I'd say the sketches are up there with It's Kevin, a few overly long, but mostly original with good eyes. I suppose they could be tighter with cleverer writing.
But the fusion of good ideas and performances made it genuinely funny and entertaining.
And that's what comedy is isn't it?
Much else would be like asking what McDonald's puts in its special sauce.
Really liked the Merkel sketch.
Quote: Tim Azure @ April 26 2013, 11:57 AM BSTThey seemed to have dropped the variety stuff though (I.e. when it's obvious it's a studio).
So they have. I preferred it without, I think.
Quote: Marc P @ April 26 2013, 12:12 PM BSTI think technology plays a bigger part nowadays, a lot easier to do out and about sketches than it was in M&W's day.
Hundreds of programmes were OB'd in the 70s. The charm from the show meant they performed in front of a curtain instead.
Much better than series one, so well done to everyone, but I still feel that the short sketches, relying more on a gag than a character, are better. I liked the lost cat, stepping on the cracks, scrubbing up and Skype: get in, make a joke, get out. Other than that, the sketches seem to be stretched out into unecessary riffs or character studies because they're good actors (cf Anna & Katy; Cardinal Burns). Being a good actor isn't necessarily great for sketch comedy - as said above, get them in a nice straightforward sit com and they'd probably be great.
I have literally no idea why they brought back the prison guard and the National Trust sketches, they were flogged to death last time. I've never seen Call The Midwife, so I may have missed something there, but it reminded me very much fo French & Saunders' parodies, ie spotlessly done, but not necessarily very funny.
The perfume girls and the cooking were both very well performed, but built on incredibly thin premises; I'd forgive them both if I didn't have a Nostradamus like inkling that they'll both be repeated another 5 times this series.
The PM sketch was very nice. That and the shorties is what I enjoyed. I shall watch episode 2 with interest, to decide whether it's worth staying to the bitter end.
Quote: gappy @ April 26 2013, 4:27 PM BSTI have literally no idea why they brought back the prison guard and the National Trust sketches, they were flogged to death last time.
Heh, those were two of my favourites.
Quote: zooo @ April 26 2013, 4:36 PM BSTHeh, those were two of my favourites.
Perhaps you crave the comfort of a joke you already know. 
I do like the odd recurring character (but not a show full of them), the National Trust ones are more or less the same joke every week, but the prison one seems to have more of an ongoing story. I like both types!
I felt that series 1 was very mixed. So I decided to give series 2 a go last night and I must say it's very rare I turn a show off half way through but I just had to. It was painfully unfunny and terrible. I will not be tuning into the rest of this series.
Quote: zooo @ April 26 2013, 4:55 PM BSTI do like the odd recurring character (but not a show full of them), the National Trust ones are more or less the same joke every week, but the prison one seems to have more of an ongoing story. I like both types!
Fair enough. I don't mind a bit of character repetition myself, but I think the NT has really had enough spins round the track now.
The prison joke does admittedly change everty week. I think the problem is that I'm not sure what the joke was to begin with. 
It started as a sort of riff on people who talk at length without saying anything, especially those who have a professional relationship, but it seems to have tried to mutate into a Ralph & Ted affair. Maybe. I think I just don't really get these sketches, which is actually not the same as not finding them funny. 
Watched about a minute of the French tourist sketch and decided I had some light dusting to do.
Weaker than last week - sometimes painfully so - but still watchable. And I enjoyed The Killing sketch and the idea that British viewers would be confused by subtitles and two people in jumpers. It reminded me of when zooo complained she couldn't follow a subtitled show because the women in it had similar hairstyles.
Very impressed
I had this on last night when I, quite by mistake, chewed a mouthful of tuna and peanut butter. It was a foul combination, but still preferable to Watson & Oliver.
Quote: chipolata @ May 2 2013, 11:09 PM BSTIt reminded me of when zooo complained she couldn't follow a subtitled show because the women in it had similar hairstyles.
Quote: Ben @ May 3 2013, 9:36 PM BSTI had this on last night when I, quite by mistake, chewed a mouthful of tuna and peanut butter. It was a foul combination, but still preferable to Watson & Oliver.
2/10
