Nathan Barley.

[mattp]

I would just like to say that i think it's one of the best comedies of all-time.  I must admit that on seeing the first episdoe for the first time i was slightly disappointed. If the essence of comedy is to make you laugh out loud then it had failed.  

However a few weeks in and once i'd got used to the characters and just what the writers were trying to do, i was hooked.  

Highlights for me were....

-Every single second that features Doug Rockett, particularly his line 'Round about this time i suffered the first of several nervous breakdowns...all of which i've chosen to ignore'.

-Richard Ayouade's performance as Sugar Ape employee Ned Smanks.

-Jonatton Yeah?

-The editor of the news of sunday fiddling with a not plugged in electric guitar as he interviews Ashcroft.

-15Peter20, particularly Ashcroft's look of complete contempt as 15Peter explains what his exhibition is about.

-Dajve Bikinus.  Good episode that, though, unlike others, i didn't think the cat death thing was particularly funny.  Kevin Eldon was OK as the Greek hairdresser.

-The song 'Bad to have a bad uncle.  Bad to have a bad uncle. Pain, pain of the monkey.  Pain, pain of the monkey'.

Thought Nick Burns was very good as Nathan Barley as well.

In short the whole thing was brilliantly observed, very well-acted and i can see myself dipping into it for a long time to come.

[Cack Hen]

Never heard of it.

[defmem]

Richard Ayouade's performance as Sugar Ape employee Ned Smanks.

I wouldn't use the term performance.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I would just like to say that i think it's one of the best comedies of all-time

Yikes. The man requires First Ayaode. :-)

[Jemble Fred]

It's a good job you started this thread, Matt, I don't think we've had a Nathan Barley one before. And it's not as if there's a Search function on here or anything.

Thank god for my Big Book Of Internet Sarcasm.

[mattp]

It's a good job you started this thread, Matt, I don't think we've had a Nathan Barley one before. And it's not as if there's a Search function on here or anything.

Thank god for my Big Book Of Internet Sarcasm.

tut tut.  Lowest form of humour.

[spanky]

Sarcasm's the best form of humour, followed by puns.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Lowest form of humour.

No, that's Nathan Barley.

[ffogems]

Sarcasm's the best form of humour, followed by puns.

Both preceded by mismatched comedy cufflinks, like Monkey Tennis.

[TotalNightmare]

i can feel a fart coming on...

[Morrisfan82]

-The song 'Bad to have a bad uncle.

The Barley enjoyers always cite this as a highlight - what's so funny about it? Was there something very wry and clever about it or is it just a 'sniggering about paedos, how naughty' 6th form giggle? I would watch it again to try and find out, but Peep Show 3 came along before I could be bothered to watch it again (in November), and it was bye bye Barley tape.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Lowest form of humour

The phrase is "the lowest form of wit", and the appropriate response to that is, "Well at least it is wit, dust-brain."

[Pinball]

Wow, a positive review and the DVD's available! A coincidence..?

[ffogems]

"Well at least it is wit, dust-brain."

I suppose if someone did ever verbally say that to me then I would have to laugh, so defiant defences are also a great source of humour.

Jonatton Yeah?

He was a highlight? A bit like labelling 'Peter Kay' as #1 random comedy moment.
Come on channel 4, you can do better than this.

[mattp]

hmmm.

I think one of the reasons i like it so much is the fact that having lived in London all my life and actually having worked in Old Street i've come across the Nathan Barley type before.  

People like that were just crying out for having the piss taken out of them, just like, from a neutrals point of view, teenage muslim black wannabes badly needed an ali g to rip the piss out of their soulless culture.

Another line i loved from Nathan Barley was the 'Fuck Enron! Fuck Enron! Fuck Enron coz it's fucking WRONG!!!!!'.  It would be absolutely typical of that breed to feign interest and concern in the effects of big corporations and globablisation as they feel it adds to the image they wish to create for themselves.  Do they really give a flying toss?  I'll leave you to judge.

I remember one bloke i used to work with who was a cross between Barley and Brent.  He once told me he couldn't ever say he was proud of being english coz we were the only country to completely destroy another country (Madagascar) and he was of Welsh and Irish origin.  I don't know what he was on about either.   Then i saw him down the pub joining in the England chants during a game to get in with the lads down there.  Tosser.

[mattp]

Lowest form of humour

The phrase is "the lowest form of wit", and the appropriate response to that is, "Well at least it is wit, dust-brain."

Yeah well at least my breath doesn't smell like poo....like yours does!!
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sorry, that was shit.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

People like that were just crying out for having the piss taken out of them

I agree but it could've been done far better. The way it was made forced you to side with Nathan whereas other comedies that have repellant characters such as The Office and I'm Alan Partridge compensate for the obnoxiousness of their central chatacters by having them bounce off good minor characters and have hilarious lines written for them. I though Nathan Barley was badly written and directed. They knew where they wanted to go but through sheer incompetence they didn't get there.

