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Post by littlepea on Apr 28, 2005 18:09:24 GMT -5
anyone seen this show on tv? the sit-com thing that's filmed in a sort of fly-on-the-wall documentary style. the original english version was absolutely incredible, and now i'm watching the new american version currently underway in the US (i download the episodes via bittorrent ). it's nothing compared to the english one, but it's still quite amusing. anyway, what do you think of it? have you seen the english one? how does it compare in your opinion etc.?
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Post by PhantomsPandora on May 1, 2005 21:40:14 GMT -5
I haven't seen the american version of it. American versions of Brit coms just don't work as well. I haven't seen the British version because it hasn't come to my pbs station.
However, I did see the British version of Coupling, they tried that over here and that didn't work either.
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Post by Tara on May 2, 2005 13:54:58 GMT -5
If it isn't like Monty Python or if it doesn't have some sort of drug theme or pathetic drama squabbles, then I don't think we U.S. folk would buy into it I guess. Personally, if it's good it's good. If not, fine. I wouldn't mind venturing out a little when it comes to shows.
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Post by littlepea on May 2, 2005 15:20:43 GMT -5
the writer (ricky gervais) won loads of awards in the the UK and in the US for best new sit-com or something like that - it was particularly surprising that he won won awards in the US because at the time the only tv station that was showing the office was BBC America, which i've heard isn't one of the most popular tv stations over there. but still he won an award for it in the US so it must be appealing to american humour in some way ...
i highly recommend it, it's very british humour (though nothing like monty python). it has no drugs and there's no pathetic drama squibbles, it's a completely new sort of thing and it really is genius.
it's sort of like fawlty towers (you must have heard of that, surely ...) in that it's complete "cringe" humour ... it's quite difficult to watch because it's done so well it actually looks quite realistic and you start to knaw (sp?) your hand off as you see just how infuriating the manager is ...
seriously, you have to see it to believe it ... the american one is a bit lighter, but the british one is just merciless ... awesome ;D
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Post by PhantomsPandora on May 3, 2005 10:34:30 GMT -5
Aww I like Monty Python..it's so silly!
Hmm well we have all sorts of brit coms on the pbs stations now and they were talking about picking up "the office" . My pbs station was the first one to air Brit coms in the US, heh.
We have I think about ten or so that run on the weekends -My Hero, Father Ted, The Vicar of Dibley, Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping up Appearances, Are you being served, As time goes by. There's bunches of them, but I've not caught them all. I love My Hero and Keeping up Appearances best though.
Yes, I know what you're talking about by Fawlty Towers. heh.
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Post by Tara on May 3, 2005 16:33:14 GMT -5
Aww I like Monty Python..it's so silly! I gotta be in the mood for something like that. Yes, Keeping Up Appearances. I like that one. ;D
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Post by PhantomsPandora on May 3, 2005 17:49:00 GMT -5
I love that show to bits....especailly the parts where they're in the car and she's always warning him to watch for people and they're on the other side of the street or on the sidewalk.
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Post by littlepea on May 3, 2005 21:35:53 GMT -5
lol, my mum likes keeping up appearances, though we can't watch it too often because it reminds us of her mum - my gran, that is ;D father ted isn't a brit-com, strictly speaking ... seeing as they're irish it's my favourite out of that lot, though. you should watch Blackadder if you get the chance, it's very sophisticated stuff - the final blackadder episode is the best sit-com episode ever made ever, it just has to be seen to be believed ... after you've seen all the ones before it of course red dwarf is another awesome brit-com, except for series 7 and 8 which are a bit crap. you should keep an eye out for the office if you can, it's well worth seeing at least once. the american one has the same writer as the british one (ricky gervais) and my flatmate loves it. he was a big fan of the original one and was skeptical of the american one at first, but he likes it a lot despite it's differences.
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Post by PhantomsPandora on May 4, 2005 0:08:43 GMT -5
Yes I've seen Blackadder......I like it, they just show it late. They change up what's shown everynow and again except for a few shows.
They used to show Chef...now they're showing the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy..couldn't get into that when my friend had drama friends over. Might go see the movie though.
I've seen a few episodes of Red Drawf but not got into it.
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Post by littlepea on May 4, 2005 6:42:24 GMT -5
i don't like the tv version of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. the radio shows were the original and they were very good (you can listen to them on the bbc website if you search around hard enough) but the books were by the best and they are fantastic, well worth buying at least the first. the film's received mixed reviews in the UK as far as i know, apparently it's more 70s than sci-fi, but that's sort of what the books were like. also the special effects look cheap and nasty, typical british really, but that could be good, in a way. some people think it does the books justice, others don't, but i'm gonna go see it some time, i think. that's all the good brit-coms i can think of at the moment
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Post by PhantomsPandora on May 4, 2005 10:33:34 GMT -5
I was going through the schedule just to see what on earth is put up now(they change it up every pledge drive, it's so annoying to see your favorites either get tossed off or moved around)...eh, we have something called Monarch of the Glen and Frame of Mind...something called Yes Prime Minister heh. They kept Allo Allo...never got into that. What's Porridge and the Royal Family? LOL kinda sucks that we're several years behind you guys. Oh well. They used to have Mr. Bean but it looks like they've got Fawlty Towers back.
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Post by littlepea on May 4, 2005 13:53:44 GMT -5
monarch of the glen is a kind of funny drama type thing set in a picturesque castle in scotland. it has some scottish actors in it and it used to be very good, but if it's episodes from the last couple of years then it won't be particularly exciting. it never was exciting, really, it was just nice and pleasant never heard of frame of mind ... yes prime minister is very good. political satire from the 80s, it's very very clever, though i dunno if it will work quite so well in america seeing as it's all about the british government and ministers and civil servants etc. porridge is great, very funny sit-com set in a prison (it's another from the 80s). the main prison guard in that (mr mackay) is not only scottish but he later starred in the british version of fraggle rock (they made the human guy british so we wouldn't get confused - fraggle rock was immense). the royle family can be good but it's a bit disgusting. it's about a low-income family living in a council flat. there's no canned laughter and everything's really grotty and poor. it has some classic moments, and some good off-screen running jokes. the camera never leaves the flat, as far as i know, but the young guy in it drives a scooter and he always has to go and pick up the grandparents from different places and stuff ... grandparents on a scooter, british people love it i'm not such a fan of allo allo but my dad likes it for some reason ... it's ok in bits but i find it a bit tiresome. i like the scenes where herr flick is on the phone and he says "flick the gestapo ... no, flick!" - quality ;D
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