Main Menu

Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 10:02:11 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Greg Davies Cleans Up

Started by Tony Tony Tony, February 18, 2021, 04:31:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Malcy

Watched the whose series last night and really enjoyed it. I thought episodes 3 and 6 were the best of the lot. Hope there's another series!

Small Man Big Horse

I'm liking it a lot too, I've only seen the first three so far but I enjoyed all of them, the David Mitchell one was the weakest for him as I felt his character was too highly strung and a little irritating at times, but the other two were really great. I think the third might be my favourite so far, I did have concerns it was heading in to Gervais territory initially but the direction it took was both funny and very sweet natured.

greencalx

We're old-fashioned and are watching these as they are broadcast. I quite liked the Mitchell one - both of us were chuckling most of the way through, even if it was David Mitchell playing himself. The first one was probably better but I had just got back from the pub so wasn't in the best frame of mind to remember much about it. If Ep 2 is the weakest, then that bodes well for the rest of the run.

Captain Z

Just finished all 6. Big Inside No. 9 vibes, as others have pointed out. Was fully onboard for the first three, but thought it took a dip at episode 4. Final episode picked it back up a bit, but I think the first was my favourite (biggest laugh was at the pie-kicking) and I'm still quite disappointed that the series wasn't a continuation of that plot.

neveragain

A dip at 4? The Stephanie Cole one? Interesting choice. I wouldn't say the series dipped at any point but the vegan lady and former girlfriend ones were my least favourites, although the last one was quite nice and wistful.

Malcy

Quote from: neveragain on September 19, 2021, 08:12:09 PM
A dip at 4? The Stephanie Cole one? Interesting choice. I wouldn't say the series dipped at any point but the vegan lady and former girlfriend ones were my least favourites, although the last one was quite nice and wistful.

As much as i enjoyed episode 4, it was just a bit too predictable. Still thought it was great though.

Captain Z

Yes, I'm sure some people will consider SC acting royalty, but the first half was extremely well-trodden stereotypical boomer stuff and it really dragged for me. The 'twist' picked it up a bit, but was not hugely original either.

olliebean

The end of the Stephanie Cole episode was rather too obviously set up with the
Spoiler alert
Chekhov's tallow
[close]
.

MojoJojo

I enjoyed the David Mitchell one, but it did show him up as a sketch actor compared to the others.

gilbertharding

I watched the David Mitchell one, and on that basis I'm genuinely wondering what this thread is doing in Comedy Chat. I mean, I didn't even think of laughing, at any of it - so I'm forced to conclude that as a comedy it was shit. Coincidentally, I think it would probably also have been shit if it wasn't a comedy.

I'm sure you could have made several different quite good comedies out of the premise here, so it's a bit of a shame these people failed to do so. I won't make an effort to see if the others are any better.

neveragain

Quote from: MojoJojo on September 20, 2021, 11:07:49 AM
I enjoyed the David Mitchell one, but it did show him up as a sketch actor compared to the others.

While certainly not one of the best actors around, he's definitely improved from his first TV sketch show. Comparing the first and last episodes of Peep Show highlights this, showing a much more polished and less stilted performance in the latter.

MojoJojo

Yeah, I feel a bit bad for saying that. I'm actually not sure how much it's down to Mitchell's performance compared to how the character is written. It's also comparing him to some great actors.

neveragain

Yeah but I get your point. Although I still liked that episode and found it funny.

I thought the first episode was no better than ok, but the David Mitchell one was really good. Well, really good for a BBC One Friday night sitcom.

It's hardly genre-defining comedy, but half an hour of David Mitchell being David Mitchell and Greg Davies being Greg Davies is always going to be fun. I laughed at a lot of it. If it's supposedly one of the weaker episodes then I'm looking forward to the rest.

I'd bloody love another series of Man Down though. Has that officially been canned? The post-credits cliffhanger at the end of the final series (
Spoiler alert
Dan ending up in prison
[close]
) suggests Greg wanted to do more, and it felt like it still had plenty of life left in it.

Small Man Big Horse

I've finished this now and really liked it overall, the bittersweet elements of the final episode especially appealed, but in general I liked the warmth of the series so even if I wasn't laughing out loud I still find myself engaged, it's not perfect but I'd definitely like to see at least one more series.

rue the polywhirl

I only caught the first two episodes of this and then I forgot about the rest. First one was stronger with the better occasionally amusing guest turn from HBC. Second one with David Mitchell was very tiresome and Mitchell-by-numbers. Would be nice if he had an extra self-reflective moment mid-performance and went 'hey this same angry rant style that I use in all my panel shows and sitcom appearances is well stale, maybe I should give it a rest or mix it up a little'. Guess you could say I didn't 'clean up' with this series!

Johnny Yesno

I've seen the first three episodes and I'm finding it hard work, tbh. I've never really liked Davies and this hasn't changed my opinion of him.

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on September 19, 2021, 07:16:32 PM
I did have concerns it was heading in to Gervais territory initially but the direction it took was both funny and very sweet natured.

I'd say episode 3 is particularly Gervaisian and it's the reason I'll probably bail early. I don't think Davies has the comedic chops to deal with disability - the accidentally-saying-'legs'-when-it's-the-last-thing-I-wanted-to-say-oh-my-days-what-am-I-like-we've-all-been-there bits were embarrassing.

