Quote: Tim Walker @ August 10 2010, 2:47 PM BSTF**king peasant.
Okay, I think I'm done with that now.
Inn Mates Page 11
One other niggle, some of the references seemed dated. Spaced was doing Buffy geek jokes over ten years ago. Time to reference some newer nerd shows, like Smallville or Fringe.
I just watched it and found it really funny in place.
I thought though that smaller casts were the thing.
There were several references though that seemed a bit unoriginal - such as the Ravey Davey closing with the Community Support Officers.
Anyway - well done John for getting it on.
Also of course the setting is totally unoriginal - Time Gentlemen Please, Two Pints Of Lager and that Northern one with Dave from Royle Family.
Quote: Chappers @ August 11 2010, 12:07 AM BSTand that Northern one with Dave from Royle Family.
Early Doors.
Quote: Chappers @ August 11 2010, 12:07 AM BSTAlso of course the setting is totally unoriginal - Time Gentlemen Please, Two Pints Of Lager and that Northern one with Dave from Royle Family.
Not to mention Not On Your Nellie, World Of Pub, and no doubt a host of others I've forgotten.
The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, or was that not a sitcom?
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ August 11 2010, 1:28 AM BSTThe Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, or was that not a sitcom?
No!
I bet you can list more set down south
John grew up in a pub, and thus wanted to write a show set in one.
I actually liked it... which surprised me as I'm not a lover of those "non laughter track realism no punchline" shows.
Gavin and Stacey was on before Inn Mates on Monday. It was twenty five past the hour when I switched on. I figured I could put up with 5 minutes of G&S.
The LONGEST five minutes of my life. Nothing happened. No salad at a Christening. No clever lines. Hurrumph!
(Careful Mike. It's award winning stuff.)
Anyway...
This isn't about that. It's about Inn Mates.
I found it bright and quirky. Some nice one-liners too, but keeping with its realism style.
The two community support officers were fantastic. I'd love to see more of those two, just to see the awkward "will they won't they" arc develop.
The sperm donor dad and his "son" were also fun.
And I warmed to the "boring not boring couple" and Blue. Although I'm not sure what else could be done with the "attractive" couple. Their story is done and dusted.
I agree with an earlier comment that Blue should have more depth, such as a responsible job like a social worker.
I disagree that they should all interact. Why would the fivesome know the two officers? Or the gay dad bloke? Go to any pub and you'll find several separate groups of people keeping themselves to themselves. They don't all know each other.
Even in the Queen Vic, the main characters don't associate with the wooden extras in the background.
I think Inn Mates a breath of fresh air and one huge step up from other dire BBC3 sitcoms.
(Sorry Micheal, but certain sitcoms on that channel are really dire, not mentioning any specific shows. I know a lot of the "yoof" they "think" they're attracting, but they're not. The majority of yoofy peeps hate those shows too.)
It would be nice to see BBC3 go back to being a bedrock of groundbreaking comedy for all ages, not just for a target audience who aren't actually watching TV anyway coz they're too busy getting drunk, laid or mullered on drugs... or all three at once.
One question. Just how far removed was this from the original script? Did John mean it to originally be a sitcommy punchline-filled show or was it always going to have a more realistic tone?
Oh, and another thing...
Not one pub lunch in sight. I feel cheated. 
Cheers Mikey. I'm glad you liked it. Should there be a series, we'll try to include a lunch.
A couple of things. BBC3 has a specific brief to make programmes for younger viewers, though shows which succeed there (eg Gavin and Stacey, Little Britain) move on to other channels.
Some of the script of The Inn Mates was actually plucked straight from Sunday Lunchers, and the tone isn't wildly different, though the original idea had to be adapted for BBC3, with younger characters. It was always intended to be a single camera show - funny rather than gaggy.
Ah right. Thanks for clarifying that. 
Quote: Mikey Jackson @ August 12 2010, 1:16 PM BSTI
I disagree that they should all interact. Why would the fivesome know the two officers? Or the gay dad bloke?
Of course, the very simple answer to this, is why wouldn't they know each other?
It feels like they missed a good chance with this, there were just too many unconnected threads.
Young 'boring' couple living with sex mad parents - good comedy situation.
Gay 'dad' to possibly dozens of children all wanting there lost childhood/ allowance - good comedy situation.
It seemed like three or four pilots thrown together to save money.
Pity really.
I did like the line: Not the hoover! 
Really late to the party, but here's my view. I did laugh through it and there were plenty of zippy one-liners that I liked. It was enjoyable and I'd watch a series.
More than anything else, well done to John on creating it, writing it and getting it to pilot! Hopefully he'll go much further with his writing starting with a series of this.
Personally, I thought it started really well in terms of characters: Joe Tracini was brilliant as a 'downbeat' character (especially knowing his Coming of Age character) and I was looking forward to this relationship develop. Similarly the PSCO storyline. Ideally, I'd like the 'mysteries' to be drawn out over the course of the series and PSCO's relationship to be drawn out.
Then towards the end it all went a bit 'cartoony'. A bit too much like Two Pints, Grownups and Coming of Age. I realise it's for BBC Three's demographic and I'm not ideal (34 this month) but surely there are some people in that demographic/age-range that want a bit more to their comedy than exactly the same tone again? Maybe more running storylines/cliff-hangers rather than caricature-y endings? With the three sitcoms I've mentioned above, maybe this is a good opportunity to go a little bit more serious with this rather than going down the same, already-catered-for market?
Like I've said, the fact that I thought the above clearly says I cared about the storylines I'd mentioned above and, if I'm honest, I was a bit disappointed about the change in tone towards the end.
As I watched I came up with a lot of the points that had been raised previously:
-- the accents are not grounded anywhere which made me think it's a bit unrealistic. For that wide range of accents to work, you'd have to set it in London.
-- I didn't care for the 'pretty couple' much, especially as the girl immediately forgave the guy when he offered to pay for/buy something. No drama/tension raised there. I wouldn't get rid of them, just give them more depth.
-- Mixing the characters up. This is probably unfair as it's a pilot, but they should be on the fringes of each other's groups by association somehow.
-- The PSCOs could easily be part of the 'bigger' group, if not even a replacement for some of them. They should at least know Blue as a bit of a trouble-causer.
-- Blue has no depth. I think Rachel Rae (with Joe Tracini) was one of the more accomplished performers in the show (the cast with 'previous' seemed more at ease in their roles) but everything she's in, she plays a *really* shallow character. It'd be brilliant to see her play more depth.
That's all I have to say, I think.
Dan