saxondale: alan partridge meets spinal tap, and we don't have a thread yet?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/saxondale/images/brand/tommyandmagz.jpg

steve coogan's new sitcom. about a former rock roadie turned, umm, pest exterminator, who has anger-management issues. begins tomorrow night, 10pm, BBC2. seems to have had no advance publicity whatsoever.

i refuse to get my hopes up. (i'll miss the first one anyway; still, i imagine it'll be repeated. repeatedly.) but there is, is there not, a tiny chance that this will rock?

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 18 June 2006 20:45 (nineteen years ago)

...perhaps.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 18 June 2006 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

The guardian preview of this said its a grower. I am cautiously optimistic.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 18 June 2006 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

If this isn't dreadful, I'll be surprised. Although I think I saw Richard Herring in the trailer, so that might be good.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 18 June 2006 20:55 (nineteen years ago)

what's that woman in?

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 18 June 2006 20:58 (nineteen years ago)

Fat Friends!

(though she's been in Little Britain and Nighty Night and stuff as well)

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:03 (nineteen years ago)

Grrrr. Ailsa beat me to it.

The trailers for this have actually made me laugh.

― Shadow of the Waxwing (noodle vague), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:04 (nineteen years ago)

I have missed all trailers for this. I don't have a life outside of the World Cup. I shall attempt to remember for tomorrow though. Also, new series of Still Game!

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:06 (nineteen years ago)

Previews here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/saxondale/

Dunno...

― caek (caek), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:08 (nineteen years ago)

Gah - only available in the UK.

― Lara (Lara), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:09 (nineteen years ago)

Apparently Julian Casablancas is in it:

ifile:///Users/squeeze/Desktop/raymond.jpg

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:18 (nineteen years ago)

Gah. Anyway, go to that link and scroll down, he's there (or someone who looks like him, i suspect the latter).

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

He references Heino in the trailer!

(Still, ailsa says Still Game, so t0tt3nts ahoy!)

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:24 (nineteen years ago)

I'm just pathetically grateful whenever a programme has a West Midlands accent not played for laughs.

― Shadow of the Waxwing (noodle vague), Sunday, 18 June 2006 21:25 (nineteen years ago)

It's based in Stevenage, which happens to be where I am sitting now.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 19 June 2006 07:27 (nineteen years ago)

I bet Saxondale would drink in the Red Lion in the Old Town.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Monday, 19 June 2006 07:38 (nineteen years ago)

yes.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:27 (nineteen years ago)

can he top 'dr terrible's house of horrible'?

― Seriously, Try Punching This Guy in the Face and See What Happens (Enrique), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:36 (nineteen years ago)

No fair!

― Shadow of the Waxwing (noodle vague), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:36 (nineteen years ago)

"Well that was... diabolical"

― David Orton (scarlet), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:40 (nineteen years ago)

There is plenty of advance publicity in Radio Times.

Nice to see a bit of Stevenage banter on the thread.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:42 (nineteen years ago)

that thing he did with the sci fi actors on a cruise filled with their fans was pretty great, if i remember correctly...

― i am not a nugget (stevie), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:47 (nineteen years ago)

russell brand was in it.

― Seriously, Try Punching This Guy in the Face and See What Happens (Enrique), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:49 (nineteen years ago)

The one thing I enjoyed about House of Horrible was Dr Terrible himself. I am a sucker for people pulling silly faces, and Coogan did some great ones.

― Shadow of the Waxwing (noodle vague), Monday, 19 June 2006 11:58 (nineteen years ago)

wait a minute... did someone just say there's a new series of Still Game?

That's Smashing!

― Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Monday, 19 June 2006 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

Yep, 9pm BBC2.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 19 June 2006 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

When I stayed in Stevenage I was propositioned by an elderly woman in the Red Lion.

― Matt (Matt), Monday, 19 June 2006 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

i coulda sworn i saw richard herring in the trailer but he's not in the radio times credits for this evening's ep.

― Seriously, Try Punching This Guy in the Face and See What Happens (Enrique), Monday, 19 June 2006 18:10 (nineteen years ago)

I rather enjoyed that. Much less in your face than partridge. Some real funny lines. Shame the fatsuit and beard aren't that good, because Coogan is otherwise pretty good. The scenes introducing his assistant to his house were hilarious and cringeworthy like the best bits of partridge. You can't help feeling sympathy for this objectionable misfit.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:37 (nineteen years ago)

Coogan was predictably good, yeah, but it was a pretty soporific half hour. Would've been better with some jokes. And a plot.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:46 (nineteen years ago)

I'm willing to be proved wrong in weeks to come, mind.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:47 (nineteen years ago)

I laughed when they mentioned Clinton Cards in the Westgate Centre but that was about it.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

a fairly well observed portrait of a guy you wouldn't wan't to observe because he's a twat.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:49 (nineteen years ago)

i know you could say this about all of coogan's characters.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

I'm going to like this. I like the character (Coogan - Partridge = Saxondale), he reminds me of a couple of shambling 70s burn-outs who go to my local. Some nice little touches and details (Zulu poster, Flight 93 "Let's Roll!" bumper sticker on his "'Tang", etc).
Could probably be the best realised sitcom character since David Brent - but minus the constant comedy of embarrassment and character humiliation.

