Ben Elton - where did it all go wrong?

Re plot of Queen musical: there's a layer of irony you just haven't noticed yet >ahem<

Seriously, yeah that sounded tragically like a parody. The article Elton wrote in the Daily Mail about how all modern pop was rubbish and Queen were the greatest band of all time sealed his fate for me.

I'll get me studded vest.

they don't seem to have repeated this experiment.

this thread title = genuine lols

http://mumbrella.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ben_elton_audience_decline.png

http://boxcutters.net/files/2011/02/LiveFromPlanetEarthgraph.png

Context

hoo boy

Those original promos with just Mr. Elton looked slightly promising but then the promos in the last few weeks with "characters" looked utterly terrible.

I switched off about five seconds after BE's lukewarm stand up when they rotated the stage to reveal a pissweak schoolgirls sketch.

Elton will put his name to any old crap these days, won't he?

The second I saw Paul McCarthy's face I knew it would be a disaster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNW0Q2y4Qxg&feature=player_embedded

Gaga looks more like Kate Miller-Heidke amirite

"watch more great clips"...

Paul McCarthy? The artist?

Snakes alive, that clip is absolutely desolate. Just when I thought that BBC3's Coming of Age represented the nadir for tv comedy this arrives...

what's this an Aussie tv show? does he live there now?

i'll forgive him anything for the MotorVation live album which is still the best non Connolly live album by a uk stand up i've ever heard.
and obvs for Blackadder 2, 3 and 4. IMO he can do what he likes because his early stuff is untouchable, like Prince or someone.

what's this an Aussie tv show? does he live there now?

yeah and yeah, since about 1992

(used to do six months here, six months in UK, but has been mostly here for the last decade I think)

I'm about 20 minutes into this thing. It's all quite smooth and professional and Elton is a warm host but it's just. not. funny.

Right now there's a horrible sketch featuring Paul McCarthy (SEAL OF QUALITY) and some woman being all overdone chardonnay socialist and it's fucking painful.

Elton just walked back on, did a bit about fat chefs being ratings gold and said 'do we have a ratings death wish??' Surprisingly prescient considering he'd already shed 30% of his audience by that point.

oh and now a Matt Preston-alike farting. Mick Molloy's pissing sequence had nothing on whatever the hell this is.

Tim Minchin's supposed to be on next week! Good luck Australia.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/02/ben-elton-says-sorry-yes-we-got-the-mix-wrong.html

“The objections people had with it are not reflective of how the show will develop and I’m sorry about that. Clearly that was something we got slightly wrong but it’s not endemic of our process, it’s just that two sketches, three sketches in a row with ‘fannys,’ what can I say –it was a mistake.”

So this week's instalment is exactly the same except Elton's stand-up segments are a load of complaints about the show's criticism.

Looks like I've been roped into going to see We Will Rock You next week. Bloody hell.

Axed for repeats of Two And A Half Men, it says here.

bout time

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/16/3140508.htm

"Having run out of jokes to attract an audience, Ben Elton resorts to threatening people with Two And A Half Men," Erin Tanner tweeted.

Six eps commissioned, hoping for 800,000 viewers; plug pulled after ep 3 drew 186,000 (so ponders the SMH)

That's pretty piss-poor.

This is not like Let Loose Live or The Comedy Sale or The Bounce or etc etc, it was horribly flawed on so many levels that it was never ever going to be a success. As a kid who grew up in awe of everything with which Elton was involved (including Catflap, would you believe), all this is just unfathomable.

where did it all go wrong, I ask you

http://www.thedeafblog.co.uk/Queen.jpg

dammit
http://www.thedeafblog.co.uk/Queen.jpg

Looks like I've been roped into going to see We Will Rock You next week

This Saturday. P S Y C H E D !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQD-dXfHrvk

the first time i interviewed the darkness, justin went off on a long and hilarious tangent about how freddie mercury will rise from the grave to grudge-fuck ben elton's eye-socket in response to WWRY.

it looks awful. i've never seen it, but my mum's been three times. what rankles most is, i'm sure elton never listened to queen until he got the commission.

surely May is far more deserving of the skullfucking

can never decide which cunt is more awful and less funny, sayle or elton. sayle is funny these days, but only as a character study.

Sayle has been more funny in previous lives tho obv i am also more sympathetic to the ideological wendy house he's decided to inhabit than i am to Elton's

maybe in previous lives, what was his fucking name and i'll look it up

sayle was hilarious

http://chortle.co.uk/news/2013/04/23/17682/the_wright_way_for_a_panning

hands up who's surprised

the way that poor guy blinks while delivering every duff punchline, as if he can't bear to see the world reacting to them. poor guy, poor everyone involved (except ben)

this is actively terrible

there's a 2.5 min scene in his work bathroom (less than five minutes in) in which wright is trying to wash his hands before the tap cuts out (it's an automatic-shut-off new-fangled press-down thing)

• he fills both his hands with soap first, even though he knows he can't use the tap without a hand free (the punchline to this was telegraphed at 112 db in the previous scene)
• he immediately gets up on the sink and shoves his foot on the tap (because that's the next logical thing to do if you can't use a tap)
• he tries using his forehead to keep the tap running, a sound idea until he headbutts it for literally no reason AND THEN wipes soap on his head for no reason
• then he gets up on the sink AGAIN, this time squatting over the sink with soap on his head, and GUESS WHAT HAPPENS
• that's right, a male colleague catches him in this uncompromising position
• colleague offers to use the tap for him, and water SMASHES out of the spout like it's suddenly a fire hose SUDDENLY AND FOR NO REASON
• wright is now soaking because farce, satire &c.
• he then tries to dry himself on the hand dryer which of course only dribbles hot air and is useless
• obviously at this point he makes a fart joke because this is a ben elton
• then—and i cannot work out why this happens—he does a wanking motion in front of the hand dryer
• GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NOW
• THAT'S RIGHT
• the cleaner WHO IS FEMALE walks in at this very moment
• 'mistah wright! what are you doin'?' (she's black with a jamaican accent because this is clearly lwt in the '70s)
• (the performer is british and not jamaican, i just checked)
• he calls her 'missus johnson' because this is clearly lwt in the '70s
• knob joke
• gay joke
• end of scene

it is however thoroughly entertaining in completely not the way bbc1 intended, so i shall watch and enjoy every single episode of this show

thanks tommy wiseau ben elton, i am ever so grateful

This is funnier than anything Elton has done for years:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10022352/Ben-Elton-the-ex-darling-of-the-Left-can-do-no-right.html

ahahahahahaha oh god

i've circumvented my murdoch block for that article, and it was worth it

Many of the critics who have attacked the new show for its antiquated slapstick and double-entendres are the ones most bewildered by the runaway success of Miranda – a comedy so old-fashioned, it should be shown in black-and-white. The same bunch duffed over the BBC’s Mrs Brown’s Boys – “a crass, depressing, lazy shriek of badly written garbage,” fumed one – which quickly became one of the biggest comedy hits on the air.

the critics are bewildered by 'the wright way' because it is hopelessly and supremely terrible in every single regard, not because 'the artsy-liberal crowd' is jealous of his success wtf

there's a 'proud erection' gag that's set up with such caution that a baby could see it coming

i am not a comedy writer and i know not to set up a joke that way

okay so now they're doing a scene based on the absurdity of acronyms and they've just said the acronym 'bump alignment level location situation', and gerald is writing it on the whiteboard (out of view) and spelling aloud 'B-A-L-L-S'

next acronym is 'upsizing procedure' and gerald is writing that on the whiteboard too (still out of view), spelling aloud 'U-P'

i've paused it because i'm guessing there'll be a cut-away to the whiteboard where he's written 'BALLS UP' and that will be the punchline

and that is exactly what happened

and the audience LAUGHED like it was a surprise

this is the best show i have ever seen

wright's ex-wife left him for a personal trainer

i am starting to think elton just bought a load of old comedy scripts and glued them together at this point

is it worse than The Thin Blue Line cause it looks sorta the same and that was awful.

my memory is that this is worse

i can remember sitting through some episodes of the thin blue line, never enjoying it but not nearly as gobsmacked by how abrasively horrible it was either

a whole scene is based around shops who stop serving customers to take phone calls because 'it's policy'

elton has apparently not left his palace in like 20 years because this is not a thing that happens

p sure satire only works when it criticises an actual thing

he takes back something he bought in a shop, but he doesn't have the receipt on him (cue entitlement), so he goes home, gets the receipt and sticks it in his jacket pocket WITH A BIG LOUD PROCLAMATION THAT HE HAS PUT IT IN HIS JACKET POCKET, so you know he'll take off his jacket before he gets to the shop and therefore ~comedy~, and guess what he does

and it finishes with the same wanking-motion joke from scene 2, complete with the same 'mistah wright! what are you doin'?' burst-in entrance from the inexplicably jamaican woman

Will the series end with the woman from the Tom&Jerry Cartoons going "Mistuh Elton, what are you doin?"

I was so baffled at that 'balls up' reveal and the reaction it got. It was LITERALLY spelt out before. I almost think it's satire?!

otm, in any other show you'd be 'right, well there's the joke' but in this one you just knew there had to be a brute-force punchline

His ppl wont care that yr watching ironically you know

AA you make this sound unmissable.

I remember when I was wee I worried about my lefty credentials because this comedian who I understood to be some kind of prominent face of the left just seemed like a smug tool. Well judged, wee me.

I should add at this point that in an exercise in self-loathing, I continue to read each of Ben Elton's books (taken out from the library, I hate to give him money) as part of my vacuous holiday reading material, and they are a complete pile of shit. I treat each one like watching Britain's Got Talent or reading Liz Jones' diary in the Mail or something, it's terrible, I hate it, but I can't tear myself away from how appalling constructed and inexplicably popular it is. It's the worst type of thinly-veiled satire, based around a reality that isn't actual real, that I'm not even sure it's satire at all. This show sounds exactly the same.

my sons school did We Will Rock You last year and the script was full of these horrible cringey right on jokes about sexism that sounded like a 15 year-old kid trying to show the girls what a sensitive soul he was so he could pull

ile? is that you?

