Spitting Image

[Catalogue Trousers]

Yeah, finger on the pulse and cutting as ever. Will we get a 'Becks is stupid and rich but Posh is clever and rich' sketch soon? My God, the tension.

In fairness, as others have said, the original Image could be somewhat hit-and-miss, even in its glory days. But there was, at its best, a genuine savagery and - just as importantly - a genuine funniness to it. This is a sad, watered-down attempt at recapturing those dizzy heights of the past.

And, crucially, it fails due to two things.

One, it's far too bloody nice.
Two, it just isn't unfunny

Must go now. I feel HOT!!!

[JesusAndYourBush]

I thought this weeks episode was the weakest so far.  The only time I laughed was at the Attenborough bit, and that wasn't even a puppet.

[kidsick5000]

I thought this weeks episode was the weakest so far.  The only time I laughed was at the Attenborough bit, and that wasn't even a puppet.

I've just dipped into it. I felt the only sketch ( with puppets) that had merit was Johnson doing the post-match interview on Marcus Rashford.

It's so bizarre how far they've invested in Harry and Meghan. And It's worth repeating, they really need to have a look at what LeBron James  and Idris Elba actually look like.

[Consignia]

I find it bizarre how much they've put into US minor celebs in general. I know they are trying to sell it to the US via Britbox, but it's diluting the supposed British Satire aspect, especially with how few British topical puppets they seem to have.

And Adele has to be in every scene for some reason.

[bomb_dog]

For Adele reasons, see '101 uses for a Bjork'. We've got a puppet and we're going to use it.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

For Adele reasons, see '101 uses for a Bjork'. We've got a puppet and we're going to use it.

Gif / Arabella Weir's " Hello? Can any of you actually hear me?" lady from " The Fast Show" / Gif

[Retinend]

They also have a Billie Eilish puppet and they don't use that all the time. I think that the writers simply have their finger on the pulse and Adele is one of the puppets they have who HAS been in the news (SNL), and Eilish just hasn't done anything press-worthy during the run of the show. So I think they hedged their bets by doing MORE puppet work than they strictly needed to and dispensing of puppets if they seemed the less relevant of the celebs on offer.

BTW Consignia I put it to you that you misspoke when you wrote "minor" celebs. I guess you meant "annoying" or "inconsequential"? Minor they are not.

[JesusAndYourBush]

It was looking like there was no episode this week but then it showed up 2 days late.  (Maybe it was just the place I get it from being slow?).  Unfortunately I have nothing good to say about ite so I'll just leave this here.

[Sebastian Cobb]

They've gotten round to doing Sturgeon and it's unsurprisingly shit: https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/1331251465202118656

[Fambo Number Mive]

Good question by one of the replies to Limmy's tweet "Wonder why they make the Boris the straight man so often"

I'm sure it made Matt Forde giggle a few times though.

[An tSaoi]

Is it just me, or are most of the women puppets rubbish? I'm doing the old "women aren't funny" thing, I mean that the puppet makers seem to be struggling to get the likeness of the female characters.



Apart from the big teeth, the Jacinda Ardern one doesn't really capture any of her other features, except maybe her ears. Granted, those are her two most prominent markers, but it's like they didn't bother with the rest. For example, they've given her a decidedly chinless appearance, when she's actually got reasonably strong, pointed chin. The whole shape of the face is wrong. And where's that fat neck coming from? And the wide, thick eyebrows?




Here she is with some other puppet, which though it's not perfect, it really gets the shape of her chin, and her nose. I'd argue the teeth are better too, being rounder at the bottom, as in real life, instead of the harsh straight line of the Spitting Image puppet.




The Ivanka Trump one doesn't resemble her at all. She's blonde, and that's it. Maybe they get a point for making the top lip bigger than the bottom, but that's it. Note the slight "droopyness" of real Ivanka's nose, with the small space between the bottom of the nose and the top lip, compared to the upturned Peter Pan nose of the puppet and the much longer philtrum. I don't think anyone would recognise who it's meant to be if they didn't introduce her.

[Jumblegraws]

They've gotten round to doing Sturgeon and it's unsurprisingly shit: https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/1331251465202118656

The sturgeon puppet looks like the dwarf from Don't Look Now (spoiler alert)

[lipsink]

I wonder how Matt Forde is feeling about the absolute mauling that video is getting considering that he wrote it and did the voice. I'm pretty sure it's been taken down from Twitter now.

[Cuellar]

Was Spitting Image ever funny? Actually funny? I'm too young to have seen it.

[Jumblegraws]

It's funny, because original Spitting Image at its most biting could sometimes make me feel sorry (or at least nearly feel sorry) for the subjects, whereas the response to the revival has displaced that feeling onto the writers. Matt Forde wasn't really on my radar before this series, when I heard him on Loose Ends the other day, acting chirpy as all hell, I thought "that poor man, having to put on such a brave face".

[idunnosomename]

They've gotten round to doing Sturgeon and it's unsurprisingly shit: https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/1331251465202118656

the account limmy rtd the video from has been deleted. Odd because it seemed to be Scots nat, who presumably didnt approve of it either?

