never seen Look Around You

[non capisco]

the original CaB thread is quite a thing.

Back when Comedy Chat was a savage proscenium of obsessive, searing analysis.

I really liked it.

[idunnosomename]

bloody toxic old CaB. i remember talking about it but it was all on IRC

[no_offenc]

Didn't someone from CaB provide the graphics for the 'computer games' segment in S2? That was a real highlight.

*raises hand*

Ta

[The Late Mike Morris]

Come on mate, you couldn't have put that behind a spoiler?

Any kiddie could have wandered in and accidentally seen that. 

[damien]

In case anyone hasn't pointed it out yet at 1:21 in the Intermission film there's a flash frame of the scary picture.

[shiftwork2]

This forum was significantly better in 2005 than it is now.

[gib]

oh, why's that then?

[non capisco]

Errrrrm, it was better in 2002, Shirley?

^ That's my uncanny impression of CaB in 2005.   

[petril]

the forum wasn't better, just the quality of the nostalgia

[madhair60]

This forum was significantly better in 2005 than it is now.

Counterpoint: I hadn't registered yet.

Oh. Wait

[neveragain]

This forum was significantly better in 2005 than it is now.

There might have been a wider discussion of comedy but the SOTCAA lot had their own problems.

[Bennett Brauer]

There might have been a wider discussion of comedy but the SOTCAA lot had their own problems.

I sometimes wondered why the SOTCAA forum had a Register button at all. Maybe there was a secret 12-month initiation ceremony of being tutted at or ignored and I gave up too soon.

[non capisco]

The forum is approximately a billion times better now. No people starting their posts with "Errrrrm..." for a start. It was like being talked down to by Dara O'Briain.

[Pink Gregory]

Well how can you complain about less discussion of comedy when you've had 20 years of discussion that's all still here, available to read?

Especially when a lot of stuff has had time to sit and is ripe for re-evaluation.

[Helvetica Scenario]

Series 1 is basically perfect. The modern snowman frequently pops into my head, as does this image:

[McDead]

Series 1 is art, series 2 is just a funny show

[petril]

the commentary for series 1 is really good as well. they make such a dull origin story

Spoiler alert

Robert Popper used to work at Granada and would check out weird archive video for them to watch while high

[close]

sound like an amazing little club. plus the clip of the fellas singing in the pub where they're all looking in different directions, they point that out

[purlieu]

The Series 2 DVD was a bit light on extras compared to the first one

Which is fine, because this is one of them

And yes, actually making the Scary Picture scary was tremendous work.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

Which is fine, because this is one of them

Ha! In the commentary they talk about one of their ideas for a spin-off show, which would be Dr Franklin Fu and Medibot having adventures together, which just sounded brilliant.

[The Mollusk]

I watched s2e1 last night for the first time. I've always heard that series 2 was a drop in quality and I loved 1 so much that I've never even dipped my toe in the water of its successor for fear of disappointment. And disappointed I was.

The most frequent thing which breaks the magic spell is the overall aesthetic. I know that for the show they wanted to emulate in s2 they obviously needed to make it look more like a fun prime time TV show, but there's a sheen on everything - bevels on the text, digital graphics being way too sharp and looking exactly like flash animations, that horrendous CGI metal door - which make it look distinctly like a parody and not something actually of its time, and even the show itself has a distinct lack of grain on it, visually and audibly. I absolutely wasn't expecting it to be a direct successor to the first series and it needed to try and be something bigger but they got this stuff completely wrong.

The only thing they do consistently right is the presenting style, but even this is diminished by the distinct lack of humour or surreality throughout. Those moments are too few and far between. When I think of The Day Today, which is almost totally perfect IMO, that's crammed to the gills with gags from scathing satire to sheer absurdity and yet it still holds firm as a spoof news show and never drops its guard for a second. LAY2 fails here and it's a big shame. "Thaichovsky" made me physically say "nope" at my telly.

[Replies From View]

It surprises me that according to a post earlier up the page they were considering doing a third series based on Tomorrow's World, as I thought that's what they were going for with series 2, except, as The Mollusk points out above, it feels too pointedly a parody due to its self-conscious anachronisms and uses of modern animation and CGI, when it would have been wonderful if presented purely as if it was a show that could have been made in the 1970s.  I think what's frustrating is that with a few tweaks they would have been there, and then it would have felt a more natural and deserving successor to series 1, just by dint of its authenticity.

[idunnosomename]

In the commentary they are regretful about the portal. It seems to have been made for them and they were stuck with the animation.

I guess you just have pretend it's real in the show even though it's not good enough to be

[Blumf]

Wonder if Serafinowicz would be up for hosting a restart of The Adventure Game. Keep all the aesthetics period, play it straight, just have fun.

[neveragain]

I watched s2e1 last night... And disappointed I was.

Give the rest of the series a go, it's by no means a failure and with many great moments.

[The Mollusk]

Ah yeah I will be persevering with it! It certainly had enough good moments to make it worth sticking with.

[Brundle-Fly]

.

[kalowski]

Come on, no love for profiterole chef, Anthony Carmichael. "I'm rapping, I'm rapping, I'm rap, rap, rapping..."

I love it.
"I've never heard of Rap. Music."

[purlieu]

Those moments are too few and far between. When I think of The Day Today, which is almost totally perfect IMO, that's crammed to the gills with gags from scathing satire to sheer absurdity and yet it still holds firm as a spoof news show and never drops its guard for a second.

Yes, I remember first watching the Sport episode and, when talking about running from London to Glasgow (or wherever), they gave what I assume is the correct distance, and I immediately thought "if this was series 1, they'd have given an absurd distance there". There are plenty of missed opportunities.

[Replies From View]

In the commentary they are regretful about the portal. It seems to have been made for them and they were stuck with the animation.

I guess you just have pretend it's real in the show even though it's not good enough to be

But they wanted a portal, right?  If they had wanted an ordinary 1970s door, or people already being in the studio as the camera panned around, that's what they would have filmed.  So the problem is still with the idea and not just the execution.

[the science eel]

Which is fine, because this is one of them

And yes, actually making the Scary Picture scary was tremendous work.

That bloke on the right! he's even got his SHOULDERS at the right angle