Mitchell & Webb are Back..

[Lemming]

Watching it on repeat. 10 minutes in and the characters literally seem to be just Mark and Jeremy, with Mitchell and Webb acting them exactly the same.

Had just one low-key chuckle so far at "the tills were literally mental".

[Lemming]

Uhh, that was ok. No particularly outstanding jokes or scenes, that ending was like something a 12 year old would write and the characters still seem to just be Mark and Jeremy, but it's just not-shit enough to warrant watching the next episode. There were a few lines that could pass as being slightly sub-par series 8/9 Peep Show lines, which is... alright.

[Pseudopath]

Uhh, that was ok. No particularly outstanding jokes or scenes, that ending was like something a 12 year old would write and the characters still seem to just be Mark and Jeremy, but it's just not-shit enough to warrant watching the next episode. There were a few lines that could pass as being slightly sub-par series 8/9 Peep Show lines, which is... alright.

One for the DVD cover there.

[Mobius]

What's the point of doing something similar to but not nearly as good as Peep Show!!!

[Lemming]

One for the DVD cover there.

+karma, That made me laugh more than anything in the episode.

[Icehaven]

Judging by this episode, and Mitchell screeching something about Webb ''trying to take over my life!!'' in the trailer, this is just going to be weeks of Webb's sociopath character gradually making everyone think he's Jesus Christ and that Mitchell's awful and a twat for not liking him, except maybe Mitchell's ex-wife who he clearly shouldn't have divorced. Mitchell will somehow discover along the way that Webb's an enormous fraud and maybe a criminal, however obviously no one will believe him, except his ex wife probably. And there'll be some hilarious dog humour thrown in for good measure too, possibly in every episode (they got piss out of the way in episode 1, so I predict a fart/shit scene around episode 3 or 4). Animals should be banned from sitcoms for at least the next 250 years.
I will however stick with it just in case I'm wrong, and because of Peep Show.

Edit; If you're going to have a dog in a sitcom, no use whatsoever should be made of dogs doing any of the following;
pissing
shitting
farting
shagging
cat chasing
sniffing each other's bums
barking at/biting people as a 'sign' about their personality
That arse dragging thing they do when they've got worms

They managed most of that with Eddie in Frasier, so it's possible.

[Wet Blanket]

Wasn't keen. I hate it in TV shows and films where the situations being milked for laughs or drama could so easily be resolved with a couple of sentences in real life, and this was full of them.

"That's not my dog"
"As far as I'm concerned it is your dog"
"Unfortunately that's not the case, I agreed to watch it for another customer, but obviously she's abandoned it. I can't keep it, we'll have to ring the RSPCA or someone."

[Old Gold Tooth]

Quite liked it. Bit too gentle but a few decent laughs and reckon it should get better now the setting up's done with.

"Stop eating chocolate in your bedroom, Steven. This is real life, not The Beano."

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I liked it.

Yes, Mark (or whatever he's called) getting saddled with the incontinent dog was contrived, but that didn't really bother me as it made me chuckle. Actual chuckles! However, the heavily signposted ending with McGivern watching porn was terrible, I hope Blackwell doesn't resort to such an obvious "farcical" gag in future.

I just really enjoy watching Mitchell & Webb as mismatched antagonists, though, it's an innately funny dynamic. Not the most incisive piece of criticism, I know, but the episode kept me amused for most of its duration. It's nothing special, but it's not bad at all.

That sounds like I'm damning it with faint praise, doesn't it? I suppose I am.

Also, that must be Matthew Holness' most prominent role in anything since Garth Merenghi. It's strange how he more or less faded away from the spotlight, while Ayoade went from strength to strength to strength.

[Utter Shit]

It was sort of 'fine', wasn't it, a few good lines but a lot of nothing. As has been mentioned it had the feeling of setting the scene, so hopefully it will build from there. I can't help but wonder if the Mitchell and Webb casting is a help or a hindrance.

[Utter Shit]

I liked it.

Yes, Mark (or whatever he's called) getting saddled with the incontinent dog was contrived, but that didn't really bother me as it made me chuckle. Yes, actual chuckles! However, the heavily signposted ending with McGivern watching porn was terrible, I hope Blackwell doesn't resort to such an obvious "farcical" gag in future.

I just really enjoy watching Mitchell & Webb as mismatched antagonists, though, it's an innately funny dynamic. Not the most incisive piece of criticism, I know, but the episode kept me amused for most of its duration.

Also, that must be Matthew Holness' most prominent role in anything since Garth Merenghi. It's strange how he more or less faded away from the spotlight, while Ayoade went from strength to strength to strength.

Was his appearance in The Office before or after Garth Marenghi? That was such a brilliant, well-observed character. He's DEFINITELY DEAD.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I think I'm right in saying that Holness and Ayoade had already won the Perrier Award for Merenghi when he appeared in The Office. It was around about that time, anyway.