My mum wanted that Big Brother SATYRE book for her birthday when it came out; I made the mistake of reading it first - it was appalling in every way imaginable.

something something underestimating something something people...

powerdiss from mark steel in that telegraph article:

Ben Elton’s creepiness flows from his overwhelming levels of insincerity; from Saturday Night Live onwards, he has never appeared as if he were saying anything because he felt it, but because he thought he ought to feel it.

I hope AA gives a running commentary of every episode of this.

(taken out from the library, I hate to give him money)

lol y'know there's royalties from library borrowings, right?

I hope AA gives a running commentary of every episode of this.

Appreciate the sentiment, but ppl broken down on the hard shoulder of the M11 got different priorites imo

<slaps thigh, applies for job as Ben Elton's script editor>

Overqualified

I hope AA gives a running commentary of every episode of this.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 03:23 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fortunately i'm sick again today, so i'll be on it as soon as i get back from the doctor's

hopefully my condition will be a long scientific name that abbreviates to 'penis'

what, "paenis" ?

you could tattoo it both ways on the relevant member

acronyms, not abbreviates (am sick, see above)

the very first joke is about conkers

CONKERS

'did you think this bin was bigger on the inside?' <pause for laughter> 'like doctor who's tardis?' <pause for laughter>

just in case, you know, you didn't get the tardis reference in the first line

i think alan partridge wrote this

he's humping a bin! not even three minutes into the episode and he is actually humping a bin

he goes on a rant (about bins? who cares) and his daughter's girlfriend is holding her phone saying 'i am soooo gonna songify this'

i had never even heard of songify until 12 seconds ago

gag about the word 'germane' sounding a bit like the word 'german' (after a string of vagina jokes)

a whole scene about people joining their friends in supermarket queues and barcodes that are tricky to scan (i.e. this is 'grumpy old men go to sainsbury's)

third scene about people playing conkers

in 2013

oh god oh god there's an another whiteboard acronym gag

G-R-E-A-T

B-I-G

C-O-C-K

the audience is going BONKERS

'so clive, speak to me about my great big cock' (delivered without any self-awareness, at all)

wait wait i'm taking a photo of this

http://i.imgur.com/VoqXaFe.jpg

i do not know what to say

'you are really thinking outside your box'
'I BEG YOUR PARDON??'

i mean it's probably meant to be another vagina joke but idk what the phrase 'thinking outside your box' is

15 min mark and he's still trying to remove the bin from the bin liner that was the centrepiece of scene 1

humping the bin again

this is a wonderful service you're doing us.

i would quite like more screenshots, not of anything in particular, just whatever to add some texture to your synopses.

supporting character says 'gerald's humping the bin again', just in case idk you're blind or something

i would quite like more screenshots

i shall do this

http://i.imgur.com/AYogmTk.jpg

here is gerald fucking his bin (the second time)

he has just offered to go to the shops and buy a salami and two onions

HOW WILL THAT JOKE END I WONDER

ah there we go, next scene, salami and onions in cock & balls configuration, mounted on the groin of a plastic mannequin

there was probably a setup line for these mannequins suddenly being in the episode but i can't remember it

nsfw warning because cock/salami gag: http://i.imgur.com/FjMl5gr.jpg

part of the conceit here is that wright does things like write 'GREAT BIG COCK' on a whiteboard, fuck a rubbish bin and carry a cock & balls down a busy high street, with no awareness of what he's doing; and as the viewer you're supposed to suspend disbelief to the point that the gag only works if he has *actual* brain damage

okay, now they're back in the office, trying to manipulate the mannequins into poses

i would put money on there being a mannequin-fucking gag within 15 seconds

whoa that was quick

four people fucking three mannequins all at once

AND THE JAMAICAN WOMAN HAS WALKED IN

YES YES YES YES YES OH MY GOD YES

'mistah WRIGHT! WHAT ya doin'?'

CATCHPHRASE ALERT

this needs pictures, wait

the mannequin fucking (note the orgasm faces)

http://i.imgur.com/JWCPraN.jpg

sprung by the matron jamaican-for-no-reason cleaner (note the orgasm faces)

http://i.imgur.com/nGUxtED.jpg

'you're a FIL-TY man, mistah wright!'

because she's jamaican, see

what is that Mr Wright like!!!

he's FIL-TY

now a whole scene filled with what's supposed to be an australian

you'd think elton would know how australians speak after living in fremantle for ten years

you'd be wrong

wright has just walked in with a salami and onion quiche (not sure why he's hungry after chewing all that scenery tbh)

heimlich manouvre gag *without* an arse-fucking gag

*without*

i can see ben elton arguing with the script editor 'NO! do NOT take out my arse-fucking gag'

I have enjoyed reading this probably more than you've enjoyed watching.

and then elton falls on the script editor's groin and a jamaican cleaner walks in 'mistah ELTON! WHAT ya doin??' xp

I have enjoyed reading this probably more than you've enjoyed watching.

thanks, but this show is so good it made me forget i was sick for almost half an hour

oooh, two minutes left, room for one more bin-humping scene

one minute left

do not let me down

wow, nothing

i cannot find the script editor in the credits, this is not good

only two 'script supervisors'

presuming they were employed to say 'yes ben, that's excellent'

NEXT WEEK'S STORY

There is a toilet roll thief at large at Baselricky Town Hall, distracting Gerald and his Health and Safety team from a vital investigation into the safety of playground swings.

• fucking a toilet*
• fucking a toilet roll*
• having trouble with the toilet's flush mechanism
• putting his foot into the toilet bowl in order to operate the toilet's flush mechanism
• being drenched by the toilet's flush mechanism which never seems to work properly am i right punters
• being unable to open the cubicle door because cubicle locks are always broken am i right punters thatcher's britain
• fucking the toilet door to get it open because the lock is broken/the door got stuck somehow*
• the toilet roll thief hiding the toilet roll down his trousers so it sort of looks like an erection
• fucking a playground swing*
• copping a playground swing in the testicles
• sitting on a playground swing and doing something innocuous that results in an orgasm face*
• fucking the big metal frame that holds the playground swing*
• fucking the playground merry-go-round*
• fucking the playground helter skelter*
• middle england annoyance at someone who has parked illegally at the playground
• a whiteboard acronym gag that spells 'L-I-C-K M-Y A-R-S-E'
• wright's daughter's girlfriend making a friendfeed reference
• annoyance at, i dunno, not knowing whether to press 0 before sending a fax

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2649480/board/nest/213631456?d=213924133&p=1#213924133

I enjoyed it all and am looking forward to tonights episode.

I thought it was funny in a Thin Blue Line way.

I have to say though that the huge tits kept me glued (not literally, yet) to the screen. I couldn't take my eyes off them. WOW !

i find this fascinating.

could you briefly explain his association with THE LEFT?

that lady gaga/beyonce embed above is unbelievable.

could you briefly explain his association with THE LEFT?

back in the day his stand-up routines were all 30% fuck tories and 70% how stupid are hand dryers

10% "farties"

the young ones was perceived to be leftist (and still is) but it spent all its time hanging it on anarchist rick and hippie neil and students in general, and not doing anything that was actually pro-left (apart from the odd 'lol police' scene) xp

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51030ZQ4MHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

fwiw i don't see explicit or even weighted tory love in anything he does these days, just apolitical entitlement grouching and yearning for the old days

xp lol i remember that video

so... he used to be funny? or has he always been like this?

he was funny in the '80s when he was co-writing sitcoms and when he was doing (some of) his cockney ben stand-up

rik mayall at least had the sense to do nearly all his writing with other people

I relistened to some of his stand-up 11-12 years ago and time had not been kind

Young Ones is funny, Blackadder is funny, I loved his first novel Stark when I was 14 but every novel after that was a) identical b) terrible

didn't like Filthy, Rich And Catflap even as a kid, notably a more-or-less solo joint where Blackadder was written with Richard Curtis, and TYO had been written with Mayall and Lise Mayer

i liked catflap at the time, but that was far more to do with mayall's and edmondson's worth as performers and as a duo than the horrible premise or the horrible plots

same with the young ones, i suppose, although there was (a) a fairly rich political zeitgeist at the time (which it was satirising, not taking part in) (b) a hell of a lot of cutaway fun that provided momentum like nothing before it (c) excellent editing and direction

lise mayer has played down her input in interviews but my god did it give this show a distinct flavour

His stand-up observational comedy ... I recall some routine about how everyone wants a double seat on the train and it is about as close to absolute comedy death as it is possible to attain.

ah you mean DOUBLESEATDOUBLESEATGOTTAGETTADOUBLESEAT iirc

it become increasingly more vivid as I continued to type that compound word

Ha ha, I loved that routine when I was like, 11. And travelling on trains was a rare and exotic treat.

OK, thanks to this thread I watched (some of) this last night. Been a while since I saw something that made me feel embarrassed for the actors.

saw the mannequin shagging last night and the scene where little mo's got her australian toyboy round...main question: what the FUCK is that blonde girl meant to be and why does she do a 'street' accent?

Missed the start and it took me a while to work out what exactly was going on but I assume his daughter is a lesbian - it wasn't made explicit but it's exactly what I'd expect from Ben Elton - and that awful blonde woman is her girlfriend? Words cannot describe how awful the latter character is, feel for the poor girl having to play her.

(b) a hell of a lot of cutaway fun

The Young Ones has dated terribly. Any time I see it these days only the Sayle cutaways amuse me and I think Sayle might have written those himself?

This amused me more than anything Ben Elton has written in 20 years:

Sayle has been more funny in previous lives tho obv i am also more sympathetic to the ideological wendy house he's decided to inhabit than i am to Elton's

― Captain Humberbantz (Noodle Vague)

maybe in previous lives, what was his fucking name and i'll look it up

― banlieue jagger (darraghmac)

I assume his daughter is a lesbian - it wasn't made explicit but it's exactly what I'd expect from Ben Elton - and that awful blonde woman is her girlfriend?

― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 19:43 (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, and there was an explicit statement in the very first scene (some 'she can't be a lesbian because she spends too long in the bathroom' type alf garnett delivery)

these days only the Sayle cutaways amuse me and I think Sayle might have written those himself?

