Billy wants strict genre apartheid, where drama and comedy are never allowed to mix.
Douglas Is Cancelled Page 4
No, not at all. The point is there was no comedy. Certainly not in the last two episodes.
I'm happy with the description comedy dramas when the two indisputedly intermingle - Minder, Doc Martin, The Beiderbecke Trilogy for example. I enjoy all of those. Which is why I tuned in, expecting something similar. But something as "dark" as this where there is no comedy involved? Why insist on calling it a comedy drama (or "dramedy" as you would have it)? Why not describe it for what it is?
The scenes with Nick Mohammed, and the end bits with Joe Wilkinson driving a taxi, were presumably supposed to be the 'comic relief' bits, though they felt a bit shoehorned in (and not particularly funny, but they were intended to be).
The first episode was very jokey and light, I thought (albeit piss-poor writing).
I think if it had maintained that tone (heaven forbid) it would legitimately come under the Comedy Drama banner.
Eps 3 & 4, though, veered into altogether different territory.
I just think the existing categories don't work with modern TV/film output.
When I'm writing stuff people have to really twist my arm for me to give it a category - and then it's more to appease lazy commissioners ("We're only looking for YA Speculative Fiction") rather than the viewer who's perfectly capable of deciding whether they want to watch something from the trailer.