As I said before, we've had this Karl is/isn't real conversation at great length before. Please look it up for all our opinions on the matter (if you're that interested.) I'm so bored of it now.
Derek - Pilot Page 12
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Quote: zooo @ April 16 2012, 3:30 PM BSTThen do what Sanchez just suggested! Listen to the 10+ year old XFM shows.
Or if that's too much effort, believe us, who have listened to Karl for more than 10 years, and don't assume we are braindead morons.
So, he's been a comedy character for 10 years, that's nothing compared to Julian Clary.
But if you want to believe that someone of such low intelligence and social skills is perfectly capable of walking into any large radio broadcaster in London and getting such a plum job, then please tell me where to send my CV.
Ricky's always saying (if you care to listen) that Karl isn't stupid, and that he's always been a very good producer.
But as ever, Renegade. You know best.
Quote: zooo @ April 16 2012, 3:39 PM BSTAs I said before, we've had this Karl is/isn't real conversation at great length before. Please look it up for all our opinions on the matter (if you're that interested.) I'm so bored of it now.
That's fine, I should have assumed there has been this sort of conversation in the past - it was a thow-away comment and I didn't think it would be so controversial. But I don't generally rate Ricky Gervais - if Karl isn't putting on an act then Ricky is a material thief - and personally if a comedian steals jokes that generally reduces my opinion of them.
Anyway I don't want to drag up old ghosts, I've had my say and that's it.
No probs. 
Ricky usually says something like 'my friend Karl said this' if he uses his stuff in his act. But not always.
But still, most comedians use things their friends have said in their act, I'd have thought. Then use them to continue with/expand on an idea.
Interesting article here where a journalist with an autistic son slams the show for taking the piss. The readers' comments sum it up I think...top-rated comment with 840 likes is
"Personally, I loved Derek. I thought that the show focused more on the way old people are treated in Britain than people with "apparent" disabilities. The character of Derek was never supposed to be disabled, just perhaps a little slower than the norm. He was awkward, rather dim and enjoyed the simple things in life. None of that means he's mentally handicapped. The character showed no signs of autism, down's syndrome or any other mental problems. People just love bashing Ricky Gervais because he's outspoken and quite old-fashioned. Yes, he's made mistakes in the past, but Derek certainly isn't one. I think it was a tremendous piece of television and I wish whole-heartedly that it's made into a full series."
For your average bandwagon-jumping reactionary Mail reader that's quite something.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130277/Ricky-Gervais-new-comedy-Derek-criticised.html
Quote: zooo @ April 16 2012, 3:45 PM BSTNo probs.
Ricky usually says something like 'my friend Karl said this' if he uses his stuff in his act. But not always.
But still, most comedians use things their friends have said in their act, I'd have thought. Then use them to continue with/expand on an idea.
Again I wouldn't have a problem with that - but there is a podcast where Karl gives his opinion on charity - about sending a goat to Africa and the like - Ricky used this almost word for word, unrefernced from a podcast millions (I imagine) already have heard. In my book that's plagarism.
Anyway my quarrel isn't with you zooo - I just don't like being called ignorant when I base my thinking on demonstratable evidence - but then again I didn't know the mine field I clearly walked into.
Anyway back to the show...
I believe - based on Stweart Lee's autobiography - Derek was his original stand-up persona
Quote: DeathbyMonkey @ April 16 2012, 3:51 PM BSTIn my book that's plagarism.
And we know for a fact he's not being paid by RG for providing material?
ie a writer
Quote: DeathbyMonkey @ April 16 2012, 3:51 PM BSTAgain I wouldn't have a problem with that - but there is a podcast where Karl gives his opinion on charity - about sending a goat to Africa and the like - Ricky used this almost word for word, unrefernced from a podcast millions (I imagine) already have heard. In my book that's plagarism.
Yeah I've seen that. On his earlier use of it in the act he used to reference Karl, but then later he seemed to drop that bit.
Anyway my quarrel isn't with you zooo - I just don't like being called ignorant when I base my thinking on demonstratable evidence - but then again I didn't know the mine field I clearly walked into.
Lol, yes. Anything even vaguely to do with Gervais always tends to turn psycho on here.
Talking of f**king idiots, one comment on that Daily mail article I posted reads
"Don't worry no-one watches him. He isn't funny whatever he does. On the other hand very few of us have not had close contact with a child, different from the rest, who we didn't learn to appreciate had other things to offer in us in friendship. That completely new way of viewing our shared world made me feel pretty stupid before I got the hang of it. It's a two-way street. He had to learn about me too and I had to stop assuming. Priceless.
- Yve, UK, 16/4/2012 0:58
What the Hell? I've re-read it twice and still have no idea what it means.
Quote: Lazzard @ April 16 2012, 3:53 PM BSTAnd we know for a fact he's not being paid by RG for providing material?
ie a writer
Sorry I thought I made myself clear earlier - I count it as plagarism if Karl wasn't a character that the three of them had invented. If he is it's just old material - if he isn't it seems more like plagarism.
And anyway I can believe that Karl is a real person (with silly beliefs) on XFM but there after the characters and relationships on the podcast series become caricatures, Karl seems to become a fake person in the latter podcasts to keep the franchise going, he may have started as a real person but he finished as an act.
And Derek - for me - seems to support that.
Quote: Lee Henman @ April 16 2012, 4:04 PM BSTTalking of f**king idiots, one comment on that Daily mail article I posted reads
"Don't worry no-one watches him. He isn't funny whatever he does. On the other hand very few of us have not had close contact with a child, different from the rest, who we didn't learn to appreciate had other things to offer in us in friendship. That completely new way of viewing our shared world made me feel pretty stupid before I got the hang of it. It's a two-way street. He had to learn about me too and I had to stop assuming. Priceless.
- Yve, UK, 16/4/2012 0:58
What the Hell? I've re-read it twice and still have no idea what it means.
I think they lost the train of thought (more like the service got cancelled) as they wrote that out.
If you listen to some of the old XFM shows, Karl isn't quite as thick as he is in the later podcasts, so I'm sure he plays up a bit for the show. I think a lot of stuff he says is genuine, but some stuff is just too unbelievably stupid to be true. Like the bit where he says he thinks stick insects were created when an insect had sex with a twig. I mean come on.
Or flies are the reicarnaction of dead animals.
Quote: Lee Henman @ April 16 2012, 4:04 PM BSTOn the other hand very few of us have not had close contact with a child, different from the rest, who we didn't learn to appreciate had other things to offer in us in friendship.
This is either -
a) someone met a child who had learning disabilities but discoverd that being different didn't make them inferior and forced the person to re-evaluate their previously held prejudices.
or
b) weird paedo shit
Quote: DeathbyMonkey @ April 16 2012, 4:11 PM BSTOr flies are the reicarnaction of dead animals.
Best one for me was when Ricky was talking about human evolution, and how our eyes didn't used to face forward. And Karl says "What, so back then people's eyes used to look inside their heads?" 