Quote: Stan Doubt @ September 24 2009, 11:08 AM BSTI did end up buying Joking Apart also, but have stopped watching it as the main character annoys me too much with his terrible acting.
Chalk Page 3
He mugs every time he does a gag that he's just murdered. Annoying.
I think they probably will release Chalk series 2, but I think replaydvd is pretty much one bloke doing everything himself, so it takes a while to put the DVD together.
Dan
Quote: Stan Doubt @ September 24 2009, 11:08 AM BSTAre they ever going to release series two? I don't think I saw it originally.
I'd be surprised if they don't. But ReplayDVD is a small company, and any future releases would - I expect - rest largely on paying off the costs of the first. So make sure you've bought it. 
Quote: Stan Doubt @ September 24 2009, 11:08 AM BSTI did end up buying Joking Apart also, but have stopped watching it as the main character annoys me too much with his terrible acting.
I've not managed to watch past Series 1 as it's just not funny, and the main character is an unlikeable twat.
Quote: Aaron @ September 24 2009, 1:43 PM BSTI've not managed to watch past Series 1 as it's just not funny, and the main character is an unlikeable twat.
I'm flabbergasted by this. I think the two series are great, and I don't have a problem with the main character. He's a bit whiny and self-indulgent, but you could say that about most BCGer's. It was a great show.
I'm certainly going to give Series 2 a try at some point ... but yeah, as I said.
Quote: Aaron @ September 24 2009, 1:50 PM BSTI'm certainly going to give Series 2 a try at some point ... but yeah, as I said.
It's interesting that Joking Apart was essentially a farce. And Chalk had a lot of elements of farce in, and a central character who bore more than a passing resemblance to Basil Fawlty, who also starred in a sitcom big on farce.
Coupling was also quite farcical. I wonder if Moffat will carry it on to Who? (Alas, I suspect not!)
Thinking back to what (admittedly relatively little) I remember of it, it could be my lack of sympathy toward the main character which lead me to not find it funny. I do love farce normally.
Quote: Aaron @ September 24 2009, 1:59 PM BSTThinking back to what (admittedly relatively little) I remember of it, it could be my lack of sympathy toward the main character which lead me to not find it funny. I do love farce normally.
But comedies interesting because it's one of the few genres when we will happily watch shows in which the main character is thoroughly dislikeable or a tit.
As for farce, are there any shows now that are built around farce? Or even recent shows? Seems a bit of a lost art.
Good Farce is basicaly about taking a number of complicating issues and riffing with them to build an elaborate narrative, which needs a clever pay off, it's what good thriller writers do too without the jokes and it is what Moffat does in his Who episodes. A lot of good work in the narrative construction.
Quote: Marc P @ September 24 2009, 2:14 PM BSTGood Farce is basicaly about taking a number of complicating issues and riffing with them to build an elaborate narrative, which needs a clever pay off, it's what good thriller writers do too without the jokes and it is what Moffat does in his Who episodes. A lot of good work in the narrative construction.
But as a comedic form it seems to have fallen out of favour lately. Possibly because, as Marc says, it's complex and needs skill to pull off sucesfully.
And it's the complete opposite of the realism which has been so in favour over the past decade. Accusations of contrivance, exposition, and other such bollocks would be rife.
Quote: Aaron @ September 24 2009, 3:08 PM BSTAnd it's the complete opposite of the realism which has been so in favour over the past decade. Accusations of contrivance, exposition, and other such bollocks would be rife.
Agreed. It's the diametric opposite of much of today's style of comedy. Although there was a nice sketch about farce in this week's That Mitchell and Webb Sound.
Quote: Aaron @ September 24 2009, 3:08 PM BSTAccusations of contrivance, exposition, and other such bollocks would be rife.
The knack is in keeping the workings hidden, which the best farce does. The problems start when someone says or does something which is inexplicable other than as advancing the plot or setting up a gag. As others have said farce requires skill.
Quote: chipolata @ September 24 2009, 3:10 PM BSTAgreed. It's the diametric opposite of much of today's style of comedy. Although there was a nice sketch about farce in this week's That Mitchell and Webb Sound.
The only episode of that I've ever heard was a Series 2 one I went to the recording of. Really should listen to the rest. It's nice to hear that farce is getting some kind of recognition though, even if it's only the topic of a sketch. (And, I suspect, probably not all too flattering a one?)
Quote: Timbo @ September 24 2009, 3:17 PM BSTThe knack is in keeping the workings hidden, which the best farce does. The problems start when someone says or does something which is inexplicable other than as advancing the plot or setting up a gag. As others have said farce requires skill.
Surely some aspects are inherent? One has to allow a certain suspension of disbelief for even the best farce to work in its entirety.