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Brasseye, the episodes.

Started by Lumiere, April 02, 2004, 11:53:34 PM

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Lumiere

About Brasseye:
what do you think were the best and worst episodes, and why?

[/u]

Goldentony

i dunno why but

worst: science, animals

best: drugs, decline

Lumiere

Those were my eaxct choices as well, maybe with crime thrown in in the best part.

Goldentony

actually im undecided on animals

spherical cows etc, all good

hmmn

Lumiere

It's just not terribly exciting.

imitationleather

I don't get why everyone likes Drugs so much, is it because you all think that anything that mentions drugs is cool or something? It's one of the most half-baked and unfunny episodes in what was, in retrospect, a half-baked series.

Goldentony

no its not because the mention of drugs is cool or anti social its because it has funny jokes and witty comments and humorous ramlbings and urrr rmy braaaain urrrrts

imitationleather

Yeah, but it doesn't. At least not to the extent that everyone says.

Lumiere

I don't think drugs are cool at all, but it's an incredibly funny pastiche and it's so ridiculous that people believed it (especially that MP chappy) and as someone who's days of 'stoning' are long past him, it's very funny to see someone taking the piss out of the media and the public because the majority of them know fuck all but 'sciolise' as it were.

Jaffa The Cake

Best: Science, Animals (you can't not like the answer prancer), Special

Worst: Sex.

Darrell

The best episode is Crime, it succeeds on every level and is rather moving too. I don't like the new bit they added for the 2001 version, mind (the Jesus thing with the voice-over), not least for the very pedantic reason that they didn't standards-convert-and-back-again it before slotting it in.

Animals is also fantastic, though the pilot version is better.

I think Science gets a little bland at times (and the Briers hoaxing still leaves an unpleasant aftertaste), Moral Decline veers from spectacular (Sutcliffe!) to the tedious (the bloody 'drugs at work' bit), and the Special is just plain awful (bar a small few throwaway gags, such as the "disguised as a school" quickie). Sex has a few moments that take far too long to get a very basic and obvious point across, the wanking senator segment in particular lasting forever and going nowhere.

Drugs is great, but it's still just a string of set-pieces that don't really gel to a particularly coherent show.

Rev

'Crime' is by far my favourite of the series.  It's the most rounded and re-watchable.  I've never liked 'Moral Decline', it just seems like a clip show made up of bits and pieces that didn't fit into any of the other episodes

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: "Darrell"

.... to the tedious (the bloody 'drugs at work' bit), and the Special is just plain awful (bar a small few throwaway gags, such as the "disguised as a school" quickie).
.

Actually, the drugs at work sketch is on of my favourites.

And, please don't all hit me at once, but I've also found the Special to be the most entertaining after repeated viewings (albeit a lot less subtle), although Drugs is probably still my fave. (Don't think drugs are 'cool' or anything, just find that the references are spot on)

Horses for courses I guess.

Mister Six

Haven't watched it for ages now, but Sex never fails to disappoint. Outside of a few of the chat show interviews, all of the sketches are overlong and unfunny and the "would you beat them off?" interview is exactly the sort of lazy shit that everyone complained about when Daisy Donovan used to do it.

Well we've probably had this conversation dozens of times before but it's always interesting to see the differences in peoples tastes.

I would say... In order - best to last...

1/ Crime: This is my favourite because of two very strong sketches, Cowsick and Borstal. I'm not a big fan of celeb praks but this episode also contains my favourite hoax - Key 2000!

2/ Sex: Second to crime this one because I loved the in-studio Kilroyesque aspect to it and the gay navy sketch ranks up there with my favourites from crime. Great opening too, love Morris' over the top fake orgasm!

3/ Drugs: I like this one because it's about DRUGS and DRUGS are cool... No I don't. I like it because of a) the opening gag with morris out on the streets looking for daft drugs b) the Cake hoax - second only to key 2000.

4/ Moral Decline: It's not over high on the list granted, but I've always enjoyed the 'live' feel of it which marks it out from the others. I happen to also like the drugs at work sketch - i know a lot of people find this one tedious and yes it is drawn out but the guy who freaks out at the table is fantastic. Also Austin Tassltine (please dont correct my spelling, I cant be bothered to look it up) always amuses me because it's the one instance i can think of in BE and TDT where Morris plays someone who really is a proper berk - even his nasty and stupid characters usually come across with some level of cool but Tassaltine is unforgivingly useless.

5/ Animals: Great when I first saw it, now it irritates me - Don't like the Carla the elephant hoax especially as some of the people involved in it seem genuinely upset about carlas plight (yes okay they are stupid to believe it but I still dont approve). It also has strange bits that don't seem to fit in with the series - the sudden female narration over the skit of people telling the time via the diving dog is odd isn't it? In it's defence it does contain the line that made me laugh the most "The ancient egyptians worshiped cats because they thought they were funny."

