Alexei did it a lot in The Young Ones.
Breaking the fourth wall and other stylistic effects Page 2
Quote: lofthouse @ 15th March 2023, 2:54 PMAlexei did it a lot in The Young Ones.
The one that always makes me laugh, is when he is relating the tale of him complaining about the noise coming from the flat above, which sounded like a seal on a motorbike going round and round the room, and when he confronted the tenant there was actually a seal in a crash helmet behind the tenant saying "What is it Ralph?".............or something like that - whatever, it was so ridiculous and so funny. 😆
That's Boring. They always used to leave a gap in the script for Alexei's stand-up. Some people disliked his interludes, but for me they were an essential part of the anarchy.
The asides worked in The Young Ones because they were funny in themselves and genuinely surprising. In Filthy they were just forced and formulaic. Interestingly, the series inbetween, Happy Families, was far more trad.
I thought Monty Python did it very well in a few of their films.
On TV, It's Garry Shandling's Show was one of the best and most innovative at breaking the fourth wall.
Yeah Shandling threw a fricken grenade at that fourth wall!
💣
Quote: beaky @ 15th March 2023, 9:54 AMCorrect me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the first British example of this Laurence Sterne's Tristam Shandy?
Can't quite remember that far back but probably. It's as old as theatre itself, and personally I love its use in film and TV, Michael Cane did it seamlessly in Alfie, and some people say he can't act. Grr
It suits trad studio sitcom because it's essentially a piece of theatre for an audience.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 16th March 2023, 12:08 PMIt suits trad studio sitcom because it's essentially a piece of theatre for an audience.
Only if the sitcom itself is setting itself up as a bit of theatre.
Margot asking the TV audience what they felt about the state of Tom's garden would have destroyed the show.
No I meant just a sudden change of direction of address to the camera from the main character for a short spot of 1st person narration, like in Lovejoy.
Hancock did it with just his facial expression, and Steptoe & So did a wonderful thing at the end of most eps where Harold would chase Albert round the room, another very unnaturalistic stylistic effect I think modern sitcoms are missing.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 16th March 2023, 12:08 PM............ and personally I love its use in film and TV, Michael Cane did it seamlessly in Alfie, and some people say he can't act. Grr
Been listening to his own reading of his book "Blowing the Bloody Doors Off" on R4+, and he can act.
Amusing to get his take on Paul Whitehouse (Michael Pane) and Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's impersonations - very funny....................
Quote: Lazzard @ 16th March 2023, 12:11 PMOnly if the sitcom itself is setting itself up as a bit of theatre.
Margot asking the TV audience what they felt about the state of Tom's garden would have destroyed the show.
But yes even the mild use of facing or talking to camera has to be done in the right type of sitcom, and that's not many of them, especially these dsys. I applaud Miranda for taking us back there in a time of depressing ultra realism but the execution wasn't seamless as in Lovejoy etc. it was jarring and clunky imo.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 16th March 2023, 12:27 PMBeen listening to his own reading of his book "Blowing the Bloody Doors Off" on R4+, and he can act.
Amusing to get his take on Paul Whitehouse (Michael Pane) and Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's impersonations - very funny....................
Forgot to mention that he was also bemused by Peter Sellers answerphone message impersonating him at the time
AND in our local news..............not a lot of people know this, but the new Roller he bought in 1968 for £10,511, has just sold for £120,000, and in case you are wondering, that equates to £147,149 in todays money.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-64963359
A surprising decline in value.
Vyv literally broke a few walls.
I was a fan of 1990s sitcom Game On, and liked the brief moment at the end of the first episode of Series 2, where they sort-of-refer to how one of the lead characters has been replaced by a different actor. (The character Matthew was played by Ben Chaplin in Series 1, and by Neil Stuke from Series 2 onwards).
It was quite a surprise at the time, as it wasn't the sort of sitcom that'd usually do that sort of thing, but it worked quite nicely as a little post-credits scene, sort of breaking the fourth wall but without anyone looking into the camera and stuff.
From 28.30 onwards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2wKRE3QPmM
Quote: a plate @ 18th March 2023, 2:25 AMI was a fan of 1990s sitcom Game On, and liked the brief moment at the end of the first episode of Series 2, where they sort-of-refer to how one of the lead characters has been replaced by a different actor. (The character Matthew was played by Ben Chaplin in Series 1, and by Neil Stuke from Series 2 onwards).
It was quite a surprise at the time, as it wasn't the sort of sitcom that'd usually do that sort of thing, but it worked quite nicely as a little post-credits scene, sort of breaking the fourth wall but without anyone looking into the camera and stuff.
From 28.30 onwards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2wKRE3QPmM
They did it quite explicitly in, I think, Roseanne, in a very effective and knowing way.