Topic: Grandma's House - new Simon Amstell vehicle

[Mildly Diverting]

But the character isn't trying to rehash his career; he's completely clueless about what he wants to do next and trying to find a more worthwhile artistic pursuit. TBH, considering that before this series started, he'd been away from mainstream TV for 2 years, I think its very likely The Real Simon's been asked to do some crap celeb programs. Crucially in this show, he's not washed up yet... but he's at the point where, as he's been away from TV for a while, people are just begnning to say that he is.

Yeah, I see your point and probably didn't explain my opinion well enough. For me, Simon Amstell is a guy who had a hit TV show and then disappeared to write and star in a sit-com / comedy drama. This Simon hasn't made the sit-com / comedy drama. Simon 1 has worked out what to do, but Simon 2 is still confused. I guess it's just Larry David Syndrome to me.

Still a very enjoyable show, though.

[Zetetic]

Well, it's entirely possible that Simon 2 may yet make the sit-com (this sit-com), and there's been some hints towards that I thought.

[DJ One Record]

Amstell's tirade against Liz having children in this episode stuck me as being particularly familiar:

Simon Amstell at the 100 Club

Good to see Amstell's not averse to writing bits of his stand-up into the show when required, like all good comics. (his stand-up DVD's out in November, people!)

[HAYRDRYAH]

Assuming Simon 2 is also a standup (I get the sense he leads a pretty full life outside the house, he just gets struck with ennui when he returns to his family and is 'forced to confront himself') it isn't unrealistic for him to drop 'bits' into his conversation, especially since his family only ever pay attention to his cardigans.

Well, it's entirely possible that Simon 2 may yet make the sit-com (this sit-com), and there's been some hints towards that I thought.

Yes, the line about 'sitting around all day, talking a load of rubbish, if this was on the telly people would switch over' hinted at some juicy postmodernism to come. I really hope this is borne out

_{What happened to this place? We used to have such fun ripping into each successive worst comedy in the world ever. Where did those days go?}

[icehaven]

I thought the ''sitting around all day...if this was on telly people would switch over'' line was overly contrived irony, and felt really shoehorned in. Why would someone randomly suggest their domestic situation would be on the telly? But otherwise agree with much of the positive stuff above, I'm really enjoying it now. Can't tell if S. Amstell's acting's got better or I've just got used to it, but either way it doesn't matter anymore, his increasing desperation is producing better and better lines each week.   

[Blue Jam]

I liked:

"You came out of my womb!" "I live in Hampstead now"
"...you and Vernon Kaye"
"I'm completely void of emotion. I'm empty. I'm Fearne Cotton."
"Wyclef Jean"

and the subtle Byker Grove reference. Seeing how subtle that was made the "if this was on telly people would switch over'' line all the more jarring. It reminded me of the Royle Family's "we'd never watch it, we wouldn't get the value" line when someone suggested they get Sky, only massively overdone.

[Lookalike Mark Chapman]

Simon Amstell at the 100 Club

He bloody loves doing that Dame Edna voice!

[eluc55]

I liked:

"You came out of my womb!" "I live in Hampstead now"
"...you and Vernon Kaye"
"I'm completely void of emotion. I'm empty. I'm Fearne Cotton."
"Wyclef Jean"

Other favourite lines in the opening ten minutes.

"Strumming my face with his fingers."

"That night I went home and tried to end it all" "I just wanted to bring joy and laughter to the world" "Maybe you should have been funnier."

The stained children story.
"Maybe they looked nicer yellow"

[Artemis]

This all sounds great. Sadly I think I've missed the opportunity to catch up with this after episode one left me largely indifferent. Is it due to be repeated at all?

[eluc55]

All on iplayer.

Episode 1

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tffcg/Grandmas_House_The_Day_Simon_Told_His_Family_About_His_Important_Decision/

All other episodes linked along the bottom, including this week, episode 4.

[Artemis]

Oh great! I forgot about iPlayer. Thanks!! I'll catch up on this over the next couple of days.

[Tiny Poster]

"Maybe I should've been an actor..."
"Name me one famous actor!"

[SetToStun]

That was a brilliant line.

