Yeah, its good to see it back. This type of humour is definitely not dated as suggested recently. Good fun.
Lead Balloon Page 6
Quote: ShoePie @ November 17, 2007, 10:10 AMI enjoyed it. I reckon the car salesman (Ralph Ineson/finchy) is being set-up to return in a later episode and get his revenge. I'm hoping so, otherwise it was just a really mean ending that wasn't needed! Magda and Jack Dee's scenes together were hilarious.
Never thought of that. Ralph Ineson is too good to use for just a short scene, so you may be right. Could come back to haunt Spleen later. Agree about Magda and Rick too.
Quote: Jay72 @ November 18, 2007, 12:34 AMNever thought of that. Ralph Ineson is too good to use for just a short scene, so you may be right. Could come back to haunt Spleen later. Agree about Magda and Rick too.
I also thought that maybe the car salesman character is going to come back to haunt him; something about the look on his face as he was put in the police car.
It wasn't too bad. I like Jack Dee though, he can carry the show well.
Not keen on the US wise-ass character. I always hate seeing American's in UK sitcoms, they stand out too much. I took me a while to get used to Megan Dodds in NGO (and they she left so that was worth it)
The biggest laugh I thought was 'You're like a really crap episode of Columbo!'
Interesting thought about the car salesman character. We'll have to wait and see I guess.
I really enjoyed last week's episode. Wasn't quite up-to-scratch with the first but still some excellent comedy to be had. The cafe always has the best scenes.
According to the advanced reviews, next week is meant to be a step up in quality so if you tuned in for the first time last Thursday and wasn't quite sure do stick with Lead Balloon for another week.
I thought it was excellent, and I can't wait for the rest of the series. I personally don't think we'll see the Ralph Innerson character again. Extraneous characters didn't recur in the first series, and I can't see them doing it in this one.
Quote: chipolata @ November 19, 2007, 12:20 PMI personally don't think we'll see the Ralph Innerson character again.
Agreed. This one plays by the rules. Self-contained stories. No more Finchy.
I still think we might, in the last episode.
I rather hope not though.
I dunno, I didn't get the impression that we would, but then I'm far more of a viewer than a writer, so maybe. Certainly would rather not though. His face annoys me.
I hate his character in The Office so much that I can't help hating him a bit too.
Ralph Innerson has a great voice, though - very manly and rich.
Can't reeeeeally say that I've noticed that myself, but ok. 
Quote: chipolata @ November 21, 2007, 9:46 AMRalph Innerson has a great voice, though - very manly and rich.
He always plays "the northerner" in BBC dramas. I remember him in Playing the Field a few years ago.
I just can't seem to warm to Jack Dee's character in this show. He seems to spend 75% of the show pulling a stupid face, and huffing and puffing, like Harry Enfield's "Kevin the Teenager" character. I find this particularly unappealing, seeing as he's about 48, and he's meant to be a professional comedian, who seems to have a really comfortable life. As for the Eastern European house-keeper, I think the writers have been particularly lazy, putting her in the show. For starters, it's obvious that the main inspiration for the character was "Borat" (I created a similar character myself, a couple of years ago, but scrapped it when I realised that I'd subconsciously been copying the Sacha Baron-Cohen character). But worst of all, is the fact that the funniest Eastern European-related jokes they seem to have come up with, are all based around the simple fact that her accent is slightly different to the other characters' accents, meaning she...wait for it...often pronounces certain words wrongly!! I mean come on! As well as this being poor writing, isn't it also slightly racist? People in the media are always telling us that it's racist to laugh at how Japanese people get the letter 'R' and 'L' mixed up, so why should this be any different?
Race has nothing to do with accent, so no, it's not racist.
As for tonight's episode, not really sure if I liked it or not. Some good laughs, but the story was a bit too awkward for me, and the excuses just didn't feel right. Hm. Still, better a lot of stuff around at the moment.