Mr Blue Sky

I know it's a radio sitcom and not out for a couple of months yet but, as Mr Collins himself occasionally frequents this place, and is very kind in giving us a writer's point-of-view on some of the sitcoms, let's give him a thread of his own for his first solo sitcom, Mr Blue Sky, on Radio 4 in a couple of months.

Not least, because of this very interesting blog: http://wherediditallgorightblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/permission-to-be-unfunny/
and because he will be doing a production diary of this for Radio Times, it may be a good account of how to put a sitcom together for the writer-types around here.

Dan

I'll read that blog in a bit.

I may well listen to this when it's on, that's a good cast!

Also, funnily enough my friend is writing a sitcom/comedy drama called "Mr Blue Sky". I'll have to break the bad news to him

Episode One of Mr Blue Sky is on today. Radio 4, 11.30am and iPlayer thereafter. I am going to listen to it live. I really hope people like it. It is gentle so be prepared for that.

Congratulations to me. I seem to have created the least discussed sitcom ever on the British Comedy Guide! (If it gets a transfer to TV, you'll be all over it, you bastards!)

To be fair, it's a tough slot. I don't know about other people, but most of my radio comedy listening is done at 6:30 when I'm either on my way home, or winding down after getting home. I may also listen to an 11pm comedy while in bed...

In other words, get it repeated at 6:30pm!

Quote: swerytd @ March 14 2011, 5:19 PM BST

I know it's a radio sitcom and not out for a couple of months yet but, as Mr Collins himself occasionally frequents this place, and is very kind in giving us a writer's point-of-view on some of the sitcoms, let's give him a thread of his own for his first solo sitcom, Mr Blue Sky, on Radio 4 in a couple of months.

Not least, because of this very interesting blog: http://wherediditallgorightblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/permission-to-be-unfunny/
and because he will be doing a production diary of this for Radio Times, it may be a good account of how to put a sitcom together for the writer-types around here.

Dan

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Be fair, Andrew, how much more patronising than this do you want us to be?

This is the sort of show that if its on...i'll gladly listen to it and its perfectly enjoyable.

But I won't seek it out to make sure I catch it.

Theres nothing that makes it a must listen show IMO.

Something like Count Arthur Strong for example, I would ignore my own mums funeral to catch an epsiode of that if its on the radio.

(that said, I did somehow manage to miss the ENTIRE last series of CASRS, which im mad as hell about....but I digress, old wounds n all that )

There were some responses on this thread: https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/12/68/

I gave the first episode a listen today and quite enjoyed it. It is dry as has been previously noted but is a pleasant listen, likeable characters and a good cast. I will try to get hold of the other eps when I have the chance.

OK, this thread has nagged me into listening...
Caught Ep3 on BBC iPlayer and enjoyed it.
One flaw - but then I think this is sort of built into the premis - the lead, because he's such a decent cove doesn't get the best lines, these tend to come from the people around him - which makes a little reactive and perhaps not as engaging as he could be.
Very nicely observed, though, and would try and seek it out again.

So, I've listened to all of this now.

The first episode was a bit difficult to get into. Harvey is a bit hard to get at first due to his overly-optimistic nature, so he's not enough of a sitcom 'monster' to either like or dislike or indeed 'get' at first. The 'am I supposed to root for him or laugh at him?' made me confused. And, as I've been told many times, if I'm confused, I'm not laughing. I was in two minds about it being non-audience, to be honest, as an audience could have lifted it somewhat more into definite sitcom, rather than a bit drama-y. But then, some of the witty stuff would probably have been lost.

The second and third episodes were very good and more enjoyable, in my opinion. Much more compelling and, crucially, very funny pretty much from the offset.

The final episode suffered a bit like the first one. Can't quite put my finger on it, but found myself drifting off as I was listening. I think maybe it was all a bit nicey-nicey all the way through and needed a darker element in there, certainly for my taste. Harvey's aneurysm could perhaps lead to a bit more darkness. That said, not sure how dark you're allowed to go at 11:30am on Radio 4.

Characterisation is good. I do like the optimist/pessimist partnership setup but felt it could play more of a central role sometimes. Joe Tracini is good, as he usually is. As is Antonia Campbell-Hughes (though I'm worried what kind of role she'll be getting when she leaves her angsty teens!). Bit more of Navin Chowdhry, maybe. He's criminally underused in most things, unfortunately.

In summary, I liked it a lot and will certainly look forward to hearing more, but it's not my favourite sitcom ever.

Dan

I've just caught up with the second series of this. I actually preferred this series and thought it better than the first to be honest.

Struck me more as comedy drama than out-and-out sitcom but that may be just the non-audience nature of it. It's certainly funny, just not bang-bang-bang funny.

Liked it though and Rosamund Hanson was particularly good.

Anyway, it's not been commissioned for a third series, which is a shame.

Dan