I've been watching this with my other half and we've been both had genuine laugh-out-loud moments in every episode, plus good chuckles and some cringing-but-that's-OK-because-you're-supposed-to times, too. The odd thing is neither of us can say why it's so damn funny. The Great Outdoors had us laughing like drains but we knew why - we do a bit of walking ourselves and have started to buy the right gear for it ("breathable!" cracked us up, and my gf has bought herself a pair of 1,000 mile walking socks; get us) so we can see how it can take people, but Grandma's House? I'll never understand why it's so damn funny but I'll never stop laughing at it.

[benthalo]

I thought the ''sitting around all day...if this was on telly people would switch over'' line was overly contrived irony, and felt really shoehorned in.

I finally caught up on eps 2-4 last night and feel that kind of joke is slightly too prevalent in the series thus far. Drawing attention to how his cousin was acting like the moral centre was yet another self-conscious comment on the devices within the show, and for me it suggests a slight lack of confidence in the script, especially when you consider how subtle it can be in other respects. Nowt wrong with the odd broad joke but, yep, I think they're over-egging it. Trust your audience more.

[Lfbarfe]

it just seemed quite sad, and made you really sympathise with Clive for the first time since episode 1.

As someone with a mother like Tanya (My family is 100% Gentile, but they're just like the family in this, so if anyone says it's Jewish comedy, my family must be Jewish without realising it, and that foreskin of mine must be a mirage), and a stepfather who tried hard to be liked and accepted by me when he first started seeing her, I've sympathised with Clive from the start,while getting utterly why Amstell hates him. He's a knob, but he's a thoroughly decent knob. That DVD reveal was lovely. I'd have been angry about ditching the tapes anyway, but that's just me.

Yes, loved the pencil case line, but I'm getting so much joy from Samantha Spiro's awful, shrewish Liz. Hideous and wonderful. Every family has one. Or more.

[eluc55]

Yes, loved the pencil case line, but I'm getting so much joy from Samantha Spiro's awful, shrewish Liz. Hideous and wonderful. Every family has one. Or more.

Oh my god, she's amazing, isn't she? Best character followed shortly by the Grandma.

Almost everything Spiro says is funny, and every look of disgust cracks me up. I just love the dynamic between the family and Liz, although it was the Acting Coach's comment to her that's provided me with the standout line for the series so far:

"That's quite a blouse" 

Nice seeing a different side to her in this most recent episode, as well; the delight as she sung "It's fresh and fun"

I just love this show so much, and have become totally immersed in this family. I really, really hope it gets another series; Amstell's been wasted till now it seems...

[hoverdonkey]

I'm loving this too. There's been a fair bit of Amstell's stand up it. The whole Ben storyline from last week is from a gig I saw in Sloane Square earlier in the year. It seems it did actually happen, together with his line about loving thin, pale men

[Neil]

All on iplayer.

Thanks for that, I was trying to find downloads last night so I could catch up.  It's also on [noembed]the HD version[/noembed], and I rather enjoyed the first one.  Some great lines and moments.  "Is he taking the piss?"  Oh and "We ate a lot more dried fruit back then."

Loved this bit of the article on page one - it's always refreshing to see other people spouting the same sort of things you believe, especially when they can be real bones of contention on here:

While discussing Grandma's House I might mention other, far better, sitcoms without making comparisons. This is in no way to induce you to believe it to be anywhere near as good; absolutely not. Furthermore, you are way too clever to be fooled into allowing me to create a subliminal connection between some show you haven't seen and a lot of classic sitcoms. To be honest, I'd rather just stick to discussing Grandma's House, as it's so mind-blowingly unique you can't compare it to anything.

Back to it, then.  Loved seeing Rebecca Front getting the chance to stretch herself as a performer again.  Been dying to see James Smith doing more, too, and the over-loud blokey thing is interesting so far.

[Johnny Yesno]

I liked:

"You came out of my womb!" "I live in Hampstead now"

Haha! Me too. I also liked Clive's advice to Simon: "Don't try and be funny. Just be more like your normal self."

"Wyclef Jean"

They were a bit unlucky with this, weren't they? I'm assuming Wyclef hadn't announced his political intentions until after the show was filmed.

[Vitalstatistix]

I really want to like this, but I find myself having trouble sitting through a whole episode. There's just not nearly enough laughs for me.

I don't find the family dynamic convincing, the characters are all pretty 'one note', the performances (especially Front) very hammy. I find it tonally, visually drab, which is intentional but results in me itching for a change... something to bring the show to life! Amstell's voice grates on me big time, as well.

On the other hand, some of the dialogue is exceptional and I admire the premise and the thought behind the writing. Oh and James Smith is great fun.

