Brass Eye - is that what all the fuss was about?

Nope I disagree, I think Brass Eye was satire of the highest order, the only pity is that the media never saw the warning contained within and have slowly slipped down the sensationalist one thought per story road that they currently inhabit. (BBC London Live story the other night - Survivors of the Hatfield Rail Crash who paid for their tickets by credit card got charged. Is this a non-story or what? Automated ticket buying systems are supposed to know there was a tragedy?)

Jam also made me realise just how much of Brass Eye was just Morris dicking about, rather than making the 'cutting-edge' satire it's often taken for. Jam seems a lot more focussed on that playful "do it if it's funny" without getting confused by the possible controversy its topics would throw up.

As for the music, I think Morris writes most of it himself with a collaborator, but I don't know his name.

But it was. So there.

Brass Eye didn't actually seem quite as good as I remembered it. I only laughed out loud at one point during Brass Eye and that was the Answer Prancer bit, I thought that was much funnier than it probably actually was and was laughing for about five minutes. The Day Today seems a lot funnier now even though at the time, Brass Eye was stunning.

Did any of you see the bit during the election coverage when Paxman was talking to Widdecombe and he said "You said we only had 24 hours to save the pound. Well those 24 hours are up [reaches into pocket and pulls out pound coin] and the pound's still here!" That was pure Morris.

As for Ali G doing it better. Well, it was OK to begin with (when the guests didn't know what was going on) but then it all went a bit wonky after he got his own show and it became like Mrs Merton or something and became the complete opposite of what it was originally - it just gave celebrities an opportunity to say "Hey, we've got a sense of humour, look, we don't take ourselves too seriously, we can laugh at ourselves" where as Morris showed just how humourless and po- faced many of them really are. Edmonds especially.

(Or is that the point YOU'RE making...)

Oddly enough I now and then enjoy Paxman because I think he's (occasionally) quite Morris-ish on purpose: ie finds some of them "broadgram" aspect of TV news v.goofy, and responds accordingly.

The Day Today *was* better — not least cuz of Doon McCechnie [sp?] — but has Steve Coogan worn out his welcome?

Evidence of my insanity: I honestly thought TV news wd just stop using (a) walk-pasts, and (b) noddyshots after The Day Today.

It's Doon *Mackichan*.

"The Drumlake Experiment": oh yes. That faded 70s colour effect! (Morris's true anorak self). Was Dartington Hall ever like this?

Penny just dropped (maybe): this was MORE THAN 24 HOURS AFTER THE DEADLINE — so Tory threat merely disproven feebleness!!

It was the combination of the completely meaningless point he was making and the ludicrously over-the-top way in which he made it that made me think of Morris. To speak with such conviction about something that actually means nothing (or is this what all news reporting is about?)

Any way, I don't think he was commending the Tories on the success of their Save/Keep The Pound Campaign but rather pointing out how insane their claim was. It'd be like saying "We've got 24 hours to save the planet" and then being really pleased tomorrow.

Prediction: for lots of people, it goes like this. First Time of Viewing: ASTONISHMENT and ABOUNDED. Second Time of Viewing: PUZZLEMENT at extremity of first response. Third Time of Viewing: GRATIFICATION that it's actually SUBTLER and BETTER than you even REMEMBER. Plus PUZZLEMENT at sourness of SECOND response.

Snideness: Bffff. We're all just superjealous that you thought of and realised a brilliant idea like ILE, and we didn't (chief rubbish naysayer = me = third highest poster). We razz you because we have pash on you. (Tho the Buffy theory shall not stand.)

I still think The Day Today very funny (never saw all of it - one thing about TV is it's very easy to miss). Brass Eye the other night maybe better than I expected. Paxman / Buerk aspect largely the same in those 2 progs anyway? (I agree with those who say: overcharged mad- Paxman aspect: the basic highlight.)

Jam / Blue Jam, on the other hand: psssshhh. Unbelievably bad radio moment where they played a weak Everything But The Girl record for 4 minutes: the nadir of Morris's career?

To confirm my title as most unadventurous, middle-of-the-road consumer on the thread: I say, best thing to come out of all this = ALAN PARTRIDGE, pure and simple, in various incarnations.

A Thort: wd this be liking Partridge "ironically"? I have confused myself...

Knowing the Pinefox as I do, his distaste for Blue Jam comes as no surprise. But, Mr Fox, buried amid what might seem irredeemable and pointless is a shining seam of dancing language. Michael Alexander St John's club charts, the monologues (one of which spawned Richard Geefe and 'Time To Go')... heaven knows, I've been merrily ripping that stuff off for four years now. Like a burst lorry.

[sob]

(seems to be regions 2+4 too, good news for australians)

http://www.angrycake.com/brasseye/eye.gifalt="I was amused by the Brass Eye special.">

Ah good, that took too long!

According to my mentalist sources, in addition to the six 1994 episodes, there's:

The Mininews trailers
The Pool/The Office extended versions
The original pilot
An Open University show on news presentation techniques from '94-ish which interviews various TDTers
Some bizarro AV Description option (hidden)
Morris/Partridge in-character chat (audio only, hidden)
TDT Cast Reunion (audio only, hidden)
Mark Radcliffe interview with Coogan fron 17/1/94 (audio obv, hidden)
Bushwacked 2 (audio, hidden)

The oft-rumoured commentary tracks have not materialised.

