But, as per usual, Arthur Smith goes and does it all with far more style here
Git.
Showing posts with label Gavin and Stacey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gavin and Stacey. Show all posts
Friday, 10 April 2009
Monday, 12 January 2009
British Comedy And My Part In It's Downfall Part 1.
Until someone makes "Kung Fu Cheerleaders Battle Zombie Elvis", "Lesbian Vampire Killers", James Corden and Matthew Horne's new flick, might be my perfect film title. I won't be rushing to the multiplex to see it, though, and I'll tell you for why.
Now, I always feel like I'm coming out of some comedic closet when I say this, but I don't get "Gavin & Stacey". There. I said it. Yes, it's a pleasant enough story and the characters aren't too punchable (those that aren't thinly sketched out cyphers, anyway), but they appear to have left out the jokes. I might be old fashioned, but I was always taught that jokes were a pre-requisite for a comedy.
Take one scene where four characters enter a house. They're singing the John Barnes rap from "World In Motion". That's it. The whole scene. It's not funny, doesn't advance the plot and you learn nothing about any of the characters. That probably took up a page and a half of script. A rough rule of thumb tells me that you could've got six jokes in there. Or maybe Ruth Jones and James Corden were ruthlessly applying the "Royle Family" formula of "Working Class People = Jovial Singing".
Still, the scene where Gavin & Stacey were having sex while everyone was having breakfast was fried comedy gold.
I'm very generous with my laughter, hell, even "Lab Rats" raised a couple of chuckles, but I turned over the television and then laughed more in the first twenty seconds of "The IT Crowd" than in the whole of "Gavin & Stacey".
In a post- "The Office" and "Peep Show" world, Graham Linehan deserves all the praise he gets for showing us that the studio based sitcom is not dead. Funny stuff acted out by funny people, that's what it's all about.
Am I wrong? Have I been unlucky with the episodes of G&S that I've caught? Let me know. I have to go now as, apparently, it's very important that I help complete an "In the Night Garden" jigsaw. Forget "Crooked House", that's a creepy show...
Now, I always feel like I'm coming out of some comedic closet when I say this, but I don't get "Gavin & Stacey". There. I said it. Yes, it's a pleasant enough story and the characters aren't too punchable (those that aren't thinly sketched out cyphers, anyway), but they appear to have left out the jokes. I might be old fashioned, but I was always taught that jokes were a pre-requisite for a comedy.
Take one scene where four characters enter a house. They're singing the John Barnes rap from "World In Motion". That's it. The whole scene. It's not funny, doesn't advance the plot and you learn nothing about any of the characters. That probably took up a page and a half of script. A rough rule of thumb tells me that you could've got six jokes in there. Or maybe Ruth Jones and James Corden were ruthlessly applying the "Royle Family" formula of "Working Class People = Jovial Singing".
Still, the scene where Gavin & Stacey were having sex while everyone was having breakfast was fried comedy gold.
I'm very generous with my laughter, hell, even "Lab Rats" raised a couple of chuckles, but I turned over the television and then laughed more in the first twenty seconds of "The IT Crowd" than in the whole of "Gavin & Stacey".
In a post- "The Office" and "Peep Show" world, Graham Linehan deserves all the praise he gets for showing us that the studio based sitcom is not dead. Funny stuff acted out by funny people, that's what it's all about.
Am I wrong? Have I been unlucky with the episodes of G&S that I've caught? Let me know. I have to go now as, apparently, it's very important that I help complete an "In the Night Garden" jigsaw. Forget "Crooked House", that's a creepy show...
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