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The Tumbleweed Awards 2005 - Results

Started by Neil, December 13, 2005, 07:06:36 PM

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weirdbeard

Quote from: "Anonymous"I'm ashamed to admit that I only looked at this after the article in Metro this morning that said there was an award for "most unironic ironicism". I almost voided, and I was fully expecting some horrendous festival of in-joke sneering that would divert me for 10 minutes and which I could leave going "what a bunch of tossers" and feel good about being a 100% leech when I last visited CaB.

But I was wrong, and Metro have done you a disservice (though I'm sure Associated Newspapers are very pleased to promote the site next to an advert for "In TODAY'S Daily Mail..."). Every TV comedy commisioner should be forced to read it, and I'm glad I did. I think it's articulated all the reasons why I haven't watched a full series of a TV comedy since "Attention Scum".

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/articles/21205155?source=Metro&ct=5

QuoteSince The Office first hit TV screens, he has been acknowledged as the king of British comedy.

But Ricky Gervais's reign looks to be over after he lost out to Little Britain stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas at the British Comedy Awards last night.

Just to rub salt into the wound, a rival ceremony handed Gervais an unwanted hat-trick of prizes for being one of Britain's worst comedians.

Gervais's latest show, Extras, was nominated for a record five BCA awards. The two it did collect both went to his co-star Ashley Jensen, who was hailed as best comedy actress and best comedy newcomer.

Gervais lost out in the best comedy actor catergory to Chris Langham, star of Help and satire The Thick Of It. Extras was also beaten by Little Britain in the best TV comedy category.

It is the second year running Walliams and Lucas have scooped the prize for their sketch show, whose catchphrases are repeated in school playgrounds across the nation.

Gervais' mood was further soured by news of the Tumbleweeds awards, the organisers of which claim they are 'an antidote to the increasingly pathetic British Comedy Awards'. A team of 'comedy experts' voted Gervais to be the worst stand-up, most annoyingly selfobsessed chat show guest, and said he uttered the most unironic ironic-ism.

Little Britain was voted most over-rated show in the poll, organised by the Cook'd and Bomb'd website. Balls Of Steel, the stunt show which included Tom Cruise among its victims, was named worst overall comedy and worst entertainment programme in its poll.


Jonathan Ross, compere of the BCA ceremony, was beaten by Paul O'Grady to the best comedy entertainer prize.

The X Factor was named best comedy entertainment programme, while The Simpsons won best international comedy TV show for a second year running.

Festival, a film about the Edinburgh Fringe, was named best comedy film.

Channel 4's Shameless was named best TV comedy drama and The Thick Of It won the best new TV comedy trophy.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

I still can't imagine how "anyone registered to an internet forum to do with comedy" has been changed to "a team of comedy experts." What the fuck?

I suppose if they said it was voted on by members of the public, that'd lend it more credibility?

Slackboy

But it says
Quote'comedy experts'
not
Quotecomedy experts
or even
Quote"comedy experts"
which implies that they don't mean it. A set of these: ' imply that no-one is actually being quoted while these: " imply a direct quotation from a source or that a character is speaking those words. Apparently. Maybe a more qualified 'whore can explain this a bit better since I'm just going on what a bloke in the pub told me after reading that panda book.

Ha, it's so easy to dismiss opinions you don't agree with with sarcasm, isn't it.

Slackboy

Sorry, are you being sarcastic there or not?

Catalogue Trousers

Oh, really....(yawn)...how very interesting...

jjhjkhkhkjhkjh

i live in cesky republiky so dont see much british comedy, only monty python repeats in english air on czech M2, and on one of the german channels there is a nightly comedy strand, which shows dubbed versions of the all-female-comedy sketch show i cant remember the name of, dom joly's trigger happy tv, bbc's coupling, and the silent hidden camera show which i think could be presented by ian wright in the uk. as for us stuff, a sitcom with helen hunt and the guy from aliens and my 2 dads, and some other stuff.

chris morris and peter cook are unknown. the only other comedy shows are on german mtv: german-dubbed version of brilliant & under-rated mtv hidden camera show BOILING POINTS, and UN-DUBBED chapelle's show repeats.
the trailer for borat's presenting of mtv europe music awards was hilarious ("pimp my plough" etc) but the show itself was weak.

this has precisely this much to do with the topic: none. just wanted to see if i could post without registering

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quoteall-female-comedy sketch show i cant remember the name of

Smack The Pony?

slim

I love broken English, it's so cute.

Almost Yearly

I'd say the whole thing comes this close to answering any and all charges that can be levelled against it:

>| |<


So while I definitely, definitely raise a glass to Neil & Batman & Robin, I hope next year it comes this close:

>||<

Anonymous

Top notch - great work. Thanks everyone involved.

Should have added some comments I guess - just thought you wanted the votes. Next time, next time.

Artemis

Fucking hell.

'Guest' above is me.