― you say potatooles (onimo), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 19:50 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he did iirc (perhaps that's how the show got its leftie badge)

btw i can't wait until elton does an interview ~explaining~ himself

http://i.imgur.com/VoqXaFe.jpg

Of course, there's the sort of thing that makes Ben Elton laugh..

And there's having contempt for your audience.

I am very glad this show exists, just for AA's rolling commentary. Have been giggling like a child at my desk for last ten minutes.

Cosign!

Thirded.

<3

Despite the strong competition, Robert Daws' mayor character might be the worst thing in it. Special contempt should also be kept back for Little Mo Off Eastenders sitting down to watch Crocodile Dundee with the new boyfriend. Because, you know, he's Australian.

The daughter (who is, wait for it, a plumber) and her lesbian partner (posh but lapses into street yoof speak because she is a DJ innit blud an ting) feel like a deliberate backlash against Elton's lefty past but that would be crediting him with too much intelligence.

I can scarcely believe I have watched two episodes of this.

I'm glad you're all watching it for me. I toyed with trying it because, y'know, I hate myself, but you are doing me an amazing service here. Thanks dudes!

Cant remember if stewart lee has vivisected this cunt yet, anyone?

Stewart Lee devoted about ten minutes to his dislike of Ben Elton's later work in his 2005 act, "Stand-Up Comedian," and provides a transcript to this material along with footnotes further specifying his complaints in his 2010 book "How I Escaped My Certain Fate". Lee expresses his disappointment about Elton's abandonment of his early 1980s political ideology in favor of commercial work, and his specific hatred of Elton's work on the musical We Will Rock You. The live set included an extended back-and-forth with the audience in which Lee brings them to the comical conclusion that Elton is less liked than Osama bin Laden.[28]

can't biew at work but this appears to be the chap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ZIdyd3rjg

biew/view

Despite the strong competition, Robert Daws' mayor character might be the worst thing in it.

otm, saying words in a random order is not funny. worst comic relief character i've seen since the 'no-no-no-no-no' guy xxxxp

hm, i decided to give this a watch but some kind of staring-into-the-abyss nausea kicked in within five seconds. i don't know if i could live through an episode!

this is unbelievable. it feels like every 'bit' just extends ever onwards forever and ever for no discernible reason other than to pass time awaiting the heat death of the universe. then it stops. but no, here's another 'bit'.

i'm going to cry.

have you got to the receipt bit yet

NO. i'm having to stop every couple of minutes crush me entirely.

i suppose there was supposed to be something else somewhere in that sentence.

I'm going to end up trying to watch this fucking thing thanks to you lot.

yeah, and there was an explicit statement in the very first scene (some 'she can't be a lesbian because she spends too long in the bathroom' type alf garnett delivery

I believe the words 'like a normal woman' were used there too. Dickheads.

there was probably a setup line for these mannequins suddenly being in the episode but i can't remember it

setup is that although they all know conkers are dangerous nobody in health and safety has ever proved it, so they need to demonstrate that conkers actually do fly into people's eyes and it would obviously be too dangerous to do it for real so they need mannequins for the trial.

oh of course, right, cheers

I don't even want to ask but why would they then stick a fake cock and balls onto the mannequin?

oh i got that bit, see, he was buying the ingredients for a quiche which he was making for his ex-wife's new australian-personal-trainer-boyfriend, and all he needed was one cock i mean salami and two balls i mean onions

because salami and onion quiche is obviously a thing

why couldn't he have used a courgette oh look it doesn't matter now

I'm going to end up trying to watch this fucking thing thanks to you lot.

i thought the same thing but fuck it i want to live

imagine if this was the most successful sitcom of all time because people keep watching it in stunned disbelief

So he accidentally stuck them on a mannequin?

I know sitcoms are fairly contrived in nature but this sounds next level - almost satirical (or is that giving him too much credit?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGzCjxvoJNI

^^^ actually better than the wright way (note the 'tool' feedline that *could* immediately have been a knob gag but wasn't, also no dry humping)

So he accidentally stuck them on a mannequin?

he bought them while he was out to pick up the mannequins (because reasons) and carried them exactly where the mannequin's cock & balls would be (because reasons)

after scene 2 in episode 1, in which he inexplicably headbutts a tap to make it work, rubs soap all over his head for no reason and dries his shirt by humping a hand dryer, no contrivance is a surprise

imagine if this was the most successful sitcom of all time because people keep watching it in stunned disbelief

― we're up all night to get relegated (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 22:22 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

part of me hopes elton has video proof that this was all done to give tv production degrees a whole semester of course material

because this really is the best learning experience an aspiring comedy writer could hope for

ohmigud.

have you got to the receipt bit yet

i was watching episode 2, was this in episode 1? if not it completely passed me by. despite the morbid fascination i think i'll stick to this thread for my wright way kicks from now on. i've seen some things, man. i've seen some things.

yeah, receipt bit was in episode 1. i'll spoil it for you, hope you don't mind: he tries to return a scarf, he's told he needs the receipt, so he goes home, takes it off the fridge (where there are like 600 receipts (warning: consequence ahead)), puts it in his jacket pocket (while announcing loudly that he has done so (warning: consequence ahead)), swaps jackets, turns up at the shop without a receipt so he can't return the scarf again, then later on some shit happens with it being the wrong receipt he took off the fridge and he gets slapped coz it was for dirty knickers

actually on second thoughts don't read what i just said

all you need to know is this

http://www.51allout.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Kenneth-Williams.jpg

i'm amazed that you can hold yourself together well enough to give this running commentary.

Ben Elton writes for the people and those stuck-up Bloomsbury liberal critics just don't get it

Imagine how fucked up it would be if When The Whistle Blows was what convinced him and/or the BBC that this could play on BBC1 in 2013, like they forgot Extras wasn't real.

lol yes, he saw andy wilman's name on the top gear credits and went 'THAT GUY HE'S AMAZING WHAT'S THAT SITCOM HE DID'

^^^ actually better than the wright way (note the 'tool' feedline that *could* immediately have been a knob gag but wasn't, also no dry humping)

I was thinking of When the Whistle Blows when I was reading your summary of the show, because it seems almost like it has to be a joke even though I know it isn't.

I'm going to see if this is on youtube because I almost can't believe it.

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2013/05/how-did-ben-eltons-wright-way-get-it-so-wrong

this isn't a particularly startling read but i think it's important that we all stick together in these dark times. also "so bad it's simply exhausting" is a nice summary.

hmmm...

Men Behaving Badly had to lose its star and move to a different broadcaster before audiences embraced it

So I've been told, Neil Morrissey was meant to be the 2nd guy, but they could not get the commission without a big name, so Harry Enfield volunteered..

i made it to 1 min 53 seconds. it's not ironic.

Ben Elton "You can be sure that all the laughter you hear in the show is real and was recorded live on the night! .... (on the H+S theme) I chose this situation because it offers endless opportunity for logical absurdity and big physical comedy while also allowing for a bit of social satire on a subject which looms large in everyone's lives."

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_wright_way/interview/ben_elton/

"...allowing for a bit of social satire on a subject which looms large in everyone's lives."

Conkers or knob jokes?

conker ban ruined my autumn, thank u ben 4 showing me i'm not alone.

Wiki entry gives genre as Meta-Tragedy

Character is even more important than situation in comedy and Gerald certainly is a character. If I'm honest, there's a bit of me in the character (at least my wife says there is). I've certainly been known to sneak in after she's loaded the dishwasher and secretly re-load it to my own satisfaction!

bet she laughs like a drain when you fuck the rubbish bin

I certainly do keep refining the script throughout rehearsal. Having said that, the changes tend to be quite small and specific because I'm pretty clear about what I have in mind when I'm writing, which is why I take such care over casting. There's no doubt that once the actors start to make the characters their own it's a real inspiration towards further comedy but they don't come up with lines, it's not a cooperative!

i can't stop thinking about this. it's taken over.

guy sounds like he's lying through his teeth here, can almost smell him squirming:

You've worked with Adrian Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders in the past... now you're working with their daughter, Beattie. She plays Victoria...

Well clearly Beattie got her job 100 per cent on merit: I auditioned her three times and she was up against a number of wonderful, talented funny young women all of whom I would love to work with another day. If I was conscious of Beattie's comic heritage at all it was only to be even more rigorous in my decision to cast her. Of course Adrian and Jennifer have been two of my dearest friends for more than 30 years so once I was absolutely sure that Beattie was right for the role it was lovely to share in their delight at seeing her begin to fulfil her ambitions. They came up to Salford to see one of the recordings and it was a very special night.

love 'it's not a cooperative!' as if people working together for the greater good is a loathsome ridiculous concept

'how dare anyone influence my vision' is the attitude that i presume led to the phantom menace

the whole 'ben elton' thing is endlessly fascinating. so shamelessly corrupt and unprincipled, almost proud that he's rejected every ideal he once held (and built his career on). if someone wrote him he'd be dismissed as too cartoonlike

still chomping at the bit to hear what he has to say about thatcher's death, though his silence so far says volumes

do hope someone at the bbc leaks the details of this abomination being commissioned, what tricks pulled to sidestep the whole pesky 'merit' obstacle

oh god yes

hoping for a tell-all exposé in 2015

bet she laughs like a drain when you fuck the rubbish bin

― mistah WRIGHT! WHAT you doin'? (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 21:40 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I wish the interviewer had actually said that to BE....

if someone wrote him he'd be dismissed as too cartoonlike

He could write it himself! His rise to fame and conversion to the fucknut we now see before us is exactly the kind of lame plot that'd drive one of his books.

Elton wrote The Wright Way 30 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=L_3UnARrfWU

So, what you reckon, contractual obligation maybe?

Why would the BBC have a contractual obligation to Ben Elton?

Elton wrote The Wright Way 30 years ago

holy shit, so he did! incredible

BBC: "OK, Elton, we've been paying your contract for ages, but you've produced not for five years or s, faffin' with yr musical and books and that. So, make with the comedy TV show NOW!"

