Peep Show

[frajer]

Oh yeah, cranking it at the IMAX. Don't I know it!

[Red82]

The Australians.

Mark Corrigan: "I don't want to lick anyones arsehole"

[Radicalised Sitcom Writer]

Am watching Succession at the moment and it really starts to hit heights when there is a clear 'Jesse Armstrong' voice in there (though some lines are ad libs by actors).

Succession really is the spiritual sister of Peep Show.

[Psybro]

This is how I feel.  It's so funny, but watching Mark throw it all away over the course of the series is bleak as fuck.

I actually feel like the best thing the series does is just about make you feel certain that Mark deserves it despite everything.

[The Crumb]

who is the worst person on Peep Show who isn't a regular character? let's say 3 episodes maximum.

I'll start the bidding with Saz.

Eurgh that episode was a low point for me. That whole plot wasn't really funny apart from a few lines and Mark's actions make no sense even by Peep Show standards.

[AngryGazelle]

Was my favourite comedy for a long time and I'd still place it in my top 3.

Later series are weaker as the plotting isn't as tight and characterisation doesn't feel as grounded or consistent. Still the later stuff has many fantastic moments.

'I've bought you a lovely curry'

[Jerzy Bondov]

Beyond series 3 I just completely lose interest in them as characters. It's still funny but I don't enjoy hanging around in their world any more.

Hold your horses honey. I've got coupons for the Pringles.

[Mobius]

Im watching it now it's great.

When Jeremy traps the woman in the flotation tank "you must be BLOODY relaxed" hahahah

[iamcoop]

I didn't like it when Johnson became a totally different character. I remember at the time thinking it was as if they'd forgotten how to write him. He loses all the cringy office jargon and lighthouse family details that made him so funny in the first three series and just made him into a bit of a two-dimensional nasty cunt. Haven't rewatched it in years though, I agree with some of the other posts in this thread that I'd find it a bit too stiflingly depressing these days, now I've lost a bit of my youthful nihilism.

[The Mollusk]

The final episodes of series 3 (accidental engagement) and series 4 (horrific wedding) are absolute peak relationship bleakness, just fucking brilliantly horrible on such a level that despite being completely happy and secure in my marriage I still watch them and get a deep churning dread in my gut that something like that might happen to me. Mark and Sophie sobbing in the car after the wedding, fucking hell.

Of all the secondary characters I think Sophie is the best. Not for humour but for being exceptionally well written as a fairly boring and annoying person. It's hard to describe but Mark's early attraction to her and subsequent dying embers of romance feel so justified and real. And the more I think about it, the more I realise that she isn't exactly boring, she's just a normal person and it's Mark's own neuroses and desires which pick her apart in this way and create a sense of dislike. Even early on when he's trying to guess her email password he seems aware of this in himself as he says "maybe she thinks it's Sex in the City" (which is extra funny because that is what the show's called and his first guess is incorrect for that reason).

Dunno just hashing thoughts out here but I think it's worth mentioning. And needless to say Olivia Coleman is superb as always.

[Beelog]

I think there is something in every single episode and series. I think it always delivers on laughs every single episode, but on character apart from Mark and Jez, pretty much every other character could be wildly inconsistent from series to series - and the female characters suffered particularly from this.

Funnily enough at the time of Series 4, I thought it had gone a bit wacky and lost it, as every episode seemed to be set somewhere totally different and rarely in the flat. When the "eating the dog" ep came on, I thought that would be the shark jump moment, but loads of other people seemed to think it was a series high. I've warmed more towards Series 4 and that moment over the years but still think it's a bit odd.

The Christmas episode is probably one of my all time favourite Christmas eps of anything - loads of great observations and moments.

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

[Beelog]

Super Hans, reading from a puzzle book: "I have a mouth but do not speak, I have a bed but never sleep - What am I?"

Mark: "A river."

Super Hans, checking answer page: "Nicholas Lyndhurst."

Yes!!! One of my favourite jokes ever!

[Beelog]

Definitely agree that series 1-3 are the best. Partly because they're the funniest, but also I think cos they're kind of relatable. The breaking of the suspension of the disbelief after season 4 (so many instances of "well you would just get arrested for that") starts to lose me.

Overall, I am very pleased by how much external affirmation of my own opinions this thread has given me. Well done everyone.

[shoulders]

Even early on when he's trying to guess her email password he seems aware of this in himself as he says "maybe she thinks it's Sex in the City" (which is extra funny because that is what the show's called and his first guess is incorrect for that reason).

Yes, this bit is great, effortlessly nails the underlying lack of respect for her as a person, plus how for him, stripping it down, in series 1 and 2 it is just a conquest. He is attracted because she is occasionally nice to him and that is enough.

