As I've always said...

It has to be 'Thompson'.

Meet Ricky Gervaise

Planet Mirth, but I think I'll retract that and go for the much more hateful 11 `o clock show instead.

The Comedians

We Know Where You Live

>As I've always said...
>
>It has to be 'Thompson'.

It has to be. Only medieval Londoners have seen bigger piles of shit.

I never actually saw Thompson, as when it went out I'd just moved to London and thought there were better things to do than watching telly, v. silly idea....Was it really as bad as everyone says? I remember Time Out's review saying it was "very clever-little-me-ish".

What did I say last time?

Oh it has to be any of the following:

Duty Free

Game On

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

Terry and June

World In Action never made me laugh.

My bottom five:

1) Game On
2) Gimme Gimme Gimme
3) Meet Ricky Gervais
4) Never Mind The Buzzcocks
5) Bread

I think enough other people are going to be voting for ** *'***** ****, so I won't bother nominating that. But it's still shit.

I quite like Never Mind The Buzzcocks and would like to substitute the endless Last Of The Summer Wine.

The Strangerers.

Disappointing because Docherty and Williams were cast back-to-front, and any programme that makes that elementary a mistake at stage one can only get worse and worse.
And it did! Hurrah!

Take a Letter, Mr Jones. No contest.

Anything written by Jim Yoakum

Oh and Bread too. You should have tried being from Liverpool while it was on. Life was a blast.

>Take a Letter, Mr Jones. No contest.

For some reason, I was thinking of that show in work today *shiver*...

*looks at other thread*


Hang on, yeah, "Trick Or Treat"

Please stop banging on about how shit 'Thompson' was until one of you has actually sat down and watched it again. Can you honestly make an accurate judgement 11 years down the line?

Ditto anything else you're half remembering.

In defence of a few of the programmes...

Buzzcocks was quite good for a while - if it had only managed one or two series maybe it wouldn't feel so tired. I can't say I've ever found it awful,, just irritating.

Last of the Summer Wine *was* quite good, in a light entertainment way. If you saw the "tribute" episode they showed when compo died (which was from the mid 80's I think) you'll know what I mean. It wasn't just old men falling off home-made bicycles, which is what it's become.

I will admit to finding the first series of Game On fairly inoffensive too. But dislike it now.

Some Mothers Do Ave Em was a classic in it's time. Looks dated now, but had excellent slapstick. Another light-entertainment show that is perhaps easy to slag off.

None of these shows made me cringe and shout out "how did this get on television?", which I think is a minimum response for a show to become "worst comedy series ever".

I did find Duty Free very tedious, however.

>The Comedians
>
>We Know Where You Live

Barking

I have very clear memories of Thompson: 'Self Defence In The Kitchen', 'Progress Report', 'Rumpelstiltskin', the dance with Kenneth Branagh, and loads of other unutterably shit sketches I would LOVE to erase from my memory, as I had total respect for Thompson herself before she did it. Read the press coverage from the time. Everyone hated it. Why do you think it's never been repeated, despite her going on to become an Oscar-winning Hollywood star?

John Naughton of the Observer loved it. How he raved. Then bizarrely, a couple of weeks later he retracted his comments pleading that he was in love with Emma Thompson.

I saw an interview with 'Sense and Sensibility' producer Lindsey Doran where she said seeing 'Thompson' convinced her that Emma Thompson was capable of writing the screenplay. And a very good job she did too thus proving that inability to write good sketches doesn't preclude ability to write good films. Hm

"John Naughton of the Observer loved it. How he raved. Then bizarrely, a couple of weeks later he retracted his comments pleading that he was in love with Emma Thompson."

I think that's how it got commissioned. She had a similar effect on Michael Grade.

