It's Only People Pretending: New TV thread

[coldforge]

I watched about half of that in a drunken stupor last night and it actually wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. I think the fact that they're really playing up (at least in what I watched) the fact that Jeff Daniels is a malignant, narcissistic prick makes the medicine go down a little easier. But of course I know how much sock puppetry there is to come in this series and so I probably won't finish the episode.

[Chet]

I've been watching copious amounts of old Steve Coogan shows, and dang they are great. I'm Alan Partridge I knew was awesome, but I've been really liking Saxondale, which has such a rarified air of desperate melancholy I'm not surprised it only lasted two seasons. It is very funny, but it differs from Alan Partridge in that the character seems to actually realise he's a terrible person and hates himself for it.

ahh i'm watching saxondale now, having never seen it. after coming on the back of me re-watching all of i'm alan partridge, it doesn't stand up so well, but it is still prettttty good. it is not nearly as laugh out loud funny; the humour being much more subtle and like you said, sort of sad. it does seem very formulaic too.

talking of i'm alan partridge, man, even a show as hilarious as that suffers from an infuriating laugh track.

[elpollodiablo]

Sipowicz's one-episode recovery from six gunshot wounds makes Pembleton's post-stroke recovery time seem really reasonable by comparison.

[G.C.R]

I've been watching copious amounts of old Steve Coogan shows, and dang they are great. I'm Alan Partridge I knew was awesome, but I've been really liking Saxondale, which has such a rarified air of desperate melancholy I'm not surprised it only lasted two seasons. It is very funny, but it differs from Alan Partridge in that the character seems to actually realise he's a terrible person and hates himself for it.

ahh i'm watching saxondale now, having never seen it. after coming on the back of me re-watching all of i'm alan partridge, it doesn't stand up so well, but it is still prettttty good. it is not nearly as laugh out loud funny; the humour being much more subtle and like you said, sort of sad. it does seem very formulaic too.

talking of i'm alan partridge, man, even a show as hilarious as that suffers from an infuriating laugh track.

This is true. I'm curious to see series 2 of Saxondale to see if it can keep up steam. That one scene with the Emo drug addict (played by Coogan) in the council flats has been running through my mind all week, it is so delightful. "E's not dead, ee's gone to 'eaven, it's a club in town! ee's not dead, ee just don't look well!"

[jess]

So my childhood best friend's little brother created an awesome web tv show that is getting a lot of good press about gay dudes living in Brooklyn. Highly recommended: http://www.theouts.tv/

[elpollodiablo]

Man, is NYPD Blue worth pursuing beyond like the first half of the first season? I've kind of half-watched the first three episodes and it's totally bleh so far.

[FreddyKnuckles]

not really, right?  I dig the sipowitz with his short sleeved shirts with ties as much as the next guy, but that shit gets old. 

[elpollodiablo]

I thought it was supposed to be pretty groundbreaking stuff, but it's like the most formulaic cop show I think I've ever seen. Even the Milch-penned episodes don't really register as anything beyond a slightly more character-focused Law & Order or something.

[FreddyKnuckles]

I think it was "gritty"  for the time, but since every cop show has used it as a model since then... It probably makes sense that it looks like all of those shows

[Chet]

oh oh oh oh louie is back tonight!

[Nick Ink]

For those of you talking about Alan Partridge, you should read his autobiography. It has all the brilliance of the TV show and then there's this extra layer of how Alan would actually write, which is done mindbendingly well.



Yes, that's a huge picture, and so it should be!

[coldforge]

care to grace us with a choice quotation?

[Chet]

it's really worth getting the audio book by the way, hearing him read it makes it even more hilarious.

i've only listened to about a 1/5 of it but it is very very funny. for some reason there is this stupid little bit that comes to mind where he is talking about a family he became close to when he was younger because his own parents were shit, and he says something along the lines of "their children we slightly older than me, and remain so to this day" it's very silly but there are a bunch of little things like that that made me LOL.

[Thermofusion]

Sounds like I'm Alan Partridge ought to be the next britcom I dive into

[elpollodiablo]

We watched about 45 seconds of Green Wing last night. It was like a dumber Scrubs, somehow!

[Chet]

i don't even know anyone here who liked that show

and oh wow, i'm actually disappointed in the new episode of louie.

[dieblucasdie]

Take heart, the new season got absolute, frothing-at-the-mouth raves from basically every critic (they got the first five episodes), but most of them also said that the premiere was kinda off-game. The premiere was one of the weaker S2 episodes, too. If you like Louie, you'll probably like this season.

[Chet]

good to know!

a lot of this episode just didn't ring true, and for the first time ever i found him unlikable.
also, i know louis ck likes to just throw in random characters that never reappear and use different actors and actresses for the same roles, but in this episode his ex wife and mother of his kids has some screen time and she is a black woman, which is kind of jarring after you know, his two very white daughters were a large part of the show last season.

[elpollodiablo]

...this is the first time you ever found him unlikable? Isn't the show built around how unlikable he is?

[jebreject]

I don't think so. Not the same way as, say, the way Curb or The Office are built around unlikable characters.

[Chet]

yeah, i mean the louie character struggles with the world around him and reacts badly to certain social situations in the same way those characters do, but he also has a sense of self awareness and you get the feeling he loathes himself for how much he struggles to deal with the world he lives in, which is qualities that david brent or larry david don't necessarily have.

[elpollodiablo]

Maybe I just get that impression since I dislike him so much.

[Chet]

BUT WHY

[elpollodiablo]

Ah I don't really. I'm basically indifferent; I just don't think his show or his standup is very funny.

[dieblucasdie]

Louie, Fiona Apple, and Moonrise Kingdom all in one day: VINTAGE POLLO NEEDLESSLY BEING A DICK ABOUT THINGS PEOPLE LIKE UP INS