[eluc55]

I really want to like this, but I find myself having trouble sitting through a whole episode. There's just not nearly enough laughs for me.

As someone who has sat through episodes 2, 3 and 4 no less that 5 times each, I'm afraid I cant sympathise   :)

In fact I probably watched episode 3 more than 10 times (over 2 weeks), which makes me either a nutter or a devoted enthusiast.

[Vitalstatistix]

I envy your dedication/obsession!

I'm going to stick with it because I respect your tastes Kelvin :)

I hope it grows on me. What do you think of the performances? Front really gets on my nerves...

[eluc55]

I hope it grows on me. What do you think of the performances? Front really gets on my nerves...

The performances are a curious thing. In episode 1, they were the obvious weakness for me... but I've come to love almost all of them in there own way. 

As I mentioned further up the page, Samantha Spiro as Liz is perfect, just funnier and funnier each week - I loved seeing a more manipulative, yet cheery side to her personality in episode 4, and the grandmother is also a surprising gem. She doesn't get the best lines, but she makes the most of every single word and every nervous look "Do it like an egg, dear". I just find it such a likeable performance, but one easily under-appreciated - all the time there something heated going on with the other characters, she's chipping in quietly or simply giving some fantastic looks.

I remember the moment when she leans in to the mumbling actor and says "What? What did he say" then turned to Liz, who simply shrugs, bewildered. I just love moments like that, so simple yet so effective. But not a moment that translates when written down. They just utterly make it with the performance.

Amstell... a very uneasy performance in episode 1, quite stiff and incredibly deadpan. But since then he's showed unexpected complexity. Its easily the most nuanced performance in the show I think; often very ambiguous how we're meant to interpret him; the moment with the tapes in episode 4 actually makes you wonder how genuine he's ever been about his "artistic integrity", and his contempt for his past/Buzzcocks... It turns all that on its head and suggests he's far more self obsessed and immodest than we were originally led to believe - although of course its been hinted at before with things like The Egg Play. In fact, I now think his performance is really good ; whether because I've adjusted to what he's doing with it, because its actually improved or because the scripts are designed to peel away at it, I can't say. So many different ways to read it, though, and by episode 4, we can see some very unpleasant traits seeping through; the talk with his sick Grandfather stands out; just a horribly selfish, thoughtless one sided conversation wrapped up as a impassioned plea to "live life", when he's only risking it. He does contempt expertly as well "You're full of pips".

Rebecca Front... hmm... this is the trickiest call. I like her now, as I've seen more of her. Its certainly a confident perfomance, and she's had so many great moments "My oven", her mouthed "fuck off", her little songs, and her sheer enthusiastic gusto. Its also telling that she was a failed child singer (a throwaway line in episode 3), who wasn't allowed to travel away from home; now she's obsessed with fame, celebrity, money and it makes you think: the thought of her son chucking all that away doesn't seem so selfish when you realise she just wants him to make the most of a chance she never had. That's the kind of writing I love about this show. A single throwaway line turns a character on its head.

For me, the question isn't whether its a good performance from Front, but whether the "Rebecca Fraaant" accent was a wise choice. Personally I have no issue with it; in fact, I wonder if part of the problem for so many of us (me included in the first few weeks) is that most sitcoms these days, and certainly most sitcoms like this, are all built around very naturalistic performances, whereas this is much broader, performance wise. I like the fact an actor is throwing themselves into "playing a character" in a comedy like this. And in any case, I've really come to like her performance, even if the character is probably the most obviously unlikable - the moment where she sees the car Clive's chosen; its bad enough that she doesn't even seem to care about Simon's feelings, but when she asks Simon to lie for her, and actually gets quite annoyed, well its horrible really. As someone who thought her character in TTOI was unfunny, underwritten and tedious, I'm glad to be back enjoying seeing her on screen delivering really funny lines, in a frequently very funny way. Oh and the way she says "Simon" when he starts shouting at Clive in ep 4... now that's good acting.

Clive... Clive I dislike. There I said it. The one character I still cant get behind; his dialogue is slightly too contrived, and James Smith is just... well, wierd. Its such an obviously false persona he's playing, and its so painfully unsubtle what he's trying to achieve. It was only really this week, where the dialogue called for less cheesy "captain" turns of phrase, that I started to appreciate the character more. Although I did love the whole toilet scene at the end of episode 2. Nice seeing that like all the characters in this show - bar adam - there's something more beneath the front he portrays; a very angry, aggressive, controlling side, and from the "stained children" story this week - he fled the country - more immoral than the cosy image he presents.

