That Mitchell And Webb Look - Series 4 Page 28

Much as I love Mitchelll & Webb I have to say there have been few laughs in this series. This series seems a bit "lost" to be honest. The gems like Numberwang & Digby Chicken Ceasar have gone & nothing has really filled the vacuum. Both Hennimore and The Event (funny ideas initially) have been overdone and outstayed their welcome).

where are the people at the Beeb saying "Nope, needs more work"??

Realised my fav Mitchell and Webb stuff is Peep show which is written by different writers, so perhaps they're just not as good writers as Bain & Armstrong??

Quote: Badge @ August 20 2010, 12:03 AM BST

Back to M&W, one day people will look back and realise that they thought they liked it because they wanted to like it. I want to like it but I don't.

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I think reading back through the thread the overwhelming reaction has been of disappointment brought on by high expectations. I suspect that looking back it will be viewed more objectively, and fondly.

Despite some very good bits, overall it is very disappointing. Too many sketches are too long and too many have a good basic idea that they don't make the most of.

Valid criticism, made by almost every poster in this thread. So not really the Emperor's new clothes is it?

I would much rather watch Harry and Paul or Armstrong and Miller, where the quality control seems to be much better.

I can't comment on Harry and Paul, as I have always found Enfield unwatchable, but once you have watched the first episode of a series of Armstrong and Miller you really do not need to watch any more, as there will be no further new jokes. I am at least able to watch Mitchell and Webb in hope, if not so much these days, in expectation.

But it is impossible to argue comedy with anyone who finds Chaplin funny.

Quote: Timbo @ August 20 2010, 12:42 AM BST

But it is impossible to argue comedy with anyone who finds Chaplin funny.

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Get you!

Quote: tokenfemale @ August 20 2010, 12:36 AM BST

where are the people at the Beeb saying "Nope, needs more work"??

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The collective psyche of the BBC is hard to fathom; on the one hand far too much second guessing goes on by people unqualified to express opinions, but on the other there is a desperation to sign up talent and an inordinate faith in their ability to deliver.

I suspect that if this had been That Bachman and Evans Smell, the chances are there would have been so much 'helpful' input that it would have ended up never seeing the light of day; whereas with That Mitchell and Webb Look, I am guessing that no-one trusts themselves to second guess the talent. (Though there were enough talented people involved that really they should not have needed outside quality control.)

I find it telling that it was Mitchell and Webb themselves who pulled the plug on Playing Shop as not being good enough, when the BBC were apparently gung ho to go ahead.

Quote: Timbo @ August 20 2010, 12:44 AM BST

I find it telling that it was Mitchell and Webb themselves who pulled the plug on Playing Shop as not being good enough, when the BBC were apparently gung ho to go ahead.

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But as a wiser man than me said earlier in this thread, how does that explain so much weak material ending up in That Mitchell and Webb Look?

The wiser man has already confessed himself baffled on that score.

Who knows, maybe the sketches Evans has been slipping into the red button material sending up M&W's out of control egos, is more heartfelt than the stars realise.

And maybe Playing Shop was really bad.

Quote: Badge @ August 20 2010, 1:14 AM BST

But as a wiser man than me said earlier in this thread, how does that explain so much weak material ending up in That Mitchell and Webb Look?

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Maybe it's because while 'Look' has a certain uniqueness, in their self-cancelled sitcom, the comparisons with Peep Show were so obvious (even to M&W by their own account) that the gulf in quality was unignorable.

I thought the ending was brilliant. One of few bright points in a below par series. For me, the last episode was the best of the series. The Sorry! sketch was funny.

What I find frustrating sometimes, about a sketch show or sitcom with an audience present, is that when they have a very poignant moment, some of the audience feel the need to laugh, when it just isn't necessary. It happens in Fools & Horses a lot, and it really annoys me. I was quite pleased that when the end of the sketch came, the audience just didn't laugh or make any noise whatsoever.

There were a few very very very small sniggers when the nurse came in and looked under the cover Mitchell had over his legs. I liked so much how the jam was just sliding down the side of Mitchell's face as he was talking. Good job, in my opinion.

Don't forget that the edit team have the power to add and remove studio audience laughter. You can't really blame them for laughing in the wrong places, and congratulate for not laughing in others, when the opposite could have happened!

It really depends sometimes. Sound is a very tough thing to get right. By removing genuine audience laughter could have an affect on the actual action i.e. the episode of Only Fools and Horses where it's the funeral for Granddad Trotter.

Del is in the middle of a speech to Rodney about how he can't show his feelings etc, and someone laughs in the audience at something that isn't funny. Nobody else laughed, just that one bloke. If they had the capabilities to take that laughter out without it affecting the sound on David Jason, I'm sure they would have done. That's one that always sticks out in my mind.

Quote: Aaron @ August 20 2010, 3:39 PM BST

Don't forget that the edit team have the power to add and remove studio audience laughter. You can't really blame them for laughing in the wrong places, and congratulate for not laughing in others, when the opposite could have happened!

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Not when you're actually in the audience! I hate people laughing at bits that are obviously meant to be sad.

Quote: zooo @ August 20 2010, 4:00 PM BST

Not when you're actually in the audience! I hate people laughing at bits that are obviously meant to be sad.

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Killjoy.

'Prayer and a Pint' has to be the most consistently laugh-free running sketch they've ever done. Who the hell thought that would be a good idea? At first you think it's a 'Countryfile' and 'Songs of Praise' spoof but then it turns into God only knows what. Just painful to watch.

I actually just started to appreciate the prayer and a pint sketches in the last episode.
Him singing the song was really making me laugh.

Was that computer shop sketch meant to be a slight reference to Fry and Lauries' 'Hedge Sketch'. That's what it reminded me of - especially when Webb said 'Start again?' Plus, they didn't know who was the customer and who was the shop worker - and in 'The Hedge Sketch' Fry and Laurie switch roles during the sketch.