― David Orton (scarlet), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:51 (nineteen years ago)

That's why i'm going to give it a chance - the character's obviously quite nuanced and well thought through. It's just that there was nothing there that grabbed me, no 'hook', if you will.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:54 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't think his fit seemed very angry.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 19 June 2006 20:55 (nineteen years ago)

annoyingly, it doesn't seem to be repeated at any point, which is a) annoying and b) unexpected.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

Something tells me the beeb doesn't have a great deal of faith in this (ie, new Coogan show, and I only hear about it on ILE two days before broadcast). They probably would have liked to test run it on BBC3, but you can't really do that to a man who's shared top billing with Jackie Chan.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:12 (nineteen years ago)

yes, i think you're right. but it's incredibly un-BBC not to be repeating the fucking thing everywhere.

time to get torrenting, i guess.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:15 (nineteen years ago)

i'm watching this now; not great is it?

'yadda yadda yadda.'

― Seriously, Try Punching This Guy in the Face and See What Happens (Enrique), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

"Anthropomorphism... that's how Walt Disney made his stash. And fair play to him"

I thought it had been trailed fairly well over the past week.

― David Orton (scarlet), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:22 (nineteen years ago)

is there a westgate centre in stevenage then?

― Seriously, Try Punching This Guy in the Face and See What Happens (Enrique), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:24 (nineteen years ago)

liked it.

the first fifteen mins was alot better than the second though. the interview scene and scenes in his house in particular.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:24 (nineteen years ago)

i didn't laugh out loud but definitely chuckled a few times and think it could become a winner.

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Monday, 19 June 2006 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

I really liked this, esp. the bit where he showed his assistant around his house.

― melton mowbray's APOCALYPTO! (adr), Monday, 19 June 2006 23:31 (nineteen years ago)

I thought it was good. A few laughs and a cute Taxi Driver manque feel to it. For a first ep it was pretty promising.

― Shadow of the Waxwing (noodle vague), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 00:12 (nineteen years ago)

>I laughed when they mentioned Clinton Cards in the Westgate Centre but that was about it.

takes all sorts, i guess... 8)

lots of bad jokes and innuendo in that episode. is he giving pathetic characters bad jokes so we laugh at their sadness in lieu of writing good jokes?

reminded me of the failed rock star in League Of Gentlemen.

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 07:29 (nineteen years ago)

I gave up pretty early, around the time when he started namechecking Eno.

If you're going to do something about an old roadie, at least try to be realistic.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 07:38 (nineteen years ago)

"Now I don't want you to worry about rent.... So'll take £50 straight off your salary at source" was one of the better lines.

Made me giggle a bit rather than laugh out loud, but it has potential. Will stick with it and see how we get on.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 07:38 (nineteen years ago)

Something tells me the beeb doesn't have a great deal of faith in this

According to my brother, at one point they were considering not showing it at all.

It was entertaining, but not so funny. I think it night grow on me.

I laffed at the mention of Rodox.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 07:49 (nineteen years ago)

'If you're going to do something about an old roadie, at least try to be realistic.'

Why would you want realistic roadies (old or otherwise) in a programme?

I liked it more or less. Fairly pleasant half an hour with some nice touches (the aforementioned Rodox), the crap t-shirts. I'm intrigued that he's done this, it seems very low-key. Has he given up on being a leading man in Hollywood?

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 08:41 (nineteen years ago)

If we're supposed to care about a central character they have to be believable. No roadie talks about Eno.

Life's too short for fairly pleasant.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:03 (nineteen years ago)

No roadie talks about Eno.

why not?

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:04 (nineteen years ago)

roxy music must have had roadies.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:05 (nineteen years ago)

I shall test that theory with the 50 something ex roadie I know this weekend.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:05 (nineteen years ago)

If they concentrated less on trying to sneak crap music criticism into the script and more time writing actual comedy it might have been worth sticking with.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

He reminds me a lot of the bloke who used to run Ripple Records in Stevenage Old Town in the 80s. Who sold me my copy of the first Roxy Music album, funnily enough!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:25 (nineteen years ago)

Did He talk abour emu?

(sorry, got bored. Pimms!)

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

He was talking about Roxy Music (I assume) as he professed a dislike of electronic music later.

Marcello, I'm not so sure that life isn't too short for fairly pleasant. Give me half an hours unpleasantness of an evening, and I can go to bed with a smile on my face. But I'm easily pleased. And this made me smile at least seven or eight times.

As for the music criticism do you mean the music he criticised, or the music he liked which was being criticised because he liked it?

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

It came across as Mark Ellen or David Hepworth trying to write a comedy script.

They should watch It Ain't Half Hot Mum and learn some lessons about how to make people laugh.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:33 (nineteen years ago)

Or Oh Mr Beeching

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:35 (nineteen years ago)

I thought it was fairly obvious that the opinions of Saxondale are not to be taken as gospel.

I mean the "music criticism" parts were surely heavily clichéd just to ensure they did appear kind of amusing.

