Quote: Chappers @ October 5 2010, 11:52 PM BSTI thought it was quite good too in a Dramody way.
Curses! 
*bashes a nonce from A-Wing in frustration*
Whites Page 7
Yeah, it's like a nice slow sitcom/comedy drama. I rather like it.
Oh for f**k's sake! 
*gives aggressive handjob to "Daddy" of C-Wing*
I don't get why this is 'dramody'; it is a sitcom. You might not think it a particularly funny sitcom, but that does not make it dramatic. If this is 'dramody' then Porridge was Play for Today.
Quote: Tim Walker @ October 5 2010, 11:59 PM BSTOh for f**k's sake!
Quote: Timbo @ October 6 2010, 12:01 AM BSTI don't get why this is 'dramody'; it is a sitcom. You might not think it a particularly funny sitcom, but that does not make it dramatic. If this is 'dramody' then Porridge was Play for Today.
Has it given you the hump?
Is that two or three?
It's because it's amusing with not many jokes rather than out and out funny.
Caught it for first time earlier, liked it 
Watched the second episode but won't be watching the third as it's just not funny enough and not one of the characters is sympathetic (even the sous chef is annoying because he's such a wet blanket), I just found the whole thing vaguely annoying.
I've just watched the 2nd episode and it was even better than the first.
Very good stuff.
Good script, good cast, good performances, good production.
Alan Davies, like many a good comedian before him, turns out to be a good actor too.
It's good!
The good thing is Alan Davies has stopped trying to "act" and seems quite natural.
The thing is it's well written and quite believable.
I like thingy. Off whatsit. He's good.
And Katherine, and Dobby. Great cast.
I came to this 'Whites' thread thinking it would be a place where I could come to talk unsubstantiated rubbish with people of my own ethnicity.
Oh wait, it is that place...
Just watched ep 1 of this. It's a solid show.
I cringed in the first few minutes when Alan delivered the prehistoric gag "If God didn't want us to make animals he wouldn't have made them out of meat", but it soon picked up with the funny book titles, and Bib's expression of despair as Roland wastes time writing his book. So by the end of scene 1 I'd already had at least 3 or 4 giggles.
I rather like the writing. Beneath the slow-burning feel of the show there's actually quite a traditional, several-gags-per-page script. eg:
BIB:
Clumsiest man I've ever met in my life. Yesterday he slipped on some cooking oil and threw four dozen eggs in the air. It's like being in a silent movie.
ROLAND LAUGHS.
BIB: (CNT'D)
I need help in the kitchen, Roland! Sarah says I'm working too hard.
ROLAND:
How is Sarah?
BIB:
Wouldn't know, would I? Barely see her these days. It's last thing at night and first thing in the morning, just the back of her head resting on the pillow. Might not even be her, she might've escaped! For all I know it could be just cushions and a wig!
ROLAND:
You know me and Rebecca went through a similar thing. Never saw each other, and when we did it was just bicker, bicker, bicker. We became strangers. But you know what? We worked through it, yeah? (HE PLACES HIS HAND WISELY ON BIB'S SHOULDER) Always remember. This too shall pass.
BIB:
(BEAT) Rebecca divorced you and moved to Jersey.
ROLAND:
Ipso Facto, problem solved.
There's nothing wrong with that writing. For me, anyway. Yes it's set-up / payoff but that's a real craft in my opinion - actual, real jokes. They're subtle but they're there. I wonder if Whites was originally intended as an audience sitcom? It feels that way to me. The waitress delivered a line that would've got a huge laugh in a studio audience situation. It went something like "I remember my first day here, I was too shy to ask where the toilet was so I went behind a gravestone in the chapel and I thought I saw a ghost but it was just wee-steam." Cracking gag and for me absolutely defines Kiki's character.
Anyway, to sum up, I liked the whole love/hate relationship between Roland and Katherine Parkinson's Caroline (phwoaar!). I'd like to see where that relationship goes.
Skooz is - as others have said - scary, and I hope the writers finally give Bib his revenge somehow. Actually I thought there was a strange bit with Skooz - he seemed to duck out of character a tad when he met Kiki. He abandoned the cold psycho vibe and momentarily went all warm and fuzzy which didn't really make sense to me. I thought at first he'd fallen in love with her but that wasn't referenced back to at all. I'm thinking that maybe they will get together at some point - Kiki obviously fancies him. Anyway, a small point I suppose.
Basically I found the whole thing quite engaging - the characters are strong, the writing is solid, and Alan Davies and Darren Boyd work nicely together onscreen. In fact I wonder whether they'd have worked even better if they'd swapped roles. I just see Alan Davies working better as the put-upon, harrassed sous chef. But anyway. It all works well for me.
It's certainly not an explosive red hot chilli of a comedy - more a gentle pot-boiler with subtley-infused flavours.
I'll be watching again.
Quote: Lee Henman @ October 6 2010, 2:51 PM BSTYes it's set-up / payoff but that's a real craft in my opinion - actual, real jokes.
I completely agree that it's a real craft, I just don't see that craft being very well executed in this show. The shoehorning going on to achieve the jokes is immense. And the gags that result are generally of such a poor standard, so as to not be worth it. I don't think there is much "subtle" joke-writing going on here, just limp, unfunny gags which neither a) are integral to the plot - which is a sign of really good writing, nor b) flow naturally from the characters - the jokes define the characters rather than the other way around. Anyway...
Sorry Lee, could you maybe highlight the several gags per page in a colour. I am having trouble finding them.
BIB:
Clumsiest man I've ever met in my life. Yesterday he slipped on some cooking oil and threw four dozen eggs in the air. It's like being in a silent movie.
ROLAND LAUGHS.
BIB: (CNT'D)
I need help in the kitchen, Roland! Sarah says I'm working too hard.
ROLAND:
How is Sarah?
BIB:
Wouldn't know, would I? Barely see her these days. It's last thing at night and first thing in the morning, just the back of her head resting on the pillow. Might not even be her, she might've escaped! For all I know it could be just cushions and a wig!
ROLAND:
You know me and Rebecca went through a similar thing. Never saw each other, and when we did it was just bicker, bicker, bicker. We became strangers. But you know what? We worked through it, yeah? (HE PLACES HIS HAND WISELY ON BIB'S SHOULDER) Always remember. This too shall pass.
BIB:
(BEAT) Rebecca divorced you and moved to Jersey.
ROLAND:
Ipso Facto, problem solved.