Mother fucking computers.


butnut

Can anyone tell me what the Dr. Who fans are saying? You have to register to read that site.

fanny splendid


butnut


Regular John

Hahaha, nicely done Fanny.

(said the post-op tranny to the surgeon)

Blue Jam

Hello everyone, not posted for a while but I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading this, made me miss TV even less and I didn't think that was possible. Nnice work, everyone involved.

Oh, and:
http://www.beedogs.com/

Anonymous

Of course it's safe to say that comedy in 2005 is in the shit. Virtually everything that has been produced is just re-packaged and reconstituted in some form of panicky quest for originality. Loosely speaking, Nathan Barley is The Office-lite, The Catherine Tate Show is Harry Enfield & Chums - New! Improved!, and Breaking News was The Day Today:Battle-Worn Limited Edition From Bandai.

Given the vitriolic and sharpened arguments for what was bad according to The Tumblies, it's safe to say that there's going to be a lot of equally defiant counter-arguments. I, for one, found The Mighty Boosh to be the most fun I'd had sat in front of the TV, for ages (I hated Fielding and Barrett in Nathan Barley, but I totally respect them in their own field). I found The Boosh to be one of  the most refreshing and (enjoyably) weird shows since Vic Reeves Big Night Out.. and.. as I think about it, it actually reminds me quite a lot of Vic & Bob in general... in a kind of reconstituted way.

Anyway, I' glad that there are some comedians out there that are yet to have the knives out against them. I'm glad that Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson haven't come along yet with a misjudged Spaced 3 and created something bloated and awful giving everyone ample reason to turn against them, like Morris has with Nathan Barley after four years of famine-like silence. I'm pleased that people like Stuart Lee and Richard Herring are still reaping acclaim for their sperate projects (whether it be no-frills stand-up, or taling about comics on Resonance FM, or opera alike!) I'm glad that people like Rob Newman and Mark Thomas are touring (independently and together at times), getting books out, and doing comedy that it as much educational and original as it is funny to listen to.

mayer

The Chuckle Reich have been laying into both Pegg and Stevenson for ages. Pegg especially though. Check the search function for the Shaun of the Dead thread, or search for "Pegg" and "that voice".

Personally? I loved Spaced (though the second series was slightly overloaded with too many straight references compared to the first, or perhaps they were more noticeable because the script wasn't as good, still some great episodes mind), and Shaun of the Dead both.

And I like Pegg doing "that voice". I think it's silly and funny and accurate.

Neil

Er, I like Spaced, actually, and I thought Shaun Of The Dead was great.  And yeah, too many damn references in the second series.  I was thinking the other day that if there was a Spaced series 3 I would probably find it tiresome, just because of the likes of the Man Stroke Woman cast who are now imitating the modified Partridge acting of Pegg.

mayer

I never said you were in the Reich though :-)

I admired Pegg and Wright going and doing a movie, despite people thinking "definite marketed hit", I think it could've so easily fallen on its arse, and it was ambitious and praiseworthy them going for it, and more importantly, for me, they pulled it off!.

I agree with you about a third series, much as I love Spaced I think it wouldn't work. Partly because the style's been appropriated, and partly because I think the show as a bit of a period peice for that whole fin de siecle thing.

The Upright Man

Don't get me wrong - I absolutely loved Spaced, both series actually. What I meant to say was that there was (is?) the possibility that a 3rd series would just be too disappointing to bear, sheerly because of the weight of expectation (which I personally don't feel. Spaced is fine as it is).

One other thing about the Tumblies that I didn't quite understand at first, but I think I get the gist of now, is Gavin and Chand's notion that The Office is a racist sitcom - or, at least, in decades time it will become the hazy notion of a racist sitcom (Most Unironic Ironic-ism Award). Ok, I've got to disagree with that for several reasons, not least of which comparing it to Love Thy Neighbour. If you don't want to run the risk of reducing your memory of a sitcom to a hazy generalization, get Love Thy Neighbour on DVD and try comparing David Brent to Eddie Booth. I will admit that half a decade ago, I hated Gervais on the 11 O'Clock Show. I found his 'persona' spiteful, ignorant and shocking, and yes his current stand-up material is pretty much the same sort of stuff, except now he regularly cracks up at his own jokes to expose the shocking obsurdity of his own wrongness and the fact that 'He can't really be that ignorant can he? Of course not - look, he's laughing!'  But The Office is a different kettle of fish.

The most memorable of David Brent's racist faux pas are in the first series when he asks Sanj to do his 'Ali G', then relaises that it's not Sanj that does the impression but it is in fact 'the other one' (to whit Sanj suggests the noun 'p**i'). We all knew that was what was on Brent's mind and we all saw it coming because Brent is a essentially a sad bloke who was always going to cock-up because he's got cameras in front of him, he was just going to get too excited and say something to expose his lack of mental prowess. In the second series of The Office, Brent says the 'Black Man's Cock' joke several times at an office party, every time to the wrong crowd. Yes, it's ignorant what he says, everyone can see that, but it's his batteringly relentless craving for attention that's funny here, never the joke.  