I'd usually be really wary for that kind of thing too, and annoyed by it if I felt it was made to appeal to people with crap ideas about music, but I don't think that's the case here, it's just what the character would say I guess.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:38 (nineteen years ago)

try partridge more, is my eventual conclusion.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:40 (nineteen years ago)

I prefer comedy written by people who know nothing about music.

Talbot Rothwell who wrote the Carry On films (the best ones anyway) probably thought that the Beatles were insects at the bottom of his garden but his stuff is still miles funnier than anything Coogan's ever done.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:45 (nineteen years ago)

'I mean the "music criticism" parts were surely heavily clichéd just to ensure they did appear kind of amusing.'

Isn't that what Marcellos saying? That the music he (Saxondale) likes is what's being criticised?

Thinking about it now (which means I've been thinking about this programme on and off for tha last hour which is about an hour too long) ere we supposed to think his views on music are wrong but his views about animal rights protestors are not? I like this ambiguity. It was the same with Partridge.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:46 (nineteen years ago)

It's a case of the Cool Police destroying TV comedy, just as they destroyed TOTP.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:50 (nineteen years ago)

I was Googling to try to find out if Talbot Rothwell was aware of The Beatles and I ended up in The Church Of Me.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:53 (nineteen years ago)

Everyone ends up there, sooner or later.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:54 (nineteen years ago)

'Marcello Carlin' IS grumpy-old-man David Hepworth and I claim my £5.

― David Orton (scarlet), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:55 (nineteen years ago)

I presumed Marcello meant that the musical opinions he puts forward are rockist or something, not that the show was mocking the bands he liked unfairly.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:55 (nineteen years ago)

Steve Coogan is down with Mick Hucknall "IRL".

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:58 (nineteen years ago)

.. and Mick's not a fan of 'constructive' crit.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:01 (nineteen years ago)

What I wrote about "Holding Back The Years" on the Pick Of The Pops thread yesterday is the most constructive criticism Hucknall has ever had.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:06 (nineteen years ago)

Hepworth is a right-wing idiot (Guardian questionnaire, under "Dislikes": "liberals") who destroyed music criticism in this country. We're all on the web because of him.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:06 (nineteen years ago)

I had that Frantic Elevators version a while ago.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:07 (nineteen years ago)

i have met mick hucknall.

marcello is wrong about the cool police and that.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:08 (nineteen years ago)

Before the Cool Police wrecked it, TOTP was watchable and comedy was funny. Now it's just visual offal for Cameronites.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:09 (nineteen years ago)

And Radio 2 ("aural" for "visual").

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:09 (nineteen years ago)

Couldn't be arsed watching this. I suppose there is a 50/50 chance it will "come in" anyway.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:11 (nineteen years ago)

i think 'the day today' is funnier than the 'carry on' films, but that's just me innit.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:11 (nineteen years ago)

Ah yes, Coogan was funny in The Day Today, except as Alan Partridge.

But then he didn't write that.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:13 (nineteen years ago)

evidently sid james didn't write 'carry on cleo' though...

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:16 (nineteen years ago)

Who said he did?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:17 (nineteen years ago)

-- Marcello Carlin (marcellocarli...), June 20th, 2006.

it's irrelevant whether coogan wrote 'the day today'.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:19 (nineteen years ago)

The Day Today was funny. Saxondale is not. The Day Today was not written by Coogan. Saxondale was. End of story.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:24 (nineteen years ago)

Baxendale was funny though.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:27 (nineteen years ago)

The Day Today was funny. Saxondale is not. The Day Today was not written by Coogan. Saxondale was. End of story.

I don't follow.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:28 (nineteen years ago)

Saxondale clips:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/?id=saxondale

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:29 (nineteen years ago)

But Saxondale was funny...

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:29 (nineteen years ago)

especially cos coogan probably did write a lot of the partridge stuff. it's murky, i think, cos marber is a credit teef.

xpost

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:30 (nineteen years ago)

I'm Alan Partridge was mainly written by Iannucci and Baynham, Coogan just did the characterisation stuff (or at least that's what the commentary suggests on the DVD). I think he was more hands on with writing Partridge when it came to The Day Today.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

Now it's just visual offal for Cameronites.

Has Cameronite replaced Blairite already?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:37 (nineteen years ago)

anyway my basic point was "cool police" >>>> fucking 'carry on', who wrote what isn't very important (or indeed easy to discern).

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:37 (nineteen years ago)

The first half of Clip 4 is pretty funny, I think. Largely thanks to the supporting actor.

It is the Nirvana t-shirt bit for anyone who saw it "in real life".

But it doesn't seem to be aiming for Carry On style laughs. It looks fairly bleak, kind of like the funny bits in Jimmy McGovern's The Street.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:39 (nineteen years ago)

Painfully my-dadlike except subtract Zep and add (insert blues musician here). If anything Coogan's mistake here is to play 10 years older than he is. But it's still funny.

I can verify the Hucknall/Coogan friendship: architect friends were doing SC's house the night of the '97 election and SC&MH had been running around them with the champagne etc. while they were trying to work, then SC was phoning them in drink/dial fashion from Royal Festival Hall all night.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

The Cool Police should be splayed and quartered.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:54 (nineteen years ago)

i think i will watch ep2, anyway.

xpost

coogan so isn't cool anyway!