This is more what I was hoping for from a comedy about a crime scene cleaner:

the Kleenrz (Self Jupiter & Kenny Segal) - Filthy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hst2Mbl4QvM

The Kleenrz (Self Jupiter & Kenny Segal) - First48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VemDOS1-8TA

The Kleenrz "Big Business" (Self Jupiter & Kenny Segal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXe_OPcfGR4

https://selfjupiter3.bandcamp.com/album/the-kleenrz

https://selfjupiter3.bandcamp.com/album/season-two

cyanidemint

Quote from: rue the polywhirl on September 29, 2021, 08:12:48 PM
I only caught the first two episodes of this and then I forgot about the rest. First one was stronger with the better occasionally amusing guest turn from HBC. Second one with David Mitchell was very tiresome and Mitchell-by-numbers. Would be nice if he had an extra self-reflective moment mid-performance and went 'hey this same angry rant style that I use in all my panel shows and sitcom appearances is well stale, maybe I should give it a rest or mix it up a little'. Guess you could say I didn't 'clean up' with this series!

I thought that one was spoiled by direct translations from German to English. A lot of the jokes didn't really work.
Whoever wrote the script didn't do a very good job.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: cyanidemint on October 10, 2021, 02:16:20 AM
I thought that one was spoiled by direct translations from German to English. A lot of the jokes didn't really work.
Whoever wrote the script didn't do a very good job.
^ That would be Greg Davies. Is it *really* a case of just translating the scripts from German to English? In that case, isn't it a bit cheeky to claim a "written by" credit?

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Hey, I've just thought, There's no way that weaker episode of " Inside No.9" episode with Stephanie Cole was translated directly from the German. They'd hardly have some crusty aristocratic woman going round saying what a great bunch of lads Winston Churchill was, would they?

greencalx

I was more bothered by the fact that his outfit and company logo was different in The Aristocrat. Perhaps this was originally a pilot?

dissolute ocelot

Of the 3 I've seen, the eps that work manage to set up a genuine connection between 2 people, despite the oddness and implausibllility; it's gently funny and sometimes a little moving. The David Mitchell one is terrible because Mitchell's character is completely unbelievable, behaving like he's rolling dice to choose his actions and thoughts, and Mitchell can't act well enough to create a believable bond with Greg.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: greencalx on October 10, 2021, 10:39:06 AM
I was more bothered by the fact that his outfit and company logo was different in The Aristocrat. Perhaps this was originally a pilot?

Yeah, that's a thought. That Policewoman type what last we saw in the first episode was in it too, wasn't she? Mind you , that first episode seems quite piloty too, with the opening being all wrongfootingly serious and dramatic, Are Geoff ( still cannae remember his character's first name) giving the sombre nod to the attendant police officer before entering the kitchen and unleashing the comedy dialogue in his Midlands tones.Something very " opening show" about all that.

The " influencer" episode has been the weakest one for me, Clive.

neveragain

For some reason, I flicked through all the episode descriptions of the original German series on IMDB and the only episode of Greg's series with an entirely new plot was... that influencer one. Take from that what you will.

There were some intriguing German plots:
Spoiler alert
one with a ghost, one in which the cleaner enters the mind of a comatose patient and the last episode seems to be set in the afterlife.
[close]

BeardFaceMan

The influencer was by far the worst episode, bordering on unwatchable. It very much felt like an old person's view of what influences are like (and an excuse for Greg in indulge in a load of 80s stuff.)

boinks

I pretty much enjoyed all of them, my least favourite being the David Mitchell one, mostly because it was the same intolerant character we've seen him do before and the chemistry between him and Greg just wasn't great - but not surprising really when the character was up and down like a yo yo.

Jake Thingray


MojoJojo

Quote from: neveragain on October 10, 2021, 01:21:35 PM
For some reason, I flicked through all the episode descriptions of the original German series on IMDB and the only episode of Greg's series with an entirely new plot was... that influencer one. Take from that what you will.

There were some intriguing German plots:
Spoiler alert
one with a ghost, one in which the cleaner enters the mind of a comatose patient and the last episode seems to be set in the afterlife.
[close]

Yeah, I was a bit surprised that episode plots seem to have been mostly lifted, seems a bit weird Greg Davies gets the sole writing credit. Maybe that works differently in Germany or something.

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on October 10, 2021, 02:34:40 PM
The influencer was by far the worst episode, bordering on unwatchable. It very much felt like an old person's view of what influences are like (and an excuse for Greg in indulge in a load of 80s stuff.)

Nah, it started a bit like that but then it was taking the piss out of Davies for being an out of touch fogey too. It did a good job of humanising the influencer after he's introduced as a ridiculous preening pratt.

neveragain

Yeah, I liked the influencer episode. I can't remember exactly what because it's been ages since watching it but there was something at the end about nostalgia that I found quite satisfying (same as the stuff about wanting to leave a mark on the world in the author episode or about clinging to the past in Stephanie Cole's). It's nice to have something that's about something.

On the writing side, I would imagine the dialogue is entirely different. Otherwise a sole writing credit would cause too many problems.

MigraineBoy

Series 2 news:
QuoteSeries 2 is written by Greg Davies and one other co-writer per episode made up of a combination of established and emerging comedy talents - Paul Allen, Ronan Blaney, Barry Castagnola, Meg Stalter and Mike Wozniak.