New Chris Morris Series! But What Will It Be...?

[Partridge's Love Child]

It's the law of diminishing returns, though, isn't it.  When someone ploughs out shit for long enough, you expect the next thing to be shit too.  I like to think of it as the Bowie In The 1980s Effect.

I still don't like the crapping on things before you've seen them thing, but I'm not sure TJ's guilty of it this time anyway.  I thought the "can we actually be arsed" bit was pretty savvy.  I'm certainly not getting excited this time.

[Munday's Chylde]

What needs sending up about suicide bombers? Has the media coverage of such bombings been particularly sensationalised? I can't imagine how you could sensationalise such a thing...  I wouldn't be too opposed to a second series of barley if he's taken onboard some of the criticisms. Am I excited about the prospect of a new morris project? No. My hopes are low. You know what I would like though? A musical. He could easily do one and it could easily be fantastic.

[thewomb]

I for one hope Morris continues to ignore all of you wrong people and continues to progress and get funnier with each successive project. Another series of Brass Eye or The Day Today is not going to happen, and I wouldn't want it to.

[The Mumbler]

I for one hope Morris continues to ignore all of you wrong people and continue to progress and get funnier with each successive project.

Hoping and wishing are, however, two different things.

I'd settle for Morris doing a DJ show on Radio 2 on Saturday lunchtimes or something.  The station's controller claims to be a big fan.

[The Mumbler]

I like to think of it as the Bowie In The 1980s Effect.

Although even then, there was Absolute Beginners, This Is Not America, Cat People, the Scary Monsters album and the three Let's Dance singles.  And in a probably-just-me-then comment, Loving The Alien.

[thewomb]

hope  

  1. To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.
  2. Archaic. To have confidence; trust.

[Darrell]

You know what I would like though? A musical. He could easily do one and it could easily be fantastic.

Only if the gist of the musical was 'artist pastiches about an inappropriate taboo subject matter'.

See, I'm that disenchanted with the man's output that I'm even slagging off his good stuff.

[Boss Mew]

I like to think of it as the Bowie In The 1980s Effect.

Does that mean Nathan Barley was 'The Tin Machine' effect?

(I quite liked Barley...berate away....)

[El Unicornio, mang]

I wonder if he's ever thought about trying his hand at writing a novel? Just a thought, I can't really think of any other medium he hasn't tried. Except maybe cooking. "Cooking with Chris Morris", I'd watch that. He'd probably use a lot of jam, hehehe

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

I just want him presenting a radio music show again. All would be forgiven after one ridiculous added on keyboard solo. Would he still be capable of doing a radio show like he used to? I think and hope so. Please no more Nathan Barley though.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

How many people still trot out the 'Chris is the dark godlike bumgenius who socks it to LOL NO Daily Mails' opinion these days though? From what I read, 'I wish he'd just go back to being silly on the radio' has become the new default opinion.

Much as I dislike his post-Brass Eye projects and the po-facedness that came with them, I don't think 'going back to basics and just being funny' is the answer. Becaue that misses the point about why his earlier stuff was so good - it was the combination of comedy and anger/experimentation/radicalness that made it. Even when his target was something as slight as the launch of Virgin radio, it's still fuelled by an 'Aw...FUCK OFF!' attitude to the media. Take that away  and you end up with Denholm from The IT Crowd - funny for what it is, but a bit hollow and pointless.

Morris 'just being funny' would suit all the Ayoades of this world too, because it would allow Morris to be safely relabelled a harmless surrealist rather than a genuine subversive. People are already starting to forget just how radical OTH/TDT/BE were - how else do we explain the elevation of vastly inferior projects which have come along in their wake? 'Look, a sketch that takes the piss out of telly and has weird compound swearing - it's just like Brass Eye!' No, it's isn't...

The problem is, 'just being satirical' is just as bad. People need to stop thinking of 'funniness' and 'satire' as separate things, and realise that the best comedy fuses the two.

If Morris created something as good as Wonder Showzen, I'd be excited.

[The Mumbler]

I'd only want him on Radio 2 if he was ripping the piss out of Chris Evans and Jonathan Ross, though.  Or playing sectionsof Mo Dutta's ramblings and talking all over them.  No point in doing it otherwise.

[wheatgod]

Some fairly reliable sources are indicating that it will be some sort of hilarious satire on 'suicide bombers'. Other equally reliable sources are adamant that a second series of Nathan Barley is in pre-production. And someone on Wikipedia - and therefore obviously not a reliable source in any way, shape or form - claims that he's working on 'a film about the current state of Britain today'

Not that any of these sound that they're likely to be any good

No, they don't sound likely to be that good, because they are one line descriptions of the show's premise. Morris may be a dark media terrorist God, but not even he could blow us away with a synopsis.

OTH or TDT may well of been summarised as "A show satirising radio/television news", it reflects nothing of the outcome. From that premise it could easily turn out to be that god awful thing on BBC2 a few months back.

Its pointless to write it of so early. Even the Barley premise had potential, that it turned out shite-but-with-its-moments was by no means a forgone conclusion.