Edit the tweet was neutral really

Well! It's finally happened! @NicolaSturgeon has her own Spitting Image puppet! In the 1980'S this was a right of passage for politicians. pic.twitter.com/0Bu5WnkrQI

— Martin J Keatings #Martin4MidScotlandAndFife #AFI2 (@MartinJKeatings) November 23, 2020

Hes an independence candidate who i guess is stand next year.

[Jumblegraws]

Good question by one of the replies to Limmy's tweet "Wonder why they make the Boris the straight man so often"

I'm sure it made Matt Forde giggle a few times though.

The Jimmy Krankie jibe has been used by Boris, sharing a comic sensibility with what ought to be their main target of contempt doesn't look great. Then again, every bore has used the Jimmy Krankie jibe so maybe I'm stretching a point.

[Fambo Number Mive]

I wonder how Matt Forde is feeling about the absolute mauling that video is getting considering that he wrote it and did the voice. I'm pretty sure it's been taken down from Twitter now.

As long as Tony Blair liked it will he mind?

[lipsink]

It is quite funny that he's trending on Twitter purely for being shit.

[idunnosomename]

It is quite funny that he's trending on Twitter purely for being shit.

well there's not really much else he could trend for. wonder if his book has recouped his advance yet?

[Retinend]

Is it just me, or are most of the women puppets rubbish? I'm doing the old "women aren't funny" thing, I mean that the puppet makers seem to be struggling to get the likeness of the female characters

I wouldn't say "it's just you"... but to me, those are good likenesses. That's me speaking as someone who quite fancies Ardern, as well.

Frankly, you are doing the "PAUL IS DEAD" thing where very specific angles of a person's face are presumed to be the "neutral" face and the photo of the person you want to be a clone/double/bad puppet is taken to be the aberrant example. For example, in your "neutral" example, the angle of the photo of Ardern is deliberately low, yet you take it to represent how Ardern looks normally. This angle of course changes the perception of her chin, which you put such a fine point on in distinguishing good from bad puppet-making.

Also, you say "woman puppets" specifically. You think the gulf in quality between male and female puppets on SI is that noticeable?

[Retinend]

Was Spitting Image ever funny? Actually funny? I'm too young to have seen it.

I think you've already made your mind up on that, but yes, it was a brilliant and original satire of British society, and I wasn't alive to watch it (only sought it out because of this, imo, excellent relaunch).

[Cuellar]

I haven't actually, because I've never seen it. I'll watch some of the episodes and then think hard about it.

[Jumblegraws]

I haven't actually, because I've never seen it. I'll watch some of the episodes and then think hard about it.

I was ten when the original series ended, but watched a lot of episodes wherever I could through the early-mid 2000s, what I can definitely say is the worst of what I saw never hits the lows of the dreck we've been treated to in the revival promos. Sketches like the Biden one and the Sturgeon one bear more resemblance (unintentionally) to South Park's lampooning of Family Guy cutaways than my experience of the original Spitting Image.

[Cuellar]

Watching some epsidoes from series 1 now. It's pretty racist isn't it. Pretty racist, all things considered.

[Cuellar]

But yes, at least the sketches follow some sort of logical order, and one sentence follows on from the next. Unlike what I've seen of the new stuff, which appears to consist of non sequiturs.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I remember the original SI once sent up Dire Straits as Dire Stuff, doing a spoof of Money for Nothing, in which, if I recall it correctly, Mark Knopfler had gone bankrupt and the verse was talking about repossessing his microwave oven and TV, etc.  That was quite funny.

[Consignia]

I remember the original SI once sent up Dire Straits as Dire Stuff, doing a spoof of Money for Nothing, in which, if I recall it correctly, Mark Knopfler had gone bankrupt and the verse was talking about repossessing his microwave oven and TV, etc.  That was quite funny.

Was it this: https://twitter.com/spitting_image1/status/1234572389230501889?lang=en ? Obsviously not what you described, but the best I could find.

[An tSaoi]

Frankly, you are doing the "PAUL IS DEAD" thing where very specific angles of a person's face are presumed to be the "neutral" face and the photo of the person you want to be a clone/double/bad puppet is taken to be the aberrant example.

They're just the first screenshots I could find. I haven't gone out of my way to pick bad ones. They're just random. Watch the Ardern song. She is chinless throughout, like an inbred toff character.

Also, you say "woman puppets" specifically. You think the gulf in quality between male and female puppets on SI is that noticeable?

Yes. At least I can tell who the men are. If someone showed you Ivanka, Adele, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle or Kamala out of context, no names, no voices, would you know who they're meant to be? I don't think I would. Whereas Cummings, Pence etc. are instantly recognisable.

There are a few exceptions both ways – Thunberg is quite apparent, I'll give them that, Camilla's not bad – but I really think whoever is doing the caricatures isn't as good at doing women.

[lb99]

I know it's not your point, but there are several caricaturists, not just one, and then they go to a sculptor who interprets the caricature.