Lunch Monkeys - Series 1 Page 6

Hm. Well. Largely agree with Tim's critique. Certainly an improvement on the pilot, but there was no discernable charm to it. The prank phone call (not the later, real one) did make me chuckle a little, but otherwise it just wasn't funny.

Changing the nametag on his tie jumped out at me as being really peculiar too. I don't normally notice stuff like that, but come on, there's got to be some kind of plausability to the situation. I don't suppose it would have mattered if there'd been a good laugh at the end of it, but as Tim said, lots of set-up with very little pay-off.

I really wanted to be able to like this show (honest), but it was just soulless.

And Kenny looks like a young Justin Hawkins. Does he get to play a guitar in a later episode?

I genuinely never sit down to watch a show thinking "Right, this will definitely be shit whatever evidence there may be to the contrary". In a way I was expecting more from this too. (Haven't watched Off The Hook yet, so maybe there is something new to tickle me. Roll on Peep Show. )

BTW, you can apparently pre-order your DVD of this series from the BBC, where it is introduced by...

"Welcome to Fox, Carter & Co. a personal injury law firm in the heart of Manchester; home to a rag-tag young admin team of wannabe lawyers, reprobates and the occasionally keen. The Admin team exist in a soapy bubble where domestic and team rivalries combine with legalese and lust to create an oddly accessible brand of comedy that's somewhere between 'The Office' and 'This Life'."

Didn't see the 'This Life' bit coming out of left field, did you? Even if it's set in a legal firm that's an phenomenal bit of chutzpah on behalf of the press office.

Quote: Aaron @ September 11 2009, 1:56 AM BST

Hm. Well. Largely agree with Tim's critique. Certainly an improvement on the pilot, but there was no discernable charm to it. The prank phone call (not the later, real one) did make me chuckle a little, but otherwise it just wasn't funny.

Changing the nametag on his tie jumped out at me as being really peculiar too. I don't normally notice stuff like that, but come on, there's got to be some kind of plausability to the situation. I don't suppose it would have mattered if there'd been a good laugh at the end of it, but as Tim said, lots of set-up with very little pay-off.

I really wanted to be able to like this show (honest), but it was just soulless.

And Kenny looks like a young Justin Hawkins. Does he get to play a guitar in a later episode?

View original

Aaron you hit the nail on the head mate... I chuckled then too, but I ask you this, is it better and more watchable than Grownups and Coming Of Age?

Didn't really grab me, but I'll watch again. Didn't seem to be a lot of funny in there, though I did like the slimy bloke who got the girl pregnant. 'Ha, that looks like piss' made me laugh. Forget his name, but he's been in a lot of stuff.

Slightly annoyed me for some reason that every single character was thick to different degrees.

Out of the two tonight, I preferred 'Off The Hook', but I'll give this another look next week.

Not my thing, and I won't watch again. All far too predictable and slightly sterile. That said, I'd imagine it probably quite appeals to the demographic it was aimed at.

I saw Nigel Havers being asked what Lunch Monkeys meant during an interview and, after a brief squirm, he said that apparently it means people who muck about in their lunch break. He didn't seem convinved either.

I agree with comments about the performances and I didn't get what this show was trying to be. Either it's hedging its bets or the world of Lunch Monkeys is unconvincing. I could see every gag coming and I didn't like any of the characters. The new lazy girl character was quite good, but would have worked so much better if there were at least a few conscientious people around her. The reason she wasn't sacked was pretty poor too; maybe it would have been better if she'd threatened to sue for unfair dismissal?

Anyway, I did work experience aged 15 at my sister's solicitors office and it was nothing like this show. It was actually funny. In fact I might write a couple of scenes about my experience to contrat and compare.

Quote: sitcom critic @ September 11 2009, 5:03 AM BST

I ask you this, is it better and more watchable than Grownups and Coming Of Age?

View original

No.

Quote: Aaron @ September 11 2009, 1:33 PM BST

No.

View original

I disagree but that's your opinion.

Agree with the consensus here. It just feels stale, its the format and tone of this type of comedy that's been done so much you know where all the punchlines are going to come from. I didn't engage with any of the characters and got annoyed by nearly all of them.

In saying that I laughed at the "she's got aids", that came out of left-field. Not enough to keep me watching though.

I tried not to analyse it and just enjoyed it to be honest - it does seem aimed at a particular audience and did give rise to a few laughs bubbling through the cornflakes at 7am this morning when I watched it. Is it as funny and relatable as The Inbetweeners for me - no. Was it a watchable comedy that a tired brain could cope with at that time of the morning? Yes.

I liked quite a bit about it. The lazy work experience girl and I thought there was a nice bit of a pay off with the Mrs Wilson. It's not brilliant but I think it was better than all of the BBC Three's other yoof sitcoms of recent years. I think the aim was for it to be quite realistic and so the worst bits were where it tried too hard to be funny, in particular I think they could make the Asian character a bit more rounded and less of a caricature.

Oh, I forgot to congratulate them on managing to get both the word "lunch" and the word "monkeys" into the first episode. (Not at the same time, of course, as "lunch monkeys" would make no sense.) Brilliant.

Congratulations to David for getting it comissioned. However, I doubt I'll be watching it again. The only thing I found funny was the prank phone call.