[V]

A CM episode of the Simpsons would be good

[amputeeporn]

I've been harbouring the notion that he might have been writing a novel myself. That would explain to me his lack of 'projects' in recent years and I think he could write something really interesting, whether it was satirical or funny or not. For some reason, I just can't imagine him sitting at home doing nothing but practice a Scottish accent for years on end.

Having said that, he surely is still a funny man. Maybe he could do a 'straight' comedy? That would dispell his "media terrorist" status, and maybe garnish some respect.

Tv or Radio-just not mediocre.

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

Much as I dislike his post-Brass Eye projects and the po-facedness that came with them, I don't think 'going back to basics and just being funny' is the answer. Becaue that misses the point about why his earlier stuff was so good - it was the combination of comedy and anger/experimentation/radicalness that made it. Even when his target was something as slight as the launch of Virgin radio, it's still fuelled by an 'Aw...FUCK OFF!' attitude to the media. etc etc

Yes. What I was saying was I wanted him to go back to radio because specific pieces of his early radio shows are my favourite pieces of comedy full stop, never mind in comparison to his other work, and I'd like more of it, obviously. I'm not missing any points by saying I want him to go back to doing the kind of show which I like the most. I think going back to basics ie radio, is the 'answer' because for me his funniest work was on the radio and I think he could create more of it. You seem to be twisting the 'I want him to go back to radio' view into 'I want him to go back to radio, I don't understand what makes comedy good and what makes Chris Morris good'.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Why is it, and I'm directing this more at the SOTCAA bunch I suppose, that when Ben Elton was writing something new the consensus was 'let's not write it off, he wrote Blackadder/Young Ones/Happy Families etc., everybody says Elton's past it now but he's still got it', but when Morris is writing something new, there's such a feeling of gloom?

With me, it's a lot to do with how the projects are received. Nobody claims that Ben Elton or Lenny Henry are the future of comedy any more, so they're effectively harmless - if they're quite funny, then it's a bonus. But people like Morris are still hailed as credible/important 'artists'; they still have the power to influence the direction comedy takes.

If a Ben Elton sitcom is shit, people generally just say 'That Ben Elton sitcom was shit' and that's the end of the matter. If a Chris Morris sitcom is shit, people make excuses and start combing the shows desperately hunting for good bits. After all, how do people know there wasn't a 'cat scissors' scene in Blessed? Did they watch all eight of them?

And if Blessed had been written by Morris, would they have dismissed it as quickly? Would the 'Very nice, very tasteful...I love all that' bloke become a Jonatton Yeah? figure, with everyone insisting it was 'worth watching the show just to see him'? (Which it sort of was, incidentally. I think he was on about the same level of funniness as JY anyway.)

Certainly, you could launch a pre-emptive strike on a new Ben Elton project without lots of people saying 'Jesus, get some perspective, wait till he's actually made the thing'.

[Ciarán2]

I'd only want him on Radio 2 if he was ripping the piss out of Chris Evans and Jonathan Ross, though.  Or playing sectionsof Mo Dutta's ramblings and talking all over them.  No point in doing it otherwise.

Yep, Chris Morris on Radio 2, that's what I'd like him to do next. Much in the manner The Mumbler describes here.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

I for one hope Morris continues to ignore all of you wrong people and continues to progress and get funnier with each successive project. Another series of Brass Eye or The Day Today is not going to happen, and I wouldn't want it to.

Do you think he's progressed and become more interesting over the past ten years then? If so, in what way?

[thewomb]

Brass Eye wasn't as good as The Day Today, but Jam was funnier than those two, and Nathan Barley funnier than them all.

[Ciarán2]

Brass Eye wasn't as good as The Day Today, but Jam was funnier than those two, and Nathan Barley funnier than them all.

I see what you're up to.

[thewomb]

Fuck off.

[gazzyk1ns]

Radio 2 would never let him on unless the bosses were mistaken about what sort of show he was going to do, would they? I really don't listen to much Radio 2 but from what I can gather it's the blandest and most sterile bunch of shows you could imagine. Terry Wogan hasn't stopped saying the same things for a couple of decades now, it's like he never stops rambling on and making jokes that only people over 40 laugh at, but they only switch his microphone on in the mornings. I went through a stage earlier in the year of being in a car with a working radio whilst Jeremy Vine's show was on; because of his reputation and career I expected something fairly controversial and intelligent, instead it might as well have been The Wright Stuff. "Is racism bad? What do YOU think about racism? Have the anti-racism people now gone too far? Ring us up and tell us what you think on 0800...".

Sorry, bit of a weird thing to rant about really, especially considering my relative ignorance when it comes to the station. The idea of Morris being given a Radio 2 show seems pretty far-fetched to me, though.

I shouldn't have bothered saying that I'd like to see more TDT/BE really, it's not going to happen, is it? I was just thinking about what my answer to the question "Morris is definitely doing something - if you had your way, what would it be?" was. If people are saying "Been there, done that" to BE and TDT I don't really understand why a music radio show is being called for, he's done more of those than anything else!

