The Persuasionists

[Danger Man]

A new sitcom starting on BBC2 tonight. Previously known as 'The Scum Also Rises'.

The Persuasionists, starring Adam Buxton (BBC 6 Music's Adam & Joe, Hot Fuzz), Iain Lee (11 O'Clock Show, Absolute Radio), Simon Farnaby (Jam & Jerusalem), Daisy Haggard (Psychoville, Ashes To Ashes) and stand-up comedian Jarred Christmas (Argumental).

Marketing an unusual dairy product is the challenge for HHH&H's best creative minds, but the client is terrifying and Greg is too scared to even stay in a meeting with him. Can Emma help or will creative Billy have to break a golden rule of advertising and actually meet the client?

Keaton is played by Simon Farnaby, Billy by Iain Lee, Emma by Daisy Haggard, Clive by Jarred Christmas and Greg by Adam Buxton.

The Persuasionists is written by former advertising executive and debut screenwriter Jonathan Thake.

http://www.thepersuasionists.com/

I'll be watching on the offchance that Iain Lee starts singing "My Cock is Bigger Than Yours" at some point, though I suspect this is going to be sub-Reggie Perrin.

The 'unusual dairy product' is

Spoiler alert

cockney cheese.

[close]

[Jack Shaftoe]

Jarred Christmas

Wait, what?

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

I want to like this show, on account of the presence of Adam Buxton, but from the one clip I've seen of it (see below) it looks meh.  Some very over-the-top reaction acting from Adam in particular which is a bit of a shame.

Regardez.....

Your Mum! - The Persuasionists Episode 1 Preview - BBC Two

[Braintree]

I love Adam Buxton in his Adam and Joe form but I've always found him to be a disappointing actor.

[Neil]

I can't bloody stand any of them, with the possible exception of Adam Buxton (and even then, his aimless pissing around on YouTube tends to be horribly over-rated, and he never seems suited to these things.)  Man from Spoons and Boosh, her from Man Stroke Woman, that Aussie New Zealand twat that cements Big Brothers Big mouth's position as one of the worst things on telly, and Iain 'Iain' Lee.  It's one of the single-most depressing promo shots of all time.  "Your mum" jokes...in 2010...Christ wept.

[An tSaoi]

Is that the fucking Pot Noodle fella?! He can fuck right off for a start.

_{Disclaimer: If he's not the Pot Noodle fella I apologise.}

[Backstage With Slowdive]

I've just joined for the last 3 minutes. I can see I didn't miss anything.

[papalaz4444244]

Shit. This is like a show chosen from everyone I hate in shows that I really hate.

FUCK! Now the guy from Catherine Tate Show! Can it get any worse I wonder......

[Jackson K Pollock]

How did Lee Ross go from being one of the best child actors in the country to one of the worst adult actors? It's a tragedy, seriously.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Hang on, how long is this going on, when did it start? Does it last forever?

[An tSaoi]

I really dislike the style of acting they've elected to use.

[papalaz4444244]

I really dislike the style of acting they've elected to use.

Rentaghost?

[An tSaoi]

I dunno; it's like the whole show is comprised of scenes that were cut from The IT Crowd for being too badly-/overacted.

Edit: This "Your Mum" scene is the most tedious bit of comedy I've seen all year decade. And why is that Cockney man trying to play Boycie?

[biggytitbo]

Wow that was exceptionally awful, following the recent trend in sitcoms of been exactly like something broadcast on CBBC except with rude bits. And the character with the big pencil was almost embaressingly crap.

[Talulah, really!]

I really dislike the style of acting they've elected to use.

The whole thing reminds me of (solo) Ben Elton's sit-com writing only far, far worse (the Thin Blue Line springs to mind, though Elton has a narrative competence missing here). Over mannered acting, hideously unnatural dialogue crowbarred in simply to set up jokes that aren't worth it anyway and god knows what the audience are laughing at, they appear to laughing in the middle of sentences.

[An tSaoi]

And mercifully it's over. What a pile of rotten old cock.

You're right Talulah; I have no idea what they found funny. They must have been very very drunk.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

It's a clairvoyant audience. They're laughing at episode 2.

[SOTS]

I'm not hopeful, but I will watch this just for Dr Buckles.

[An tSaoi]

I will watch this

Er, you're a bit late.

[Tiny Poster]

Amusingly, the "Independent Fansite for BBC Twos's comedy set in the fictional advertising agency HHH&H" has been online since last July (switching site address along with each title change - originally it was called The Scum Also Rises) - the comments from viewers of the first episode seem uniformly negative!

[lipsink]

It's a clairvoyant audience. They're laughing at episode 2.

Of  different show.

I gave up half way through that, it was shite. Did nobody involved in it stop at one point and say: "This is fucking awful!"

[Tiny Poster]

Did nobody involved in it stop at one point and say: "This is fucking awful!"

No - in fact, it had at least two pilots, the first being shot (and broadcast) in 2007 with Chris Barrie as the boss. Kevin Bishop was in both the pilots too.

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

Christ, that was abysmal.
It's depressing enough that it got as far as being made in the first place, but how the hell did this manage to bypass going out on BBC3 and get straight onto BBC2?
Anyone?

[Danger Man]

I don't know. The BBC claims to have a policy of accepting and reading every single script it gets sent, with a view to turning the best ones into TV programmes.

Are they lying? Or....God help us....does this crap actually represent the best of the scripts they receive?

[lipsink]

Buxton's pilot was great I thought. But this gets commissioned, why?

[JPA]

Oh dear. Some of that dialogue was painful, and delivered in such an appalling way.

The only thing that raised a wry smile was when Buxton was walking down the corridor doing his drunk yelling and he almost lapsed into 'BLINDAAAA DATEAAAA'.

[Lord Mandrake]

Honestly, that was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. That was the worst thing that has ever happened to me.

I'm caught between utter despair and incandescant rage over that fucking TRAVESTY!!!

[Viero_Berlotti]

I tuned in expecting it to be average, but didn't think it could have got as bad as it did. Absolutely abysmal. That 'funny foreigner' character? I don't think I've seen as hideously banal a creation in any sitcom in the history of television. It's hard to know where to begin in dissecting how bad The Persuasionists was.

The only laugh I could muster was when Buckles was drunk and he slipped into one of his radio-show character voices and started harassing his co-workers for 10p, and that was probably an ad-lib they left in.

[Tiny Poster]

Iain Lee sounded as if he was still presenting the 11OCS - in 2009...
How did Jonathan Thake manage to wangle a 'created by' credit, too?

[sirhenry]

Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful has finally appeared on TheBox, probably just to show that an ad agency show can be funny.