Elton: "Um, will a sitcom be alright?"

BBC: ".. mm, yeah, that should be OK, yeah"

I mean, that just makes you sound like Charles Moore to Elton's Thatcher.

i can't stop thinking about this. it's taken over.

― ohmigud (Merdeyeux), Thursday, 2 May 2013 08:13 (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

exactly this

xpost well, if you see Ben Elton being driven away from 'broadcasting house', sobbing, ....

This sitcom is unpopular but only in "less important parts of the country"

whaaat

Sorry, I don't know why anyone else would pick up on a Charles Moore reference

Just saw the last five minutes of this. i spent most of those five minutes arguing with my gf that this was a brand new sitcom not an old one (cant blame her for thinking that). what i saw was odd and just didnt make any sense. there was a group of people waiting at a queue but they seemed to be in the middle of the supermarket, some other girl kept going on about licking something "off her bazungas". this may be on some ed wood outsider comedy sheeeit.

the supermarket scene was a reprise of an earlier supermarket scene that was all about the sorts of things that daily mail readers find annoying in supermarkets

Did elton ever have ideals? Or just a bandwagon that suited? Easy to get laughs saying unfunny shit about thatcher, as long as it was anti. Never bought him as principled.

that wd be his version of events, i'm inclined to believe it up to a point

http://www.bigissue.com/features/interviews/2291/ben-brian-and-bleedin-cockney-sparrow

Is it as funny as Blackadder?
Oh God, well Blackadder is legendary. But there were many times on set I had belly laughs really bad.

How much research did you do for the role?
My boyfriend used to be a plumber years ago, when he was 16, but I don’t know much about plumbing. And I’m not a lesbian but I’ve seen some on telly.

marvellous

She's going out with BRIAN HARVEY?! I'd watch a sitcom about *that*

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Ben Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Ben Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Ben Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Ben Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Ben Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Ben Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

If there's a plot in a later episode about the health and safety dangers of cars on driveways and the possibility of running yourself over I will forgive Elton for the rest of the series.

Wow. stet, that might be an iPad bug.

are you planning to submit that as a script?

right, let's see about this, tonight.

Joanne Matthews ‏@Joanne_Matthews 2m
Makes me laugh!! These pussy holes that tweet me don't realise I'm from Walthamstow & I'll ruin u. In a fuckin heartbeat. Fuck off.

Whole feed is a bit of a car crash :(

I'm kinda looking forward to watching the latest episode. What have I become.

Ok, I'm going in...

Gerald has come down the stairs, having just washed his face and hands in the bathroom and found there are no towels. He goes to the kitchen complaining about it where...

The lesbian couple are both dressed solely in towels. The daughter is wearing three. Cue hilarity.

The dj one has used the last of the toilet roll and both Gerald and the daughter tell her how morally repugnant she is for not replacing it. Gerald says disaster was averted because he spotted it before his shit had gone too far out and he was able to pull it back in and get another roll. Hilarity ensues.

Gerald says he will just have to have his morning shit at work instead, which he hates. I think we can see where this is going ( and I bet it ends with MISTAH WRIGHT!).

I won't ask how he managed to spot that the toilet roll was gone but not that the towels were missing, or why he washes his face after taking a dump.

oh no i have to avoid this thread until i get home

The gay one is in the toilet. (In a callback to episode 1 he is able to wash his hands without difficulty.)

Gerald cannot take a shit while he is in the toilets. There is extended dialogue about "going" which is misunderstood and leads to Gerald nearly touching cloth before he gets in. The other one turns up wanting his morning dump and therefore Gerald still cannot go, so he sets off the fire alarm so he can take a shit in peace while everyone is out at it. But OH NO there is no toilet roll. Hilarity ensues.

The mayor offers Malaka some toilet roll to blow her nose when they are outside at he fire drill. DO YOU SEE?

'everyone is wearing the towels' is a bit funny.

Maybe it's funnier when reading it.

Gerald enlists the help of the toilet cleaner to spy on the cubicle to see who is stealing the paper. She threatens to anally rape the culprit. Hilarity ensues.

Gerald now has a toilet and paper but the cleaner is cleaning it despite knowing he is in the cubicle. Hilarity ensues.

I sense the acronym joke coming.

The gay one thinks the blind councillor's guide dog might have been the Andrex puppy when it was young and is stealing the toilet rolls. This gets the biggest laugh so far. Malaka says "I hate dogs." This also gets a laugh.

Whiteboard out, here comes the acronym...

This epsiode is disturbingly anally fixated by the sounds of it

Oh god, Gerald is flagging it himself...

TOTAL TOSS POT

wondering if they're going to have an Andrex Replenishment Supply Exercise

bah xpost

To stop the thief, Gerald is going to install a secure dispenser he tells the girls. They start to talk about the round metal dispensers in pub toilets and how you can't find the end and have to reach inside it. They then start miming fingering each other (because they're lesbians) and make up a song about it. Hilarity ensues.

Thought about watching this last night then thought better of it, I'd rather read this thread

Gerald joins in with "stick your hand in and feel about a bit."

KLAXONS

Gerald has been for a shit at work and is about to wash his hands. He has nowhere to put the toilet roll he has brought from home as the counter is wet because of the faulty tap and it won't fit in his pocket, so he stuffs it down the front of his trousers. IT LOOKS A BIT LIKE HE HAS AN ERECTION.

oh no i have to avoid this thread until i get home

There then follows a rubbish copy of that Likely Lads episode which is still funnier than the actual Wright Way involved.

The mayor comes in just as Gerald is boasting about getting the hang of the taps and how exciting it is. The mayor thinks this has given him an erection. Hilarity ensues.

The mayor talks about the toilet roll thief and then notices there is no toilet roll in the cubicle that he's going for a shit in (makes you wonder how any of them ever get any work done if they're always going for a shit, or how Gerald manages to do so so may times since at the outset he said he hated it and he was only inconvenienced that once). He puts two and two together and asks Gerald if the bulge is a toilet roll. When it's confirmed he tries to remove the roll shouting " TO ME GIVE IT!" because of that weird sentence construction thing he does.

You guessed it. MISTAH WRIGHT! MISTAH MAYOR! WHAT YOU DOIN'! Because it looks like they're indulging in a bit of mutual masturbation. Do you see? Hilarity ensues.

She then says she now suspects Gerald and threatens him with anal rape. Hilarity ensues.

Is it possible that this show is what Elton imagines Curb Your Enthusiasm to be like?

The gay one and the other one are on the swing which is the very minor health and safety plot this week as that is the projected weight of an 11 year old in 2020. The chains are holding. "But what if they're playing 'sitty-kissy-on-the-swing'?" (No, me neither.)

Gerald simulates this by standing on the swing and rubbing his cock in the gay one's face. The other one tries to insist he sucks Gerald off. Hilarity ensues.

Is it possible that this show is what Elton imagines Curb Your Enthusiasm to be like?

Curb Your Enthusiasm meets On the Buses - both of which are miles better than this of course

The gay one gets hit in the face by a swing and because he isn't wearing a bucket on his head he gets a nosebleed. Gerald uses his toilet roll to stem the flow (with Malaka and the other one assuming he's he thief in the process) but it isn't enough and Gerald goes to the toilet to steal the roll in there to help.

He is caught by the mayor on the way back and the mutual masturbation MISTAH WRIGHT joke is repeated, with more hilarity ensuing.

The gay one and the other one do the toilet roll fingering thing. The other one got his arm stuck once.

It turns out the mayor was taking the rolls home and then selling them down the pub. He then asks if anybody has any spare receipts so he can fiddle his expenses. DO YOU SEE?

Gerald is not going for a shit at home. He's saving it for work as the new dispensers are being installed. To date, he has been the only person who insists it's easy to find the end of the roll. UH OH. I think I can see where this is going.

How long did this episode last, two hours?

Malaka finally gets the scarf from episode 1 and wants to take Gerald out for a thank you shag but he needs the shit he's been saving up all day.

BOOM

He can't find the end of the roll. She gets bored waiting and leaves. He gets his hand stuck in the dispenser and pulls it off the wall. He goes out into the toilet where he meets the cleaner. MISTAH WRIGHT! "I can explain, but in the meantime could you oblige me with a tug?" Hilarity ensues. Because he means the dispenser but he could mean penis.

That was a long 30 minutes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/may/05/another-view-wright-way

I was trying to find what the next episode was and instead found this, which I don't know whether to put here or in the "is the guardian getting worse" thread.

there is seriously a character called Malaka in this or is that editorial commentary?

There is

I GOT A TOILET ROLL ERECTION I GOT A TOILET ROLL ERECTION

On the back of that I predict a forthcoming episode will revolve around a delegation from a twinned town in Greece visiting the gang.

xpost

fucking a toilet roll* TICK, TWICE, PLUS 'MISTAH WRIGHT WHAT YA DOIN' **TWICE**
the toilet roll thief hiding the toilet roll down his trousers so it sort of looks like an erection TICK
fucking a playground swing* TICK
a whiteboard acronym gag that spells 'L-I-C-K M-Y A-R-S-E' close enough

Gerald has come down the stairs, having just washed his face and hands in the bathroom and found there are no towels. He goes to the kitchen complaining about it where...

The lesbian couple are both dressed solely in towels. The daughter is wearing three. Cue hilarity.

― Troughton-masked Replicant (aldo), Wednesday, 8 May 2013 20:22 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

more proof that elton has no idea how to write (a) for women (b) about women

or why he washes his face after taking a dump.

this is all time imo (and i was hoping he had fallen in or had a middle-england flush accident or pissed on his own face but no)

Gerald simulates this by standing on the swing and rubbing his cock in the gay one's face. The other one tries to insist he sucks Gerald off.

is that why they were creepily sucking the backs of their own hands? i had just assumed elton's mental prolapse was complete by that point

He is caught by the mayor on the way back and the mutual masturbation MISTAH WRIGHT joke is repeated, with more hilarity ensuing.

i still cannot believe they did the same bog-roll-fucking gag twice AND the same sassy jamaican catchphrase in response twice

I still can't believe this show is real.

trying to work out whether haig is terrible because (a) he's trying his hardest to rescue the script (b) elton gave him stage directions and he's following them (c) he actually doesn't know how to do any other type of acting (d) he's just taking the piss and is about to sack his agent

there was a moment when he was stood there in the toilet, bog roll down his trousers, addressing the mayor with a straight face, and i had to check that there was nothing untoward in my tea

because there is no contrivance—even in the broader realm of sid james, wolfe/chesney or lloyd/croft—that could explain why he would choose to shove an entire roll of toilet paper down the front of his trousers

and yet it happened

and yet we saw it coming a whole week early

this is the best show i have ever seen

now i'm hoping i get to work with someone whose last name is wright

and catch them porking a fax machine

Or faxing a pork machine

assuming 'pork machine' is basically ben elton's script, and that he tried faxing it to the controller of bbc1

with his cock.

