Lunch Monkeys - Series 1 Page 11

Quote: chipolata @ September 17 2009, 3:24 PM BST

To a certain extent, I agree. And I feel the show shot itself in the foot by not being filmed in front of a studio audience. That would have not only helped it hone one-liners, but also helped it build a rapport with an audience, first in the studio, then by extension at home.

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Definitely. I could be wrong, but the impression I get is that Isaacs and/or his team are still hung-up on The Office, and desperate to recreate it 8 years on. Fair enough. But the show just isn't right for it. And, really, is about 5 years too late. They've done what they wanted rather than what was right for the scripts they produced.

I'm not comparing it to Psychoville, I'm comparing the reaction. I seem to remember the first ep of The IT Crowd wasn't anything special either. I'm not being perverse, I genuinely enjoyed this over my cornflakes last Friday morning.

Quote: Stan Doubt @ September 17 2009, 5:30 PM BST

I genuinely enjoyed this over my cornflakes last Friday morning.

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You prefer Lunch Monkeys over a corn based breakfast cereal. Honestly Stan, your comparisons are getting weirder and weirder.

Quote: YesNo @ September 17 2009, 9:01 AM BST

The BBC isn't really interested in the writer as much as creating a show that fits. There might be loads of brilliant gags that are deemed too clever, too edgy; too surreal etc etc and they will be ripped out and replaced by things that fit. If it all holds together as BBC Three type show that is far more important than actually taking any risks or being funny. The end result is something that is a pale shadow of the original concept.

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I remember you saying in another thread that you're quite a successful comedy writer and was wondering if you tended to write the type of simplistic comedy that seems to be getting commisioned at the moment before showing it to a producer or if you stuck to your guns creativity wise and wait for it to be kicked about by producers etc...

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ September 16 2009, 12:21 PM BST

Whilst you are in straw clutching mode, do you want to accuse us of being anti-Semetic as well because the show is written by David Issacs?

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fyi His name is Isaac and he's not jewish. It is a name of welsh origin.

Quote: realname @ September 17 2009, 9:38 PM BST

fyi His name is Isaac and he's not jewish. It is a name of welsh origin.

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Apologies - 'whilst you're in straw clutching mode, would you like to accuse us of racism because David Isaac is Welsh?'

David is a Jewish name. He was the Jewish King of ancient Israel. So there.

Quote: Tim Walker @ September 17 2009, 9:52 PM BST

David is a Jewish name. He was the Jewish King of ancient Israel.

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Well he would be wouldn't he!

Quote: Marc P @ September 17 2009, 10:17 PM BST

Well he would be wouldn't he!

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Not necessarily. This was ancient Israel, there were all sorts of non-Jewish rulers.

I tried watching this tonight but had to turn off very quickly after a joke-free exchange ended with one character seriously suggesting the blonde girl might give birth to a dog. Are we supposed to believe in this world?

Quote: Tim Walker @ September 12 2009, 1:45 AM BST

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.

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Ditto for tonight's show.

Not as bad as last week, to be fair, yet still nothing to laugh about and no-one to care about.

Enjoyed the line "...a time-share conference in Wigan!" (followed by celebrations), and the sight of Asif jumping out from the boxes. Good couple of chuckles there. Although - as I think someone mentioned last week - Asif seems rather inconsistent in how clever or stupid he's supposed to be.

There were a couple of other lines at various points that made me laugh, and the dog/cheque payoff in Mike's office at the end was satisfying. But overall I feel let down by the show. The laughs that there are, are too short, and too few and far between.

Having said that, it was an improvement from episode 1. A bit more 'charm' this week. But still not brilliant, mind.

The performances seem pretty good though.

Quote: Tim Walker @ September 17 2009, 11:07 PM BST

Ditto for tonight's show.

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I didn't notice that, but there were a couple of "admin"s.

as I think someone mentioned last week - Asif seems rather inconsistent in how clever or stupid he's supposed to be.

lol maybe he's putting it on! true say though.

If he's 'playing dumb' (I think that's what you mean), then it doesn't come across in the script like that. He just seems to waver. Jumping out of piles of rubbish in one scene, and actually managing to hypnotise someone (albeit a weak-minded someone, or whatever the line was) in another. The former scene was a bit of a boys-mucking-around exaggeration, yes, but it still doesn't quite fit. IMO.