BBC 4: The Gist

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Did anyone see this?

I just caught the last 10 minutes. A spoof arts review programme in the Brass Eye mould. It had that guy from the Peep Show in it. I quite liked it. It was derivative but from what I saw it was well acted and in terms of satire they could do alot worse. Look out for it. It's not bad.

[m...wW(wwMww)Ww...m]

I think I saw this a couple of years ago if you're talking about the same thing (and I doubt you're not; there can't be that many spoof arts shows with a guy from Peep Show in them). Is it just a one-off or a series then? It was alright from what I can remember, never quite made me laugh out loud, though. Oh wait, there was a bit where they had an interview with some guy and all the shots of him were extreme close-ups of his hands, nose, ear, etc. But I'm sure that was nicked from somewhere.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

It originally went out on BBC4's launch night. Presumably to make the point that BBC4 wouldn't be a round-the-clock Late Show and could laugh at itself etc.

[Village Branson]

It was hard to watch and not think of People Like Us and The Sunday Format (same writer after all), and also TV Go Home's takes on arts programmes.

Half an hour of it in one go was a bit much to take, a couple of pieces went on far too long, like the poet who made poems from all the vowels left out of texts "A. E. O. O. AEE....." and the final chat at the end wasn't too good.

I dunno, they held a gun to John Morton's head and made him write half an hour in time for the start of BBC4. That's what happened.

[Neil]

It's a very enjoyable show.  Didn't really think much of it on the BBC4 launch night, but when I saw it again a few months later I reall enjoyed it.  I bumped into it as well last night, it was halfway through and I couldn't remember if I'd seen this one before or not.  I thought they'd gona and made a series, but it was just a repeat, shame.  BBC4 was great for comedy last week, that Secret Policeman's Ball documentary, then Monty Python's Cycling Tour (fucking jaw-dropping!), and the Bambi episode of The Young Ones which I adore.  

There was a Barry Humphries documentary on too, a fake thing with Dame Edna being interviewed.  Fell asleep halfway through but what I caught seemed pretty good, she kept dipping into a big box of chocolates called Nivea.  Then a couple of nights later BBC4 showed The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus!  They followed that up with another Stones concert, too.  Great channel, when I can actually manage to get it.

[JCBillington]

Great channel, when I can actually manage to get it.

Yeah it's fantastic. I only got Sky this year, and BBC4 is pretty much the only channel worth watching that actually carries any new programming. It also shows some brilliant vintage stuff - the Stones documentaries were a delight. It's really come on this year too - as well as the above mentioned stuff, and Arrested Development, there has been a superb selection of non-american imported TV, something which is rare on any channel nowadays*. The Manns and City of Men were both excellent. The world cinema selection is more on the ball than Film Four, often showing stuff that has only just had a DVD release, as well as showing some obscure classics - i couldn't fucking believe they turned up King Hu's A Touch of Zen. Also Storyville shows some great theatrically released documentaries - most TV guides do not flag these as FILM, so I they can be easily overlooked. Oh, the Graham Greene weekend was absolute essential viewing - who else would show a 90 minute secret recording of Greene being interviewed, apparently shot on a home-grade camcorder at maximum zoom.

Woudln't it be nice they could go 24 hour, and devote the rest of the time to genuine Classic TV? You know, like UK Gold and Granada Plus used to? Basically, like a TV version of Radio 7.

*One of the many Ironies of multi-channel broadcasting - when there were only a few channels there was loads of interesting 'foreign' TV. Now there is very little.

[neveragain]

...then Monty Python's Cycling Tour (fucking jaw-dropping!), and the Bambi episode of The Young Ones which I adore. There was a Barry Humphries documentary on too, a fake thing with Dame Edna being interviewed.  Fell asleep halfway through but what I caught seemed pretty good, she kept dipping into a big box of chocolates called Nivea.

'La Dame Aux Gladiolas' - the Arena mockumentary from 1977. Ah, it was facking great. The subtlety was top-class, though if you're not in the right mind-set it can be easy to drift off, and it was also a wonderful example of how 'darkness' can be handled very well in comedy. There was one bit where Dame Edna was flicking through a photo album ('oh, there's Prince Charles, he's a very big fan...' etc) and she came upon one photograph - unseen to the audience - and pulled an immediately disgusted, angry face in reflex. Obviously this referred to something or somebody rather awful in her life but it only lasted a second and you could take it or leave it. That's the way it should be done. Yes, she did keep nipping into a box of chocolates marked Nivea and throughout the show other random boxes and cases also had Nivea written on the side, with the hidden idea that she must have a sponsorship deal with the company. But it was done so bloody brilliantly (all you had to go on was that and one gleaming mention of Nivea whilst describing Mary Magdalen), much more discreetly than Alan Partridge although I'm not saying he didn't manage the joke very well. It must be said that Barry Humphries is a fantastic full-on performer, there were tons of funny stuff going on with his eyes constantly.

At the end, post-credits (all of which were prefixed with the word 'her' - her Director, her Sound... oh, and the last credit was 'Dame Edna Everage is a division of the Barry Humphries Group' - class), it cut to the interview pose with Edna being asked if she had any regrets. 'Regrets? Je me reen' she replied in lovely craply-pronounced French. There was then a slight pause and Humphries came out of character to corpse liberally. This was only shown for a split second before the closing Arena logo came up, but that was a wonderful effect for him to just lose the character right at the end.

Oh, and God bless you for describing The Cycling Tour as 'fucking jaw-dropping'. It is bloody good.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

I'm sorry but the Python Cycling Tour episode did nothing for me.

I could see why it was funny but it just didn't make me laugh, a bit text book.

The Python films are great, but the TV stuff sometimes just passes me by. Maybe it's because I wasn't alive the first time round and I'm from the much maligned "ironic" comedy generation.

[Darrell]

The Python films are great, but the TV stuff sometimes just passes me by. Maybe it's because I wasn't alive the first time round and I'm from the much maligned "ironic" comedy generation.

When you look at it...

[JCBillington]

'La Dame Aux Gladiolas' - the Arena mockumentary from 1977. Ah, it was facking great.

And I deleted it from my Sky+ planner because I decided I wouldn't get chance to watch it. And then got ill and had two days off work with fuck all to watch. I am an idiot.

However, it is interesting to note how innovative those old Arena programmes are. Going back to the Graham Greene evening, did anyone see 'The Real Graham Greene'  - another 'mockumentary' based on Greene's allegation that there was an imposter travelling the world and living off his good name. It wasn't revealed to be a hoax until the very end, and had me fooled all the the way through. Incredible.

[Gavin]

The Gist is available at UKNova.com.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

The Gist was reccommended to me by a fellow VW, so I was expecting goodness. I was sorely disappointed by its one-note, sub-Iannucci style - like Brooker without the (mock?) rage.