Alan Partridge: Hollywood movie mooted

[Neil]

Oh dear, Neil. You couldn't be more wrong..!
IAP2 was great - so many choice moments. Far too many to mention.

Back of the net!  Enjoy your Partridge-endorsed Corn Flakes.  Don't go choking on the free plastic cup of beans now, will you?

[fastnet]

Now now. There's no need to be like that.

[Neil]

Now now. There's no need to be like that.

Oh I'm only joshing really.  However it was a tad frustrating to spend half an hour or so coming up with reasons why they shouldn't make such a thing, only to be met with your curt "everything is fine, IAP2 is fine, a movie would be fine" responses.  Can you not see how this would be just a cynical attempt by Coogan to try cracking America again, how desperate it would make him seem, and how an Americanised Partridge movie with people like Matthew Perry in it would be just awful.  How can it not make your skin crawl?  There's no need for such a movie, the only reason Coogan would agree to it now is that he knows the character has a dedicated fanbase who will happily lap up anything Partridge-related, regardless of quality, and therefore he could get to spend more time in hot tubs with the Arnolds and the Jackie Chans.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Remember Johnny Depp's appearance in The Fast Show? That was awful - especially when Depp started doing the catchphrase at the end of the sketch. That's what I imagine an Alan Partridge film would be like. I can also imagine a retread of the 'Monkey Tennis' pitching scene...

[skibz]

Strangely, I had a dream a few days back about Stephen Fry slapping Coogan with a white glove.

I have strange dreams.

[Munday's Chylde]

To my mind IAP-Series2 was the only Patridge incarnation that was poor. It would actually be kind of nice if they had a chance to redeem themselves. Coogan/Ianucci/Baynham certainly have the combined talent to make a movie work if they made the effort - i'd like to think the general disdain towards the last series won't have been lost on them and this queer old fantasy of a newstory if turned actual would be used by them as a chance to apologise and prove us petty little nerds wrong.

[DuncanC]

There's absolutely no chance Alan Partridge would be remotely well-received in the States. This sounds like it won't get very far, even if it isn't just totally made-up.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

It's worth noting that BBC America is going to air IAP this fall (presumably both series back-to-back). I guess we'll know then.

[Artemis]

I've just posted my reply as a new topic, so won't bore you with it twice here.

As far as IAP2 goes, it's generally rubbish with a few light laughs here and there. If it was a new series without any history behind it, I would have thought it was quite entertaining but didn't have much life in it. And it was more then a bit forced. That said, I do find it funnier now then I did when I first watched it.

*But that doesn't stop being absolute guff*

[TJ]

If this is true, it's an even worse idea than the new Magic Roundabout film.

[benthalo]

If only the forum hadn't crashed a few months ago. There was a fantastic thread about why IAP2 was so shit, spelt out. I miss it terribly..

Surely Coogan's doing well enough with Baby Cow to just stop. They virtually own BBC Three for God's sake and there seems to be a new show every week.

[El Unicornio, mang]

If only the forum hadn't crashed a few months ago. There was a fantastic thread about why IAP2 was so shit, spelt out. I miss it terribly..
.

I remember reading that, it didn't change my opinion of the show in the slightest.

[Neil]

If only the forum hadn't crashed a few months ago. There was a fantastic thread about why IAP2 was so shit, spelt out. I miss it terribly..

Surely Coogan's doing well enough with Baby Cow to just stop. They virtually own BBC Three for God's sake and there seems to be a new show every week.

I've just had a dig round the remains of the archived stuff...bear in mind that posts from some users will simply not show up at all (but may be quoted by people who were there for a while), and some posts will also be attributed to the wrong people!  Anyway:

http://chilled.cream.org/vw/viewtopic.php?t=17344
http://chilled.cream.org/vw/viewtopic.php?p=333972

[benthalo]

Thanks Neil. A gent as ever. You have no idea how much that pleases me.

I remember reading that, it didn't change my opinion of the show in the slightest.

Fair enough, but what would you offer as an argument for it? I can't see you rushing to defend it on the old thread, unless messages have been shaved off.

[Neil]

I should point out that it seems The Unicorn's posts are showing up as being by alan strang!  If you look at the name that comes up in a quoted segment then that's the one to believe as it'll have been a constant value at the time, whereas the names down the left-hand side will have been mixed up for people who only joined after a certain period of time.  There's still plenty of good stuff to work through there anyway.

[benthalo]

Yes, I've just noticed. Alan will be mortified by the evidence that he thinks KMKYWAP is dated and IAP is intelligently written!

[El Unicornio, mang]

Thanks Neil. A gent as ever. You have no idea how much that pleases me.

I remember reading that, it didn't change my opinion of the show in the slightest.

Fair enough, but what would you offer as an argument for it? .

The fact that I liked it? I don't really understand the rationale behind that question, it's like saying "You like Pickled Onion Monster Munch? What would you offer up as an argument for them?". I don't need to offer up an argument, I like it, it makes me laugh.

I've never really understood the idea behind not wanting people to enjoy something just because you don't like it yourself, it seems a bit mean-spirited (not that I'm saying you're doing that yourself, but some people do). I don't like figure skating, but I wouldn't try to disrupt a performance to spoil someone elses enjoyment of it. I couldn't care less if someone else doesn't like something, it would be ridiculous to stop enjoying something myself based on other people's opinions.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I should point out that it seems The Unicorn's posts are showing up as being by alan strang!  .

Bloody hell, that's weird!! They are indeed my posts. You can tell they're mine cos they're crap.

[benthalo]

The fact that I liked it? I don't really understand the rationale behind that question, it's like saying "You like Pickled Onion Monster Munch? What would you offer up as an argument for them?". I don't need to offer up an argument, I like it, it makes me laugh.