'MISTER WRITER WHAT YA DOIN'

I asked on ASayle's website for his considered opinion, he said he'd have to consider it..

I guess I'm 'hoping' that the last episode is some sort of Prisoneresque break-out of the 4th wall to implicate the audience and the commissioning agents and so on...

('hoping' as in I don't care that much about BElton really, still have not actually seen one)

Oh I'm fairly certain that the last episode will involve him snapping in some way (murderous "this'll take your eye out" rampage, walking into the sea), but I think Elton thinks this will be 1000x as mindblowingly transgressive as it will in fact be.

nonsense, he'll fuck a filing cabinet and get sprung by mrs johnson

your faith is inspiring though

Oh, it'll be the "Blackadder" card, won't it? Somebody will die, or nearly die, and all that "H&S" nonsense will all have been for nothing/something, depending on what.

The sheer artlessness of some of the jokes (the elaborate setup of the 'fucking the mannequins' joke which is delivered as "get between the legs and start thrusting away", or any of the acronym jokes) has partially convinced me that Elton thinks he's on some next-level shit here, though that may just be my inspiring faith.

Less elaborate than elaborated, I suppose.

The sheer artlessness of some of the jokes

otm, it really is exactly as if elton thinks the fact of fucking a mannequin is enough to be funny ('who cares how they got there? it's a mannequin orgy!!')

part of the humour of such a scene (not in this show but normally) is in the relatable absurdity of the build-up, not a string of rubbish that just wouldn't ever happen

Hence something like One Foot In The Grave is on another planet compared to this

okay I'M GOING IN.

I wonder how long Gerald would last in the real world before getting sectioned.

I'm thinking about 90 seconds.

go and 'go', classic semantic mixup, so true so true (assuming serious brain injuries).

it's funny because she's underestimating the time she should be putting the ice cream in the microfisdjfnjghlgj;hklb'
45774

I can't keep up with what Mayor Mister's saying, I guess he's suffered even more serious brain injuries since last time.

comment about thieving politicians, Elton's still got it.

heehee he's going to tell them how his shit went because um

http://i41.tinypic.com/35hh16s.jpg

Mistah Wright!

I'm having trouble explaining to people why I find this so compelling. There's something surreal about how, despite being built on the hoariest of old comedy tropes, it fails to operate those tropes within any kind of reasonable comedy logic whatsoever, which I guess is unusual even for normal bad sitcoms. That and how interminably it goes about it all.

yeah, it's actually like elton has never written a sitcom

another problem with this is that the cast is obviously not even enjoying making the show (we accidentally caught a minute of mrs brown's boys last night; the actors appeared to be having loads of fun with it)

Concealed Sharp Objects. Series 1, episode 4

Gerald clashes with the Mayor in his fervour to author his own iconic hazard warning. Sue is threatened with industrial action and Victoria's DJ career stalls.

i.e. it's going to end up down his trousers and it's going to protrude like a penis

Surely thread shd be retitled Ben Elton- where did it all go WRIGHT?

i've circumvented my murdoch block for that article, and it was worth it

Many of the critics who have attacked the new show for its antiquated slapstick and double-entendres are the ones most bewildered by the runaway success of Miranda – a comedy so old-fashioned, it should be shown in black-and-white. The same bunch duffed over the BBC’s Mrs Brown’s Boys – “a crass, depressing, lazy shriek of badly written garbage,” fumed one – which quickly became one of the biggest comedy hits on the air.

IT ACTUALLY SAYS THAT
― we're up all night to eat biscuits (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, April 30, 2013 2:36 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

God, I thought I only got Mrs Brown's Boys on my tv cos it was the Northern Irish versionof the channel. Didn't realise that was being broadcast more widely. Haven't watched it cos it looks like dated parochial shite.

we get it in aus (and it won its timeslot last night)

Did five sold-out nights at the O2 arena in London.

I think I read something recently which suggests it's the most popular BBC comedy of all time. Viewing figures + iPlayer numbers + some other shit I can't remember make it more watched than the most successful Morecambe & Wise Christmas special.

Mrs Brown's Boys is a very odd case, as it's basically Bread dragged back home - on the one hand it has a shrieking sissy as one of the the boys, on the other the episode I saw involved Mrs Brown supporting his boyfriend when their relationship was rocky because he really loved her boy (there is a lot of HEART in the series for sure). On the other hand, her boy really really is just a shrieking sissy.

The cast are as above having fun, and the lead character is admirably crass (NB I am not sure how much of my fondness is just straight-up ex-pat) and it has some decent fourth wall jokes (Dodgy son comes in with stolen phone "Son, why is there black bars over the logo?" "BBC broadcasting regulations, Ma" "But surely anyone can tell it's an iPhone 4GS"). I'm pretty conflicted but even so it's 100x better than The Wright Way.

MBB's: We watched one, it was v.funny. 2nd one, the same. 3rd one, OK, we get it now.

Diminishing returns. I got the live show version on DVD as a xmas present, we lasted 20 mins before getting v.bored. Basically, old woman (pretendy) say 'fuck' a lot.

Yes, the cast clearly enjoy making the shows, and it's mostly to do with improvisations...

No More plz..

I'm not a great fan of Mrs Brown's Boys, but it's very good at what it does. I still can't bring myself to watch this Ben Elton thing.

i can't understand why they are "drinking" out of completely empty mugs. can someone explain this? with anything else i'd chalk it up to it being a meta-joke about health and safety on-set but i can't credit this woeful thing with that much nous.

production standards were simpler in 1973

with anything else i'd chalk it up to it being a meta-joke about health and safety on-set but i can't credit this woeful thing with that much nous.

during my close textual reading of the latest episode I noticed that the spikes on the fencing around their house were rounded at the top. Has Elton or anyone else actually put some effort into this? It's hard to believe.

I watched Mrs Brown's Boys with my family when I was home for Christmas and they were laughing uproariously throughout, they're basically old fashioned people who like an old fashioned laugh and it's easy to tell how MBB hits that vein of humour well. What The Wright Way's trying to hit, and who its demographic is supposed to be, I have no idea.

Well, I like a "old fashioned laff" ...

There were a couple of series recently, "Great Night Out", which actually managed to stay pretty good, the last episode particularly without being overwhelmingly best, and some other thing with Alson Steadman in which was "OK-shrug" territory..

The former managed to avoid the "you know what's going to happen next and HERE IT COMES!! " laff, which a lot of people like, and I don't. Even managed to avoid over-telegraphing the avoidance and back-patting about it..

That 'Job lot' started ep 1 with a 'and that's just the teachers!' type joke which it seems is the actual law these days - schlubby/immature guy in school/job centre turns out to be the teacher/staff.

C.f. Bad Education, pissed surgeon sketch on that Kevin Eldon show

old woman (pretendy) say 'fuck' a lot.

Yeah, too vulgar for me

Or crude, if you prefer

OMG LEAKED SCRIPT

SCENE 4. INT. DAY. THE WRIGHTS' LIVING ROOM

Gerald's daughter and her girlfriend are doing the kind of thing that young people do. Texting on the Facebooks I shouldn't wonder!

CAMP MAN: Ooh, can i have some of that?

GERALD: You do know I'm cooking sausages, right?

CAMP MAN: Yes... of course I do. I'm fat as well.

amazeballs

i found the latest episode on youtube. this is amazing. the over the top laugh track on every line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sMuRU6nNY

if one learns the most from other people's mistakes, this show is a whole semester of screen writing

you could seriously have an elective called 'MSW2031 The Wrong Way' with each lecture dissecting each episode, followed by students' attempts to write a better sitcom script

[girl does american accent, fake jamaican patois]
[wild laughter]

"they've got one at the frog and ferret and even if you do find the end you can't tease it round cause the roll's too heavy. you end up tearing off a little thumbsized bit, which just isn't adequate is it?"
"unless you're kylie minogue."
[wild laughter]

i don't get that one, though

this thread is so amazing I think I sullied it slightly by actually watching 40 seconds (all I could stand) of the show in question via that youtube

I hope to erase all 40 seconds from my memory so this thread can be as amazing again next week

apparently there was no cleaner this week

Well, I finally watched about 15 mins of the bogroll one, the 'girls take towels, why?' one..

It's middling funny, but it's the acting. Is it 'stagey', or is it 'Ben told us to project it like this', I can't decide..

There is a certain amount of "Jennifer/Dawn have made a success of this sort of thing" at play, the massive difference is that they like their comic creations, and Ben has no empathy for his.

There you go, one nutshell..

IT'S ON

The mayor is addressing the H&S staff and introduces his new PA who is the girl Gerald fought with in the shop in episode 1 and the supermarket in episode 2. The Mayor says he deserves a PA because he is an IVP. He's got that speech thing, remember? Cue laugh track.

It's middling funny

Crazy talk

Malaka says she hasn't met the PA, who then reveals Gerald is the "queue nutter". Cue laugh track.

Malaka tries to do her "cha cha cha" thing with the mayor who does not respond. I think we have this week's plot.

Malaka demonstrates how to walk safely down a pavement. The gay one then goes to demonstrate but only after not one, but two allusions to him having an erection. Cue laugh track (both times, even though they're in sequential lines).

The mayor's speech pattern and posh girl patois are just the most mystifying elements of the whole thing.