>I have very clear memories of Thompson: 'Self Defence In The Kitchen', 'Progress Report', 'Rumpelstiltskin', the dance with Kenneth Branagh, and loads of other unutterably shit sketches

...mostly from the first show I notice. Obviously it's not as good as 'Alfresco', 'Saturday Night Fry' or almost anything she had been involved with up until that point. I'm not even suggesting it's great. Harmless is the word. The hype at the time clouded any fair assessment of the show and, frankly Jon, there are countless occasions where you yourself have commented on something you haven't seen. You probably do it in your sleep.

'Thompson' holds up quite well today. I hated it until I saw it again. Dust down the opinions (and tapes) that you've held on to and reassess them. You should try it. It's healthy. That's all I'm suggesting.

Oh, and the dance with Kenneth Branagh is fantastic! A brilliant bit of Dennis Potter referencing which transplants his suburban song technique into a beautifully written sketch about seperation, as seen through the division of a couple's record collection.
Nothing wrong with that.

>Read the press coverage from the time. Everyone hated it.

No, the press hated it largely because of the hype (I call it 'Eldorado' syndrome) and everyone had lower expectations as a result. It was very badly directed and this dragged it down more so than any failings on Emma's part. It was just flat viewing with some rather clever, dry sketches which failed to come across. Not Emma's fault.

>Why do you think it's never been repeated, despite her going on to become an Oscar-winning Hollywood star?

She embargoed it from being repeated, and threatened to sue the Beeb if they did. She was unhappy with the production. The backlash killed her comedy career, so she moved on. That's why she became an Oscar winning actress.

'Thompson' is an unfortunate full stop to her comedy work. Everything else is pretty much forgotten. Still, she didn't lose out - we did.

"frankly Jon, there are countless occasions where you yourself have commented on something you haven't seen. You probably do it in your sleep."

Er, when have I done that? I can think of countless occassions where I've said "I didn't see it/him/her, so I don't know".

eg: Cluub Z, Marcus Brigstocke, We Know Where You Live.

And the reviews did not just attack the hype, they attacked the material itself. I can definitely remember one that picked apart one involving Robbie Coltrane and Branagh. There were others.

>Er, when have I done that? I can think of countless occassions where I've said "I didn't see it/him/her, so I don't know".

Oh come on! You'll still try to make your presence known regardless. Only recently you commented on the first 'Meet Ricky Gervais' basing it all on the advert. Course you do say "I didn't see it", yet you always follow this with a comma and "but".

Then there was the "Mr Buckstead" thread, where you ridiculed the worth of the quoted lines and once it turned out to be Peter Baynham styed quiet.

You didn't seem to give a toss about 'Out Of The Trees' either and applied some musical analogy instead. Probably because you hadn't read a review of it.

You were always keen on joining the Iain Lee bashing without having anything to say about 11OCS and now you watch your words once you sniff money for gags. Different writers maybe, but the same root problem.

You also need to have criticism explained to you.

>And the reviews did not just attack the hype, they attacked the material itself. I can definitely remember one that picked apart one involving Robbie Coltrane and Branagh. There were others.

"Remember". "There were others". There you go again.

Why do you put so much value on other people's opinions, rather than offering your own? All you've done so far is list sketches you remember and other people's views. What about ones that you've come up with yourself? You missed the point of the vast majority of my second message. Dissent, reassessment and originated opinions based on looking/listening to a show years down the line (and at the time) are healthy. If you saw 'Thompson' again today would you watch it to confirm prejudice, judge it fairly or run a mile? Which one sounds more sensible to you?

Hype clouds judgements of raw material. It happens. That's why "Worst Comedy Series Ever" is such a vacuous, meaningless subject to discuss if all you're going to do is play up to received wisdom.

Paul, whilst you may be right that seeing things again can lead to a re-evaluation of them (it did for me with 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum', which is far funnier than I remember it) - why are you giving Jon such a kicking? He's hardly the worst at commenting derisively about stuff he has little knowledge of - there are several others on this forum who are experts at this. In fact, I'd say his comments are generally balanced and justified, unless he's just being deliberately provocative. Also, I don't see anything wrong with bringing in other views to back up an argument - wasn't Jon simply doing this to prove he wasn't just going off on some esoteric rant?

