Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
Posted Thu Oct 26 00:53:14 BST 2000 by 'Unruly Butler'
This week's Royle Family marked a strange watershed for the show.
The characters, who in series one were very subtle, likeable and tinged with recognition humour (and not just class based recognition humour either), became simple grotesques.
With their nipple-stroking, burping, bad-parenting, everyone-down-the-pub, slave-driving of Anthony etc etc they are beginning to resemble less an affectionate portrait of the warm dullness of the average British family and more a surreal barrage of "aren't the working classes dreadful" jokes.
In short the show is now an amalgam of:
Python's WORST FAMILY IN BRITAIN
The Young Ones family living in Rik's bedroom (Roger Sloman et al)
Wayne and Waynetta slob
and so on.
These were all fine gags in their way, but none of them aimed to be the "slice of life" that this sitcom purports to portray.
It made me feal a little uneasy, with all the expectation piled on this show, that it should be getting broader and less interesting just as its popularity reaches its zenith.
Any thoughts?
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By Justin on Thu Oct 26 07:20:42 BST 2000:
I still haven't watched this week's one yet, even though I watched One Foot (which was on immediately before it), and I had all last night to watch it, but chose instead to watch several old episodes of Larry Sanders and Brass Eye. I think that tells us something...
Basically, The Royle Family has now started to appeal to TV writers/viewers who think it's bloody hilarious that people watch the telly all the time, even though that's what millions of people in this country do every night of the week. Suddenly the amount of praise being heaped on what is just a quite funny sitcom (ie much better than Pay & Display, obviously, but with nothing like the ideas of Black Books, Seinfeld or One Foot) is starting to become not just inappropriate but tiresome too. Oh look, there's a bit about Mambo Number 5 on next week's trail! Christ....
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By TJ on Thu Oct 26 08:30:26 BST 2000:
I've never found The Royle Family entertaining, possibly because I find laziness horrendously nauseating rather than amusing. To all intents and purposes, they are Ricky Gervaise in sitcom form.
However, if they were to genuinely become crudely carved gargoyles live on air - now, that WOULD be worth watching...
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'Radiator Head Child' on Thu Oct 26 10:47:16 BST 2000:
You guys think too much
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'Jon' on Thu Oct 26 11:14:18 BST 2000:
It's better than thinking too little.
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'Radiator head Child' on Thu Oct 26 11:22:49 BST 2000:
hey! I get by.
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'Anonymous' on Thu Oct 26 12:48:44 BST 2000:
That's what you think
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'Mr Finger's fancy cream' on Thu Oct 26 14:43:36 BST 2000:
>It's better than thinking too little.
Depends what about. Think too much about walking and you'll be fucked (it's much easier to walk on ice when drunk, because you don't think about it). Sometimes comedy can be the same - it's not all about intellect you know.
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'Veteran Blur Fan' on Thu Oct 26 16:00:51 BST 2000:
"I think too much of things I want too much, it makes me hateful, and I say stupid things..."
But back to the Royle Family.
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'PJ' on Thu Oct 26 17:31:27 BST 2000:
>>Think too much about walking and you'll be fucked (it's much easier to walk on ice when drunk, because you don't think about it). Sometimes comedy can be the same - it's not all about intellect you know.
>
>
"Comedy is the new walking" shock.
Surely the best example of not thinking about comedy is the 11 0' Clock Show - which shows that Jon must be right.
Subject: Re: Royle Family become crudely carved gargoyles
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Posted By 'James' on Fri Oct 27 15:25:24 BST 2000:
I think UB had it about right with his initial point. Cash and Aherne don't seem to have a co-writer this time round -- given the interview in "Now /That's/ Funny!" about how the writing dynamic works (apparently, for the first series, Henry Normal was the only force moving them to get off their arses and put some work in, as they freely admitted), this surely has to be a bad thing...
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