As the series progresses, Brent bluntly attempts to get the friendship of mixed-race colleague Oliver by hitting him with numbing comments about how good Denzel Washington is and how Sidney Poitier is his all-time favourite actor. The only comaprison between The Office and Love Thy Neighbour that can be drawn is that in both shows, the white guy ends up looking like a cunt, and that's that. Love Thy Neighbour is about the age-old suburban nightmare of bickering neighbours, except in this case the foes are both male and one of them is white and is deeply xeonophobic, frustrated and ignorant to a caricature. The Office is a fictional documentary about a paper merchants and unfortunately the manager of the place is so excited about the fact that he's the subject of such attention that he blows it by exposing himself as being nothing more than a lonely man, who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and the cameras being there just seem to make matters worse.

Now some could say at this point that Gervais is being a bastard by now taking the piss out of people on the verge of nervous breakdowns, but he does no such thing. Look at episodes where Neil (Brent's boss in s2) comes in and ends up telling Brent off for stuff that he really shouldn't be needing too; Brent is left fuming in his claustrophobic little office, no one to confide in and he ends up kicking his desk, swearing and just generally unable to express his frustation over the fact that he considers himself to be 'a fat little slug' (check out the way he speaks to Tim and Gareth after Neil's in-house cricket match) or 'fatty fatty toad-boy' (after the Pop Eye comments). None of that is funny as such, and isn't meant to be. Eddie Booth's venomous language towards West Indian neighbour Bill is always meant to cause chuckles, essentially because he's using words that people would enjoy the show would probably find amsuing and, dare I say it, familiar. If Eddie Booth were to slip in his sledgehammer-like confidence and suffer anything like David Brent's anxiety, he would have probably gone round to Bill and Barbie's house and shot the pair of them - it's that different.

I think it's fair to knock Gervais' now paper-thin act of being humble about his awards and all that - he is just too huge to act so meek, and anyway it doesn't suit his not-at-all meek stage persona, so that makes it almost schizophrenic. Extras, as much as I liked that too (don't worry, I won't bore you with my armchair critic decosntruction of it) is just too glossy, too mainstream and stinks of money comapred to The Office. Gervais and Merchant even look richer on the DVD special features - both are sporting a healthy tan, look totally non-stressed, and both are very self-congratularory about the whole thing, especially Gervais' tireless pursuit for playground practical jokes.

People have always been intelligent enough to analyse something of their time enough to make up their own minds. I'm sure that plenty of people who enjoyed In Sickness & In Health on it's original transmission could see it as the satirical powerhouse it was compared to the blunt, gutter humour of Love Thy Neighbour. Thirty years later, we can take something massive like The Office and talk about it until we're blue in the face via the net, a million bad TV guides, the publication of full series of comedy scripts (who actually buys those?) and the urgently quick release of eveything on DVD. There is no reason to start dismissing The Office as something trivial and essentially vulgar at any point, unless of course, 1) it really isn't destined to be a classic (but it's five years old already and pushing strong), or 2) something unbelievably amazing comes in it's place.. but this hasn't been a good year for comedy, according to some, so when is the dam going to break? R Fox.

Clerk

Brilliant, had me laughing my head off.

zozman

Just finished reading that and really enjoyed it.  I don't go in CC much, but I'm still astonished that the whole thing passed me by.  Must pay attention....

Well done everyone involved.

Anonymous

Very, very clever, witty stuff. Good on you!

For the record though: The Thick of It, Family Guy, Peep Show and CYE are superb shows, much above the dribbly BBC3 "press the red button and watch a man dancing" shite that you get nowadays.

guest benn

why don 'you" turn off yer tv sets and do something less boring insted! You might even come up with something as original and insightful as I have.

fEDORA


Anonymous

Hi.
Apologies in advance for what is enevitably going to be a rather angry post but - What do you imagine gives you the right to objectify your own tastes in comedy and turn it into some kind of criteria for what is 'good' and 'bad'. These things are opinions - you have no right to objectify them any more than Wooton, DOlan, Brooker or Morris does. But the thing is - they do and so do you, it seems.
You are doing exactly what you claim to be fighting against - i.e, claiming that your own personal tastes are the way things should be and trying to make them criterias for what other people should do (exactly like the people who make shit like spoons, balls of steel etc...) This is a very strange experience for me because I agree with everything, everything you are saying about the fucking ridiculously terrible state of british comedy, but reading all that, the way you've done it as if it represents objectivity - it made me so furious. What do you imagine gives you the right to do this? If you really feel you have this right then you're just like Wooton and should brake your own arms so you can't type anymore.

guest benn

aaaaah.  So you can't control comedy but you can control messages.  i'm sure something i did'nt write was added to my post.  if not sorry. my wife has gone all balls of steel wacky pranks on me.  

really.  has it come to this?

what happened to this place?

lets all make are own show and put it online.  We'll show 'em.  Teach the fuckys.  Come on now.

this is our time.

peace and fucking!