Exellent series - fully desrves it's second outing.
In a relatively short amount of time she has built a huge amount of sympathy for the character and it's this that, for me, makes the comedy work.
The reaction from the audience when they realised the big speech was only a dream really demonstrated this.
Not sure how they got this reaction, though, seeing as how they'd have to re-set between the speech and the 'reveal'?
Did they play it back to them as VT... anyone there?
Quote: Aaron @ December 15 2009, 2:15 PM GMTHe was last seen picking up an extremely large backpack and walking, dejectedly, from the restaurant. Not really too open!
Aah yes but he's not gone anywhere yet has he? It wouldn't take too much imagination to come up with a plot where Miranda goes to the airport to stop him getting on the plane (or some such).
Personally I think it was left relatively open in case the actor didn't want to do another series.
I thought it a bit odd as I thought he'd said he was leaving the morning after or something... But to me it implied that he was going, that was it, end.
I wouldn't be surprised if Series 2 starts a couple of months after Series 1 ends (setting, not broadcast!), with him returning to England.
Great news about series 2. Well deserved. 
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Quote: zooo @ December 15 2009, 5:43 PM GMTYaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
And double \o/ from me too. This really has been one of the most charming sitcoms for absolutely ages.
Quote: Aaron @ December 15 2009, 3:37 PM GMTI thought it a bit odd as I thought he'd said he was leaving the morning after or something... But to me it implied that he was going, that was it, end.
I wouldn't be surprised if Series 2 starts a couple of months after Series 1 ends (setting, not broadcast!), with him returning to England.
Actually, I think I read an interview with Tom Ellis a few months back (which would have been a few months after recording) in which he said he was actually really enjoying Hong Kong. So it seems unlikely he'd return for the second series, unless he's got tired of it in the meantime.
People have described this as a return to traditional studio sitcom, which I think is how I initially approached it as a viewer - and on those terms it is a mess, as there is none of the illusion of credibility fostered by traditional sitcom conventions (how many times can the wrong person turn up at precisely the wrong moment for no reason in defiance of all laws of probability?). I guess I was slow to catch on, because on revisiting the show, the inspiration seems to me to predate what we now think of as traditional studio sitcom - it is Ur-sitcom, a star vehicle more primitive in terms of sitcom evolution than Hancock or Bilko, and in fact not far removed from the show within a show of The Jack Benny Show. I do not think there has been anything remotely like it since Up Pompeii, and the show is probably closer to the spirit of Morecambe and Wise than to The Likely Lads.
The show rests entirely on the star's comic persona, and on the relationship with the audience, who are an acknowledged part of the dynamic. This is an interesting trend (and I think the absence of a fourth wall in shows such as We Are Klang probably enables us to talk of a trend), and seems to owe something to sitcoms once again becoming vehicles for star comedians, rather than being the writer driven genre that they became after Galton & Simpson escaped Hancock. Not Going Out represented a stage in this regression, back to the Hancock era, and Miranda takes us back a stage further. I am not using the term regression pejoratively, just trying to make sense of what is happening in the world of comedy. Having taken naturalism as far as it will go in the mockumentary style of shows such as The Office, sitcom is now reinventing itself by returning to its roots.
I. Don't. Like. It. There I said it. And the last episode managed to pack in everything that is wrong with the show
1. Competition between Stevie and Miranda to see who the guy would like? Half the programmes time is spent dealing with Miranda's less than flattering appearance. Non-starter.
2. The mother. F**king hell. If she was any more cliched she'd be a cartoon character for god's sake.
3. The friends and the chef turning up outside the gates. What??? I know you're supposed to suspend belief for comedy but this is supposed to have some sort of grasp on reality.
4. As for the friends. Never raises a smile. Not once. They're so unbelievable as to be...unbelievable.
5. The casts bit to camera at the end. Argggh! So cringeworthy it hurts. Smug and bloody pretentious.
I could go on but I'm boring myself 
Stop watching it then! Don't put yourself through it! 
Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 15 2009, 10:44 PM GMTStop watching it then! Don't put yourself through it!
Are you a masochist Roskoff?
Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 15 2009, 10:44 PM GMTStop watching it then! Don't put yourself through it!
You hope or at least I do that Miranda will get better. That like Men Behaving Badly and Blackadder there will be a wind of change that brings it into very watchable and entertaining comedy. But perhaps that's just me. I also see lot's of potential but I'm just one person with the critique credentials of a banana. And I did enjoy one episode (when she went on holiday to the local hotel). But that's it for this series 
Quote: Chappers @ December 15 2009, 10:49 PM GMTAre you a masochist Roskoff?
You'd love that wouldn't you. Eh! Eh! You old perve! 
With nothing else on tonight, I watched tonights episode whilst channel hopping. I thought it was quite good, some naff moments, but some really funny ones.
Can't be arsed reading the whole 42 pages of the thread to check if it has been mentioned, but as the end credits roled, it said 'You Have Been Watching' which is a trait to David Croft sitcoms. Are the two related in any way?
Miranda. The King, Queen, Prince, Princess and Jester all rolled into one.
I've no idea what that means.
Quote: Jack Massey @ December 15 2009, 11:13 PM GMTas the end credits roled, it said 'You Have Been Watching' which is a trait to David Croft sitcoms. Are the two related in any way?
AFAIK, it's just a loving homage.