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 10:55 (nineteen years ago)

This reminds me of when David Baddiel said World At Your Feet wasn't a great football anthem because Embrace were too cool for the job.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:03 (nineteen years ago)

xpost - No, he's bloody naff and he totally knows it: likes everything pneumatic like a homunculus of Jeremy Clarkson - yet feels conflicted in his Ferrari and goes coke-banging Courtney Love. I do like him to chat to, though - he's not a meathead with every woman on the planet.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:05 (nineteen years ago)

I don't get all this about it being new, "cool", Cameronite comedy. It's quite traditional British comedy - the only difference being it hasn't got any irritating canned laughter. Saxondale's one in a long line of frustrated Englishmen living crap lives and dreaming of better things. As Trad English as Steptoe, Rigsby, even Hyacinth Bucket. Thought it was funny, esp the stuff with the secretary woman.

― "C" (Holey), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:34 (nineteen years ago)

I opted not to stay with the remaining 27 minutes of the opening episode.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:36 (nineteen years ago)

no attention span, these young'uns.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:37 (nineteen years ago)

It should have compelled me to watch it from the beginning instead of umming and ahhing and taking forever to get to no point.

Coogan should watch Rab C Nesbitt and see how a proper sitcom is written.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:40 (nineteen years ago)

Saxondale's one in a long line of frustrated Englishmen living crap lives and dreaming of better things.

I was mildly interested by the fact that he didn't come over as especially frustrated at all. In fact he seemed pretty contented with his lot, if a little tired. He seems to be a character who you would expect frustration from, like the guy from Creme Brulee, but you don't get it. This is either a new twist on an old theme or me just not getting it.
I was also amused by people telling him not to lose his temper. He didn't seem to be losing his temper to me, and the one person he did answer back in a pissed-off way really deserved it.
I was very pleased it didn't have any canned laughter in it, but it would be nice to have some more jokes.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:48 (nineteen years ago)

> He seems to be a character who you would expect frustration from, like the guy from Creme Brulee, but you don't get it.

Creme Brulee bloke was ex-musician. Coogan bloke is ex-roadie - was always a hanger on, fewer aspirations, feels less disappointment? maybe?

we didn't see him lose his temper but the show started with him in anger management class so i guess we are meant to infer it.

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:57 (nineteen years ago)

Ah, League of Gentlemen - now there was comedy (at least for the first two series; they were good until they thought they could do it).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

Next week: Marcello Carlin on "Dad", with George Cole.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

Do NOT get me started on George Cole...

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

We got banned from a pub/hotel in Henley, for fear of upsetting George Cole.

oh sorry Marc.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:54 (nineteen years ago)

This is an interesting discussion. Thinking about it, one of the big reasons it fell flat for me is because there was no obvious drive to the character. The classic (British) sitcom protagonist should be constantly and visibly yearning for something.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

What, like Shelley (Hywell Bennet) you mean?

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

The classic (British) sitcom protagonist should be constantly and visibly yearning for something.

I thought he was constantly and visibly yearning for his past. That's probably why he virtually adopted a kid in a Nirvana T-shirt.

― "C" (Holey), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:27 (nineteen years ago)

ihttp://faculty1.coloradocollege.edu/~bloevy/EnglishNewTowns/EnglandOnePlusTwo/England175.jpg

He seems to be a character who you would expect frustration from, like the guy from Creme Brulee, but you don't get it.

This really should have been set in Hitchin. I didn't see it last night but from what I've read, Hitchin is crawling with aging rockers like Saxondale.

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:41 (nineteen years ago)

DL, my sources tell me that Stevenage Town Centre is about to be demolished! (And rebuilt, unfortunately.) Do you know when this is going to happen?

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:42 (nineteen years ago)

ya. it's happening to letchworth and hitchin too! loads of flats are being built. didn't really know about stevenage.

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:49 (nineteen years ago)

Cor, get one, Jerry!

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

i enjoyed that more than last week's. think i was in a pissy mood then.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:31 (nineteen years ago)

WAY funnier this week, I thought - maybe because there were more Partridge-like traits to the character. Alexander Armstrong's Clarkson impression was great.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:32 (nineteen years ago)

This was great, in a kind of understated way. How come everyone on here's from Hertfordshire (I'm new here, btw)? I was born in Hitchin & lived in Letchworth for my formative years...

― an eighth polish (an eighth polish), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:51 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not from Hertfordshire, I'm from that great big city just south of it.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:53 (nineteen years ago)

i'm not from there, but i have been to letchworth's swimming pool on a number of occasions.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:57 (nineteen years ago)

I wonder if that's the same leisure centre where my best mate won a medal for doing that dance where you put your hands on your knees then cross them over... That's basically my main memory of Letchworth. Happy days...

― an eighth polish (an eighth polish), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:01 (nineteen years ago)

Was it Letchworth or Hitchin that had the wave machine? I used to find it terribly distressing.

