La La Land

I finally got around to watching last weeks premier episode of Showtime's "La La Land" with Marc Wootton (written by Wootton and Peter Baynham). In the vein of his previous series, Wootton is playing characters in front of a unsuspecting public... this time it's Hollywood as his characters try and become stars.

Shirley Ghostman is back and due to some psychic misfortune faces arrest if he returns to the UK. So he's looking to break in the USA.

Gary a taxi-driver who is looking to make his dead mom's dream of being an actor his reality.

Brendan a documentary film maker with Kiki, a dancer he met in a "Korea town strip club", his camera person.

Each character was given more or less two scenes i.e: Shirley met with a publicists type and did a 'numerology' reading and Gary met with Lennon "The Photographer" for some head shots. Lennon was the highlight of the night... he was none too amused with Gary's Joey Pyle meets Darren Lamb character. The scene also got a good little joke out of differing definitions of the word pissed in the USA/UK.

Overall, I thought it was fairly entertaining and looking forward to tonights episode.

Anybody catch this on BBC3 last night? It's apparently drawn some celeb fans in the states. They guy's a talented performer, but I'm less sure about the prank aspect of it. If the intention is just to make his 'victims' spell out what an arsehole he is in his various guises, then that's going to wear a bit thin.

I agree, I only lasted 20 minutes of this. It was the same old same old, the comedian saying a lot of shocking and annoying things to get a reaction from ordinary people. The done-to-death 'let's go to America' schtick didn't help either.
I like Shirley Ghostman as a creation, perhaps because the medium is an area rich in comedy gold. I enjoyed the old series until it was pulled after the infamous Jonathon Ross interview. Wootton seems to have learnt very little from this since his main joke as Ghostman involved an abducted child.
Wootton's two new creations are tiresome deluded simpletons who are virtually interchangeable. The only difference is that one wants to be an actor while the other wants to be a director. Yawn. The actor's schtick was to talk inappropriately about his dead mother, a former porn star. This is the closest the show came to being funny. With the director, Wootton tries a different tactic, instead of shock he tries ignorance and confrontation, probably not the best combination.
A very poor programme, IMHO but it says a lot about BBC3 that this fits right in.

Quite liked the cheek of basing a numerology reading on the woman's credit card, and then going off to charge his room against it... It feels a bit like that Australian thing... oh what I am thinking of, the one with the rolling along for charity, the J'aimee "schoolgirl" etc.

I found it amusing, and I'll be watching again next week.

Stick around for the 3rd episode; it's my favourite of the series.

I didn't really get the point of it, to be honest. It's just... <shrugs>. There were some funny bits, but the person who came out in the best light was the photographer. No pun intended.

Dan

I absolutely loved this! but looking at the comments above, looks like I'm in a very small minority.

I've been hoping he'd do something like this again ever since My Best Friend went off the air, but I think the killer genome in this format's DNA is that it takes a group up people usually portrayed as freaks, wierdos and narcissists (Angelinos) and makes them look very nice and reasonable by comparison.

A poor programme. A non-event. "Shrug" is a more than adequate response to it, as Dan establishes. I was *very* close to turning it off after 5 minutes. Somehow forced myself through the full hour, but probably won't be bothering again.

Quote: Cheesehoven @ April 28 2010, 10:37 AM BST

It was the same old same old, the comedian saying a lot of shocking and annoying things to get a reaction from ordinary people.

View original

It was very similar to the Facejacker show.
Slight difference maybe in that Wootton seemed to let a lot his 'victims' leave the encounter feeling they'd had the upper hand somehow. That he was the arsehole, not them.

But it was still almost unbearable to watch.
I HATE this kind of stuff where they humiliate/take the piss/waste the time of unsuspecting members of the public. Sooooo uncomfortable.

Quote: swerytd @ April 29 2010, 9:23 PM BST

I didn't really get the point of it, to be honest. It's just... <shrugs>. There were some funny bits, but the person who came out in the best light was the photographer. No pun intended.

View original

Yeah I liked him, he was funny.

Was it really voiceovered by Julian Barratt? I didn't even notice a voiceover, let alone him.

At the beginning it was, yes.

Quote: Aaron @ May 2 2010, 6:38 PM BST

forced myself through the full hour...

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Hour?! Was it?!

Dan

Anyone still watching this? I could hardly watch Episode 2... it was so embarrassing (but in a good way)! I genuinely ended up watching the rope cutting bit and the networking event through my fingers.

Missed the first one, but iPlayered it. Me and my brother love it, that guy Gary is mental in a funny way. I know what you mean about watching through your fingers, but that's the point? I like that it doesn't feel too mean, those people are dicks. Def can't wait for the next one.

Quote: swerytd @ May 4 2010, 10:08 AM BST

Hour?! Was it?!

Dan

View original

Must have felt like it - but no, it was just the half hour.

Watched the first two on Sunday night. Going into it not thinking it would be any good, unfortunately I have the same trepidation toward a lot of comedy on BBC Three, but it pleasantly surprised me, what I especially liked about it was the way Wooton seemed to elevate their anger to a point where he was one comment away from getting lamped, and stay there for as long as possible, rather than back down or try to push it too far, this made for funnier reactions from his "marks". My friend asked also watched most of episode two through his fingers but he is easily embarrassed. He loved it though.