Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted November 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted November 11, 2011 Can you really criticise them for writing in their style? Yeah you know what you're going to get but there are few comic writers/comedians that change up their style? You wouldn't critique Stewart Lee for writing another show with repetitive delivery & deconstruction of gags or expect Tim Vine to tour a series of lectures or anecdotal comedy. Calling them one trick ponies is a bit unfair. Â I think you can and the two situations are different. Â I didn't see the show so I'm only talking theory here, but a comedy writer should be able to make a particular character find their voice, whereas a stand up is writing solely for themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted November 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2011 The guy on the intercom was the guy out of "Phone Shop" on Channel 4. Â I really enjoyed it, and couldn't care less if it was the same writing style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted November 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2011 Can you really criticise them for writing in their style? Yeah you know what you're going to get but there are few comic writers/comedians that change up their style? You wouldn't critique Stewart Lee for writing another show with repetitive delivery & deconstruction of gags or expect Tim Vine to tour a series of lectures or anecdotal comedy. Calling them one trick ponies is a bit unfair. Â I think you can and the two situations are different. Â I didn't see the show so I'm only talking theory here, but a comedy writer should be able to make a particular character find their voice, whereas a stand up is writing solely for themselves. Â Not really as lots of stand-up's have writers writing for them in their 'style'. Dara O Brian, Jimmy Carr & Gervais all have 'contributing writers'. When you look at other TV comedy writers Mayall & Edmonson, John Sullivan, Ben Elton & Richard Curtis, Sam Bain & Jesse Armstrong they've all got their own style & (rarely) veer much from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig The Hunter Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I got 15 minutes in and had to give up. Â It just felt like every character was speaking exactly like Gervais and Merchant, who I've not liked since The Office. Everything Warwick Davis said sounded like it should have been coming out of Gervais' mouth. Â I imagine if you're a Gervais and Merchant fan you'll love it, but it just was not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamTheGreat Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 You can't really fault Gervais and Merchant for writing the way they've always written. But it seemed bits of it were made of leftovers from the office and extras. Some of Warrick's lines could easilt be David Brent and the Liam Neason bit -as hilarious as it was- could've been an episode of extras, and the accountant, at first glance, seemed like a rehash of Andy Milman's agent. It wasn't awful, but needs to find it's feet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted November 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted November 11, 2011 Not really as lots of stand-up's have writers writing for them in their 'style'. Dara O Brian, Jimmy Carr & Gervais all have 'contributing writers'. When you look at other TV comedy writers Mayall & Edmonson, John Sullivan, Ben Elton & Richard Curtis, Sam Bain & Jesse Armstrong they've all got their own style & (rarely) veer much from it. Â Â I guess it comes down to a distinction between 'of the same style' and sounding just the same as those characters. Â All the same, it doesn't sound like my kind of thing so I'm not going to bash it pointlessly as I'm unlikely to watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chilly McFreeze Posted November 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2011 I think they're walking a thin line with this. They sustained they're brand of comedy for two programmes and still made it fresh and funny throughout ( the climax to Extras was possibly their best work.) The problem is I don't see much room for any character development, and there's no 'viewer character' or straight man for us to relate to (i.e Tim in The Office,). If it's just gonna be celeb gags lined up one after the other it'll get boring quickly. The Neeson stuff was fantastic, but didn't relate to the story in anyway, it was just there for it's own sake. Hopefully they've got something up their sleeve for the rest of the series. Â I also think Barry/Shaun would have been far better in the role of Warwick, playing a down on his luck actor scrabbling for work. The mans got comedy timing skills to spare. In the words of Darren Lamb, there's 'an undercurrent of tragedy to his face.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I think the trouble you'd have with Barry trying to do the Walter Mitty role is he knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dopper Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I fall into the category of loving everything Gervais & Merchant have done, so I really enjoyed this. Â But for those saying they can only write the same style with similar characters over and over, I recommend watching 'Cemetery Junction'. Tom Hughes' and Ralph Fiennes' characters were memorably different to their usual style but still really interesting. Â The only character in last nights episode I don't see having any legs is the accountant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fye Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I love Gervais & Merchant but I think this is their poorest work so far, although it could be good in other episodes. Â The character seems to be too obviously the butt of every joke for a documentary about him. I know its mock but still, you could understand why a documentary was made about an office at the time as they were everywhere, Airline and shit like that. Extras was done as a sitcom more than anything else. This feels like its chucking the two in a blender and see what comes out. The accountant - who I am sure was Brent's agent in the Christmas specials - was ridiculously OTT for a documentary style show, as was the blatant reactions from Gervais & Merchant in their meetings with Davis. I think they should have settled on a sitcom style, for me the style and material dont marry well. Â I will keep watching as I am a huge fan of their other work but I am sceptical as to how good this will be. I suspect the celeb cameos like Neeson and Depp will steal each episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I fall into the category of loving everything Gervais & Merchant have done, so I really enjoyed this. But for those saying they can only write the same style with similar characters over and over, I recommend watching 'Cemetery Junction'. Tom Hughes' and Ralph Fiennes' characters were memorably different to their usual style but still really interesting. That wasn't a sitcom, though, and most people never saw it. Taking their two previous sitcoms, this new one feels like well-trodden ground. I'm enjoying it, mind, as I'm a big fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Galt Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Just finished watching it; thought it was absolute shite apart from the Liam Neeson bit which had me in stitches. Is it just me or did he sound more Irish than usual? In stuff like Taken, he sounds far more Americanised than here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted November 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 11, 2011 Just finished watching it; thought it was absolute shite apart from the Liam Neeson bit which had me in stitches. Is it just me or did he sound more Irish than usual? In stuff like Taken, he sounds far more Americanised than here. In Taken he plays an American, in this he played himself- an Irishman. Could be why he sounded more Irish than usual... Â I thought it was brilliant. I love the Gervais & Merchant formula so I'm always glad to see the same kind of writing but with a completely different backdrop. Warwick Davies was great in it, was going to be difficult not having Gervais as the lead in their latest comedy but for me Warwick nailed it. Â The scene with Neeson, as Ian says when he said he wasn't in the shop because he had AIDS, just killed me. Another bit that I had to rewind over and over was when he fell out of the car, and it was even funnier when I realised he was sitting on TWO YELLOW PAGES BOOKS! Â Look forward to next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I'm another who thinks comic actors/writers should play to their strengths. God knows how much time Steve Coogan wasted doing shite like Tony Ferrino before he realised he's far funnier just sticking to being Partridge (or playing Tony Wilson/himself in the style of Partridge). I thought the first episode of this was hit and miss, but that 5 minutes of Liam Neeson was funnier than just about anything else I've seen on TV this year. It's probably the most I've rewound something without having a wank to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Foale Posted November 12, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2011 "Let's do some...improvisational comedy." Â "Oh I can't I've got to-" Â "Let's do some...improvisational comedy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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