I've never even heard of it.
Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights Page 2
And Tramadol is not best taken at night anyway. You'd be better off with Amitryptilline or Buprenorphine...
And as Tramadol is most commonly prescribed for chronic osteoarthritis, will the show focus mainly on jokes about peri-operative orthopaedic joint replacements? I do hope so. 
So (not to make Tim not watch) but is it a pun on something?
Quote: zooo @ November 20 2010, 4:04 PM GMTSo (not to make Tim not watch) but is it a pun on something?
Don't think so. I think he might be suggesting that Tramadol is a drug commonly used illicitly by heroin addicts (or those substituting with methadone). Maybe it is up in Scotland, but I'm not aware that it's used much in that way down South. Whatever the origins, it's a a poor title.
Anyway, although I won't be watching this series, I'm looking forward to it as it's supposed to be part of the winding-down of Frankie Boyle's stand-up career. The man has indeed a great gift for making very funny gags, but I don't like the decisions he makes regarding the limits of his material and I don't like him as a person. Admittedly, this latter opinion is made on the basis of reading his book, plus interviews he has given, but I've seen and read enough to gain the impression that he is a fairly unpleasant man, who hasn't got the humility or insight to accept that anything he does is too unkind - or, simply, wrong. The good misanthropes are those who, deep down, express a desire for the world to be a better place. Boyle just seems to hate the world without any empathy or understanding for those who see good/hope in it.
I appreciate that many great comic talents are probably not necessarily the nicest people in real life, but Boyle is just someone whom I find impossible to like. In short, I don't think he makes the world a happier place. He might be an adorably lovely person to his friends and family (I hope he is), but his style of comedy just leaves me feeling a bit sad about life.
I know people who have met him in real life and apparently he's quite a decent chap. His nasty side is just a "gimmick", as it were.
Anyway, Tramadol Nights. Didn't really work for me I'm afraid. He was far funnier on Mock The Week if this first episode is anything to go by.
Loose Women Iran made me laugh out loud.
Enjoyed most of it...
Long indulgent sketches (long and terrible , like Dave Allen on a very, very bad day) and a couple of OK stand-up gags.
This would need to improve a lot to keep me watching.
Why are all these stand-ups doing sketches?
Stick to what you know.
His sketches were by far the best part- the standup was redundant. Sketches were still too long for the most part, but enjoyed the Loose Women Iran sketch a lot.
The sketches seemed oddly put together, like they hadn't been properly edited, so there was an odd 'offness' about them.
Never been much of a Boyle fan, I found this a bit grim really for my tastes. (And I say that as a fan of Jam.) I dare say fans of his would have liked it.
Quote: Tim Walker @ November 20 2010, 2:57 PM GMTI agree. Not least because Tramadol is the coward's opiate of choice.
Not true, my opiate of choice is Codeine.
Excellent, I thought. As an incentive to keep writing. If broadcasters are this desperate then I must be in with a fair chance. I did laugh at the George Michael sketch which pretty much summed the show up for me. Wank.
I actually really enjoyed some of it. The George Michael sketches where nearing brilliance; had me laughing out loud. A few of the other sketches were indeed somewhat on the indulgent side, and some - e.g. Knight Rider - were long and dull.
As a whole, the show did feel a little disjointed and directionless though. Even beyond what one might normally expect from a sketch show, or variety show, something about the full mix of it together just didn't quite work for me. Nevertheless, taking the individual elements I did laugh quite a bit and although I certainly wasn't blown away by the show, I'll be looking forward to next week's episode.
Wasn't sure what to make of it. There were some good moments, but for most of the time I just thought it didn't work.
My dad was watching some of it but could not stand it, saying that Boyle was trying too hard to offend, trying to carve out a niche for himself. Then again, you could argue that niche has already been made by Jerry Sadowtiz and that Boyle is not as extreme as him, and thus falls short.
Quote: Ian Wolf @ December 1 2010, 11:14 AM GMTMy dad was watching some of it but could not stand it, saying that Boyle was trying too hard to offend, trying to carve out a niche for himself. Then again, you could argue that niche has already been made by Jerry Sadowtiz and that Boyle is not as extreme as him, and thus falls short.
We were saying this too. His focus has certainly shifted from strong punchlines, to using an offensive word as the punchline. It's hardly subverting our expectations when you fully expect him to say it. I think he used 'mentally ill' ina punchlines for three short jokes within the same minute- and I don't think it was done in a knowing callback sort of way, I think it was just lazy. Might be wrong though, obviously.
The first George Michael sketch was piss yourself funny, but got a little older as they went along. I think having multiple version in the same episode is too much.