The Marriage Ref Page 4

Quote: Vader @ July 13 2011, 8:54 PM BST

That third guy was cool, I think Aaron shouldbeore like that. He reminded me of Ricky Gervais and the way he treats Robin Ince et al, plus I could imagine him being like Brent in The Office at work.

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I'm sure he's essentially a decent bloke. But there's no way anyone could live with that amount of f**kwittery. It's not remotely funny, just annoying.

ALTHOUGH, I did like his idea of calling his girlfriend old lady names. If that was the only annoying thing he did it would be fine.

Quote: ColonelDr @ July 15 2011, 6:07 PM BST

I don't really get Jack Whitehall, weirdly the editing left all his bits in and cut out the good bits Sarah M did (like accusing my wife of being a serial killer and telling us how she plays 'guess the smell' when at home with her BF).

I didn't want to like Dermot but he was very nice... Almost too nice...

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He's the son of a really powerful (former?) agent, I imagine that has something to do with it, and why he's done better than he deserves.

Weren't you a scientist? What does that involve then?

A retired theatre agent, yes.

I hope you're not suggesting he's not powerful enough to have masterminded Jack's career! Or at least got the contacts to do so.

No, I'm not. You certainly were, however!

Indeed. Would you go along with my suggestion though?

Well, I certainly don't think it's done him any harm. I can well believe his dad would have been able to put him in contact with the right people, and I don't see anything wrong in doing so. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that you can make it to the stage Jack Whitehall has, without having a talent and without successfully appealing to a reasonably sizeable audience. It doesn't matter who you know, if you're shit you will still hit a certain limiting level.

Quote: Aaron @ July 15 2011, 9:58 PM BST

I can well believe his dad would have been able to put him in contact with the right people, and I don't see anything wrong in doing so.

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Really? He's got an advantage other comedians didn't have, and I can't think of any other comedians who had managed to get so many bookings and had such a meteoric rise to fame between the age of 20-22. Most comedians have to toil away at the Edinburgh Fringe and the like for years before they can even think about TV work, and it seems to me he's been allowed to bypass that.

The plagiarism and possession of cocaine also don't sit very well - there was a bit on the British Comedy Awards after-party where he basically said his agent was responsible for ensuring he still had a career after the latter came out. Doesn't his dad helping his career out strike you as a tiny bit dubious, at least? Even if he was the funniest man alive I'd be suspicious.

That said, if his TV work is going to involve flops like this which attract less than 2 million in primetime, I've got no problem with that...

Quote: cwickham @ July 15 2011, 10:29 PM BST

The plagiarism and possession of cocaine also don't sit very well - there was a bit on the British Comedy Awards after-party where he basically said his agent was responsible for ensuring he still had a career after the latter came out.

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Uh. Is that not half the point of having an agent?

Quote: cwickham @ July 15 2011, 10:29 PM BST

Doesn't his dad helping his career out strike you as a tiny bit dubious, at least? Even if he was the funniest man alive I'd be suspicious.

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If we suppose that his dad has helped his career, then it's certainly unfair. But I hate to use the old cliché; life's not fair. At the end of the day, whatever help he may or may not have had from family or friends, there are still limits to how one's career can progress without any talent.

We ought to head this thread back towards The Marriage Ref, but just to say and sort of backup what Aaron is saying, whether or not Whitehall did or did not get a bit of a leg-up (quite likely I guess, if nothing else his family had the financial security to act as a cushion as he gave stand-up a go in the early days)... he is now an accomplished comedian so no surprise he's on TV a bit.

Mock The Week is a good test for being TV-ready, and Whitehall manages to get plenty of gags into that each time he's on.

He's certainly divisive, but enough viewers like him that he is booked for stuff. He's got his own Channel 4 show on the way, so best avoid that channel if you're not a fan!

Anyway, The Marriage Ref. Surprising ITV went with it considering it was already a flop in America. As suggested above, the ratings aren't great... so they are probably regretting doing it now.

Dermot O'Leary, nice or not, isn't a comedian so shouldn't be hosting IMHO.

Quote: Vader @ July 15 2011, 7:35 PM BST

He's the son of a really powerful (former?) agent, I imagine that has something to do with it, and why he's done better than he deserves.

Weren't you a scientist? What does that involve then?

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I research breast cancer, obesity and diabetes so fiddle around in a lab looking at cells and tissues and trying to see how they work.

Quote: Mark @ July 16 2011, 12:23 PM BST

We ought to head this thread back towards The Marriage Ref, but just to say and sort of backup what Aaron is saying, whether or not Whitehall did or did not get a bit of a leg-up (quite likely I guess, if nothing else his family had the financial security to act as a cushion as he gave stand-up a go in the early days)... he is now an accomplished comedian so no surprise he's on TV a bit.

Mock The Week is a good test for being TV-ready, and Whitehall manages to get plenty of gags into that each time he's on.

He's certainly divisive, but enough viewers like him that he is booked for stuff. He's got his own Channel 4 show on the way, so best avoid that channel if you're not a fan!

Anyway, The Marriage Ref. Surprising ITV went with it considering it was already a flop in America. As suggested above, the ratings aren't great... so they are probably regretting doing it now.

Dermot O'Leary, nice or not, isn't a comedian so shouldn't be hosting IMHO.

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There were many flaws in the planning/execution of the series:

1) When we were approached we were told it was pre-watershed (so nothing sexy, no swearing, keep it clean) but when it was filmed they had changed that to post-watershed. This means that they only got couples with very twee issues. I imagine that the series would have done better with more interesting coiuples (present company excepted!!!)

2) There was very little promotion/advertising. When we were on Wedding House we saw loads of ads in written press, and on TV. Didn't see that this time

3) I think the program got off to a bad start byu picking the wrong couples to be first up

4) Apart from Dermot's salary (a reported £250,000) the show was done on the cheap (look at the start credits!). This might explain point 2.

All this said, we had a really good time making it and met some lovely people!

Quote: ColonelDr @ July 20 2011, 1:09 PM BST

2) There was very little promotion/advertising. When we were on Wedding House we saw loads of ads in written press, and on TV. Didn't see that this time

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You were on Wedding House???

I think I remember which of the many wedding related shows that was. Did you get married on it then?

Oh. My. Christ.

Oh James.

http://www.channel4.com/4beauty/on-tv/wedding-house/series-1/wedding-house-sam-and-james

Teehee!!!
I do remember that one (unsurprisingly).

Quote: Aaron @ July 20 2011, 4:55 PM BST

Oh. My. Christ.

Oh James.

http://www.channel4.com/4beauty/on-tv/wedding-house/series-1/wedding-house-sam-and-james

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Ha ha ha ha you got us! I did manage to get one good gag in on that show though, about going in half cocked...