Peep Show

[DigForVictory]

Adore the first 3 series and even though 4 is a bit patchy the wedding finale is possibly the best episode they ever did. That or the one where they go bowling with Toni and the young goth girl. Even though there were good episodes and moments to come, I wish it had ended after the wedding episode with Mark and Jez going back to the flat in the wedding car. A perfect ending.

The bit where Mark goes to buy condoms so that Jeff can have sex with Sophie is so fucking bleak and grim I still don't think I've seen it topped by any other comedy or any other show even. Just feels about as pathetic a moment as you can ever have for your main character, even more pathetic than some of the bigger more outlandish moments to come in the series.

[Gulftastic]

Credit also due to Jeff for being one of the most genuinely hateable villains of all time. Mark's conquest behaviour still pales in comparison to Jeff's brazen gloating and bullying.

"You could have your cock in her, but you still wouldn't have the balls to fuck" is an incredible line. Loathsome and pathetically small yet still powerful enough to destroy anyone meek enough to take it personally, absolute textbook bullying.

Up there with Mark's internal debate about which condoms to buy for Geoff, and my favourite bit when Mark 'gives him the broom'. I literally punched the air when the latter happened.

[AngryGazelle]

Series 1-3 - Peak Show

Series 4-5 - Tickety-boo

Seasons 6-8 - They're not shit but they're not swell

Series 9 - It's fine. It's totally fine.

[Psybro]

Maybe I should do some reflection on generally liking the show less the more sex Mark has.

[thenoise]

Although I agree with the shows gradual decline, and the increased time between series showing their ideas were running thin, they could have kept it going far as I'm concerned. I don't think there was anything so outlandish with them still flatsharing like students into their 40s/50s, loads of people do it. Mark's a homeowner even.

[Scrapey Fish]

Am I right in thinking that comedy is no longer as bleak/excruciating as Peep Show was and we can place it as the end of an era that began with the Office?

[Radicalised Sitcom Writer]

I genuinely think, when talking about comedy series, "eating the dog" should have actually replaced the phrase "jumping the shark" after that episode.

Was definitely the single moment that killed part of my love of Peep Show at the time. Obviously continued watching till the end, but never quite felt the same.

Must admit I still enjoy all series on rewatch though. It's like Father Ted, third series felt bad at the time, but doesn't seem all that odd now.

[Gambrinus]

Series 8 is poor, apart from Mark trying to name bands in the paintball episode. The Jez/Dobby thing was just weird.

Love it as a whole though. Me and my cousin spent loads of time watching the DVDs in a bleak wet New Zealand winter.

Rainbow Rhythms still cracks me up.

[frajer]

There was a lot of new energy in the room tonight.

And some of it was just so Rainbow Rhythms.

And some of it was just so not Rainbow Rhythms.

[DigForVictory]

Series 8 was  pretty fucking awful if I remember correctly. Felt like the show had taken a giant nosedive off the cliff. Jez falling for Dobby just seemed so lazy and a retread of earlier stuff.

Didn't that series end with Dobby somehow managing to disappear from the middle of a field without the two of them realising and then they both push each other into an electric fence? I dunno, it just felt really tired.

They recovered a bit for the final series mind.

[Ferris]

Mark the Shark is innn business!

"You're stripes, Mark"

Ah. You play that rule do you? Of course.

[Ferris]

FHM have only gone and done a bloody sex issue!

[Jerzy Bondov]

My favourite episode is the one with racist Daryl and his cor anglais, and "Nice packet of Crunchy Nut you've got here. Pretty expensive as I recall"

[Jerzy Bondov]

they're going to burn me in the bath

[Ferris]

Even where an episode is ropey (Saz the Australian) there are still brilliant lines that make the whole thing more than the sun of its parts ("there's an ANZAC memorial in Huddersfield...").

[Jerzy Bondov]

Shout outs to premium series 1 DVD extras:

Jez's Big Brother audition tape - "I'm basically mental!!"

Mark's video CV - "Yes! Watch your back Tiger Woods!"

[dr beat]

I've always thought S7 was an upturn after a disparate couple of series.  Ben and Zahra gave it a nice arc, but they were right to keep them to just one series.

[Psybro]

Shout outs to premium series 1 DVD extras:

Jez's Big Brother audition tape - "I'm basically mental!!"

Mark's video CV - "Yes! Watch your back Tiger Woods!"

This is outrageous, this is contagious.

[sevendaughters]

I've always thought S7 was an upturn after a disparate couple of series.  Ben and Zahra gave it a nice arc, but they were right to keep them to just one series.

let's put our big hot brains on ice

[frajer]

Cut me, I bleed merch.

[badaids]

There was a lot of new energy in the room tonight.

And some of it was just so Rainbow Rhythms.

And some of it was just so not Rainbow Rhythms.

Rainbow Rhythms is the point that it all clicked for me with Peep Show.  Brilliant set piece.

That and the fact that Rainbow Rhythms bloke that says that is the 'is something brilliant happening?' channel 7 bloke from Nathan Barley.

[DrGreggles]

I angered a crow

[iamcoop]

Strangely, despite absolutely loving it, I've not watched Peep Show in years and don't think I could go back to it. No idea why, the thought of watching it just seems oddly unappealing despite the fact I can rattle off half of every script by heart. Maybe I'm scared it'll be dated in a weird way or something.

This is exactly how I feel, albeit for different reasons. Stuff like Jeremy having a breakdown and sobbing uncontrollably just seem too real for me these days and I find it a bit too intense. I think it's because now I'm touching 40 I've actually witnessed mates who were complete dickheads for most of their lives breaking down and having realisations they've wasted their life and it's not pretty. Basically now I'm a soft cunt a lot of it just cuts too deep. The pathos is too good and on the nose a lot of the time.

Still, it's a stone cold classic and at its best it's as funny as anything ever made.

[kalowski]

The dog eating absolutely was the moment it jumped the shark.

Put me down as someone who laughed out loud at that scene.
Pretty sure it was the same series with Jez thinking, "Pissing in a church. Richard Dawkins may talk the talk, but does he walk the walk?"
That also made me laugh.

So I like pretty much all of it.

[The Bumlord]

I angered a crow

I say this more than is normal.

Agree that the earlier series are better but 5 and on still have some great bits and some cracking lines.

[extraordinary walnuts]

Can't think of a single episode I'd regard as a dud. Endlessly rewatchable, endlessly quotable, just one of the best sitcoms ever really.

[The Bumlord]

Frunkfwort

[extraordinary walnuts]

Love those Succession easter eggs

[Vince the Shirker]

I didn't notice any appreciable drop in quality, but given I was binging it heavily, I didn't stop to think about what I'd watched very deeply, and if I watched it more analytically I might notice flaws and inconsistencies.

All I really wanted from it at the time was laughs, big ones, and it provided plenty of them right up to the final episode, so I don't have too many complaints. At least, not at the moment.

So is Succession worth a watch if I enjoyed Peep Show?

[extraordinary walnuts]

Oh God yes