[Ciarán2]

I just think his Radio 1 shows displayed his talent better than any other single format. I wouldn't want a return of Brass Eye or The Day Today either. I'd just like to hear him shooting the breeze on an array of topics with a decent foible at his side (wouldn't have to be Baynham).

[The Mumbler]

Radio 2 would never let him on unless the bosses were mistaken about what sort of show he was going to do, would they?

As I said above, Lesley Douglas thinks Morris is wonderful.  She loved Baker, Evans and Morris on GLR.  Apparently.  This is no different from Matthew Bannister recruiting all three to Radio 1 from GLR.   Morris ripped the piss out of Emma Freud, Nicky Campbell and so on, so why not Radio 2?  I grant you, sideswipes at The Organist Entertains could be funny but ultimately would be fairly pointless.  A kick in the knackers at the expense of Jeremy Vine, however, would be magnificent.

[Felatio Imperative]

Looking at the options, short of a new series of Nathan Barley (which I'd probably watch anyway, even knowing I'd hate it) the other options could add up to something wonderful. If you think about it, the first and last rumours (suicide bombers, "the state of Britain today") could add up to an absolutely blinding show, ripping the arse out of the kind of fucking reactionary right-wing wankers that fill places like Have Your Say. For once he'd not be baiting the Daily Mail and the Express, he'd be targeting them directly. Someone has to do this sooner or later, they've been getting away with non-literal murder for years now.

Or perhaps he could genuinely be taking a poke at the state of this country today. I mean, there's no shortage of material is there? To say the right wing press has been getting away with it for years is pretty far fetched, as anyone who has watched comedy, or literally anything on the BBC in the past 20 years can confirm. Personally, I think yet another "ooh, aren't they reactionary" stunt would be totally un-Morris like. Let's see him attack the left and all the fuck ups they've made in this country over the past 10 years. Comedy being so utterly left wing dominated, wouldn't it be more Morris-like to go against the grain?

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

With Balls of Steel and its ilk scraping the bottom of the barrel repeatedly, isn't there an argument to be made that comedy is actually more right-wing these days?

TJ started a very interesting thread on the notion once.

[Still Not George]

Or perhaps he could genuinely be taking a poke at the state of this country today. I mean, there's no shortage of material is there? To say the right wing press has been getting away with it for years is pretty far fetched, as anyone who has watched comedy, or literally anything on the BBC in the past 20 years can confirm. Personally, I think yet another "ooh, aren't they reactionary" stunt would be totally un-Morris like. Let's see him attack the left and all the fuck ups they've made in this country over the past 10 years. Comedy being so utterly left wing dominated, wouldn't it be more Morris-like to go against the grain?

Have you actually listened to a word anyone's said about the problem with Morris' direction? We don't want him to go against the grain of comedy - that just leads to Jaaaaaaaaaaam and My Wrongs and Nathan Barley and him trying to be all fucking clever and forgetting to be funny at any point.
Y'see, while you might think comedy is left-wing (which is bullshit - Little Britain anyone?), society in general has actually got worse. Even more people spout reactionary rubbish about forners comin' over 'ere (except they've been rebranded "asylum seekers") and even more people seem to think it's acceptable to brand Europe, the bogeyman of Political Correctness and ultimately The Left for everything that's wrong with the world.
(It's even more amusing that The Left gets blamed for everything, given that the current Government is quite distinctly not left wing in it's beliefs. But that's a different thread.)
Personally, I think a Morris project ripping the piss out of news reports saying that ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS! and ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE EATING EVERYTHING! and ALL ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE RAPISTS! and so on would be fantastic. No-one else has had the balls to do it, godliek geenyus or not.

Actually, while he's at it, could someone get him to do some sketches where takes the piss out of people who believe that everything in the world happens because of Political Correctness Gone Mad, please? Ta.

[23 Daves]

I could be over-tired or just plain wrong, but I think one of Morris' problems at present is the fact that the world appears to have shifted beyond parody.  The BBC News Site strays into TDT/ BE territory almost daily, to the extent that I've given up bothering to link to instances.

Aside from that, I've long accepted that very few artists in any medium stay on top of their game for more than a few years.  Morris at the moment is the equivalent of somebody like The Super Furry Animals - was brilliant once, has been rather boringly quite good for awhile now, but hasn't gone completely off the boil to the point of absolutely no return (I'd probably stick the KLF in that category) so there's still some hope.

There were flashes of genius in Nathan Barley, and signs that his brain is still turning out marvellous ideas.  I just think his quality control needs to be a bit tighter again, and possibly having a better and more critical team around him - rather than a bunch of Morris worshippers - will see to that.  I always think there's something suspect about people who start writing or working with their admirers, and the end result is invariably never as good as you know it should be.  Sod The Mighty Boosh team and Brooker, he needs to go with some people who might actually be a bit sceptical about what he's trying to do.  (Just not anyone off here, thank you very much).

[Marv Orange]

brass balls? perhaps