[Munday's Chylde]

If you can be bothered to wade through a LOT of pages mattp you might like to dig out the old threads we did when the show aired - use the search option and look for threads with 'nathan barley' and 'episode' in the title - we had a new thread for each episode and they usually ran on 50 or 60 pages. On the whole I think the majority of the board were very dissapointed but because its been discussed into the ground I don't think they'll contribute to a new discussion much.

[mattp]

People like that were just crying out for having the piss taken out of them

I agree but it could've been done far better. The way it was made forced you to side with Nathan whereas other comedies that have repellant characters such as The Office and I'm Alan Partridge compensate for the obnoxiousness of their central chatacters by having them bounce off good minor characters and have hilarious lines written for them. I though Nathan Barley was badly written and directed. They knew where they wanted to go but through sheer incompetence they didn't get there.

Well we're going to have to agree to disagree.  Side with Nathan??  Don't recall doing that.

[mattp]

If you can be bothered to wade through a LOT of pages mattp you might like to dig out the old threads we did when the show aired - use the search option and look for threads with 'nathan barley' and 'episode' in the title - we had a new thread for each episode and they usually ran on 50 or 60 pages. On the whole I think the majority of the board were very dissapointed but because its been discussed into the ground I don't think they'll contribute to a new discussion much.

I'm new here and i'm setting out my stall.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I'm new here and i'm setting out my stall.

The forum would be fucked to buggery if everyone did that though.

[Munday's Chylde]

If you can be bothered to wade through a LOT of pages mattp you might like to dig out the old threads we did when the show aired - use the search option and look for threads with 'nathan barley' and 'episode' in the title - we had a new thread for each episode and they usually ran on 50 or 60 pages. On the whole I think the majority of the board were very dissapointed but because its been discussed into the ground I don't think they'll contribute to a new discussion much.

I'm new here and i'm setting out my stall.

Fair enough, just thought you might be interested in reading them.

[Marv Orange]

hmmm.

I think one of the reasons i like it so much is the fact that having lived in London all my life and actually having worked in Old Street i've come across the Nathan Barley type before.  

This is a very niche stereotype which i doubt many people who haven't worked,lived, drank in islington have come across. If it had been more of an attack on media wankers it may have worked better.

[purlieu]

While I don't agree that you side with Nathan, the show did definitely fail at what it was trying to do pretty badly.
However, this never fussed me too much, because I actually genuinely enjoy the silliness of it, despite the disappointment of Morris' failure.  But, y'know, the falling out of the window part of the last episode made me laugh a lot, simply through the stupidness of it.  I kind of got that from the whole series: a bunch of people acting like idiots and one man being pissed off with them.  Doesn't make it particularly great, but makes for entertaining viewing once in a while.
Something of a curiosity: other than here and the At Ease board, I've found it particularly hard to find people who dislike the show.  Certianly everyone I know who's seen it loved it.

And this is the first time I've ever properly commented on the programme.  Heh.

[thewomb]

Email from Endemol regarding Nathan Barley:

Hi Alan,

Glad you like it - there is some talk of doing another series - but its not certain at the mo.

Thats nice and vague isn't it?
All I can get out of them is and I quote: "maybe, maybe not"

Sorry I can't be of more help!
Regards,
Lucy

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

While I don't agree that you side with Nathan

Yeah, I shouldn't really have said that. It's directed as if you're supposed to side with him.

The Office and IAP have central characters that are twats but you want them to succeed- you want them to stop putting their foot in it, but still enjoy the fact they can't do anything but put their foot in it. Brent and Partridge do have endearing sides to them. NB did not. What's more, IAP and The Office were terrifically well written if you look at their development of the character where was the length of NB's characterisation is "there's this tosser...".

[mcbpete]

mattp: You wouldn't happen to be the same mattp that knows me and joe (from le school de cubus) are you, or is it just a coincidence.

I think the doug rocket guy was my favourite character from the series.

[Ralph Cifaretto]

Jonattan Yeah? was the best character in it, "Am I gonna have to write it myself and not give you any money? (while pulling a comical face)" was one of the highlights of the series.  

My problem with the show was that Brooker had written a load of ideas in his TV guide thing, and there was nothing on the TV show that you couldn't imagine from the written text.  Whereas when describing a scene from series one with gervais as brent, it may sound a bit shit on paper, but it's all in the performance. With Barley, and only average comic actors reading average lines, you can't expect outstanding comedy.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I read a few of the Cunt bits from tvgohome recently and I got quite a different idea of Barley in that as opposed to the TV show. The telly version seemed more overtly sleazy and laddish compared to the print version, who appears to be more earnest about his work.
Having said that though, I only saw a few episodes of Nathan Barley so perhaps the two versions are closer than I think.

[Ralph Cifaretto]

Claude, I only had a quick look at the nathan barley tv guides, and they might be quite different characters, but I'm saying that the problem with Barley was the translation from script to film. If you'd have been given the script for Barley, the jokes (getting a blow job off a 13 year old, jacking off a straight bloke) are as funny written as they are on the screen.  In comparison, matt holness and gareth keenan's sketch about Bruce Lee would not be that funny on paper, but two great comic actors in front of the camera make the written word humorous.