it has been comfirmed that there will be a new episode of the comic strip to go out on telly at christmas. apparently it will feature life in the suburbs including death on a waterbed and swinging [yes, THAT kind of swinging]. Rik Mayall and Nigel Planer have been confirmed, and i can't wait!
What's that? You just called me a bastard didn't you!
That is brilliant, that will be the best Xmas present!
sharelol yeh, as i know from all your otehr posts that you looooooove rik mayall lol, and so do i but not in the pervy way because i'm a bloke.
What's that? You just called me a bastard didn't you!
I can only pray that it'll be an improvement on the damp squib that was Four Men in a Plane. Here's hoping.
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Your totally right Reilly 4, I LUV Rik!
shareReilly 4 says; lol yeh, as i know from all your otehr posts that you looooooove rik mayall lol, and so do i but not in the pervy way because i'm a bloke.
... which, let's face it, sounds like Rik. Hehe.
The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep.share
The country's gone mad: a South Bank Show special on Little Britain on Xmas day, and a whole Little Britain Night on Boxing day! Time to get the League of Gentleman DVDs out - and also to hope that the the Comic Strip Presents: Sex Actually lives up to expectations (http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=132&programmeId=37402076&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details.jsp).
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i think there's been too much press on little britain, series 3 hasn't been that good, i definately think that there should be more of a fuss about the return of comic strip presents. i think they should've got rik mayall and perhaps peter richardson to go on friday night with jonathan ross to boost the talking about it. that would be quality to watch!
What's that? You just called me a bastard didn't you!
i think there's been too much press on little britain
Reilly, in my view, this is one of the major understatements of the 21st Century. I have joined, in earnest, Spiked and Mick Hume's Little Britain backlash (cue: dastardly, maniacal laughter):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358856/board/flat/31644165?d=31644165#31644165
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its on tonight! half an hour. i'm counting down frommmmmmm now....
What's that? You just called me a bastard didn't you!
Yep, I'm ready for it. To be honest, I don't hold out much hope for it, but I'm fully prepared to be pleasantly surprised.
The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep.share
i not seen all the comic strip presents.. but this seems to have got the right feel from what i remember
shareOh dear. Original? No. Well written? No. Daring? No. In fact, it was strangely coy and conservative, compared to the embarrassment of comedy riches we've had in recent years. And the attempt to be uninhibited about sex looked like old-fashioned British reserve trying, in vain, to pass itself off as 'clever, clever' post-Carry On irony. My favourite line was Phil Cornwell's remark about some of the animals in the bestiality videos being extinct. But I'll stick with Stella Street, thanks (the writing of which, I assume, owes a great deal more to Cornwell & Sessions than it does to Richardson).
Richardson & Richens work, post-GLC, has been patchy, to say the very least. That isn't to say they haven't knocked out bona fide classics since then. Spaghetti Hoops and Four Men In A Car are two of the best shows they've ever written, in my view. But The Pope Must Die? Churchill: The Hollywood Years? I try and forget they exist. I think one of the problems is, their output has been surpassed by a whole host of young British and American writers, leaving them lagging way, way behind (and the not-so-young - check out the god-like Larry David).
The Comic Strip's heyday is long gone, as I'm sure the performers who once gave it its lifeblood would concede. The best comedy today succeeds in telling us something about who we are (The Office, Peep Show), pushes the boundaries of what is possible within the genre (The League of Gentlemen), teases both pathos and hilarious observations out of the most 'ordinary' of environments (I'm Alan Partridge, Phoenix Nights, Early Doors) or is the kind of stylistic trailblazer that The Comic Strip Presents used to be (Spaced).
By contrast, Sex Actually did nothing that hasn't already been done more successfully (or less unsuccessfully). It was only really distinguished by being less funny than other, similar attempts at 'wacky', 'sexy' comedy in the last 10 or 15 years. And that's just the 'sitcoms'. It's ironic that tonight's programme should feature Rebecca Front and Doon Mackichan, both of whom have been at the cutting edge of satire in recent years, alongside some of today's kings of comedy: Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci et al.
Maybe Richardson & Richens have plenty more to offer. But I have my doubts; Sex Actually confirmed my worst fears.
