>The trailers for this scream: "From the producer of Gimme Gimme Gimme..."
>
>You'd think they'd want to keep that quiet.
>>
>"Starring the bloke out of This LIfe..." (no, we can't remember which one either)

Erm, I do. Jack Davenport. Fine arse. But in the trailer I saw, looked about as inviting as a Red Leicester-encrusted helmet.

>
>"Also starring the other woman out of Smack The Pony...not the three stars, but the blonde one..."

Ooh, what IS her name. She splags her tits in the A&J show as well. Oooohhhhhh...what IS it??

>
>"The woman who was Blackeyes, as well as that holiday rep in the ONly Fools & Horses one where Rodney has to pretend to be 14...(hasn't been in anything for about 10 years)"

>"And featuring the woman who might have been in Is It Legal?"


Mmmm. Now I get yer drift.

>
>*Chalk wasn't very good, but it was still better than Gimme Gimme Gimme.

NEVER!


tttfn~
cusak

But Gimme Gimme Gimme had a gay man.

Gay men are ALWAYS funny!

(note the dripping sarcasm.)

>But Gimme Gimme Gimme had a gay man.
>
>Gay men are ALWAYS funny!
>
>(note the dripping sarcasm.)

Is there NOWHERE safe from the exiled one...???////////
eh???
(note the exasperation)

ttfn~
cusak
(who doesn't think anything much of redletter flybenites)

Exiled one? Oh, you mean me?

Um, I'm not exactly exiled... i'm trying to find a forum that Communist Infiltrator hasn't... er... infiltrated. I won't stick around here much, since the term "cakeshopper" is synonymous with "letting your cunt rule your comedy" and "bumbags". Neither of which, let me hasten to add, apply to me.

But anyhow. Not a flybynite, more a postbynight.

um. oh, now i remember who you are. Actually, SOTCAA and the CS are all run by robbie essickles, and i only just found this place now... and... er... scary people in cakeshop.... my own postings bore me... and... well, the big breakfast forum gives me a headache.

So, anyway. Gimme Gimme Gimme. I did actually laugh at it once. But I'[m not sure, it might have been a sneeze.

The blond one from Smack The Pony is Srah Alexander, and she's really sweet.

'You're so far into the closet, you're virtually in Narnia...'

The one funny line from Gimme Gimme Gimme there.

And give me Chalk over Spaced any day. At least it wasn't embarrassed to be a sitcom.

Yeah, that was a good line from GGG - I find it variable. I really enjoyed the final episode from the first series -
L: ...it's as confusing as hansel and gretyl
T: hansel and Gretyl is NOT confusing
L: Well, when was the last time you stayed in a house you could eat?

Well, I found that amusing. They do have their off days I admit, but as a whole I found it enjoyable and purile.

Chalk was stunning. No more to say on that.

In order: Steven Moffatt, Jack Davenport, Gina Bellman, Sarah Alexander, Kate Isitt.

My point? I know who these people are, and so do some people who replied. Presumably the BBC Trails Department know as well. So the question is: why do they assume we're not interested in who any of them are? Except, obviously, the producer (Sue Vertue - daughter of Beryl? I don't know), and we're not even given HER name. But because she produced (badly) the dreadful GGG, that's considered enough of a selling point for Couplings.

>But because she was the inept producer of the dreadful GGG, that's considered enough of a selling point for Couplings.

I think that sentence makes sense now - sorry.

Just one more thing:

I know Chalk got really hammered when it hit the screen in 1997, but I think it was the unfortunate victim of over-exposure and smugness on the part of the BBC, who were talking about it as if it were the next big thing. The writing was pretty smart in places, only ruined by over-acting (esp. by David Bamber, who just tried too hard), and the series did improve - indeed the second series was actually a lot, lot better. This was round about the time that the BBC became rather disillusioned in their baby, and started pushing it later and later in the schedules. Yet again they had no confidence or knowledge in what they were doing.

I'm not saying it was classic stuff by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly beats the 30-minute shoutfest of GGG, which is actually less self-aware than Are YOu Being Served?

A girl who used to live in our house was a big fan of GGG. She was also a big fan of Geri Halliwell's solo career, and she would often tell outrageous stories of her time at university, when she would sometimes miss lectures to stay in bed and watch 'Supermarket Sweep'. Unbelievable!

Just thought I'd give you an insight into the people who got it its 2nd series. They're so broad-minded, watching a show with a gay character...

chalk wasn't that bad... and joking apart was bloody brilliant and I always admired sarah alexander... not becauseshe'slush oranythingorshowed her flange in Armstrong andmiller.... but5 couplingis shite!!! The laugfhter trackalone condemns it to hell...

You seem to be typing with hooves.

Anyway, I thought Couplings had a couple of funny lines (2 more than GGG), but that really isn't enough for 30 mins of TV. And yes, the laughter track was appaling. What possessed them?

I saw the first 5 seconds, noted the presence of a laughter track, and gave up. I notice the track wasn't present in the trailers, which lead us to believe it would be SERFISTIKATED late 20-something entertainment (bad enough in itself), but makes me wonder if it was added at the last minute.
I also wondered a bit later if the laughter track section was just a section of a sitcom-within the main sitcom, which would concern some of the characters working as characters in a bad sitcom, and the cleverness would ensue from all this. Clearly it wasn't, but it's an idea, isn't it?...

All very post-modern, im sure.

A quick question on laughter tracks: was AbFab supplied with one when shown in the UK? Because US showings on BBC America have the most abysmal laughter track (so does Blackadder, and i'm virtually certasin it never did before!) known to man and Paul Merton.

Watched 'Couplings' this morning out of curiosity. Love Steven Moffat as a concept - anyone care to disagree? Press Gang great, but I seem to be the only fan of Joking Apart. Get past Robert Bathurst and you'll find a very tightly written farce. Nowt wrong with that.

'Chalk' was harmless enough, but remember - as someone pointed out on the forum recently - John Wells jumped ship. Says a lot.

Moffat's very patchy these days and 'Couplings' really stank. It's too scared to be proper farce, in order to appeal to the Jack Davenport viewership. 'This Life' is dating alarmingly fast, btw.

Nowt wrong with Gina Bellman. She's probably the strongest element. Everything else is too familiar, while she's got something different to do. Anyway, 'Blackeyes' is terrific. Forgive Potter's hopeless first-timer direction and the camera dwelling on Bellman's chest. There is a point to all of it. Hell, read the book. It's easier.

This week's Radio Times: read and weep Alison Graham's received opinion of what she feels she should say about Couplings. (Note: I would be prepared to bet cold hard cash on the fact that she started watching Seinfeld about nine months ago - just because her important media friends were banging on about it. I love Seinfeld, but feel it's somehow been devalued now. I know this is elitist, but I only get like this when clueless journalists get in to things late.)

Justin: the saddest example of this phenomenom was Julie Burchill's discovery that Massive Attack were her favourite band... when their 3rd, not-as-good-as-the-others album came out.

I actually liked Gimme, Gimme, Gimme... The first series was the best.
Kathy Burke is wicked (period) and that James Dreyfuss is fantastic as a camp guy... (Can he play any other roles?)

I like camp humour. My best mate is gay, so it's not like I'm trying to prove myself as 'oh, I'm open-minded, I can laugh at a gay man.'

As far as BBC sitcoms go, I reckon it was pretty good.

That's all.