This a was much better episode, yes.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:09 (nineteen years ago)

it was letchworth -- that's why we made the trip from waveless cambridge. there must have been at least five eighth birthday parties held there.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:11 (nineteen years ago)

Sounds like they should install a wave machine in the Camber. You know, for kids.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

My granny lives in Hitchin (well, St Ippolyts). I'm visiting her in July!

― caek (caek), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

watched some of this last night

rather unfunny

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 07:13 (nineteen years ago)

you like nothing.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 07:48 (nineteen years ago)

Another good episode, esp. the bit where Saxondale suddenly changes and starts laying into the Clarkson character. And then went on to get t-shirts printed up.
I thought the bits with the shopping centre management were a bit poor though, seemed to lose momentum then.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 08:14 (nineteen years ago)

i thought annoying more than unfunny.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 08:18 (nineteen years ago)

I really liked it this week. 3 or 4 proper roffles, the clarskon stuff was great, and I'm really enjoying the atmosphere.

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 11:26 (nineteen years ago)

hmm. superb ending: genuine open-jawed oh-god cringe stuff. brilliantly done. but a lot of the rest of it left me cold.

indeed, the only bits i thought hung together properly were the clarkson scenes; the rest felt like it had been cobbled together around those in order to beef it up. on the basis of that one episode, there just don't seem to be enough good ideas here.

the tiny, feeble little sub-plot with the make-up was absolute arse.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

oh i missed this.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 07:28 (nineteen years ago)

me too

I could hear it in the other room

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 07:34 (nineteen years ago)

I only caught the last 5 or so mins of this last night. The ending fell really flat for me. "He was watching Pirates of the Caribbean" just wasn't very funny.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:22 (nineteen years ago)

it doesn't sound very funny, taken out of context.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:23 (nineteen years ago)

This is the first one I've seen. There was one really good line in it which I've now forgotten. It seemed so low-key as to be almost inaudible. I think it's pitched somewhere around the BBC3 Grass level of quite good.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:35 (nineteen years ago)

I missed it too. I think it says something about it's impact that we all forgot it was on.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:40 (nineteen years ago)

I knew it was on

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

i also remember one line being great, the rest being ok. wonder if it's the same line? mark williams was well cast as the other roadie i thought.

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:42 (nineteen years ago)

I knew it was on
-- RJG, July 4th, 2006.

But you didn't like it. Why would you want to remember?
I did mean to see it but I think the heat has wiped my brain. I couldn't remember the word "fixture" this morning.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

This episode featured Mark Williams as Saxondale's drinking buddy from his roadie days who turns up on his doorstep. Most of the comedy centred around Saxondale trying not to appear to have 'sold-out'/settled down to his still hard-drinking mate. Was alright, as usual.
The Saxondale character (esp with the Mark Williams character) seems like an adaptation of Coogan's pub-bore know-all from the "Natural Born Quizzers" episode of Coogan's Run.

― David Orton (scarlet), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:50 (nineteen years ago)

The ending fell really flat for me. "He was watching Pirates of the Caribbean" just wasn't very funny.

it was staggeringly unfunny, which was a shame because bits of the episode were wonderful. i laughed loudly at two or three points; although, like everyone else, i can't actually remember the precise lines. hmm.

and as a portrait of a friendship it was actually quite touching ... the problem is that the writing just isn't polished enough (perhaps because coogan's penning so much of it and nobody dare tell him bits of it don't work?)

so the scene in the ambulance, which would have been a wonderful piece of comedic bathos, was ruined by the totally unnecessary second line of this exchange:

saxondale: "you don't owe me anything, mate ... [beat] ... except that 50 quid."
his mate: "why, you miserable, tight-arsed ..." [cut]

why bother with the comeback? what the fuck point did it serve?

i also watched "still game" last night. it was several leagues funnier. i want to like saxondale - and it's still very good in parts - but on the whole ... meh.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:53 (nineteen years ago)

I knew it was on
-- RJG, July 4th, 2006.
But you didn't like it. Why would you want to remember?
I did mean to see it but I think the heat has wiped my brain. I couldn't remember the word "fixture" this morning.

-- Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifl...), July 4th, 2006 11:44 AM. (nedtrifle) (later) (link)

I didn't like it and didn't want to & didn't remember. not too long before it came on the telly, someone told me "saxondale is on, later". then I went to my bedroom

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 09:59 (nineteen years ago)

saw it for the first time last night. couple of lols. not enough to make it unmissable.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 10:02 (nineteen years ago)

has Coogan ever played a really likeable character??

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 10:03 (nineteen years ago)

Was Pauline Calf likeable? I dunno.

― David Orton (scarlet), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 10:07 (nineteen years ago)

pauline calf was not likeable, no.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 11:19 (nineteen years ago)

watched this again last night looking for that fabled funny line.

'should've called yourself Iris' was funny, as was 'face like a beekeeper's apprentice' but neither were the line that i laughed at the first time around.

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Wednesday, 5 July 2006 09:15 (nineteen years ago)

saxondale: "you don't owe me anything, mate ... [beat] ... except that 50 quid."
his mate: "why, you miserable, tight-arsed ..." [cut]

why bother with the comeback? what the fuck point did it serve?

So Saxondale could get angry and say "Don't upset yourself!" and gas him!

