Quote: enigmatic @ January 30 2013, 11:39 PM GMTI can understand the tinkly piano
The correct term is SAD PIANO.
(lower case not an option)
Derek - Series 1 Page 2
When it gets dark in the winter I like to pretend I'm a steinaway
Quote: Jinky @ January 31 2013, 12:45 PM GMTThe correct term is SAD PIANO.
(lower case not an option)
Is there a cure?
Yuckety sax.
I'm already taking ten a sax for my incontinence
Not sure the mockumentary format was a massive cop-out; it might be RG's comfort zone but they could have got a lot more laughs without tweaking the script if the direction focused on characters' reactions to unfolding events a more closely, which is tricky to achieve with docu-style discreetly-distant single-cam. They certainly didn't use the interviews as effectively as The Office: there wasn't much in Kerry Godliman's explanations of her thought processes you couldn't already tell from her acting in the other scenes, she didn't reveal any concealed comic character flaws and she only got the one line about not expecting to see Kev's bollocks that mustered a chuckle.
Didn't realise it was BCG's Simon Wright but he was very plausible except where the script required his character to say "handicapped" where I'm convinced somebody in his position would have used more politically-correct phrasing. Trouble with aiming to be more realistic than funny is you have to nail those details. I think Shandonbelle hit the nail on the head with its flaw as drama: you have to suspend disbelief as if it's a comedy because it appears as chaotically run as only a comedy old-folks home can be. At the same time, it's nowhere near as funny as you'd expect a comedy old-folks home to be because there's no real conflict between the characters and hardly any jokes. You can have antagonism and actual verbal wit without losing the pathos or being mean to Derek. The Office was dominated by comic characters whilst remaining as true-to-life and sympathetic as a good drama but this was dominated by pathos whilst remaining as true to life as a sitcom.
I will give Gervais a pass on the episode's thin plot since he and Merchant have been very good at slow-burning plot threads in the past. Maybe he'll even have managed to redeem Kev by the end.
The difference between a tinkly piano and a SAD PIANO is that the former sounds like it's urinating on your script. 
[Edit: not blaming Merchant any more 
]
Quote: enigmatic @ January 31 2013, 6:53 PM GMTI will give Gervais/Merchant a pass on the episode's thin plot since they're very good at slow-burning plot threads.
Merchant isn't part of this show.
Quote: Lazzard @ January 31 2013, 10:08 AM GMTI'm afraid Gervais is a bit of a coward - he won't let go of the comfort blanket of the 'mockumentary'.
Though he did for Extras, and his films! But yes, this is his third mockumentary TV series.
Quote: enigmatic @ January 31 2013, 6:53 PM GMTI will give Gervais/Merchant a pass on the episode's thin plot since they're very good at slow-burning plot threads. Maybe they'll even have managed to redeem Kev by the end.
I doubt Merchant will have anything to do with it. This is Gervais' work.
EDIT: Damn you, Stott!
I was busy so only sort of half watched, but I will say that I seemed to look up whenever Pilkington was on screen. He seemed good value.
Karl is brillopads.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ January 31 2013, 7:08 PM GMTI was busy so only sort of half watched, but I will say that I seemed to look up whenever Pilkington was on screen. He seemed good value.
He's a talented performer but he'd be good value reading the shipping forecast.
And thingumy who played the manageress did well with a rotten, light weight role.
As was the old bloke who sat in the corner snoozing.
Top snoozing.
Loved the first episode.
The only problem I had with last night's episode was that I felt it wasn't as good as the pilot, which I felt was slightly better in tone and my enjoyment of it.
This program makes me nauseous 
how is this going to get a second series? I'm surprised it got a first!
Quote: Marooned @ January 31 2013, 11:07 PM GMTThe only problem I had with last night's episode was that I felt it wasn't as good as the pilot, which I felt was slightly better in tone and my enjoyment of it.
I felt the same way...
One thing that both this and the pilot shared were unearned dramatic moments. In the pilot it was the manager punching the mouthy woman in the bar, and in this episode it was Pilkington telling the council man to clear off. Both times it felt like these were meant to be Big Drama Moments, although in reality both felt a bit forced and manipulative.
Quote: enigmatic @ January 31 2013, 6:53 PM GMTDidn't realise it was BCG's Simon Wright but he was very plausible except where the script required his character to say "handicapped" where I'm convinced somebody in his position would have used more politically-correct phrasing.
That was a weird bit. It felt more like Ricky Addressing The Critics, rather than a proper scene. As if he was telling all the beastly-haters that it didn't matter what's wrong with Derek, just that he's a big hearted human being.
(Although the scene still failed because the council official would have been far more interested in the stark-naked man in a pensioners bed, and the potential sex abuse scandal and million pound lawsuit).