I managed 40 minutes and probably could have watched the rest but I'm not really sad that I didn't bother.
Ambassadors Page 2
It's just really jarring - one minute it's satirical, then it's a relationship soap, the next minute slapstick, and then someone is threatening to cut a woman up and feed her to wolves. The result is that I don't really laugh at the funny bits, I don't particularly care about the characters, the social commentary is undermined by using a blind man as a comedy prop, and I don't feel tense about the dramatic subplot.
I'm not sure I laugh at all while watching, but I do enjoy it. I just see it as a slightly quirky drama, I think.
Quote: zooo @ October 31 2013, 11:45 AM GMTI'm not sure I laugh at all while watching, but I do enjoy it. I just see it as a slightly quirky drama, I think.
Yes me too.
Much better this week, or maybe I am just getting the hang of the style; I enjoyed it at any rate.
Quote: Tursiops @ October 31 2013, 10:48 PM GMTMuch better this week, or maybe I am just getting the hang of the style; I enjoyed it at any rate.
Agreed, I enjoyed the first episode well enough, but the second was much better.
This was horrific.
Yes I enjoyed it more, although I couldn't help thinking how much better it would be if Hollander had the lead...and if it was trimmed back to 40minutes.
B ost eps have been, essentially, absolutely classic sit com set-ups, and they have some top class comedy actors. Just cuit it back to 30 mins, take out all the boring realtionships and espionage, and ramp up the gags, and it would be a highly enjoyable (if not revolutionary) sit com.
This is the trouble with comedy drama, it's a mess. The odd thing is, big US dramas (Lost and Twin Peaks spring randomly to mind), contain far more laughs than Ambassadors,l and it never feels forced. It's perectly possible to write strong drama with some good comedy scenes - Shakespeare managed it.
Quote: gappy @ 3rd November 2013, 12:03 PM GMTB ost eps have been, essentially, absolutely classic sit com set-ups, and they have some top class comedy actors. Just cuit it back to 30 mins, take out all the boring realtionships and espionage, and ramp up the gags, and it would be a highly enjoyable (if not revolutionary) sit com.
This is the trouble with comedy drama, it's a mess. The odd thing is, big US dramas (Lost and Twin Peaks spring randomly to mind), contain far more laughs than Ambassadors,l and it never feels forced. It's perectly possible to write strong drama with some good comedy scenes - Shakespeare managed it.
Completely agree. It is neither one thing nor the other and much as I want to like it, it's just not funny enough and not serious enough. Compare to something like The West Wing which was plenty serious, but also had lots of laughs in it. Ambassadors just lurches violently from one mood to another.
I've been genuinely surprised by the reaction to this series. For me, it's the single funniest comedy drama in memory. And the most enjoyable.
Mentioning no titles, the term 'comedy drama' seems to have become a fallback, catch-all term for simple light-narrative series, that are actually neither particularly dramatic nor comedic. Just nice stories with an occasional bit of humour or plot suspense. Ambassadors, I feel, has been far more true to the name of the genre.
There's a bit of Hotel Babylon to it with the need of the characters to balance ethical considerations with their best interests.
It's interesting seeing other poster' comments. I actually found this to be delightful, and the dramedy aspect of it really works for the subjects they're working with. At first I was also leery about the casting but I think both have so far done well with their respective characters. Although to be honest I got bored of Peep Show a while back so it's nice to be watching them together...but in a different setting entirely.
Quote: Aaron @ 3rd November 2013, 1:17 PM GMTI've been genuinely surprised by the reaction to this series. For me, it's the single funniest comedy drama in memory. And the most enjoyable.
Mentioning no titles, the term 'comedy drama' seems to have become a fallback, catch-all term for simple light-narrative series, that are actually neither particularly dramatic nor comedic. Just nice stories with an occasional bit of humour or plot suspense. Ambassadors, I feel, has been far more true to the name of the genre.
I've got to agree with this. I'm really enjoying it. It helps that I find the subject/setting interesting and apparently the writers have had some really good advice from those with experience.
Not sure what the people who liked this saw in it. What little comedy there was didn't fit with the drama, and I didn't care about any of the characters enough to care about the drama, especially not the stereotypes. David Mitchell is a National Treasure of comedy, so how could he be so unfunny in this? How could so much of the dialogue be so dreary? How could a project with so much talent involved fail to interest so many of us?