I think the fabled funny line was re: the pepper pot - "I've been to Chessington World of Adventures". At least, that was the only bit that had me laughing tea out of my nose.

― melton mowbray's APOCALYPTO! (adr), Wednesday, 5 July 2006 09:26 (nineteen years ago)

just naming things like chessington world of adventure, argos catalogues, fruit smoothies, monster munch is not funny

partridge did it, too, but he did some other stuff, as well

this programme is rubbish

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 July 2006 20:53 (nineteen years ago)

and the funny thing where he does militaristic analogy/innuendo is overdone and not funny in the first place

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 July 2006 21:00 (nineteen years ago)

This does other stuff too.

I quite like it.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Monday, 17 July 2006 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

oh, btw, mags' shop is in the arcade in watford, around the corner from the place i bought my hi-fi rack.

missed last night's, or rather listened to it rather than watched it. nothing struck me as esp funny.

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

"He survives on monster munch" made me laugh inside. Nothing else did, and nothing made me laugh out loud.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 15:54 (nineteen years ago)

Yep, that was this week's one funny line.

I dunno though, I'm still basically enjoying this, even though it's not making me laugh very often. I think Tommy Saxondale is just about realistic enough that it works as a pleasant little character study, which makes up for the fact that it's mostly failing as a sitcom. When I was at school, my best friend's dad was exactly like him, and that familiarity feels quite nice.

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 18:15 (nineteen years ago)

given that Mag's shop is in Watford, i think the Sevenoaks in last night's show is also the Watford branch, about 10 minutes down the road from Richer Sounds and the place where i bought my centre speaker...

see ya...

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 08:08 (nineteen years ago)

I was going to ask what 70s program used the same theme tune, but yahoo answers told me even as I was looking up the track name:

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060710144312AA2yjkl

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 08:14 (nineteen years ago)

I love Focus. Yodelling hocus pocus!
I think that was them anyway - but now I've typed it it seems weird Hocus Pocus by Focus? Can that be right?

Anyway - i'm still enjoying it (Saxondale that is).

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 08:52 (nineteen years ago)

the stuff with the secretary is great

he hates her so much but there's a bit of him that desperately wants her to like him, to be impressed with him, and she sees that, and twists the knife again and again

unfortunately it doesn't GO anywhere after that

"a former rock roadie turned, umm, pest exterminator, who has anger-management issues" -- this is a great basis for a show, but it has turned out somehow to be the POINT of the show, which is bizarre; the cosby show was based on a well-off black family living in the city - but if that had been the POINT of the cosby show it would have been sunk from the beginning

there's political and cultural resonances that could be sketched between coogan's character and britain/western europe in the 21st century (i.e. both are bloated and over the hill; both have settled into a convenient rut; both are addicted to massive useless gas-guzzling toys) but i doubt the show is canny enough to exploit them

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

or stupidly pompous enough

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:37 (nineteen years ago)

haha

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:38 (nineteen years ago)

i've sort of given up on it, really. i taped the first, what, three episodes? but i found that halfway through each one i'd be reading a paper or looking at ILX or absent-mindedly scratching my arse, and just not engaging with it.

i just don't think the half-hour sitcom format suits the character. he'd have been better in a sketch-show format, perhaps ... but then the british sketch-show has become nothing more than an exercise in repetition ad absurdum, so at least he's been spared that fate ;)

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:47 (nineteen years ago)

yeah i 'saw' it last week but was really ilxing. saw two or three in total. it was just ok.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:53 (nineteen years ago)

I thought it was Jethro Tull, and have embarrassed myself by saying so, out loud, in the real world. OK, it was only Steady Mike, but still.

I watched this last night and enjoyed it. Whatever it is I like about it, it is not necessarily its funniness. Something to do with an unerringly accurate portrayal of desperation and alientaion.

One thing about last night's episode - the lenghty speech about hi-fi equipment. I would like to know if it passed muster, or whether hi-fi enthusiasts are grumbling about it, like peole here were saying that no way would he like Brian Eno because he has a beard or whatever.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:56 (nineteen years ago)

I thought it was Jethro Tull

= dull?

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 10:57 (nineteen years ago)

The receptionist reminds me of my sister! She even has the same name!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:01 (nineteen years ago)

I am going to use prog rock rhyming slang from now on.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:07 (nineteen years ago)

has Coogan ever played a really likeable character??

-- Konal Doddz (stevem7...), July 4th, 2006 12:03 PM

i've just realised...the guy he played in The Parole Officer WAS, I think, likeable. So he CAN do it.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:14 (nineteen years ago)

receptionist is morweena banks, which i only realised last night. her last gramatically incorrect sentence was very good.

> the lenghty speech about hi-fi equipment. I would like to know if it passed muster

it sounded reasonable enough to me but i'm several years off the boil when it comes to names and model numbers so... i can't decide whether he was talking the talk whilst having a very nothingy mid-end system* or what. (he mentioned Wharfedale Diamond 8s and they are beloved of What Hi-Fi etc but i don't think audiophile magazines would touch them with a pole, too cheap!)(*like mine)

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:20 (nineteen years ago)

b-b-but all of saxondale's heroes are prog gods! ELP, pink floyd, tull, etc - eno fits snugly into that record shelf, probably makes him feel he's "up on things" or something?