And you're wrong about Jon's comments on the 11ocs. He has watched a great deal of it, and was one of the first people to be disposed to give it a second chance with the new format.

"Only recently you commented on the first 'Meet Ricky Gervais' basing it all on the advert"

No I didn't. I watched as much of the show as I could bear, and commented that the interview with Penny Smith (or whatever her name was) was excruciating, and that I couldn't see the point of the VT bit.

I didn't "sniff money for gags" on the 11OCS. I said positive things before ABO11OCS asked for contributions. I suggested 1 line, posted it in the strand here. I did also mail it in. But I haven't tried to write any more because I'm not bothered.

As far as changing your mind goes, I've always said I didn't like Lee&Herring originally.

I only cited the reviews of 'Thompson' because you claimed they were just anti-hype. They weren't.

Currently, I seem to be the only person on this forum who likes 'Attachments'.

What else? Oh:

"Then there was the "Mr Buckstead" thread, where you ridiculed the worth of the quoted lines and once it turned out to be Peter Baynham styed quiet. You didn't seem to give a toss about 'Out Of The Trees' either and applied some musical analogy instead. Probably because you hadn't read a review of it."

Can't remember what you're on about with OOTT (do you archive my stuff?)

I can just about remember the Buckstead strand. I didn't comment further because it turned out to be a show I knew nothing about. I don't remember the original line, but I was probably saying that, in isolation, it didn't sound very good, which is a fair comment.

Here is my comment on 'The Weakest Link':

"I've never seen this show, is it any good?"

>why are you giving Jon such a kicking? He's hardly the worst at commenting derisively about stuff he has little knowledge of - there are several others on this forum who are experts at this.

Sure, but the return of the thin 'Thompson' argument is really starting to bore me. It went no where when the last "Worst comedy series" thread happened and I wanted to prevent it happening again. And that goes for everything else mentioned so far.

Jon's not backing up any argument of his own if you look back - he thought it was a set of "unutterably shit" sketches and then said the press thought it was rubbish, which as a defence was vague and meaningless.

I don't ultimately care one way or the other about Jon but there's plenty of irrelevance on this forum besides. Too much.

>In fact, I'd say his comments are generally balanced and justified, unless he's just being deliberately provocative.

That's your opinion, but I find his reference to TV shows is frequently a route to a punchline rather than a proper argument. Flippancy does not appeal to me, nor vague arguments.

There sure is a cosy, family atmosphere to this forum these days which is very nice for all concerned, but I don't see where it's heading with threads such as this. I wanted to step in before it became a 400 message list of programme titles, musical deviations and *hugs* and (snogs) messages. I just don't see the point in that at all when you remember how pertinent this forum used to be. The blame doesn't belong in anyone's hands. The aimlessness is annoying.

So lets get back to worst comedy series. Sit back, jog your memory and reason *why* it was shit rather than presenting the title alone and bleating tired opinions. Sheep was doing a good job of it earlier, I tried and Jon ignored most of what I said.

'Honey For Tea', just in case you were wondering.

Where's your argument for saying that?

This is like watching the Pope arguing with himself

>Please stop banging on about how shit 'Thompson' was until one of you has actually sat down and watched it again. Can you honestly make an accurate judgement 11 years down the line?
>
>Ditto anything else you're half remembering.


Nothing wrong with my memory. I'll say it was pants if I feel like it. I don't need your permission.

>"frankly Jon, there are countless occasions where you yourself have commented on something you haven't seen. You probably do it in your sleep."


No there aren't. Now who's talking about something that they haven't seen?

Oh and by the way, Jon DID give a toss about "Out Of The Trees". As the only person who seemed bothered about it at first, and one of the few who pursued old baconbrain Yoakum when he started to slate our attitudes on other sites, I feel perfectly qualified to make this judgement. I don't recall YOU saying very much, though...

