Vicious watch

[dead-ced-dead]

I noticed Vicious was on Amazon Prime so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm not usually a fan of trad-sitcoms and perhaps it's completely because of McKellen, Jacobi and especially Francis de la Tour but I'm rather enjoying it.

I like that it's not ironic and just plays the trad-sitcom as straight as possible.

I'm not a fan of Iwan Rheon as the young guy the two leads both fancy, but otherwise I'm enjoying it.

Although, for me, season 2 is a big dip. It opens things up more, with more scenes taking place outside the house and loses something in doing so. Also, given how big stars the four leads are, by season 2 the energy dips and it feels like McKellen, Jacobi and de la Tour would rather be doing a play somewhere and Rheon looks as if he'd prefer to be making Game of Thrones.

[j_u_d_a_s]

Went to a recording of a series 2 episode. Ian McKellen was having a grand old time from where I was sitting.

Vicious was unironically great, very broad in the best sense and having two living acting legends as the leads was a joy to see. Iwan Rheon isn't a great fit for this format but I like that he was doing this alongside Game of Thrones. I think what really prevented this from taking off was the snobbery around both ITV and studio sitcoms, if it was a US show (and it did have a US writer behind it) then it would have been a cult hit. It's also far better written and structured than quite a few other shows I could mention *cough*Stath*cough*.

[Glebe]

[dead-ced-dead]

Went to a recording of a series 2 episode. Ian McKellen was having a grand old time from where I was sitting.

Vicious was unironically great, very broad in the best sense and having two living acting legends as the leads was a joy to see. Iwan Rheon isn't a great fit for this format but I like that he was doing this alongside Game of Thrones. I think what really prevented this from taking off was the snobbery around both ITV and studio sitcoms, if it was a US show (and it did have a US writer behind it) then it would have been a cult hit. It's also far better written and structured than quite a few other shows I could mention *cough*Stath*cough*.

I agree with all of this. It's just damn good fun. The joke rate is high, the talent is very great and you're right, people do sneer at studio stuff and ITV.

[j_u_d_a_s]

I agree with all of this. It's just damn good fun. The joke rate is high, the talent is very great and you're right, people do sneer at studio stuff and ITV.

Totally. It seems all a comedy show has to do to get applauded is to be a superficial look at trauma with some contrived cringe bits thrown in or be well shot and have a laboured sad bit every so often.

[Mr_Simnock]

I loved every episode of vicious, shame it only lasted 2 series.

[lauraxsynthesis]

You've reminded me I'm planning to have a rewatch at some point. I also thought the neighbour character was a weakness but the other performances and how cranked up they were was ace. And the surprise bit showing their younger selves portrayed so well by Luke Treadaway and Samuel Barnett - that was a real treat that gave everything that came before this new dimension.

Then there was the jarring horror of the mostly dead dog - Ravenhill grotesquerie I guess!

[dead-ced-dead]

Then there was the jarring horror of the mostly dead dog - Ravenhill grotesquerie I guess!

Balthazar the dog is a great unseen character, like Marice in Frasier.

Wait, I'm lying, you do see it perk to life.

[jobotic]

Barry Cryer wasn't a fan

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jun/18/itv-vicious-cliched-barry-cryer

I only saw a couple - certainly wouldn't bracket it with The Wright Way!

[neveragain]

It's very enjoyable and I agree with most points in this thread (especially the neighbour) but the writing was a bit too predictable at times. A bit listless. Classic old-style comedy for sure but often missing a spark, imho anyway.

Comparing it with Stath doesn't work though. Obviously it's not your humour but completely different styles of comedy (and when Stath's at its best every line hits home, although you'll disagree with that and that's fine).

[Virgo76]

I really liked it at the time and was sorry some critics were so harsh about it.
Great to see two old masters having such fun. Always love Frances de la Tour too.
Had no problem with Rheon either. I associated him morè with Misfits then rather than cutting Lily Allen's brother's knob off.

[j_u_d_a_s]

Comparing it with Stath doesn't work though. Obviously it's not your humour but completely different styles of comedy (and when Stath's at its best every line hits home, although you'll disagree with that and that's fine).

Can't help but agree that Vicious lacks that classic comedy spark but it's well plotted and a lot of fun to watch. With Stath though,it often works in small bits. I've noticed folks here tend to like the odd line here and there but never really mention the plotting. Like there's one scene from series 2 that's a great standalone sketch, "Just ropes", but it shows up how lacking the rest of the series is because Stath has to play against character for it to work. Stath as a character works fine as a twitter mobile phone sketch but there's not much else to him.

(Not to say that Vicious is a lost masterpiece or anything but I have a lot more fun watching Freddie and Stuart bicker than Stath blubbing out a silly line)