6/ Science: Science was the one I accidently didn't tape during the first run of Brasseye and as such was the one I watched the least over the years - as such it's the only one that still seems fresh-ish to me now. However the hoaxes in this one are weak at best and as I think about it now no sketches are leaping into my mind.

7/ Special: Easily the worst of the bunch. I don't hate it as much as others, it's grown on me a bit after repeated viewings but theres something about Morris' presentation in this that it lacklusture and very few laugh moments to be had. One thing I have grown to enjoy which hardly anybody else does is the song at the end. Sorry! I just like the idea of the series ending with a big musical number!

Mister Six

Quote from: "Munday's Chylde"6/ Science: Science was the one I accidently didn't tape during the first run of Brasseye and as such was the one I watched the least over the years - as such it's the only one that still seems fresh-ish to me now. However the hoaxes in this one are weak at best and as I think about it now no sketches are leaping into my mind.

Three words and a full stop:

Invisible Lead Soup.

Artemis

Funny but I've almost OD'd on BE now. I rarely laugh out loud anymore unless I'm particularly in the mood for it. That said, I still recognise nearly all of them as classics.

ANIMALS: I love this, perhaps the most. Carla Lane does look seriously upset and maybe I'm disturbed in the head but that makes it so much more satisfying for me. Particularly love the chart Jatt pulls out with completely unrelated and often irrelevant topics in the form of a pie chart which Lane just nods her head and resigns herself to. Yes, this was, for me, the strongest 'Eye.

SCIENCE: Was the one where I most said to myself 'surely they can't be that stupid?' As Nick whats-his-face describes a girl just a few inches tall and Stephen thingy describes the reigning down of a 'ton of invisible lead soup' - very funny and a great episode but just pipped to the post by Animals I feel. Gets better as it goes along though - all the 'good science / bad science' stuff is a bit dull.

CRIME: I didn't actually enjoy Key-2000 although Feltz's passion and the pregnant pause at the end of her 'I hate you' line was priceless. This is one of my favourites though, if only because it contains the line 'swear-hili' and shows someone pissing on one of 'Paul McCartney's' top hats. Also, at the start, if seems as if Morris is cut off just before the opening titles kick in - qould love to have seen the full unused version of that opener on the DVD...

SEX: This has diminished with repeat viewings, I have to say. Best moment is in 'Belgium;s favourite show' - the bit right at the end when Eldon's head comes up and goes down really slowly at the back of the set - it never fails to make me laugh out loud. Also directly following that, Morris's little sniggers as he considers who he'd 'hump' followed by a 'no' as if to say "well of course not!". Overall though I found it doesn't hold up so well to repeat viewings.

DRUGS: Like a wise man just said, it does appear as if this one was a series of loosely cobbled together different pieces. Particularly like the way the stereo does a full 360 degree spin as it's taken out of the picture with David Amis - you just see the end of it flipping back on itself for no apparent reason. And Yer Edmunds does say "Shatner's bossoon" however this does grate after you see it for the third time in a row.

DECLINE: The worst for me. It just doesn't really do much for me. Can't say why, it just fails to excite me. Only saving grace is Ted Maul's delivery of the line "used to work for a bit, this, until the local villagers clogged it up with sick. Sick's like a metAphor for the way these people live their lives" or something similar. Superb delivery.

BES: Just didn't re-create that ol'magic even though I was increidbly anal about wanting to do that. Julia Davis looked out of her depth astonishingly enough, at times I feel it did actually over-step the mark, and the only bits I remember finding particularly amusing were the lines "let's bash this dog's brain's out" and "a paedohile would be really non-plussed if you opened your mouth and that came out so learn it."

Overall a fantasticly creative and original show, classic comedy gold which had its hits and misses and totally deserved a better DVD.

It Was Cancer

Brass Eye for me isn't a patch on The Day Today but I still love it.  It doesn't make me laugh out loud nearly as often though, and I haven't watched it in ages.

But on the countdown, we have: *TOTP chart music*

1/ CRIME

This to me is superb. Have to agree with Munday's Chylde as to the reasons- Cowsick and Key 2000.  

2/ DRUGS

I know it gets a lot of stick, but the sheer bravery of Morris walking down the all Saint's Road, harrassing drug dealers and dressed like a gay lampshade amazes me every time.  I do find the whole Cake fiasco very funny, especially the contributions of Noel "The Boss" Edmunds and MP David Amis MP.

3/ SEX

Apart from the whole pointless "Dong-gress" sketch, I love the episode.

4/ SCIENCE

The whole idea of heavy electricity is brilliant, as is invisable lead soup. Steven Berkoff and Caesar the Geezer made me laugh with their pure enthuasism and belief in it.

5/ DECLINE

For Sutcliffe the Musical and the Ballykreen sketch.

