Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Episodes

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Episodes

    Anyone watching it? I have seen two non-sequential, erm, episodes and have been drawn in enough to want to fill in the rest on I-player, not least because Tamsin Greig is supposed to do an excellent swearing rant in one of the episodes.

    I do get the feeling that this is genuinely Matt LeBlanc's last chance though

    #2
    Episodes

    He's very good in it. I don't quite like it though.

    Comment


      #3
      Episodes

      I'm really enjoying it. It got off to a slow start but it's been getting better and better. Missed last night's, though, annoyingly.

      Comment


        #4
        Episodes

        I sort of know what you mean, Wyatt, but I have tipped to liking it now.

        Comment


          #5
          Episodes

          It's sort of OK. I bet Matt leblanc would have preferred to do Californication though. That's where the actual properwashed-up stars go to become brilliant again.

          Comment


            #6
            Episodes

            Yeah, it's very well done, and it raises a chuckle. But there's a lot I don't like about it.

            1. The original UK show that won all the awards and that Hollywood is ruining sounds kind of shit. Like Richard Curtis (today, not when he was doing Blackadder) but worse. Witty erudite public school headmaster hopelessly in love? I'm not saying it couldn't have worked, but it would have had to go some.

            2. The incidental music sets my teeth on edge.

            3. Oh yes, aren't us English people all down to earth and self-deprecating, with a sense of irony and that, and proper facking educated an all, unlike Americans, who are all shallow money-grubbing earnest selfish soulless cunts who've had "work done"? Possibly the series will soon wittily and provocatively undermine this cosy bit of sucking up to its audience's prejudices, but it's not obvious how it now can.

            Might be being a bit harsh. I don't dislike it as much as I've made it sound as if I do.

            Comment


              #7
              Episodes

              I am struck by how this veers in tone and style so much within episodes. My theory was that as a US/UK co-production it is because they had bolted together scenes witten in isolation by seperate people/teams from either side of the Atlantic but the writers are both American it seems.

              Mangan and Greig make it watchable despite an awful lot of reasons to give up on it and it's better now that there is less of the network staff involved, especially the merc character who is just genuinely annoying.

              Comment


                #8
                Episodes

                You've hit the nail on the head actually about the uneven quality of the scenes. Funnily enough, the scene when they were in Matt's garage and then they went upstairs was filmed a month apart and that seemed fairly seamless.

                I did wonder whether there was a fair amount of scenes filmed in the US and the UK but it looks like everything was filmed in the UK. Matt's Malidu house was in Mill Hill with a blue csreen view.

                The writers, I am sure you know are from Friends and Mad About You. I would definitely like to see where they go with a second series

                Comment


                  #9
                  Episodes

                  Harry Truscott wrote:
                  ... the writers are both American it seems.
                  Blimey. I take (most of) the above back, then.

                  They've done a very good job with the Limeys, except (I think) for the original "boys' boarding school" series, which would struggle to have been a hit here.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Episodes

                    So, anyone else enjoying the second series?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Episodes

                      Yeah, a bit more than the first, I think.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Episodes

                        I could just about stomach watching the first series limp to a conclusion and have the second one series linked but can summon almost no enthusiasm to make a start on it.

                        How much has it improved, in exact percentage terms?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Episodes

                          For me, by a good 75% or so, to the point that I might have to re-watch the first series (which at the time I found to be a bit of an effort at times such was the feelings of meh it inspired). Have enjoyed Series 2 hugely. Fear they may be on the brink of pushing it a bit far with Matt's stalker though.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Episodes

                            Actually, I think it is a lot better. The thing is with Mangan and Greig, you want it to have that unhinged "Black Books/Green Wing" edge which it certainly didn't have in the first series but is coming in slightly with the second

                            More of it is genuinely shot in LA as well which helps. I was amazed to see that the first series won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy (or vice versa) though. Is that a genuine sign of public acceptance or an industry politics thing?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Episodes

                              I really enjoyed the second season, with caveats. The stalker thing felt a bit off, and the final episode was just too overdone.

                              Apart from the chemistry of the two protagonists (and Tamsin Greig is my age-appropriate TV crush now), some of the periphal characters were really funny. Especially that woman with the strange facial expressions and voice.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Episodes

                                Daisy Haggard. British (comedy?) actress.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Episodes

                                  Oh gawd, she's normally OK but was the joint worst thing about the first series with her boss Merc.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Episodes

                                    Good old Aussie networks, we've just seen the first episode of the first series here! Showed promise, LeBlanc, Mangan and Greig all have appeal.

                                    We'll stick with it at least for now, although I agree with the general sentiment about Merc.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Episodes

                                      Were there any adverts for the current series? It just sort of seemed to start last week without any warning. Just managed to get in the last week's first episode last night on iPlayer about ten minutes before it was due to expire.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Episodes

                                        I saw a few adverts for the new series and I've heard Stephen Mangan interviewed about it on the radio a couple of times in the last few weeks (although the main subject of the interviews has been Postman Pat).

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Episodes

                                          Just managed to get in the last week's first episode last night on iPlayer about ten minutes before it was due to expire
                                          Eh? According to the BBC I-player webpages, the first episode is still available for another month - which I mention here just in case anyone interested might otherwise give up on seeing that comment.

                                          I also had no warning of the imminent start of this third series, though to be fair the missus and I watch virtually no live TV. We watched the first episode on I-player last night and have recorded the second episode and pre-programmed a recording of the others. I thought it was OK to good. Kudos to Matt LeBlanc for daring to play a fictional himself being such a dick.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Episodes

                                            I only realised it was back on because Matt Leblanc was on Graham Norton a week beforehand. I say this as "a very good friend" (clang!) of one of the cast.

                                            This is part of the problem with TV on demand, isn't it? We spend so much time watching TV when and how we want and fast forwarding through the continuity bits and trailers.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Episodes

                                              Forgot to bump this before last Monday's first of the new season. Matt Leblanc is wonderfully horrid.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Episodes

                                                I thought the first episode of Season 4 was disappointing. Very few moments even raised a mild chuckle. I really hope that it picks up sharply, as it seems as though they may have run out of steam, gag-wise. I suppose the imminent arrival of the new female CEO whose husband slept with Carol may be a promising vein of humour.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Episodes

                                                  Having had a downer on S4E1 I feel duty-bound to give an update, because after that slow first episode, this 4th series has rapidly gone up several gears to being, I think, probably the funniest series yet.

                                                  Last night's episode, especially the bits about the murderous dictator's birthday party, was brilliant.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X