To Hull And Back's a classic, but Miami Twice sucks.
Anyway, this is off topic. Back to Miranda, please!
Miranda - Series 3 Page 6
Quote: george roper @ June 8 2012, 6:03 PM BSTDave it finished in 2003.
I didn't say it finished in 1996, I've just blanked out the 2001-3 specials.
What puzzles me with this show is Miranda's "acting style". I read in the overview to Mighty Boosh here, that the BCG team is annoyed by the lack of acting skills of some of the secondary characters (Naboo for instance).
I would say the same about people as Miranda Hart or Jennifer Saunders. They simply can't act...or maybe it is intentionally that wooden and...well quirky behaviour to make an cartoonish effect. But in the case of Miranda Hart it gets annoying after a few minutes...at least for me.
Anyway I realised yesterday that Miranda's sitcom mother is the same actress that played the lawyer in "The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin" which I'm watching at the moment (finishing the Perrin box set).
You don't think Saunders can act??
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ September 15 2012, 12:26 PM BSTWhat puzzles me with this show is Miranda's "acting style". I read in the overview to Mighty Boosh here, that the BCG team is annoyed by the lack of acting skills of some of the secondary characters (Naboo for instance).
I would say the same about people as Miranda Hart or Jennifer Saunders.
You could say that, but you'd clearly be wrong! 
Miranda in the straighter Call The Midwife is quite good.
I think she's playing to the formula. I don't like it but I can see it's done well.
Quote: zooo @ September 15 2012, 12:40 PM BSTYou don't think Saunders can act??
To be fair I only know her AbFab and F&S stuff...and I watched Jam & Jerusalem once. But as I wrote "maybe it's intentional"...but then I don't like this cartoonish hyperactive style of the Miranda and Edina Monsoon characters.
Ah right, yes Edina is totally cartoonish. But if you've see more of her work I'd have thought you would think better of her acting skills!
Quote: sootyj @ September 15 2012, 3:21 PM BSTMiranda in the straighter Call The Midwife is quite good.
I think she's playing to the formula. I don't like it but I can see it's done well.
I didn't see her in this midwife thing...maybe she CAN act. But for her sitcom acting style I can only quote you: "I don't like it". Let's leave it at that.
Quote: zooo @ September 15 2012, 5:23 PM BSTAh right, yes Edina is totally cartoonish. But if you've see more of her work I'd have thought you would think better of her acting skills!
Yeah, probably. I was a bit hasty it seems.
It's sort of hyper real, like The Young Ones not that easy to do.
Quote: sootyj @ September 15 2012, 6:37 PM BSTIt's sort of hyper real, like The Young Ones not that easy to do.
I'm sure this was already discussed elsewhere...or maybe even in this thread. But it's this progressive oh so clever thing, like this hyper realism or this wiggly camera technique (as discussed in the In With The Flynns thread) that starts to annoy me. These are things that are necessary at times as some sort of revolution, to kick the comedy establishment in the bollocks. I mean the punk revolution in the 70s was necessary because the music scene up to that point has become boring. But punk faded away after two years (and with good reason) and refreshingly innovative bands such as the Talking Heads emerged. So far so good.
I've got the feeling that this latest comedy revolution happened at the end of the 90s and/or beginning of the 00s. But these so called progressive techniques now become more and more an excuse for lazy wrting and/or acting imo. I can't stand this breaking of the fourth wall anymore. Maybe that's why I (maybe wrongly) accuse Miranda Hart of poor acting. I don't know.
You're spot on. But Miranda, thankfully, doesn't even come close to that 'progressive' comedy, as you term it. Her breaking the fourth wall is indeed a point of interest, and it doesn't work for everyone - but it's not intrinsically modern. See Up Pompeii!.
Miranda is popular because it fills a comedy vacuum. Since the departure of 'Last of the Summer Wine' and 'My Family' there is a dearth of comedy all the family can watch. It is well acted and well observed, I love Miranda and her breaking of the fourth wall, a device used since Restoration Plays. It is a comedy throwback, that just may herald a new generation of gentle more family orientated comedies; Count Arthur Strong is already in production. It is not a classic but it is entertaining and lot more competent than say, 'The Royal Bodyguard'.
Does anyone know how many episodes are in this series series and whether one will be a Christmas special?
6 episodes. No separate special, although one could be themed as previously.