That pays off in the episode where she is promoted above him.

"You have to say I'm better, you have to"

There is self-loathing, ambition and a swirling irrepressible need to make the effort invested pay off even if it is unsuitable. Which is funny.

[Ornlu]

he says "maybe she thinks it's Sex in the City" (which is extra funny because that is what the show's called and his first guess is incorrect for that reason).

Can I just shock you? No it's not.

Unless you were just doing a joke. A simple lampoon.

[spaghetamine]

You told me it was going to be a chilled one, Jeremy. You assured me that he'd made a huge lemon meringue pie.

[pigamus]

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

The dog episode is brilliant though. It's fucking stupid AND brilliant.

[clingfilm portent]

They all end up talking exactly like Mark after the third or fourth series, which is a shame. Even Jez starts dropping historical references into his internal monologue.

But the first 2 series are perfect. Third is very good too.

[The Mollusk]

Can I just shock you? No it's not.

Unless you were just doing a joke. A simple lampoon.

Ah shit you're right haha. Not quite as layered as I thought but still a good indicator of Mark's cynicism towards the woman he's weirdly infatuated with.

[clingfilm portent]

The dog episode is brilliant though. It's fucking stupid AND brilliant.

It toes the line. It's almost too stupid, but is funny enough to get away with it.

[Jerzy Bondov]

The dog being called Mummy justifies it I think

[Utter Shit]

I was having a read through TV Tropes the other day, and came across a trope that I think fits the dog plot, although annoyingly I can't remember the name. But basically it's similar to jumping the shark, except the moment itself is actually good.

So, rather than it being a shit moment that proves the show has run out of ideas, it's a very entertaining moment that is out of keeping with the tone of the show, proving that the show is beginning to run out of ideas and has started using up the emergency options that are funny but not considered plausible within the show's world. I think that's where I land with the dog stuff. It's really good stuff, but also kind of destroys all the work done to establish Mark and Jez as real, believable oddballs rather than cartoon characters.

The idea itself makes no sense for the characters, but everything around it is really good. I especially love the old beans on top of the dog in the bin, showing that Jez is not only so callous as to dispose of a dead pet in the nearest pedal bin, but he moved on so quickly that he had himself some lunch and then thought nothing of discarding the leftovers onto the body. And, as much as it made no sense that he'd eat the dog and its cynical of the writers to point out how stupid it is, there's still some truth to Jez's justification that it really felt like he had to eat the dog.

[clingfilm portent]

I particularly enjoy Jez's desperately appeals to Mark to try the turkey with a mouthful of said turkey, almost as if it wouldn't be quite as bad if Mark was also eating the turkey.

[Psybro]

I was really worried how my missus would take to the dog episode as she is not a fan of offence humour at all.  It was her favourite one, she was howling.  She is more of a cat person though.

We both say "I don't want any, I'm full" all the time now.

For me the more egregious bit of atonality is Mark self-harming right in the middle of wonderful season 2.

[spaghetamine]

"...and I suppose that's the reason you wrote her name on every single egg under the word bird."

[The Mollusk]

"Didn't you get my message?"

"You mean the pizza coupon with "SIS MSG" written on it with a burnt match?"

[The Mollusk]

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.

[Lemming]

Another vote for the first two series being the best, though a lot of the best individual jokes come from the later series.

"The brush! The brush! We're getting fucked by the brush!"

Series 4 is very weird, I think what dooms it is that the episodes have a tendency to just end right as Mark and Jeremy are at the peak of trouble. They eat the dog, and... just get off the boat and the credits roll. They falsely accuse the gym instructor of sexual assault, he comes to beat them up, and... credits roll. It's like a Bottom ending in which Richie and Eddie die or are hideously maimed and then fine the next week, which feels completely wrong for Peep Show.

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.

[QDRPHNC]

I didn't like it when Johnson became a totally different character.

I wouldn't say Johnson was ever a particularly grounded character, but in the early series he at least felt real — he was low key, ruthless, charismatic and you could see why Mark had kind of a weird father-figure fascination with him.

But in the later series, he became this weird mix of poorly-observed default business guru (lol office jargon), and someone who might actually be mentally ill. He went from "you, me, Chinese food, and a fuck-off pile of spreadsheets" in the pub to saying "Consultio/Consultius" in his weird bedroom.

Also, a lot less executive meetings happen in busy restaurants after 5pm than sitcom writers seem to think.

[Psybro]

I was baffled when they re-wrote Johnson so that he was no longer French, which had explained him being so good at sport.