In some ways I think it improved and modernised the show; usually whenever I hear a laugh track nowadays I feel a slightly out of date mechanism is telling me when to laugh. I think the thing for which I missed it in BTE was the way it might have enhanced the actors’ performances.

[SkyAndSun]

The fact that it is apparently on Dave is interesting. I thought, and perhaps hoped, it might return to the BBC, with its larger audience. Hopefully it’s not a tiny budget…

And I wonder where this leaves the movie?

[SkyAndSun]

http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=blog_six_new_red_dwarf

There you go. Unofficial official or something. I’d be interested in the budget, if they’re going with Dave…

[SkyAndSun]

I’m actually laughing quite a lot as I watch this on iPlayer – for instance, at the pleasingly un-PC slut girlfriend, hehe.

[SkyAndSun]

Evil companies are turning good. First EA starts creating original IPs like Dead Space and supports Tim Schaffer’s latest game and now after resurrecting Family Guy Fox do the same to Futurama. What a pleasant surprise!

[SkyAndSun]

The crew are attacked by Chloe Annett?s foaming twat.

Isn’t that a clich

[SkyAndSun]

Interesting replies.

And I’m not so sure that Gene isn’t a god. Throughout A2A it’s been hinted that he’s the reason Alex is there – that as long as Gene’s around things will be okay – that when Gene and Alex are fragmented things will go wrong – that he’s indestructible – so… yeah. I reckon Gene Hunt is the key to the whole thing, and not just because he’s such a compelling character.

Also in the BBC press release for Series 3 it says something like, ‘Series 3 will finally reveal who Gene Hunt is.’

Finally – older Martin Summers was in fact older Chris, right? Which is why he could kill the ‘real’, young Martin Summers, and why he had that moment with Chris in the raid where he said he knows it hurts, and it will continue to do so. Over on the DigitalSpy forums they seem to think he’s, well, Martin Summers from 2008, who engineered events so that Chris took the place of his younger self on the raid. Guess he could be either, but when I saw ‘the Chris moment’ I thought he was clearly Chris.

[SkyAndSun]

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Though I don’t think the fact that Alex is apparently in a coma in 1982 is as surprising as other seem to be saying – hasn’t this possibility been discussed since Life on Mars series 1?

I was interested by Gene telling the dying Martin Summers to remember his former, good self – does this mean that Gene believes that man is Chris from the future? Or that Gene’s some kind of god, as has been hinted at throughout A2A? Hm.

[SkyAndSun]

A few days ago I asked a similar question and he said he had no idea but might know more if Doug agrees to be interviewed for Carpool.

[SkyAndSun]

I didn’t laugh during the new trailer, but during the retrospective one I did; the screenshot above raised a smile as well.

Similarly I lost interest in the new Sam and Max episodes at the beginning of Season 2.

I imagine it’s not just me?

[SkyAndSun]

Actually I think it would be a bit of a clich? for him to gloriously redeem himself in the next episode, by saving everyone’s lives, for instance. Though I wouldn’t want him to end up friendless. I’d rather the writers found a more creative solution to the problem.

[SkyAndSun]

I think I really liked last night’s episode. Everyone acted extremely well. I could buy Chris being led astray. Alex burying the body though – I guess that kind of left me cold, because it seemed so random. Maybe the trouble is her personality is difficult to identify, which is a writing problem rather than an acting one (Keeley Hawes acts very well, I think). Perhaps that’s what makes Life on Mars superior, in my mind: from the start Sam was a strong, sympathetic character, but Alex has undergone too many character rewrites (the main one being apparently between season 1 and 2) for her character to be the same. This may change; and in other ways I think Ashes is a superior series – primarily because the supporting cast and Gene Hunt have deeper characters.

Finally: I found the ending of Life on Mars very moving and I feel there’s a possibility next week’s episode and/or the finale of Season 3 could have a similar effect on me, which attests to the shows quality.

[SkyAndSun]

It reminds me how old-fashioned canned laughter (and, by association, a live audience) feels and reinforces my view that BTE was right to lose it.

[SkyAndSun]

From twitter/bobbyllew today: ‘Red Dwarf did really rally well. No news on more yet but we are doing the DVD commentary soon so might find out then.’

[SkyAndSun]

I imagine Dave are considering this. But I’d rather they concentrate on Red Dwarf.

[SkyAndSun]

I listened to Bobby LLew’s 5Live segment and he says near the beginning he doesn’t know if there’ll be more Red Dwarf but BTE’s high ratings make it more likely. Given this, perhaps he was just being optimistic when he said, ‘I think there will be [a new series]’, as Chris is on his website.

And even if Dave want to commission a new series, maybe their budget won’t stretch. Or maybe Doug would delay any commitment to Dave, waiting on a call from the BBC. Or whoever might supply funds for a movie.

Alternatively, perhaps Doug’s already writing Series X…

[SkyAndSun]

edit

[SkyAndSun]

Could ask him on twitter…

[SkyAndSun]

For me the important thing is, as the guys said on the podcast, BTE can hold its own against series I-VI. That’s a first for a Doug solo script, in my view.

[SkyAndSun]

Yeah I think maybe a better suggestion is a strong editor. Someone who will suggest cuts and tweaks and what’s working and what’s not. Am I right in saying Andrew Ellard is increasingly assuming this role?

[SkyAndSun]

Maybe this indicates that Doug needs a good editor; someone who’s not afraid to tell him what needs to go. Or an equal writing partner.

I feel I should point out that I still thoroughly enjoyed BTE as broadcast.

[SkyAndSun]

I wasn’t keen on the tweaks you made – changing the music, for instance, or cutting away from Lister staring the grave – as I felt they were unnecessary or detrimental. But cutting the first scene with the sneezes really works.

[SkyAndSun]

Rewatching some of series VIII recently confirmed that its main problem for me was that it wasn’t funny. It was like My Family in space – vaguely amusing but kind of dumb, and not in a knowing way. Though this is going off topic.

[SkyAndSun]

Weird how Doug apparently wrote the best script he’s written solo in a hurry, starting later than he’d planned, in November. Perhaps he is similar to George Lucas, who wrote his best stuff (Star Wars) under pressure and created The Phantom Menace when his resources were unlimited?

[SkyAndSun]

I asked Robert Llew on twitter and he said it was in the script, Craig read it and they all laughed. Suggesting Doug wrote it initially.

[SkyAndSun]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=989531&page=62

Not that it’s much help: ‘Apparently the story cost ?600,000 to make’…

Guess you could PM him if you wanted.

[Author]

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