This week's was the first I've seen and essentially replaced the mini Mars bar of Elton's standup circa '87 with a Maglite torch.

OH IT IS A TORCH.

He minces up the fake pavement (or office floor, as normal people might call it) and collapses theatrically onto a mattress. Gerald explains what has happened to the mayor.

WITH AN ACRONYM

WHICH IS ARSE HOLE

"So what you're looking at here is an arsehole."

"Let us analyse the contents of my arsehole."

That line might have broken the laugh track.

Gerald says he fell because of untied shoelaces and wants a H&S warning in shops that shoelaces are fatal. Cue laugh track.

He wants an awareness campaign about untied shoelaces. He calls it "Get Knotted." Cue laugh track. It has a slogan. It is "why don't you all get knotted." Laugh track, the one with the woman that hoots.

PA girl says nutters again. Cue laugh track.

Malaka does "cha cha cha" again to a more obvious ignoring. She still might not have got it.

The lesbians are being taught to dance by Little Mo, as they have somehow managed to enter the big dance competition at Gerald's work. They are beyond awful, basically just holding their arms in a hoop and wiggling them a bit. Little Mo says they are great. Cue laugh track.

They reminisce about how they met, since with it being a whole 12 months they think they should probably get married. They plumber one had a ballcock in her hand at the time "which is sort of ironic really". Cue laugh track, the one with the screeching woman that I'm now assuming is Alanis Morrissette.

damn it, i'm still 15 mins away from being able to watch this thing

We're reminded that the dance competition is in two weeks (that'll be episode 6 then), that the plumber is being sued (next week?) and that the dj is still shit and some mean girls from school are trolling her on Facebook or something.

As a result of the tribunal and lack of dj work money is tight and so they will have to adopt a budget. The dj one thinks this means budgie. The joke is flogged to death. Even the laugh track has given up.

I'm still a frontal lobotomy away from being able to watch this thing

The gay one wants to learn to dance well for the competition so Gerald will teach him. Wanking joke. Laugh track.

The dj one is trying to explain how economics doesn't actually exist. The plumber one tries to explain it to her. The jokes in this section are the way the dj one says ohmigod and that quantitative easing sounds like a haemorrhoid cream. Thankfully Gerald comes in and saves us from having to listen to any more of it.

A third of the way in and no toilets, no humping, no taking a shit and no visible erection substitutes. A disappointing showing so far.

Gerald says "beavering away". The dj one thinks this has to do with lesbianing. Ben's joke is possibly too subtle for the "audience" as not much laughing.

Caught the end of this (ooer, you can use that one if you like, Ben) last night, the blonde lesbian character is perhaps the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen on television, the girl that plays her must feel hollowed out, I would put her on suicide watch.

It's middling funny

Crazy talk

― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:55 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I officially recognised some lines I had heard on stand-up comedians' routines. And some 'funny voices'.. The bit where they were in the loo and the guy cant go unless the other guy goes was the sort of juxtaposition of the same word meaning two different things, to destruction, that Abbot and Costello might have done SEVENTY YEARS AGO!

I do not have it in me to sit and watch a whole one.

Gerald refers to how the plumber has "trouble with her plumbing business" i.e. the tribunal. The dj one thinks this means she has cystitis and/or thrush. You didn't expect Ben to actually know or care about women's sexual health enough to think about it, did you?

Ben used to have a routine about getting a double seat.

He could use it here, and then the Lord Mayor could misunderstand him and think he really wants two bums.

Gerald will have to have a prostate exam because of his age. According to the dj one, that is a gay man's wet dream. Because they like putting things up their arses. And then getting wanked off. In club toilets. Laugh track.

Gerald and the gay one are practicing dancing. This involves thrusting their groins at each other. The gay one thinks this has given Gerald an erection but IT IS HIS TORCH. Laugh track, with a curious disappointed sound.

Malaka is in her dancing costume for rehearsal with the mayor. OH NOES PLOT REVEAL. The PA turns out to be Cha Cha Cheryl, the champion ballroom dancer of London six years in a row. This is inexplicably funny to the guy operating the laugh machine. Yes, even compared to what's gone before.

The lesbians are dancing again. I say dancing, it looks more like they're trying to stop each other from getting into a fight. LEAVE IT TERRY, HE'S NOT WORTH IT! Needless to say they and Little Mo think they're great.

Gerald is having a pot of tea with Malaka after work. It turns out the pair of them are baffled by teapots. They berate a young girl about the spill until she cries to much hilarity. This gives them the horn and so they decide to dance together in the competition. OH LOOK A TORCH ERECTION JOKE.

Gerald checks his shirt with a metal detector so he doesn't get a septic nipple again. It doesn't work and he gets stabbed with a pin. This affords him the opportunity to get the needless label he wants on something which is supposed to be the main plot this week so he will ask the mayor to support hidden pin warnings. Laugh track, like a weeping sore.

The mayor doesn't go for it.

Gerald has retrieved his shirt from the dry cleaners (where it went to have the blood removed from being stabbed in the nipple with a pin) and finds another pin. Since he doesn't have his sharps bin with him (which suggests his office is less well equipped than his house) he has nowhere to put it. Malaka puts it in some blutack so they can practice dancing.

That might just be a giant arrow flashing that this is a setup for someone being stabbed with it, probably in the arse but I'm not ruling out cock.

Lesbians dancing again. Still crap at it. This is all about Gerald and Little Mo getting back together, isn't it? Which does make you wonder how they got divorced - either Kyle was named in the procedings or it's been over two years since they split up, neither of which seems likely. But let's not think about that, let's laugh at Little Mo videoing Kyle wanking off! Hooray!

I <3 aldo and autumn almanac so much for this thread. I still haven't watched this thing. I just can't. It would ruin the magic.

the blonde lesbian character is perhaps the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen on television, the girl that plays her must feel hollowed out, I would put her on suicide watch.

She's Jennifer Saunders / Adrian Edmondson's daughter. Good to see Ben willing to do a "favour" for friends.

Yeah, I found that from this thread and I've been around enough actors to know that they are weird but, if it was me, I would need several years of therapy to recover from the experience

Malaka dumps Gerald for the competition because he wants to get back with Little Mo, and then stabs the mayor in the nipple with a pin. The gay one makes a joke about little pricks, which the other one explains to us.

The lesbians have suddenly got good at dancing. Gerald catches them and they explain about the competition. The plumber agrees to dance at the competition with Gerald.

Malaka turns up at the house with a shirt bearing the new warning and they have a celebratory hug. She can feel Gerald's torch. WAIT NO HE TOLD US HE LOST IT EARLIER SO HE HAS A STIFFY. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

In this last sequence the dj one has given her most cringeworthy performance of the whole series. Inexplicably bad, even for this.

And that's it for this episode. Too much plot, not enough MISTAH WRIGHT. No visible erections, no humping of inanimate objects. Bah.

gtf w/ this no mistah wright stuff, did the first season of the simpsons have episodes without bart hijinks? did it fuck.

'oh my sainted blimey' is my new default exclamation

malaka's just one of those women who wants to shag every man she meets, nbd

I <3 aldo and autumn almanac so much for this thread. I still haven't watched this thing. I just can't. It would ruin the magic.

QFT

it's funnier than Veep.

the show or the thread?

both!

Ah, I got an email from BBC Ticketing, which seems to offer context:

Births, Deaths and Marriages

Births, Deaths and Marriages returns to BBC Radio 4 for a second series of Local Authority Register Office situation comedy, where the staff deal with the three greatest events in anybody's life.

Written by and starring David Schneider (The Day Today, I'm Alan Partridge), it features chief registrar Malcolm Fox who is a stickler for rules and would be willing to interrupt any wedding service if the width of the bride infringes health and safety. He's unmarried but why does he need to be? He's married thousands of women.

Alongside him are rival and divorcee Lorna who has been parachuted in from Car Parks to drag the office (and Malcolm) into the 21st century. To her, marriage isn't just about love and romance, it's got to be about making a profit in our new age of austerity.

There's also the ever spiky Mary, geeky Luke who's worried he'll end up like Malcolm one day while ditzy Anita may get her words and names mixed up occasionally but as the only parent in the office, she's a mother to them all.

Dates:
Tuesday 4 June
Tuesday 18 June
Tuesday 25 June

Venue: RADA Studios, London
Doors open: 7.15pm

OH MY GOD I FORGOT ABOUT THIS

The fact that you knew about it at all is a minor miracle.

He's unmarried but why does he need to be?

What is this even saying?
Was this as horrendous as it sounds?

digiguide says

Gerald and his team decide that kerbs are dangerous trip hazards, while Sue sees another side of her mum's new boyfriend.

all right i'm going in

scene 1 is about blockages that block blockages that are dangerous blocks (basically some sort of circular that councils never do)

ooh, a subplot about misleading okcupid avatars! that can only be worthwhile

WHITEBOARD

so far he's done U-T-E-R and i'm pausing it to guess ~right now~ that it will end with -U-S

because uterus

UTTER
KRAP

(i can't spell)

'so clive, talk utter crap to me'

fifth time that post-whiteboard-gag deadpan delivery has been done? sixth? i have properly lost count, it could be 12 by now

wright: 'please! we do not bicker in our security laminates!'

this only works as anything at all ever if you assume that

1. you know what security laminates are (i'm guessing it's their rfid cards in little plastic sleeves tied to lanyards wrapped around their necks)
2. they're austere in any environment
3. someone in an office regards them as austere without any actual reason to do so (or even any tangible precedent set by the character himself)
4. there's a joke in that line (there is not a joke in that line)

they're arguing about whether 1 is higher on a scale of importance than 4, and it's going on and on, and the audience is laughing (like zombies)

(they're all just 'oh look it's a day out and white city is a bit dull in late winter and the westfield is too far to walk so let's make the most of this thing')

i do wonder whether this show would be any less utterly awful if haig weren't delivering every single line like a stroke victim

it's frankly depressing watching little mo being forced to completely nullify her parents' 32 years of pioneering comedy

'i-i-i-i-i am ga-a-a-a-a-agging fo-o-o-o-o-or a ho-o-o-o-o-o-orlicks'