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:22 (nineteen years ago)

What characters do people remember from Coogan's Run, and how many of them were likeable?

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:24 (nineteen years ago)

Paul Calf: unlikeable for being a boorish twat
Gareth Cheeseman: unlikeable for reasons that should be obv.
the ginger twins: unlikeable due to clearly being ILXors
the boring museum curator: unlikeable due to being v dull
the 'tickety boo' old giffer: unlikeable despite decency

can't remember the sixth character

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:52 (nineteen years ago)

oh wait, Mike Crystal was the other one, and he WAS likeable! tho his alter-ego Clint Stallone was not of course.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:53 (nineteen years ago)

Damn, missed it last night.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 12:09 (nineteen years ago)

the other thing i like about this is how saxondale has retained an affectation of over-the-top "gentlemanliness" (i.e. "a doff of the proverbial") that in his youth must have carried a sort of magic and irony but now - almost totally unaltered - fits him like a glove

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

You tube, Michael.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

this reminds me of the twin/brothers characters from Coogan's Run and their 'stout yeoman of the bar' thing altho that was more studenty (i.e. young Saxondale, sort of). it's a recurring thing in Coogan work. you get the impression he just loves language (even tho the characters using it in this way usually come across as irritating or pretentious for doing so).

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

Saxondale's little friend, the one we all liked so much, is now in Lead Balloon, the Jack Dee thing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/leadballoon/

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

Lead Balloon's quite good in its gentle, derivative way. I've completely forgotten Saxondale.

― chap who would dare to welcome our new stingray masters (chap), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 10:57 (nineteen years ago)

his name appears to be Rasmus Hardiker.

― Koogy Yonderboy (koogs), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 11:37 (nineteen years ago)

Saxondale just started airing on BBC America.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

i wonder, if specner chow will see it.

― benrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 14:00 (nineteen years ago)

I'll tell you what I liked, I liked Man To Man with Dean Lerner. I also liked Fear of Fanny (starring a cavalcade of ILX's most/least favourite comedy actors) and that Lee Mack sitcom isn't terrible either.

None of these shows really deserve a thread of their own, however.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

i want to see it!

i mentioned dean learner on the 'let's talk about this week's new uk comedy show' (or whatever it's called) thread, MJ. i will revive it after seeing eo2

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 26 October 2006 08:12 (nineteen years ago)

Lead Balloon "goes terrestial" tonight. I kind of like it, but I haven't seen much, just the odd couple of minutes in my lunch break.

Watched "One Hour Photo" last night. Should have been a one hour film.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Thursday, 26 October 2006 08:17 (nineteen years ago)

that's true. i think the first hour is good. lots of films used to be closer to an hour-70min, in the good old days.

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 26 October 2006 08:19 (nineteen years ago)

I've just started watching 9 1/2 Weeks (Director's Cut). I'll let you know what I think of it on January 1st.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Thursday, 26 October 2006 08:29 (nineteen years ago)

i'm watching the extended '120 days of sodom'...

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 26 October 2006 08:37 (nineteen years ago)

nine months pass...

Series 2 has started. Not much different, really. He's grown his own hair instead of wearing a wig.

― bham, Friday, 24 August 2007 08:07 (eighteen years ago)

dolphin impression made me laugh.

― koogs, Friday, 24 August 2007 09:20 (eighteen years ago)

oh, man. i'll have to torrent it because it didn't seem to do too well on bbc america. (bbc america's "comedy saturdays" now consist of some shite remake of dr. jekyll/mr. hyde and graham norton. COMEDY!)

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Friday, 24 August 2007 09:25 (eighteen years ago)

err... the first season didn't do too well, that is. so i'm guessing they won't show the second.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Friday, 24 August 2007 09:25 (eighteen years ago)

ah, bollocks. meant to have a look at this new series. didn't. hey ho.

― grimly fiendish, Friday, 24 August 2007 22:25 (eighteen years ago)

if only the BBC would come up with some kind of clever internet-based way to watch shows again.

one that FUCKING WORKED ON MY MAC, that is.

― grimly fiendish, Friday, 24 August 2007 22:25 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

anyone bothering?

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 15:54 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, last weeks was pretty good. First time I'd seen it really.

Recommended.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

i'm just doing thursday's TV pages and thinking, ah, saxondale ... yeh, shit, not watched any of this series at all yet. buggering fuck.

― grimly fiendish, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

Mark G OTM, last week's was a definite improvement on the first series.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 17:02 (eighteen years ago)

wasn't the odd druggy squatter in last series too?

― koogs, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 17:51 (eighteen years ago)

Episode #1.4 (10 July 2006) - Tommy Saxondale/Gay Mancunian Heroin Addict, Executive Producer, Writer

I KNEW I hadn't dreamt it!

― Not the real Village People, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 18:41 (eighteen years ago)

last week's was a definite improvement on the first series.

-- Neil S, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 17:02 (3 days ago) Bookmark Link

Whereas Last night's was so-so with a couple of good bits.

