I liked it too, Richard Ayoade was fantastic. But it didn't make me laugh very often.
Not Going Out - Series 1 Page 5
Well I liked it anyway! A quick question for Andrew Collins, seeing as how both GRASS and NOT GOING OUT seem to be projects you were brought in to, do you have any plans in the future for producing your own original sit-coms?
I liked this show at first but the constant stream of gags is starting to get on my nerves. I know, it sounds strange to criticise a modern BBC sitcom for having too many gags (the first minute of the first episode contained more funny moments than the entire series of Hyperdrive) but the machine gun approach to things is starting to wear thin - I switched off halfway through the last episode, a first for me.
Interesting. I found that with the first episode, but feel that it has "mellowed" a little now. What do other people think?
You probably just get used to the style.
I dunno, possible I suppose. But I didn't even watch episode two, just happened to catch ep 3, and really felt it was a lot different.
Andrew, was ep 1 produced - or written - as a pilot, with the others written as part of a full series?
Quote: Aaron @ November 6, 2006, 6:33 PMI dunno, possible I suppose. But I didn't even watch episode two, just happened to catch ep 3, and really felt it was a lot different.
Andrew, was ep 1 produced - or written - as a pilot, with the others written as part of a full series?
Episode 1 was indeed the pilot. We wrote it last year. The rest of the episodes were written this year. But we went back and rewrote a lot of the pilot, as Megan Dodds hadn't been cast last year, so Kate went from being English to American. From my dispassionate point of view, I don't see much difference between the gag rate in Episode 1 and the others, although I think Death (Episode 2) was a little quieter.
Incidentally, and ratings aren't everything, but we were up again last Friday to 3.6 million. That's 2.8 million in the first week, up to 3 million for Episode 2 and 3, then up to 3.2 million for Episode 4, and now 3.6. That's very much against the grain for new programmes, and it cheers me up no end.
I've answered all the questions Mark sent to me by the way, about NGO and Grass, so I'm assuming those will appear on the site very soon. I can't talk about the project I'm about to start work on today though. There is one, though, that's all that matters.
God I'm crap. I've been writing a spec sit com since last Christmas and it was only last week that it occurred to me to put 'sitcom' into google and see what happened. Hence I'm very late with my response to Not Going Out. I think I was predesposed to hate it because my wife apparently went to school with Andrew Collins and he is obviously successful and I'm not. Sorry Andrew. Anyway, we sat down to watch the first episode and couldn't help but laugh, a lot, all the way through. Much more than I remember laughing at anything for ages.
'No man is an island' - 'What about the Isle of Mann' has stayed with me, I think from the first episode, and plenty of other things that have already been mentioned.
Maybe the quickfire stand up type of delivery is not traditional sitcom style, but at least it's funny, and that puts it head and shoulders above most of the other stuff that's out there. And hopefully it will stand up to repeated viewing when the DVD comes out, when you hear gags you missed the first time around?
I was hugely upset that I really really liked it. Rare these days that we actively sought it out each week and prioritised out viewing around it, rather than watched it because the baby had hidden the remote.
A breath of fresh air in my view.
Quote: Andrew Collins @ November 8, 2006, 7:11 AMEpisode 1 was indeed the pilot. We wrote it last year. The rest of the episodes were written this year. But we went back and rewrote a lot of the pilot, as Megan Dodds hadn't been cast last year, so Kate went from being English to American. From my dispassionate point of view, I don't see much difference between the gag rate in Episode 1 and the others, although I think Death (Episode 2) was a little quieter.
Hmm, ok. Interesting. Well, I'll watch it again later and see. Perhaps it was just a bit different to what I was expecting.
Well done on the ratings though. Very good. 
Quote: Andrew Collins @ November 8, 2006, 7:11 AMI can't talk about the project I'm about to start work on today though. There is one, though, that's all that matters.
Oh, you tease! 
Our interview with Andrew is now online... do check it out, it's a pretty interesting insight into the behind-the-scene work that went into making Not Going Out funny!
Note: Comedy Writers: read our extended interview instead! It contains lots of additional fascinating writing-related insight and advice that's not in the standard interview.
I saw the episode with the young boy coming to stay. I apologise now as it wasn't my taste and I switched over after 5 mins. But it is really great to see a writer of the show answer questions, so mega-kudos to you for that, Andrew.
Ditto to the Slag's comments - much appreciated for a current beeb sitcom writer to take the time to give us these pearls of wisdom. Thanks Andrew.
I'm still enjoying Not Going Out but I can't comment on the pilot - episode 1 is the only one I've missed.
I have to admit that i found the extended interview a bit demoralising. It only reinforced the impression that to get ahead in the biz, you have to already have links in the biz.
For example: The situation where Avalon fund Lee Mack to write a sitcom, the end result of which is a series of unrelated gags, so they then have to call in Andrew Collins (a true gentleman for giving us on the lower rung his time btw) to give it structure and character. Why are avalon funding an initial script that is totally deficient in the basic dramatic component of all sitcoms - character? Even newbies know that character and their interactions / reactions drive humour and plot. To me this screams another example of 'names' getting opportunities that other perhaps more talented writers are missing out on.
I once paid money for a scriptwriting course. Great stuff. At the end of the week at the Q+A session i asked how the tutor got his break into scriptwriting and how he'd advise us to proceed. His tale was as follows:
He writes a play and no one is interested. He has a house party and a friend of the daughter is a b-list actor who attends. He 'sees' the script on the bookshelf and reads it. He asks to play the lead and voila - the tutor finds it easy to get the unacceptable script accepted. He is now an established playwright.
Now, i have no chance of an actor reading my gear, gawd, not even the street cleaners talk to me. So i ask the tutor how i should develop links. He said unless you know someone inside then it's unlikely that i'll get to know people and therefore get a commission.
My next question was: why the *&"$* didn't he tell me that before i paid my fees. I'm hoping to prove myself (and him) wrong btw.
Anyway that's my cynicism excised for the weekend.
Some interesting points as always, SlagA.
It's hard not to be cynical. When I was starting out with this whole sitcom lark, I invested in a how to write a sitcom book. The author noted that many people believe that TV is a closed shop, run by university graduates and a London clique who only give jobs to their mates. I carried on regardless. Unfortunately, everything I've experienced in the last few years has reinforced this belief. I keep on writing, mainly because I enjoy it, but also because I keep telling myself that it can be done, it isn't just a case of 'not what you know but who you know', you can get a commission if your work is good enough and lands in front of the right person. But it's hard to remain positive sometimes. Take a look at the current crop of Britcoms - were any of them written by newbies and, if so, did these newbies break in to the industry on the strength of their writing as opposed to the help of B list celebs or Oxbridge mates?
SlagA, I can only suggest work up from a menial job a la Sullivan!
But yes, slightly more seriously, the whole situation sucks balls. But then, what doesn't these days? Sigh. 