Quote: Mannikin Bird @ November 3 2010, 10:27 AM GMTI just don't understand why this isn't on telly
Because it's a web series?
Alan Partridge Online Episodes - Good or Bad Idea? Page 4
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Maybe the makers feel less pressure with a web series? I remember at the time of Alan 2 Ianucci talking about how heavy the weight of expectation for that second series was. This way they avoid all that nonsense.
Quote: Joey Moose @ November 2 2010, 6:48 PM GMTA storyline for the film has since been agreed. I'd rather see another series though personally.
Agreed.
I think Chipolata is probably right about less-pressure. Plus these are short episodes - probably easier to be funnier in five minute chunks than over half-an-hour?
Plus, obviously this has been commissioned by Fosters not just to please fans, but as a marketing exercise too - one would guess the series' primary aim is to get people to visit the Fosters site... and I guess we will indeed all be doing that on Friday.
Trinny & Susannah's web series ended up on Channel 4 so I'm sure it's not un-feasible that it could transfer to TV once it has run its course on the internet.
Let's face it, Coogan's done this for the gravy - and NOWT ELSE. Bet he got paid a suitcase full of gold bullion to make these.
Good luck to him.
One downside: he's probably been given a lifetime's supply of Foster's.
Quote: Mannikin Bird @ November 3 2010, 10:27 AM GMTI just don't understand why this isn't on telly and I don't understand why he looks so young in the clips, is this the story before the TV show?
Prefer the "younger" look myself. He just looked odd in Series Two. I actually found his character to be quite charmless in Series Two as well. Far inferior to the first series in my humble opinion. Also, why on Earth was it made to be like a typical sitcom? The first series was supposed to be like a mock-u-mentary.
Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant episodes in Series Two, such as the Dante Fires episode and the one featuring Dan (especially the bit where he's bored and ends up inside the kid's gaming arcade), but the others are really quite poor in places. Or maybe I'm just over-analysing things as usual.
I did like the ending to the series though, when his book is being pulped and his only observation about the experience is that the pulped books "look like porridge" 
I guess it also meant that despite his efforts at "bouncing back" during Series Two, he ultimately ended up in the same place that he was at the start of Series One - a lonely, unsuccessful former TV presenter with a radio show and little else - and that did give the two series a nice rounded feel.
However, Series One was faultless from start to finish and I'd struggle to find any poor moments in the entire series.
Quote: Joey Moose @ November 4 2010, 4:38 PM GMTThe first series was supposed to be like a mock-u-mentary.
Not really. I mean, it was following him around, but it wasn't a pretend Doc, or anything.
Personally, I love both series, and I've never really understood how people who love the first can rag on the second so much; I just don't see this apparent obvious drop off in quality.
Quote: Joey Moose @ November 4 2010, 4:38 PM GMTHowever, Series One was faultless from start to finish and I'd struggle to find any poor moments in the entire series.
You should listen to the DVD commentary on the first series. Coogan certainly finds a few faults with it.
And the second series is great. And brave. Rather just keep Alan in the Travel Tavern they actually moved the story on. Moved the characters on.
The chat show was the best though.
Quote: chipolata @ November 4 2010, 6:36 PM GMTAnd the second series is great. And brave. Rather just keep Alan in the Travel Tavern they actually moved the story on. Moved the characters on.
Yeah, I guess so. I'll admit, regardless of the faults that I found with Series Two, it's still better than anything else that was on telly at the time and has plenty of stand-out moments. The way Coogan played him in the second series was my only real gripe above anything else and judging by the commentary on the DVD, Coogan seemed to share these sentiments. It also sounds as if Iannucci was equally displeased with it. The following is from Wikipedia:
"The second series saw a move away from the drier and more realistic style of the first, a move that was at odds with more recent sitcoms, most notably The Office. This led to it being less well received than the first. Surprisingly, producer and co-writer of the series, Armando Iannucci states in the commentary to his own DVD of The Armando Iannucci Shows, that he had recently re-watched the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, and describes it as "terrible". On the DVD commentary of the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan appears surprised at the over-the-top style he used to play Alan in the 2002 series, calling it "big acting".
Which sums up my views completely, although I don't think the series is terrible. Far from it.
Anyway, just short of nine hours before we get a fresh 10 minutes of Partridge. Lovely stuff.
Coogan's an awkward cuss. The scene which he talks about "big acting" is the one involving the tax inspectors, which is very funny. Haven't listened to the The Armando Ianucci Show commentaries but I suspect the "terrible" line is taken out of context. Be surprised if he genuinely didn't rate series 2.
Maybe it's because I've seen series 1 so many times, but I find myself enjoying the second more now. I really don't see it as being more "sitcommmy" than the first series either. The acting is bigger, sure, but he's portraying Alan as being on the verge of a second emotional breakdown. Scenes like the one of him smashing boxes of cereal with a hammer are just a reflection of him losing his tiny mind. And I thought the aging effect they used on his face was pretty effective (for the most part).
So here's the first episode: https://www.comedy.co.uk/videos/1916/alan_partridge_fosters/
Starts a bit slowly, but had me laughing pretty quickly when he gets the guest in and starts going off on a tangent and getting grumpy.
Weird watching partridge without the laugh track, isn't it? Hasn't been that way since The Day Today.
Agreed. Some really funny, laugh out loud moments for me in the first episode of "Mid Morning Matters". If the quality is still this good, then it bodes well for another series or indeed a film if they ever make one.
Loved the part where they were talking about food and Alan said something like "cheese and onion crisps... crispy, cheesy crisps"