And I agree, his performance as the know-it-all IT idiot is superb. We've all met that guy, he absolutely nails it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z8pgV74_Hw

"Norris is only in Way of The Dragon..."

[Utter Shit]

Just checked and we're both wrong according to Wikipedia, Marenghi was in 2004, a year after the specials of The Office. My internal timeline is fucked.

Yeah that character was superb, in fact the whole scene is - Simon's bullshit stories are so funny, Gareth's utter lack of suspicion that he's being worked and Tim in the background getting gradually angrier and more incredulous.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Sorry, I should've clarified - Holness and Ayoade won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe for their Merenghi show in 2001. As you say, the TV adaptation didn't air until 2004. So Holness was already known, at least within comedy circles, as an up-and-coming talent when Gervais & Merchant cast him in The Office.

The pair of them probably saw that year's award-winning Fringe show, as they were up in Edinburgh performing Rubbernecker with Jimmy Carr and Robin Ince.

Christ, I sound like Holness' pedantic Office character now.

Yeah that character was superb, in fact the whole scene is - Simon's bullshit stories are so funny, Gareth's utter lack of suspicion that he's being worked and Tim in the background getting gradually angrier and more incredulous.

Tim muttering "litterbugs" during Simon's bullshit go-kart story is a lovely piece of subtle humour.

[Utter Shit]

Ah right yeah that makes sense, nice one. I've never given Darkplace a proper go - saw the first episode and thought it was decent, but in a "pretty sure I get the idea now, that'll do me" sort of way...is it worth sticking with?

Very off-topic, sorry.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Ah right yeah that makes sense, nice one. I've never given Darkplace a proper go - saw the first episode and thought it was decent, but in a "pretty sure I get the idea now, that'll do me" sort of way...is it worth sticking with?

Very off-topic, sorry.

Yeah, the basic joke is established in episode one. It's a sketch, not a sitcom. However, the award-winning stage show I mentioned earlier was superb. A gag-packed hour of sharp, affectionate, well-observed satire of Stephen King, Clive Barker and Shaun Hutson is all you really need.

I apologise for the derailment too, this has nothing to do with Mitchell & Webb's new series!

[olliebean]

Do bluetooth speakers not have an off switch?

[Utter Shit]

Do bluetooth speakers not have an off switch?

If we're talking credibility, why didn't the conversation in the cafe go as follows:

Employee: "Well as far as I'm concerned, it's your dog sir"
Mitchell: "Well as far as I'm concerned you can get fucked mate, you've got more responsibility for it than me given it's in your shop - if I walk away from it nothing happens, if you walk away from it the shop will be responsible and the buck will stop with you. So to reiterate, you can get fucked mate."

[Wet Blanket]

If we're talking credibility, why didn't the conversation in the cafe go as follows:

Employee: "Well as far as I'm concerned, it's your dog sir"
Mitchell: "Well as far as I'm concerned you can get fucked mate, you've got more responsibility for it than me given it's in your shop - if I walk away from it nothing happens, if you walk away from it the shop will be responsible and the buck will stop with you. So to reiterate, you can get fucked mate."

Wasn't keen. I hate it in TV shows and films where the situations being milked for laughs or drama could so easily be resolved with a couple of sentences in real life, and this was full of them.

"That's not my dog"
"As far as I'm concerned it is your dog"
"Unfortunately that's not the case, I agreed to watch it for another customer, but obviously she's abandoned it. I can't keep it, we'll have to ring the RSPCA or someone."

[Utter Shit]

Beat me to it! I know we need to suspend disbelief but that's taking the piss.

[Serge]

I quite enjoyed it, certainly enough to carry on watching it. I couldn't figure out if Webb's fantasist character was actually the boy they'd fostered or if he was lying about that as well - I'd guess he was the kid in question, as that would make it more interesting. I could have done without the conceit of showing the younger Mitchell (yeah, didn't actually pick up on either character's name) in place of the older one and vice-versa. Very strong cast - Geoff McGivern was (as ever) excellent. My favourite moment was the mugging grin that Webb did to McGivern as Mitchell tried to pull him away from McGivern's lever-pulling rant. Oh, and although the gag about somebody allegedly speaking a language but actually speaking gibberish is as old as the hills, I liked the fact that the one made up word was presented as exactly the same in the subtitles.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

If we're talking credibility, why didn't the conversation in the cafe go as follows:

Employee: "Well as far as I'm concerned, it's your dog sir"
Mitchell: "Well as far as I'm concerned you can get fucked mate, you've got more responsibility for it than me given it's in your shop - if I walk away from it nothing happens, if you walk away from it the shop will be responsible and the buck will stop with you. So to reiterate, you can get fucked mate."