6/

BES

The irritating musical number at the end makes me laugh.  I think the episode was well executed and made a good point but it does get too close to the bone sometimes.

7/

ANIMALS

The only thing I laugh at in that episode is the line, "She's got eyes..."

Darrell


Andy Spaschrist

I liked any episode that contained the slightest whiff of female nudity.

thatmuch

Quote from: "Mister Six"the "would you beat them off?" interview is exactly the sort of lazy shit that everyone complained about when Daisy Donovan used to do it.

Absolutely - I know Morris likes to indulge the 13 year old in him sometimes but he can do better than that. It was even more puzzling to me at the time as I was only about 36 and didn't know what 'beat them off' meant.

The antipathy that the Special gets is interesting. It certainly loses its way a few times but the use of graphics/music is stunning and the bus tour, the Victorian prostitute speaking with a child's voice, the pedophile not fancying Morris's 'son', the JLB-8 sequence and the song at the end are brilliant - 'But maybe the day after that...' made me feel like a nonce, which was just the intended effect.
I don't really care about laughing out loud - all of those scenes were funny and limb-twisting at the same time, like Blue Jam at its best.

Entropy Balsmalch

Hate to sound all inbetweeny - but they''ve all got their good and bad parts.

I think Crime starts well, but the celeb pranks and Key 2000 parts are some of the worst in the series.

Decline has got some great bits, especially the less edited version that came out on DVD and was shown more recently - but the Austin Tastletine OB, the "woman in the road" and the "in the galllery" bit are pretty ropey.

Drugs is a well rounded episode, but the celeb pranks have worn very thin for me and I can't watch it now.

Sex is perhaps the most constistent of the epsiodes and I can't really think of a bit I don't like at the moment.

Animals is a great series opener, but again, the celeb pranks have worn thin over the years and make it, for me, the least watchable - apart from the phonecall to the woman from Baywatch at the end which still makes me chortle to this day "You put a wire over a pea?"

Science is the one which stands most repeat viewing for me as it is the most Day Today-ish and not trying too hard to be contraversial - although once more I skip through the celeb bits.

Special I'm still quite fond of - although it has some of the worst lines in it and the studio bits don't quite work technically it is easily the best and the "That's an obscene image is it?" is still one of my favourite Brasseye moments ever.

Overall, they've dated quite badly - not through Morris's or any of the contributors faults, just because they've been immitated so often and - this is my fault - watched too often, so as to spoil any shock value they had first time around.

Jam on the other hand.....

Lumiere

Quote from: "Entropy Balsmalch"

Key 2000 part is one of the worst in the series.

Jam on the other hand.....

Thankyou! I always thought it was bloody awful, but everyone else thought it was great when I showed it to my friends....

What about Jam?

Darrell

Quote from: "Entropy Balsmalch"Jam on the other hand.....

...wasn't even good first time round!

butnut

Quote from: "Lumiere"
Quote from: "Entropy Balsmalch"

Key 2000 part is one of the worst in the series.

Jam on the other hand.....

Thankyou! I always thought it was bloody awful, but everyone else thought it was great when I showed it to my friends....

Yes - I've never been very keen on that bit. Especially the Venessa Feltz bit. Although she is made to look stupid, it simply isn't funny and leaves me feeling fairly uncomfortable.

On a vaguely related point, a brainless friend of mine once said that she hated Brass Eye, because it's just the same joke again and again. Now, while I will support BE until I die (Brass Eye United!), I found it very hard to completely disprove the point and this has been bugging me for ages.

Could anyone do this for me?

Can't be bothered to think about this in depth, but I also think Key 2000 drags on far too long on what is essentially one joke.

Lumiere

I just watched Animals again, I found it really funny this time.

Darrell

Quote from: "Lumiere"I just watched Animals again, I found it really funny this time.

Have you seen the pilot? It pisses on the transmitted version.

Entropy Balsmalch

Quote from: "Lumiere"
Quote from: "Entropy Balsmalch"
Jam on the other hand.....
What about Jam?

I hate Jam first time around - mostly from repeat listenings to Blue Jam.

I felt it was both over done and under done at the same time if that's possible.

It was after watching Jaaaaam that I came round to it.

And now a few years down the line watching it on DVD the other night I realised what an excellent series it was - with no weak episodes and only the odd weak sketch.

Each gets the balance of dark horror, simple sketch and sureal nonsence just right.

The film work, the sound and the editing is all a technical marvel - I now prefer Jam to Jaaaaam as well and can see why the remix-version was ditched.

Still when I see www.jamcredits.com come up at the end I think "Genius".

Not going to be the most well-received opinion on here, but there you go.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

I was blown away by Animals when it went out - so much going on, so much detail. Drugs has some ropey sketch stuff, but it's probably the strongest for the hoaxes.

The other four are less good, albeit with startling bits.

I refuse to acknowledge the Special as part of Brass Eye.