PROSTATE TEST LETTER

FAR OUT WHERE IS MRS JOHNSON

if someone doesn't get a finger up the OH GOD HE JUST SAID 'FINGER UP THE SPHINCTER' WHILE I WAS TYPING THAT

a line about teens saying 'omigod' into mobile phones while walking down the high street

and the audience clapped

clapped

'that's what phones are for! not to tweet or TWAT!'

joke (c) 2008 but carry on ben

they clapped that btw

oh god i think they're setting up an i-love-lucy-era phone cord gag

in 2013

little mo took a photo of her 'fanois' and sent it to someone

and they're doing facebook poke jokes

in 2013

'i have a viral fanois' (she has said 'fanois' like six times)

that woman from the office who hits on all men everywhere ever is looking for a partner for the ball

women eh

oh btw there's a running ~gag~ about pressing phone buttons to navigate a phone menu

WE HAVE PHONE CORD GAG

he's knocking over vases and fruit

it's wrapped around him

and now three people are tangled in the same phone cord

in

2013

little mo's fanois has its own facebook fan page

fan

do you see

they're STILL milking the 'utter krap' gag

it wasn't funny the first time and it's not funny the fifth (?) time but fuck it we've run out of jokes

do you mean fanny or do i not know what a fanois is?

the set piece of this episode appears to be this dance rehearsal scene in gerald's living room

xp they mean fanny but they're saying 'fanois' because censors? funny? i really don't know at this point

funois

Ben Elton is an enormous fanois

haha yes

now they're having to do a safety warning, and they have to do it in several languages, so obv the sign is ridiculously large to accommodate all the horrid bloody foreigners

gerald has spent at least half this episode whining about phone menus and being on hold

oh btw little mo's viral fanois got 100,000 facebook fans and lost her her dj job (something about 'dj vajayjay' that i cbf trying to understand the thinking behind)

i don't know how this happened exactly but gerald's telling a live radio station about his rectal probe (because he thinks it's idk a doctor's office) and his daughter and little mo are listening to it

and he's done his 'don't get me started' catchphrase down the phone, and that's the end

no things that look like cocks down trousers, no humping ironing boards, no mrs johnson

i'd like to think Ben intended to have Mrs Johnson in every ep and then decided late on that this would be a bit hackneyed

they're arguing about whether 1 is higher on a scale of importance than 4, and it's going on and on, and the audience is laughing (like zombies)

they had that long long loooooong (longlonglong) bit about what's best on a 1-10 scale in one of the first episodes too. Shocked that they're repeating themselves. :(

I haven't seen the latest two episodes! I have much to look forward to.

Also AA you're confusing me here, when you said Little Mo I assumed you were talking about the mum i.e. Little Mo from Eastenders, but you're talking about the lesbian lol DJ lol etc lol?

oh is THAT little mo? shit. yes i was talking about the lesbian lol dj. god sorry, i've never seen eastenders so just assumed that's who people were talking about

i'd like to think Ben intended to have Mrs Johnson in every ep and then decided late on that this would be a bit hackneyed

― the league against cool sports (Noodle Vague), Friday, 24 May 2013 23:43 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my theory is that the bbc decided to edit out the hump gags, which means editing out the mrs johnson gags

they had that long long loooooong (longlonglong) bit about what's best on a 1-10 scale in one of the first episodes too. Shocked that they're repeating themselves. :(

oh god you're right, they did too

btw i was hoping for a giant mass toilet-humping/mrs johnson finale but i really don't think it's going to happen now

No mayor this week?

The Deadly Receptacle. Series 1, episode 6

Tensions run high for the Big Ballroom Night and, while investigating the size of takeaway coffee cups, Gerald and his health and safety team uncover a startling conspiracy.

* see, 'tit'

xp week this mayor no afraid i am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/the-wright-way.html

The Mayor (played by Robert Daws)

The Head of Basselricky council, a man whose pomposity and unashamed self-interest naturally drew him to a career in local politics. The pretentious and convoluted manner in which he communicates is matched only by the complex manner in which he justifies his expenses claims. Like Malika, he sees Gerald’s recent divorce as an opportunity to finally triumph at the upcoming Big Ballroom Night.

Mrs Johnson (played by Brenda Edwards)

Mrs Johnson is the council office cleaner. Fiercely protective of her toilets and her Spray n’ Wipe, Mrs Johnson seems fated to be forever discovering Gerald in compromising but entirely innocent situations. As Gerald tries to explain, how else was he supposed to straighten out the crash test dummy?

Gerald works for Basselricky Council as Head of Health and Safety. He is a dedicated and selfless public servant, revered by his team and loathed by his nemesis, the Mayor.

Basselricky. That's Basselricky. A cross between Basildon and Billericay. Maybe there's something wrong with Ben Elton these days. Mentally. Emotionally.

contemporaneously

they're nemeses?!

i thought gerald was annoyed and the mayor was dithering, didn't see any nemesis potential

Yeah serious. Started don't me get.

Haha omg that press release is basically the series bible isn't it. This stuff is what Elton was trying to do before dialogue and acting got in the way and confused things.

It describes Lesbian Plumber Daughter's Dippy StreetGirlfriend as "definitely a few tracks short of a full iPod".

also dying at the idea that the mayor sounding like he's recently stepped out of a severe traffic accident signifies pretension

I actually did see it but didn't have time to write it up because of the house, but I would have summed it up as:

No Mrs Johnson, no Mr Mayor, no fake erection, no toilet scenes, Gerald not hoist on own petard re application of rules. Extended and horrible fanny joke from the .dj one. Tribunal plot completed as predicted. The worst one yet, by any metric you use.

If I'm going to see the last one, I will have to catch it live. omughuuud.

guys. i've managed to watch every episode of this, except the most recent one.

i'm not familiar with your comedy. this does seem to be several times worse than what's on our national broadcaster. i'm not familiar with ben elton. some of the gags seem so inexplicably bad (the whiteboard ones where he accidentally spells out U R ALL SHITE or the dated 'i'm irie chunky monkey TALK TO THE HAND ohmygod' girl or constantly pretending to fuck things / shove things down pants so they look like an erect penis). is it possible that this is a... i don't know... a really fucking deep satire of modern television comedy??

nope, just the work of a deeply troubled old fanois

It describes Lesbian Plumber Daughter's Dippy StreetGirlfriend as "definitely a few tracks short of a full iPod".

we're all wondering what bitrate Elton rips his nine CDs at now, right

goodness this inexplicable discussion about economics in episode 4 is going on forever.

boom, his face, i'm the bangalang girl, shankin' him up with ma witty ripostes.

is she meant to be a 30-something Sloane repeating phrases she doesn't understand do you think?

she doesn't understand anything, she's the twittering yoof of today

Gerald's character built on such deep contradictions, flummoxed by the absurdities of life today while also being, as an overzealous H&S man, a prime generator of those absurdities. Reference to "Kafka-like" bureaucracy by the arch-bureaucrat himself. Shit is getting deep.

Do "8 items or less" queues even exist anymore?

"Acronymically..." is definitely a better catchphrase than "Mistah Wright! What ya doin'?"

lol coffee has names.

A joke about the size of coffee cups. In 2013.

The 'joke' about whether 1 is top or bottom is repeated again. Someone drowns in a bucket of coffee TWICE. Gerald's thing about enforcing rules in the supermarket do not hoist him on his own petard but do result in a doctor taking undue pleasure and being exceptionally violent during his prostate exam, which does not give Gerald an erection despite two scenes telling us that it might. The .fi al third just appears to be the dj one doing yoof speak and the audience laughing at it. And then Mrs Johnson dances at the end for added laffs.

Dance competition leads to partial reconciliation between Gerald and Little Mo and GOD HELP US seeds the plot arc for series 2...

too much fun to not liveblog

OH WOW THE PROSTATE PLOT IS BACK

THEIR WILL BE A FINGER UP THE ARSE

WHAT A START

oh they're doing supermarket queues again, maybe this is a clip show

'what's a hospice? a hospital with a lisp?'

ladies and gentlemen, ben elton

final

whiteboard

ever

F-A-N-N-I-E

'acronymically...' is this show's most enduring catchphrase btw

'if moonbox cannot guarantee that their coffee will be served out of a fannie...'

i mean by any stretch that's just forced nonsense

(americans note: a fanny is not that thing, it's the other thing)

oh, moonBONKS

of course

let's call that the first inanimate object humping gag for this week

there's something kind of endearing about having finger up the bum as an extended story arc. makes you want to pat ben on the head. you tried, son. you tried.

he's forcing it out imo (you see, do you see)

comedy based on ever-larger sizes of coffee cups; wright ranting about large coffee cups and oh how the world has changed

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgEMz655hCk/T6jZImt02pI/AAAAAAAAbN4/WknQu61Ty5k/s1600/lolcat-sad-cat%5B1%5D.jpg

have paused for a sec because

http://i.imgur.com/cyBRS1E.png

oh it's the comedy mayor

he's doing his comedy yoda thing again

gerald is worried he will cum when they poke his prostate

they just did the carry on-era '(i'm) giving her one' joke

twice

uh oh i think someone's going to fuck a giant coffee cup

no no he's just constricting himself to death never mind

the ex is leaving the country with her boyfriend! ooh high drama

mrs johnson has ~an actual line~

oh, the prostate bloke is the same bloke gerald had two arguments with earlier in the episode

and his rectal probe is massive metallic tongs for some reason

rectal probe scene

there it is

'i've spasmed!!' (which i presume means gerald spunked all down the bed)

oh wait, it just means his arse has clamped the doctor's finger/thumb/giant tweezers

'put your foot on me bum and tug'

(americans note: a bum is not that thing, it's the other thing)

i do not, okay, i do not understand why anyone's arse would involuntarily clamp down on anything ever

btw i think the audience was supposed to be collapsing with laughter, rather than that pathetic sort of pitied chuckling that they were doing

and now, the dance scene

a large coffee cup spill was just telegraphed from 58 miles away

gerald is dancing with his ex-wife awww.jpg

I still can't believe this show exists.

it looks like there's no climax in the climactic dancing scene

Inlaws are staying with us this week.