I might pick this up tonight (but it's gonna be £19.99 or something in the chains, isn't it?) and give a bit more detail on how to access the Easter eggs if anyone cares.

found the morris/partridge thing about lady di conspiracy by accident (watch something or play with subtitle option on disc 2, go back to main menu and wait)

15.99 in virgin meagrestore in hammersmith and woolworths

Jam: shit

My first Morris contact was the radio show he did on R1 in '94, and it was fantastic. I suppose this accounts for me preferring his radio stuff, but Brass Eye IN 1997, ie during the dying days of Major, was a big deal. The spesh was disappointing. But the originals were classic. The 'dark' fetish of his fans is off-putting.

The menus are a joy in themselves.

Couldn't stop laughing at the reanimated robot corpse used to execute a murderer with 3 different voice options - "Normal" "Martin Sheen" and "Louis Armstrong". "JUSTICE".

except ergonomically - too slow to cycle through the options. mind you, the playstation controller doesn't help as i can never remember whether to use triangle or square.

favourite line from last night's viewing:
"Peter, you've lost the news!"

(xpost!)

Was searching for the clip from the pedophiles episode where they pull out a pic of Hall and Oats and ended up watching for about 1/2 hour. I'd forgotten how funny this was.

I've never seen or even heard of this show, but how could painting "twat" on a cow not be funny? I lolled just reading about it.

That TDT thread

Some of the bits are terrific but I kind of agree with tarden 100%.

I dunno, mark s's response seems more apt:

Tarden: Chris Morris's sense of humour is TOO EXACTLY LIKE YOURS for you to notice when he was being funny

There's a feeling I get with Morris that he relishes his "posh asshole" persona a little more than he ought to, and this kind of applies to the entire show. When you're making fun of pompous blowhard know-it-all newsmedia it's less convincing when you give every impression of being a pompous blowhard know-it-all yourself!

Does Morris give an impression of what he is like? He does distance himself from the public eye, or so it seems.

This was nothing like Python (thank goodness for that!).

I suspect this Brass Eye will get less funny as the years go by while Day Today will get funnier.

chris morris's radio one show gives you a pretty good sense of 'the real chris morris' imo and there's no doubting he is a bit up himself; at the same time, if he is a bit like his persona, so was... tony ferrino. or uh david brent. that is sort of how comedy works, a lot of the time. (not that tony ferrino was any good, im just saying.)

the day today remains unimpeachable, and i find myself agreeing with myself five years ago and pinefox seven years ago, basically. the paedo ep of brass eye was always kinda rubbish.

also i HATE sebastian coe.

That pedo episode has some great bits, but doesn't work as well as the main series. Simon Pegg's bit is jaw dropping though.

BrassEye is still pretty great I think.

I particularly like the episode which I think is called "Decline" where it's just a series of reasons why Britain is in decline. Since this is one of the most irritating and repetitive memes in discussions of music/arts/soociety etc etc I think it is a really good skewering.

I often feel with Brass Eye that people are too quick to assume all it does is attack the right wing media, and never ask themselves about some of the more subtle things it says about the media in general.

Obv it's got that Bill Hicks utter reverence thing going on but I am fairly sure if I watched again would still find this absolutely brilliant.

Obv it's got that Bill Hicks utter reverence thing going on

???

I mean that it has millions of student fans to whom it is indisputably amazing.

haha, i thought you were saying that the show was utterly reverent to Bill Hicks and i was like o_0

oh yeah I figured that might be what you thought when I read back!

(not that tony ferrino was any good, im just saying.)

Tony Ferrino was any good though*! And while Ferrino might have had more than a bit to do with his creator's own ego issues, Coogan always plays "Steve Coogan" as much more of a vain, venal and fucking-people-over slimeprick than any of his fictional characters, cf. those backstage bits from that one live video with Pegg and the Molina scene from Coffee and Cigarettes

*just not very good

Coogan always plays "Steve Coogan" as much more of a vain, venal and fucking-people-over slimeprick than any of his fictional characters

troo

Must be said despite watching it with eyes wide and laughing like i've never laughed, i havent had the desire to watch BRASS EYE since it was first repeated in about 2001. Whereas On The Hour the radio show 'version' of The Day Today is never far from the Real Player playlist. It's SILLY and funny, whereas Brass Eye is NASTY and funny. I think i know which i prefer now i'm that bit older.

hey, what was the deep satirical import of 'sutcliffe - the musical'?

was it, west end musicals... exploit serial killers?

no. what the fuck you on about?

if you really need an explanation for it, other than wilful surrealism, it's prob just a jibe on celebrity criminals like reggie kray, howard marks etc, being marketed to the entertainment industry.

^ think so, fuck a satire anyway

Okay, here's a joke - "Why did the chicken cross the road? Because on the other side there was etaoin shrdlu snoflet!"

I like this joke

It's basically Spinal Tap's 'Saucy Jack', innit - unlikely and eye-rolling choices for musicals. With a bit of what dog latin said.

Also a chance to do a pisstake of Jarvis Cocker and Pulp

oh yeah forgot about that, well that's fantastic, obviously.