Preferred this show to the other new offering tonight.
The Job Lot - Series 1 Page 2
Quote: Nil Putters @ April 29 2013, 10:17 PM BSTPreferred this show to the other new offering tonight.
What? A tug off down the pier toilets from Pete the Perm?
The problem with old adage "write about what you know" is that aspiring comedy writers tend lead miserable depressing unfulfilled lives; a sitcom set in a job centre is always going to be walking a tightrope between observational comedy and existential despair, but so far so good.
A shame then that most of the potential audience had probably already switched channels after the first five minutes of Vicious.
Quote: Tursiops @ April 29 2013, 11:27 PM BSTQuite enjoyed this; shame that most of the potential audience had probably already switched channels after the first five minutes of Vicious.
I'm going to have to agree. Was far superior to Vicious, no classic by any means but there were a couple of sparks that showed potential. The Bryony character in particular was a bright moment and certainly the highlight for me, especially the lines about not being violent 'because the hole punch didn't even hit him' and when she reappeared minutes after being refused her claim after 'suddenly contracting M.S.' I'm still not sold on Russell Tovey though, I felt he was the weak link in Him & Her, however I was pleased to see he'd toned down the whingey-ness in this. I'll be keeping up with this one, I think it could be a sleeper and really find its stride once we're out of pilot territory.
To me it was a bit "Phone Shop" in a Job centre.
I liked the pilot a lot. Quite a few good laughs and definitely a good substitute for Plebs.
I pitched this exact same concept to the BBC back in 2009.
This was the opposite to Vicious, really: everything about it was good, except for the fact that I never laughed. The script was neat, but felt vat grown; the cast was very impressive, but I couldn't enjoy them. The set pieces were obvious. I can see how this must have looked great on paper, but it didn't look great on screen.
Anyway, surely a job cebntre sit com in 2013 shouldn't be full of misfits, scroungers and the unemployable, but thousands of normal people. 
I was told that due to the long development times involved in getting a sitcom to air, it would be unwise to pitch a job centre sitcom as a vehicle for reflecting the social and economic realities of recession.
In 2009.
Quote: gappy @ April 30 2013, 10:02 AM BSTThis was the opposite to Vicious, really: everything about it was good, except for the fact that I never laughed. The script was neat, but felt vat grown; the cast was very impressive, but I couldn't enjoy them. The set pieces were obvious. I can see how this must have looked great on paper, but it didn't look great on screen.
Anyway, surely a job cebntre sit com in 2013 shouldn't be full of misfits, scroungers and the unemployable, but thousands of normal people.
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ April 30 2013, 11:02 AM BSTI was told that due to the long development times involved in getting a sitcom to air, it would be unwise to pitch a job centre sitcom as a vehicle for reflecting the social and economic realities of recession.
In 2009.
They started filming in February 2012. Could well have been written near the same time you sent your script in.
Was yours better? 
Quote: Craig H @ April 30 2013, 11:24 AM BSTWas yours better?
No. The Job Lot is much funnier than the 20 scrappy pages I had written. Virtually identical concept, but far better execution.
Search Critique for "Job Centre" to get a flavour of where I was going.
I quite liked it - I just wondered too if the portrayal of the unemployed as misfits and scroungers was entirely proper, but then I also thought that the characters were actually written and executed with some dignity, and there were two jobseekers - the chef and the new claimant - who weren't some kind of stereotype co-created by Ian Duncan Smith and The Daily Mail. And even the shirtless buffoon wanted to know when he could start in the cake shop, and the scrounger chav girl was sort of sparky and sly. It's also set in my neck of the woods, though probably not actually filmed there. I assume 'Brownhall' is loosely based on Brownhills. The flaws of the system were as well highlighted as the flaws of the claimants so I came to the conclusion that it's probably politically 'balanced' enough and can just be taken as an enjoyable and well played workplace based sitcom. I'm certainly happy enough to see something that doesn't look like it's London based and with a cast all working in PR and Media.
Quote: Pip Bond @ April 30 2013, 11:53 AM BSTI quite liked it - I just wondered too if the portrayal of the unemployed as misfits and scroungers was entirely proper
'Normal' people don't give the most interesting or profitable comedy mileage in a comedy like this. They get glossed over rather than being made a focus of. Who wants to actually watch a 5 minute scene of someone filling in forms and applying for a job perfectly competently?
As you note, they weren't ignored entirely; there is no fair critique that the show painted all unemployed people as oddballs:
Quote: Pip Bond @ April 30 2013, 11:53 AM BSTthere were two jobseekers - the chef and the new claimant - who weren't some kind of stereotype
(This is a response to all comments along these lines, not just Pip's.)
I believe it was filmed in Bethnal Green and it was actually a last minute decision to set it in the Midlands.
It was ok. Amused slightly. Expected better. I'll give it another go next week in hope it'll pick up...