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Maybe I was too harsh, Cured (I'll probably watch it again tomorrow, in order to give it a second chance). But I can't be the only one who looks back fondly to the days when you just knew the latest Comic Strip would be essential viewing (and that it would see you grabbing everyone by the collar the next day, screaming, "Did you see it?!"). Moreover, it's been 5 years since the last one; and that one was crap aswell. Richardson & Richens are too gifted to have lost it all together, I'm sure, but there's just so much brilliant comedy out there for them to match up to. By tonight's standards, it ain't lookin' good.
The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep.share
While I found it decent viewing I must agree it left a sort of empty feeling inside. There is certainly a spark missing which made it feel like just another comedy rather than the compelling viewing of past Comic strips.
One thing other than the writing I felt this lacked was the brilliant ade edmonson, in my opinion he was what made Four men in a car funny for example.
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i didn't think it was going to be the best on ever made, but i thought it was still pretty good. rik mayall was fantastic as the off-the-wall conceptual artist bilbo, and phil cornwell was great as the porn addicted pervert. not brilliant but crap, i enjoyed it.
What's that? You just called me a bastard didn't you!
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I thought it was poor, made me laugh a few times, but it was unshakeably plastic, but I don't at all think 'it used to be better' or 'GLC was the last decent one'. The Comic Strip has always been hit and miss- the supposed golden age early years had some truly awful ones ("Susie" anyone?) and quite a lot of the post-GLC ones were really brilliant- "Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase", "Four Men in a Car/Plane", "Detectives on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" for me are in my favourite top ten of the show, alongside "Strike", "More Bad News", "Five Go Mad in Dorset" and "Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door".
"""""""""""The best comedy today succeeds in telling us something about who we are (The Office, Peep Show), pushes the boundaries of what is possible within the genre (The League of Gentlemen), teases both pathos and hilarious observations out of the most 'ordinary' of environments (I'm Alan Partridge, Phoenix Nights, Early Doors)""""""""""
I do very much agree with that. This new episode really was void in terms of any challenging or human element that would have made it endearing and relateable.
I don't at all think 'it used to be better' or 'GLC was the last decent one'. The Comic Strip has always been hit and miss - the supposed golden age early years had some truly awful ones ("Susie" anyone?) and quite a lot of the post-GLC ones were really brilliant
Why the speech marks, strawberry? The impression is that I said these words. I didn't. Certainly, I do think that, for much of the last 15 years The Comic Strip Presents has hardly been much to write home about, and that it's been overshadowed by countless other comic writers and performers. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy the overwhelming majority of the post-GLC output (if only to the extent that it's diverting, rather than essential, viewing). And yes, I agree that there was some real clangers in the early days (yep, I can live without Susie). Far from thinking that 'GLC was the last decent one', I agree that a few of the post-1990 shows are better than much of the early material. At times, we're even talking brilliant (especially, as you say, Four Men in a Car.)
But at the risk of sounding like a romantic, I do stand by the idea that there was a golden age, in which, the odd duffer aside, The Comic Strip Presents was a daring and cutting edge asset to British comedy. But today, if we're talking about comedy outfits, it's The League of Gentlemen who are the leaders on that score. Compare any of the League's 3 series with recent output from the Strippers; compare the League's film with Richardson's truly dire cinema work. It's painful to behold. During the 90s there was much to learn form the standards set my the Strippers in the 80s. Today it's Richardson who needs to keep up with the young uns if he wants to avoid sinking altogether.
Maybe he could work on a second sequel to Four Men in a Car? After all, he knows the territory, so to speak, and there's surely no way it could be as bad as Four Men in a Plane?
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I did somewhat initially place your opinion in a box as being similar to a lot of other unfavourable opinions I've heard from people who think the Comic Strip has jumped the shark. I was perhaps being unfairly generalising and dismissive of your opinion, and I can see you've made some very good points. I did not mean to put words into your mouth, I was simply quoting the kind of statements that are very common when spoken about the Comic Strip on various forums. I was trying to distinguish myself from that opinion when talking of how I thought the new episode was crap- that I didn't like it but I didn't see it as an indication of a lapse in quality like a lot of people did.
shareNo problem - I was fairly certain your remarks were technique over 'accusation' anyway. As to the question of prospects for the Comic Strip, I guess this will run and run.
The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep.share
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Did anyone else notice Cleo Rocos got an associate producer credit?
Yep. She was also in it - but I'm guessing you already knew that.
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