The Wright Way

[RobW]

Ben Elton's latest sitcom. Did anyone watch it? I saw it got masses of abuse from people I follow on Twitter. I tried to watch it on iPlayer now, but the fact it's got David Haig in the lead role means I stopped watching after a minute. I can't stand him.

The first joke appeared to be about a woman spending too long in the bathroom, to the displeasure of her husband. Sounds like a real hoot.

[Toby Gymshorts]

The Wright Way

I think you'll find that the woman in the bathroom was his daughter's girlfriend. I turned off after - no word of a lie - the lead character said to his daughter "Honestly, what's the point of you being a lesbian if you're going to act like a woman?".

Dire.

[Hot Orange]

The Wright Way

The trailers were enough to put me off.

[Toby Gymshorts]

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It's worth a minute of your time to check out the opening titles. They're just so.........cheap.

[KGR]

The Wright Way

It's amazingly awful. The blonde lesbian girlfriend's character is the stand-out character. Steals every scene. You must watch it.

David Haig shouts too much.

[Tony C]

The Wright Way

I can't stand David Haig, either.

He's now backed up the appalling 'Yes Minister' re-make with this pile of crap.

[RobW]

The Wright Way

I managed to get through 15 minutes of it before turning off.

[Jah Womble]

The Wright Way

I finally caught this on iPlayer yesterday. It wasn't 'quite' as abysmal as I was anticipating, but was nonetheless a strange and empty watch.

It reminded me of those bottom-rung sitcoms that used to exist on ITV in the early eighties: Mind Your Language, Bottle Boys, etc - overly-exaggerated stereotype characters framed by laugh tracks just in case their telegraphed and not-terribly-funny lines somehow passed you by.

No doubt Elton will claim that this is all deliberate and post-ironic or somesuch. In truth, it's just a bit desperate.

[Leon Tricker]

The Wright Way

It's basically 'When the Whistle Blows', minus context.

[Gerontophile]

The Wright Way

I would 'do' David Haig. If he fancied it. (Although, I suspect, he wouldn't like me, when I slate him for not getting his hair cut after all these years.)

[Slightly Brown]

The Wright Way

Watched ten minutes of it last night. Creates an odd experience of feeling like you’ve been knocked on the head, only to wake up in 1991. I just don't get why it exists or what it's trying to say. It may be some sort of surrealist homage to the era. It may just be fantastically sh1t.

[Squarewheelbike]

The Wright Way

I took a deep breath and watched it in the spirit of fairness. Shockingly badly written, acted and directed, does Elton have the dirt on someone at the Beeb?

[Jimmy Bignutz]

The Wright Way

Last night's episode was pretty bad, but it gets worse - the script for next week's has been leaked: http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,32570.msg1912129.html#msg1912129

[Gangster Octopus]

The Wright Way

Phew!

[Southport Zeb]

The Wright Way

I think its interesting that the BBC controller was disappointed a comedy about health and safety didn't 'catch fire'

[Benjm]

The Wright Way

It's pretty feeble his trying to shift the blame onto the worldwide anti-Elton conspiracy and social media rather than just admit that the show was an utter crock.

I didn't even give it 14 seconds; the trailers were warning enough. The fact that Elton is a known associate of the supreme enemies of music was barely a consideration.

[Squarewheelbike]

The Wright Way

Elton should remember his musicals with "farty old Tories" and apartheid supporters as to why no one rates him anymore. That and the fact he's shit!

[Tony C]

The Wright Way

southportzeb wrote: I think its interesting that the BBC controller was disappointed a comedy about health and safety didn't 'catch fire'

It was certainly a better gag than anything in the show.

[Sits]

The Wright Way

I first heard if this show when I read about its axing last week. Seeing the words "thin", "blue" and "line" along with "Ben Elton" got my hackles up. At that point I wouldn't recognise the name David Haig without looking him up. Now I have.

Australia has had a lucky escape.

[Janik]

The Wright Way

Benjm wrote: It's pretty feeble his trying to shift the blame onto the worldwide anti-Elton conspiracy and social media rather than just admit that the show was an utter crock.

He doesn't seem to be saying its anti-Elton, more anti anything new. The claim is no-one gives programmes a chance to develop, so how can a new one thrive in a social media world? Like, say, the utter and instant mauling that Getting On took. Oh, wait a second. But, despite that one getting rave reviews on social media, he announced the dropping of it in the same press release...

[Benjm]

The Wright Way

Allen said Elton had told him before it was broadcast that it was going to get a rough ride "because I always get a rough ride".

That he's referred to as the writer of Blackadder and The Young Ones perhaps gives an idea of just how unreasonably rough a ride he has had over the years.

What slightly gets me about this is the nagging feeling that it was a condescending attempt to grab the Mrs Brown's Boys audience by people who would rather eat their own shit than watch it on their own time.