Peep Show - Series 8 Page 13

Quote: chipolata @ December 4 2012, 11:41 AM GMT

They could have still had Mark falling for the scam, but they could have put a bit more effort into him kidding himself that it wasn't vanity publishing. Or that even if he saw that it was, he believed he'd be one of the few vanity publishing success stories. As it was, we were just meant to swallow it and add our own character motivation.

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Yeppity doodle. It's not that Mark wouldn't have fallen for the vanity publishing scam, but it was portrayed in such a fap handed way that even downward spiral Mark would have spotted the deception.

By all means, have him experiencing the darker side of life, but don't expect us to belittle the character so it fits in with the storyline.

We should tweet the writers all this, let them know where they're going wrong; they'll thank us for it come series 9.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 4 2012, 5:12 PM GMT

We should tweet the writers all this, let them know where they're going wrong; they'll thank us for it come series 9.

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This is a serious question, Stott, but do you believe that some things are above critism? That there some shows that must never be questioned or discussed in anything less than 100% glowing terms?

Ironically, most of the critism so far has been very fair and usually mentions how funny Peep Show still is.

Quote: chipolata @ December 4 2012, 5:32 PM GMT

This is a serious question, Stott, but do you believe that some things are above critism? That there some shows that must never be questioned or discussed in anything less than 100% glowing terms?

Ironically, most of the critism so far has been very fair and usually mentions how funny Peep Show still is.

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I might have been joking, you know.

Quote: chipolata @ December 4 2012, 11:41 AM GMT

Although this lack of character continuity has become something of a Peep Show pattern.

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Genuine question, is there a difference between "lack of character continuity" and "character development"? Is it that a lack of continuity involves contradicting character traits that were established earlier on?

Obviously in real life, people change, grow, retreat, do things that seem to be against their nature or past actions; but in sitcoms viewers tend to like the characters to be pretty fixed. The same way most sitcoms press the reset button at the start of each episode.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 4 2012, 7:48 PM GMT

Obviously in real life, people change, grow, retreat, do things that seem to be against their nature or past actions; but in sitcoms viewers tend to like the characters to be pretty fixed. The same way most sitcoms press the reset button at the start of each episode.

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I think the character development in Peep Show is less like real life and more soap opera. What happens to the characters is akin to what happens with characters in shows like EastEnders or Hollyoaks.

Although this is a brand new thesis and I'll probably have to watch all the series again back to back to iron out the kinks.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 4 2012, 7:48 PM GMT

Obviously in real life, people change, grow, retreat, do things that seem to be against their nature or past actions; but in sitcoms viewers tend to like the characters to be pretty fixed.

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Likewise, life isn't a series of unique events and often repeats itself.

So when in this episode Jez has a fling with his life teacher, the fact that the scene where they have sex and explore their sexual fantasies is almost a carbon copy of the Jez-Nancy scene in Series 2, Episode 1 shows that the writers are once again smashing down the barriers of tradition and not just lazily writing the same stuff over and over again and hoping nobody remembers.

Next week they go paintballing. I might as well get my moans in now.

Quote: Jinky @ December 4 2012, 10:06 PM GMT

scene in Series 2, Episode 1

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We get it, you're a nerd.

Not really, just cursed with a good memory.

Oh, and when I said they go paintballing next week, I meant Jez and Mark. I have no idea what Armstrong and Bain are doing next week.

Hopefully thinking up some new ideas for series 9.

Quote: Jinky @ December 4 2012, 10:20 PM GMT

Not really, just cursed with a good memory.

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Classic nerd excuse.

Hmmm....I suppose nerds to tend to be people with massive IQs whose memories appear almost superhuman to mere mortals.

Fair enough, I'll conceed that I probably am a 'nerd' viewed from where you are standing.

Oh....and it wasn't a Vanity Publishing firm that Mark fell for, it was a scam involving the false promise to publish books.

There is a difference.

I'm gonna shove you in a locker. And then envy your career path after School ends and I earn minimum wage doing a job I hate because I didn't pay enough attention in class. Because of concentrating on shoving you into lockers.

If he's paying for his own book to be published, then it pretty much is vanity publishing. No?

I'm gonna shove you in a locker. And then envy your career path after School ends and I earn minimum wage doing a job I hate because I didn't pay enough attention in class. Because of concentrating on shoving you into lockers.

(Bugger. Nothing's coming up on Google so either he's gone all surreal on me or I'm going to have to go Deep Web to find out what on earth he's on about. He must be quoting something American. But what is it?)