To be fair, I think that Mark....Erm....* Stephen*'s resigned taking the dog with him was another way of demonstrating what a hapless doormat he is (the employee has already clocked the cans of strong lager that Stephen's imbibed, by himself, one of his downtrodden ways of coping with a life that's clearly out to get him, and has concluded that this feller's not going to put up too much of a fight when he tells him to move the mutt ).This leads up to the contrasting scene at the end wherein he's finally decided that enough is enough, and he actually gets quite assertive with Jez...erm...whatever the name of Robert Webb's character is.

Besides, sit- coms always do this sort of stuff in order to move the plot along, whilst amusing the viewers, and that.

[weaseldust]

Edit; If you're going to have a dog in a sitcom, no use whatsoever should be made of dogs doing any of the following;
pissing
shitting
farting
shagging
cat chasing
sniffing each other's bums
barking at/biting people as a 'sign' about their personality
That arse dragging thing they do when they've got worms

They managed most of that with Eddie in Frasier, so it's possible.

bit off topic but i don't remember eddie shitting and shagging or sniffing bums etc

[neveragain]

So Holness was already known, at least within comedy circles, as an up-and-coming talent when Gervais & Merchant cast him in The Office.

Gervais (and possibly Merchant) worked with Holness on the sketch show Bruiser as well, which would have been pre-Office. It also featured Mitchell & Webb.

[Brundle-Fly]

I quite enjoyed it, certainly enough to carry on watching it. I couldn't figure out if Webb's fantasist character was actually the boy they'd fostered or if he was lying about that as well - I'd guess he was the kid in question, as that would make it more interesting. I could have done without the conceit of showing the younger Mitchell (yeah, didn't actually pick up on either character's name) in place of the older one and vice-versa. Very strong cast - Geoff McGivern was (as ever) excellent. My favourite moment was the mugging grin that Webb did to McGivern as Mitchell tried to pull him away from McGivern's lever-pulling rant. Oh, and although the gag about somebody allegedly speaking a language but actually speaking gibberish is as old as the hills, I liked the fact that the one made up word was presented as exactly the same in the subtitles.

I echo all this. Love McGivern in anything. He had a couple of wonderfully delivered lines in this, one of them being Yeah, but they're cunts. and his Gary Glitter rant.

Yes, it's Peep Show Mk2, full of all the same weak and hateful shallow characters but I enjoyed it on the whole and will keep tuning in.

What would have a been a brave move would be to have had Mitchell & Webb play against type and swap roles. Might also have been a stupid move too but certainly interesting.

[Namtab]

Was OK, has potential to be great, if the gags improve, and the characters flesh out a bit more beyond sub-Mark and Jez.

[Icehaven]

bit off topic but i don't remember eddie shitting and shagging or sniffing bums etc

No that's exactly what I meant! They managed to have a dog in most episodes of a very long running sitcom without having to resort to him doing any of these obvious tired cliches (apart from maybe the occasional mention of shenanigans in the park). Sorry I didn't phrase it very well.

[up_the_hampipe]

I think "Vinyl's making a comeback" "Yeah, for cunts" was the only laugh I got. I'm going to keep watching as I feel comforted by Mitchell and Webb working together again. The first joke had a reveal where Webb was actually giving advice to his TAXI DRIVER of all people, even though I knew immediately he was in a taxi because he was sat in the back, so the punchline didn't really work. Realised how good the show was going to be at that point.

[15percentfaster]

This is going to be one of those sitcoms where the put-upon character is terrible at everything and everyone is incredibly callous to him all the time isn't it?  Oh no the pine tables are bad haha.

Why did the guy say Mitchell is short when he's 5'10?  How is Webb mysteriously taller than him in scenes when he's 5'7"? Is he on a box?



I can forgive Webb for almost anything though, due to the magisterial Smoking Room, so will continue watching for a bit to see if it improves.

[KennyMonster]

Watched it, bored by it.

Something funny would have helped.

Mark is the same old introverted too meek to take a stand guy and Jez lies to women to get his way.

Went online to see how long it has been since Jeeves and Wooster after an earlier post said it has been a long time since Webb has done any acting and I have been reminded that he resigned from The Labour Party after they got in a leader who gave a shit about the poorest and weakest in our society. Then came to mind The 10 o'clock Live Show where the supposedly intelligent Mitchell let Alistair Campbell once again, walk all over him by justifying the Iraq war by saying 'after 9-11 we need to invade as many hot countries as possible" or some such bullshit linking two unrelated events in order to kill innocent kiddiewinks and I've come to realise that the world would be so much better without these two gonks clogging up the airwaves.
Yes they can deliver someone else's lines well but you can probably get the same effect by putting peanut butter on the lips of someone from the cast of Hollyoaks so why do we get the 'views' of these idiots shoved down our fucking throats as if they were somehow credible?!?!?!

3 stars