I thought the one with Radcliffe was great, but I watched this one last night and didn't raise a titter. The old girl-in-expensive-shop routine... boring. And the whoe comedy of embarassment thing is being seriously undermined by the way they're treating the characters: when the characters suddenly turn broad and stop making sense (the girl turning into a complete idiot; Merchant's character being the biggest moron in the world; Gervais' Oliver Hardy turn being such an idiot as not to fire him; the BBC producers are idiots for willfully producing a sit-com that everyone slags off and yet insists that it's the correct way to do things, a sitcom being shot, shown and up for a BAFTa at the same time..) how can you carry on using the comedy of embarassment? Cringing at a character's embarassment requires you to believe it's all nearly real- that's why the Office was shot like a documentary and why Curb is all ad-libbed: it's supposed to feel real so that you emphatise for the characters. When they become silly comedy caricatures how can you still feel embarassment for them? I think it's losing it's way. Usually I'm cringing with the best of them, but they're all just cartoon characters now and I can't care about any of them.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,510Chief of Staff
Another great episode - although I thought the end was a bit of a cop-out.
Also Andy Millman's sit-com When The Whistle Blows is set in Bolton - is he havin' a laugh ?
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Also Andy Millman's sit-com When The Whistle Blows is set in Bolton - is he havin' a laugh ?
Agreed about the ending. This episode just trailed off ..
However, the scene with the water bottle had me crying. Just remember boys, still not sparkling