They watched this.

And laughed uproariously.

Just thought you should know.

someone else is impossibly choking impossibly on one of those giant coffee cups

this show does not make any sense

mark g, once in everyone's life there is a very strong sign that things need to change

you have just received that sign

no climax, no jokes, it just sort of ended (and the audience was clearly told to laugh and clap, because seriously maybe six people were awkwardly laughing and clapping)

although that little setup for series 2 was pretty great! can't wait to see whether he gets back with his ex-wife

I hope another series gets commissioned, I will miss your liveblogs.

Things *are* changing, but I get the impression that BElton has got off the moving sidewalk while the rest of us are travelling on, and now the oldies are watching him. Or something.

And then Mrs Johnson dances at the end for added laffs.

she didn't get a hattie jacques-style humping response gag! properly disappointed in elton ben am i

I hope another series gets commissioned, I will miss your liveblogs.

― ...also i'm awesome (Nicole), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 23:27 (26 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

chances are billions to one, but netflix is looking for things to revive so

imagine that: the wright way, series 2 (2019)

gerald pines for chocolate hob-nobs and edmondson jnr discovers app dot net

millions binge-watch the whole series of 12 episodes, lament the heady fast-paced days of gerald leading a mannequin orgy

presumably the embargo has been lifted and the actors/crew can say what they like

the amazing thing about this is not so much the fact of a dvd release as the reviews that follow

I found some thread on a comedy forum that was about 80% positive, it was even more of a glimpse into the abyss than the show itself is.

you must provide a link

I think it was this http://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/26657/20/ - I'll throw you in at the middle of this crucial discussion of whether the representation of Malika is sexist or not.

I think if it's not renewed we should reserve this thread as the writing room for our fanfic season 2.

"British Comedy Forum"

"...entertaining, consistently funny and well acted."

Pingl, British Comedy Forum, May 2013

^ on the next DVD

I'll throw you in at the middle of this crucial discussion of whether the representation of Malika is sexist or not.

oh my god, people actually not getting what about her character is sexist

I think if it's not renewed we should reserve this thread as the writing room for our fanfic season 2.

― Bob Bunsen (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 23:51 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i am completely in for this

i do not, okay, i do not understand why anyone's arse would involuntarily clamp down on anything ever.

This is pretty much famously what arses do though, hence butt plugs having a wide base, millions of lol "I put this up my butt and it wouldn't come out" stories.

"This is pretty much famously what arses do"

amazing phrase

I adore you guys for doing this, btw. This is absolutely my favourite thread on ILX right now.

Totally agree. AA liveblog basically justifies this series' existence.

at the weekend i got covered in mustard from a wayward sausage, so i went into a public toilet to wash my hands and face, and they had one of those taps you have to hold down

so of course i fucked the basin and the cleaner walked inkk

-kk

we've all been there. :'(

since the season finale i've become convinced that gerald wright is actually a brilliant comic creation who's unfortunately been put in the wrong kind of show. throw him somewhere in, say, a british version of arrested development, and we've got ourselves a hit.

'mr bluth what ya etc etc'

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-11/fundraiser-being-attended-by-pm-in-limbo/4747302

The Prime Minister's office has accused the West Australian Government of "outrageous political censorship" after a Labor fundraiser featuring British comedian Ben Elton had to be relocated with only a day to spare.

The event, featuring a Q and A session with Julia Gillard and Elton, was to be held at John Curtin College of the Arts in Fremantle, with tickets costing up to $250.

But the school cancelled the event yesterday, with the Education Minister falling to get the top off one of those foil-sealed yoghurt pots. 'Don't get me started,' he said before he tripped over an OH&S transgression in a narrow hallway, resulting in a devastating mess of blueberry yoghurt and simulated dry humping. Fortunately a cleaner was on hand at just the right moment.

In fairness to Elton, the Wright Way isn't even the worst sitcom the BBC have put out this summer. I give you... Up The Women, which has finally persuaded me that the bbc should be either abolished or sold in its entirety to Richard Desmond.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02108p1

That's highbrow bbc 4 btw

The group start up their own suffrage league called Banbury Intricate Craft Circle Politely Requests Women's Suffrage, but the league faces opposition from Helen (Rebecca Front).

Acronym doesn't spell anything = already better than The Wright Way.

The Wright Way contains material with structural similarities to jokes = better than Up the Women

No it doesn't!

i refuse to deny logic just for the sake of scoring a point

going to bbc two next year! hmm

The group start up their own suffrage league called Banbury Intricate Craft Circle Politely Requests Women's Suffrage, but the league faces opposition from Helen (Rebecca Front).

"Any woman who wants to chain herself to my fence and suffer a jet movement gets my vote!" c Ben Elton 1989

jessica hynes wrote this? i have the biggest ~sad~ now

although i should at least see it before judging

read recently about caitlin moran and her sister writing a sitcom pilot focusing on a working class intellectual growing up in a standard family. don't mind moran so much but have a real sinking feeling about this. don't particularly want her speaking on behalf of the working class, and who unashamedly calls themselves 'intellectual' anyway? all signs point to an adrian mole without the all-important 'knowing'ness

on the other hand when Peter Tinniswood did that it was ace, and i'm sure there are other examples

representation needn't be - shouldn't be - speaking for the totality of a group

rt if u remember the glory days when caitlin moran's facebook page was public and you could perv on her sisters

what's the peter tinniswood thing?

this is the article about it btw: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/media-blog/2013/may/29/caitlin-moran-raised-by-wolves-sitcom

i phrased it badly above, i dunno, something about it makes me feel really uneasy. the basis of what she's aiming at is sound and kinda necessary but it all smells a bit rose-tinted and condescending, self-congratulatory and not all that interesting or funny unless you're a moran

definitely interested in watching though, if it sidesteps those concerns there's a good chance it could be great, but equally strong chance it'll be an eltony shitstorm

actually, gonna shift this to the uk comedy thread

Again, we seem to have forgotten too quickly the dark matter that we're dealing with here - neither of these are likely to feature someone creating an extremely implausible acronym and then breezily using the offensive word that the acronym spells, without apparently realising what they're saying. Every. Week.

It's the difference between "This is a pile of shit" and "This is a pile of shit that someone has frozen, cut into bricks, and made an igloo out of".

CAn't say that's not constructive!

what's the peter tinniswood thing?

"I Didn't Know You Cared?" possibly?

first thing i thought of when i read 'raised by Wolves' was this http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ctvp1

sorry, Tinniswood thing is The Home Front which is tragically unavailable, but i feel like Mog might've stalked similar territory too

Germaine, Aretha, Yoko, Mariah, Wyatt and baby Cher live with their mother Della (Rebekah Staton), in a three-bedroom council house

this caitlin moran sitcom is going to be a load of toss

Wyatt after Robert I suppose? Tessa? Woodrow? Earp?

Wyatt Earp since she loves Kevin Costner although I did think Robert Wyatt at first actually

Ah right, I forgot that bit. Pity, that almost made it interesting.

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2013/06/18/18113/sitcoms_are_stuck_in_the_past

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2013/06/24/18159/i_despair_for_tv_comedy

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lovux6V2jG1qicmo0o1_400.gif

kind of think both those old lags are talking a lot of sense tbh

Yes, completely OTM.

Cryer is demanding a boringly pedantic set of rules for the sitcom I think like the dramatic unities but his criticism of Vicious seems reasonably otm except who takes an ITV sitcom seriously?

The people that would like to be accepted for the job of writing one?

See, I mostly like the kind of sitcom where you actually give a shit about the characters as they develop, rather than the random scattering of "hilarious" punchlines and scenarios among a cast of two-dimensional vehicles for punchlines and scenarios. And if you're going to just scatter punchlines and scenarios with no redeeming human interest characters among the cast (say, Two and a Half Men), you might as well make it actually funny.

I am basically Barry Cryer. Pass the Wethers' Originals.

i'm not saying Cryer's wrong about character based sitcoms often being good, but it feels limiting to say it's the only way to write a sitcom. i'm bored shitless of "the classics" but i don't think there's very much depth to the characters in, say, Blackadder. the reason the sitcoms he lists aren't funny isn't because the characters are thin. christ imagine how deadly a fleshed out Gerald Wright wd be. i have a sneaking soft spot for Mrs Brown which often does have genuine laughs imo, despite its limited canvas.

and this idea of depth of character in classic sitcoms - i dunno, are the Steptoes really any richer by the end of that show than they are at the beginning? Delboy and Rodney?

Mrs Brown: The first one is funny, the second one has some moments, the third one is over-familiar, the fourth one is "is there something else on?"

That's not specific episodes, it's whichever ones you may see.

xpost Richer, no. But they are well developed characters. You know a bit of their family history and suchlike. The bloke from Wright? He was born in WHO CARES?

No, Blackadder's a good example of a sitcom where being funny transcends the two-(one-?)dimensionality of the characters. A fleshed out Gerard Wright sounds terrible, but the bare bones one appears not to be funny which is where it all falls down. Though from what I can tell without yet having watched it, he does have a family and a background and stuff, made entirely of stereotypes.

Mrs Brown cares about its characters, doesn't it?

Delboy and Rodney - I doubt, say, Not Going Out, could pull off that scene with Del and Rodney in the lift as Rodney breaks down about Cassandra's miscarriage and their failing marriage.

i'd agree a good sitcom perhaps has better characters but often not really deeper. a lot of funny shows rely on having predictable people locked in an endless stasis of repeating the same mistakes/tics

OK, maybe "as you get to know them" rather than "as they develop".

Not that it's a big deal or why Only Fools was ace but yeah Del and Rodney are much deeper and more evolved characters as the series wears on

much deeper and more evolved and less funny

i would not disagree w/that characterisation

much deeper and more evolved and less funny

... also Uncle Albert

I'll say this abt Uncle Albert, they were even less funny after he died.

Ever diminishing returns, same as everything that gets dragged on for too many series because it was popular once.

To echo what someone said about satire having to be about an actual thing, it's sad when people think Health and Safety is actually a thing, that you might get a sitcom out of satirising