Overall, I think the performances are good, and some like Spiro, and increasingly Amstell, are great.       
 

[eluc55]

One more thing: isn't it wonderful seeing a sitcom on TV that treats a) being gay and b) being part of a minority religion as completely, utterly normal. No cheap jokes, no plot lines built around them, no awkward slips, no "issues"; the scene with the actor Amstell fancies... probably the best handling of sexuality I've ever seen in a British comedy. It just felt so irrelevent that he was gay, so normal to him and everyone else. No mincing queens, no innuendos, no lazy gags, or muttered comments to highlight how bloody bad bigotry is... And the fact that some people hadn't even picked up on the fact they're Jewish until recently (although it means they'd miss out on the cracking Mel Gibson gag), again highlights how integrated it is to the story, without having to be clumsily highlighted. They're background details, character decoration... not issues to be man handled or abused for a cheap laugh or spurious point. 

Yet another thing this show should be applauded for. In fact something, which if nothing else, it should probably be remembered for years down the line.
 

[mini goatbix]

One more thing: isn't it wonderful seeing a sitcom on TV that treats a) being gay and b) being part of a minority religion as completely, utterly normal. No cheap jokes, no plot lines built around them, no awkward slips, no "issues"; the scene with the actor Amstell fancies... probably the best handling of sexuality I've ever seen in a British comedy. It just felt so irrelevent that he was gay, so normal to him and everyone else. No mincing queens, no innuendos, no lazy gags, or muttered comments to highlight how bloody bad bigotry is... And the fact that some people hadn't even picked up on the fact they're Jewish until recently (although it means they'd miss out on the cracking Mel Gibson gag), again highlights how integrated it is to the story, without having to be clumsily highlighted. They're background details, character decoration... not issues to be man handled or abused for a cheap laugh or spurious point. 

Yes, absolutely. Something I really liked about Amstell when he was on Buzzcocks he acted like his sexuality wasn't public property or a fashion accessory, while still occasionally making an angry rant or sly joke against homophobia. In Grandma's House he isn't acting Sexually Different, his concerns are ones that a straight person can identify with completely - ie not knowing if the person he fancies likes him back, feeling awkward around him and so on - so it feels inclusive rather than alien, which is great.

And the same with the Jewishness, which is pretty common in American comedy, but much less so in England.

[Fry]

I am really happy there are at least a few people as excited by this show as I am. I, also, have watched each episode more than 4/5 times each and I've yet to tire of it. Although I do rate James Smith as Clive a little more highly than you do I think, Kelv. He does feel very false and forced, but I think it plays along awell with the overarching theme of pretenses or falseness within the whole series. What I love about clive is how the dyed hair, the forced mateyness and the oddly macho turns of phrase (said with a slight weakness in the voice, most of the time) kind of point to a man either entering, or recovering from a nervous breakdown or mid life crisis.
 
"It's the feather in the crisps!"
"It's the feather, isn't it the wrong crisps!?"
"[mouthing] They're all shit."

[eluc55]

What I love about clive is how the dyed hair, the forced mateyness and the oddly macho turns of phrase (said with a slight weakness in the voice, most of the time) kind of point to a man either entering, or recovering from a nervous breakdown or mid life crisis.

Ooh, that's something I hadn't considered, and would actually draw another link between him and Simon. I also hadn't picked up on the dyed hair, which is a nice touch.

[Fry]

What do you make of Adam, Kelvin. I can't help but think he is the weakest, most ill definied character in the show. He is a conduit for some quite funny lines and moments, but he just isn't as interesting as anyone else. Teenage boy, interested in the internet, sex and swearing. That's about it.

[Fry]

I suppose he serves a purpose in, by simply being there, he stops Simon from being the youngest in the house.

[eluc55]

I agree he's the most one-note character, although I think the main point is that he's totally, utterly honest and will say pretty much anything, whereas all the other characters, and especially Simon and Clive are hiding behind obvious pretences. Adam's the counter point to that. The one whose too honest. 

He also seems to have the confidence that Simon had as a child, but now (superficially at least) lacks - something the acting coach picked up on.

He's had a few good moments; running up the stairs shouting "pussy" at his mother, most memorably.