― Mark G, Friday, 14 September 2007 11:42 (eighteen years ago)

Missed it, instead I was forced to watch John Hurt getting in a huff because he wasn't related to the Marquis of Sligo.

― Neil S, Friday, 14 September 2007 11:53 (eighteen years ago)

that being the 'devastating revelation' they highlit all yesterday then?

― Mark G, Friday, 14 September 2007 11:56 (eighteen years ago)

Pretty much. He looked pretty grumpy about it. Only actors could have the colossal self-regard to believe that their family tree is inherently of interest to the viewing public.

― Neil S, Friday, 14 September 2007 12:07 (eighteen years ago)

It all looked so false as well. Like, take 2, look of grumpy disbelief.

Saxondale was dull last night I thought. I think I'm starting to missed canned laughter.

― Ned Trifle II, Friday, 14 September 2007 12:10 (eighteen years ago)

I don't see why anyone should care, either. There seemed to be a large element of snobbery to his reaction.

― Neil S, Friday, 14 September 2007 12:22 (eighteen years ago)

(> that being the 'devastating revelation' they highlit all yesterday then?

wasn't the devastating revelation, the one where he looked grumpy in the trailers, the fact that they were first cousins?)

saxondale, i realised last night, is very formulaic, similar structure every week. but still funny. neighbour in glastonbury t-shirt.

mitchell and webb, on immediately afterwards, had me lolling much more though. the swimming pool, the vicar, the nativity, numberwangk...

― koogs, Friday, 14 September 2007 12:36 (eighteen years ago)

...it was all about the Green Clarinet for me.

― NickB, Friday, 14 September 2007 12:43 (eighteen years ago)

Numberwang: the poor man's quizzlestick.

― Neil S, Friday, 14 September 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

five months pass...

Coogan revives Alan Partridge for tour:

http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/tour/s/15969/steve_coogan_is_alan_partridge_and_other_less_successful_characters

― StanM, Thursday, 13 March 2008 09:50 (eighteen years ago)

This is the most baffling thread in all of ilx to me. I love this show. I think the character is so well-drawn and completely compelling; I think it's poignant and relatable; I think the jokes are hilarious.

― Savannah Smiles, Thursday, 13 March 2008 11:39 (eighteen years ago)

nine months pass...

Still want to see this!

― rox qua rox (roxymuzak), Saturday, 20 December 2008 02:05 (seventeen years ago)

but having got the DVDs for christmas man is there a difference in tone between the series. tommy's much less exaggerated in his mannerisms, the wonderfully horible blonde woman is scaled back a bit... it's weird. i'm only on the first episode of the second series, though, still funny.

― what we do is secrete (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Monday, 29 December 2008 09:42 (seventeen years ago)

can he top 'dr terrible's house of horrible'?

― Seriously, Try Punching This Guy in the Face and See What Happens (Enrique), Monday, June 19, 2006 12:36 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

zing!

― Brohan Hari, Monday, 29 December 2008 12:41 (seventeen years ago)

two weeks pass...

both seasons are out on dvd in the us soon. you know why? because my wife got the UK dvds for me for christmas. i think they were actually cheaper though (the us one is supposed to be $40), even with shipping. why are the spaced dvds so expensive, also?

how you doin?

― HELPING CHILDREN THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Friday, 16 January 2009 12:48 (seventeen years ago)

i'm doing ok

― cutty, Friday, 16 January 2009 12:49 (seventeen years ago)

good to hear

― HELPING CHILDREN THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Friday, 16 January 2009 13:44 (seventeen years ago)

three months pass...

watching the second disc of the first season now. i like this show. i'd have a beer or smoke a joint with tommy.

― ian, Monday, 11 May 2009 23:21 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

finally got around to seeing this, the first series anyway. not especially 'hilarious' but the episodes improve as the series goes on and every episode is enjoyable, even if 95% of the music references seem horridly forced in

― BIG HOOTY aka the Sapperticker (electricsound), Thursday, 30 December 2010 08:50 (fifteen years ago)

I've just started watching 9 1/2 Weeks (Director's Cut). I'll let you know what I think of it on January 1st.
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Thursday, 26 October 2006

― the pinefox, Thursday, 30 December 2010 11:27 (fifteen years ago)

two months pass...

i wonder, if specner chow will see it.

I finally watched this and really enjoyed it. Definitely a grower (had to start it a few times to get into it). The only weird thing was that I didn't think he really showed very much anger!

― Spencer Chow, Tuesday, 8 March 2011 22:32 (fifteen years ago)

one month passes...

Just started watching this. Half way through season one - each episode getting better. I think Tommy's facial tics and banter are hilarious. Also baffled that this didn't get more love.

― paulhw, Tuesday, 26 April 2011 14:08 (fifteen years ago)

wtf this thread is 5 years old, and i've never heard of this before

― if you wanna gamble, take that shit to vegas (Ste), Tuesday, 26 April 2011 14:13 (fifteen years ago)

I thought this thread revive was about this http://www.totalfilm.com/news/steve-coogan-confirms-alan-partridge-movie-shoots-next-year

― Cluster the boots (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 26 April 2011 14:18 (fifteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.