Then why on earth do you come to a comedy *discussion* board? Are you not passionate about comedy that you like? If we were sat around a pub table, wouldn't you be piping up with more than a shrug of "Well, I liked it"?

Defend the show. To assume that you disagree with everything that I said in that old thread, why does illogical plotting not matter? Do you disagree that the development of the character since KMKYWAP has been destructive? Or was KMYWAP a mess too? What are the differences between series 1 and 2 of IAP that you recognise beyond the basics of plotting and situation? These are straightforward arguments to have, surely? You have a different response. Great. Fantastic. I'm not bitter about that at all, but is your opinion really so shallow? I can't believe that it is.

[Neil]

The fact that I liked it? I don't really understand the rationale behind that question, it's like saying "You like Pickled Onion Monster Munch? What would you offer up as an argument for them?". I don't need to offer up an argument, I like it, it makes me laugh.

Then why bother coming into Comedy Chat?  The idea is to exchange views, if you like something then fight your corner and explain why and what you like about it, without relying on cliches/dead ends like "Well it makes me laugh and that's all I expect really, IMHO."  

I've never really understood the idea behind not wanting people to enjoy something just because you don't like it yourself, it seems a bit mean-spirited (not that I'm saying you're doing that yourself, but some people do). I don't like figure skating, but I wouldn't try to disrupt a performance to spoil someone elses enjoyment of it. I couldn't care less if someone else doesn't like something, it would be ridiculous to stop enjoying something myself based on other people's opinions.

Oh, stop being so paranoid.

EDIT:  Sorry, redundant reply as benthalo got there first, so instead I'll pose this question:  Why is it that people who aren't really that into comedy like Partridge so much?  You'll get folks who don't really bother with Comedy Chat appearing in Partridge threads, but not generally bothering with any of the others.  Why is this?  And how come people can just lap up anything with Pardridge in it without ever questioning the quality?  It's like he's a brand these days and some people will be happy with anything that has his grinning face on it.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I come to the board in general and I occasionally pop in here to give an opinion on something or give some info, I don't particularly want to discuss comedy shows in depth, I'm not 'passionate' about comedy, like I am about, say, music or films, there's just certain things I like. I'll try to explain why I like them:

I like IAP more than KMKY because I found it more enjoyable, better scripted, better acted, and generally a lot funnier and stands up better to repeat viewings. I preferred his character in IAP because he's more of a moaner, more like the kind of Victor Meldrew British stiff upper-lip character that I like. I also, for whatever reason, found some of the guests on KMKY to be just plain annoying. I didnt like IAP2 as much as IAP1 because I thought they relied too much on slapstick and funny voices, and the characters seemed to lose their subtlety and become more like brightly lit caricatures. However, I still found that it had plenty of laughs and seemed to get funnier with each viewing.

As you can see, I'm not very good at dissecting comedy.

[Gooseboy]

It's worth noting that BBC America is going to air IAP this fall (presumably both series back-to-back). I guess we'll know then.

Where did you hear this??

[Gooseboy]

Nevermind, I found this:

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|73262|1|,00.html

[Particle Man]

Why is it that people who aren't really that into comedy like Partridge so much?

That's quite odd. I've recently found it to be the opposite. Quite a lot of my friends who are kind-of-into-comedy, but not in quite as big a way as me find Alan Partridge unbelievably annoying. In fact, I had to show them TDT and KMKYWAP in a "he didn't always used to be poo" argument (which I won).

Saying that, this can't be true of everyone. The character clearly has enough universal appeal to make a rumour of a movie version ever so slightly believable (although I don't expect to see it happen)

[thatmuch]

I would like to distinguish between the Radio 4  KMKYWAP and the TV one. The radio programmes were better structured, more subtle and thought out, and always just manage to avoid turning into the car crash of cringing embarassment that the TV shows often did. If you haven't listened to them, you don't really know how good Alan Partridge could be.

[mikeyg27]

I've heard very little of the radio version, but what I have heard seemed just, well, funnier than the TV version, in particular the french racing driver interview.

[Artemis]

My preference is for IAP1, followed by TDT, KMKYWAP then IAP2. It's a close call between IAP1 and TDT though - both are extremely good.

I don't know where the radio stuff would fit in - I have the collection but the two things that annoy me most are the awful audience laughter which is sounds so fake and the sometimes sloppy way the thing is edited. It spoils the flow for me; I'll just be enjoying something when something like that happens to distract me. Still, there's some great stuff in it - I think I'd generally put it between KMKWAP and IAP2 though the better radio stuff is belongs just behind TDT.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

the awful audience laughter which is sounds so fake and the sometimes sloppy way the thing is edited.

Oddly, that's what puts me off about IAP (both Series 1 and 2) - characterless eruptions of laughter, clumsily washed over everything. The radio-KMKY audience, however, sounds like real people who genuinely find the show hilarious.

[SimonJT]

For me, the saddest thing about IAP2, is that when you praise I'm Alan Partridge, you now have to add the clause "the first series, anyway", like "IAP is my favoutite TV show - well, the first series anyway", or "IAP - the first series at least, is one of the best sitcoms ever". It kind of tarnishes the near-perfection of series 1, and I'd imagine the writers are aware of this, too. For example, I think IAP would have come higher than 42nd in the BBC sitcom poll without (or with a better) second series.

I was as disappointed as everyone else with IAP2, with the first series being (perhaps) my favourite show ever, I've never had higher expectations for a TV series. Re-watching it, with lower expectations, I enjoyed it a lot more - there are a lot of good lines, and amusing moments in there, but it was disjointed and overly "wacky", and there were a few scenes that seemed pointless, and didn't seem to go anwhere.

[weekender]

For me, the saddest thing is that when you praise Alan Partridge, you have to have to add the clause "except IAP, both series were shit in comparison to KMKY".