>
>'Thompson' is an unfortunate full stop to her comedy work. Everything else is pretty much forgotten. Still, she didn't lose out - we did.

Emma Thompson is not good at comedy (see Peter's Friends, Thompson etc). She is a fine actress and screenwriter.

Why this impassioned defence of her, Paul? Is she a friend?

Worst comedy series: Ben Elton's Happy Families

Oh, someone beat me to it. I was just going to get back to you with some comments on Thompson.

Yes, you say the reaction "destroyed her comedy career". But she already had a very successful acting career (Fortunes Of War, Tutti Frutti, films with Branagh were coming up) which she was more widely known for than her comedy.

I think it's valid to feel let down over the level of hype the show got. I was expecting something very good and it wasn't. I'm not going to analyze sketches like "Self Defence In The Kitchen" for the same reason no one bothers analyzing why Waugh On Sport or Will Smith don't work on 11OCS - they're just lame routines, simple as that.

I did come back to the show several times during its run and it was consistently bad. I don't like watching bad shows, so I admit I didn't watch all of it.

There was no Thompson backlash in progress before it started. She had a good reputation, most people did not know her comedy work, she went on and looked stupid, and lots of people like me didn't like it. If she didn't have confidence in it she could have pulled out. She had a lot going for her at the time anyway. But none of that is relevant to judging the show.

I can remember shows 11 years ago very well, that's how I remember how good Fry&Laurie's 1st series was, even though it hasn't been repeated either. If something is very good or bad it sticks in the mind.

Happy Families was a curate's egg. The prison episode was brilliant, other bits were patchy.

>
>So lets get back to worst comedy series. Sit back, jog your memory and reason *why* it was shit rather than presenting the title alone and bleating tired opinions.
>'Honey For Tea', just in case you were wondering.

So, after all that nonsense, your choice for worst comedy series is a programme loathed by just about everyone when it was on in 1994. How controversial of you. You stupid fucking prick.

.

>I don't ultimately care one way or the other about Jon but there's plenty of irrelevance on this forum besides. Too much.

Irrelevance? Look, it's not the fucking Financial Times. Why can't people post whatever the hell they want? There's a bit of a spat developing with the ident/regional TV crowd - some people might see their interests as irrelevant - but I would defend their right to pot on Carlton, HTV or whatever. Just as I would someone saying they hated 'Game On'. For whatever reason.

>>In fact, I'd say his comments are generally balanced and justified, unless he's just being deliberately provocative.
>
>That's your opinion, but I find his reference to TV shows is frequently a route to a punchline rather than a proper argument. Flippancy does not appeal to me, nor vague arguments.

I'm sorry, but this just comes across as deeply supercilious. Flippancy? This forum is, at least in part, about TV comedy. I *like* the flippancy. It'd be a pretty miserable place if only sober, calculated postings were permitted.

>There sure is a cosy, family atmosphere to this forum these days which is very nice for all concerned, but I don't see where it's heading with threads such as this. I wanted to step in before it became a 400 message list of programme titles, musical deviations and *hugs* and (snogs) messages. I just don't see the point in that at all when you remember how pertinent this forum used to be. The blame doesn't belong in anyone's hands. The aimlessness is annoying.

I don't see how a united 'aim' can be created for this forum. I've been on it for 8 months or so now, and it's gone through boring patches, fascinating heated debates, funny moments, shared recognitions, the lot. The friendly atmosphere is there - it might seem cliquey, but no-one excluded me - and I've got to know several people here personally. New arrivals like RHC have been welcomed - what's the problem?

Just for you - I will repost my worst comedy choices and justify them as fully as I can. But I can't promise no flippancy.

>Oh it has to be any of the following:
>
>Duty Free
Very, very poor. Overacted, horribly contrived, relentlessly middlebrow. A farce, which I hate anyway, but a really cliched, crappy one. And it seemed to be on all the time. Hateful.

>Game On
Surely one of the most offensive portrayals of both men and women ever screened. The godfather of all subsequent "comedy" that has thought making vulgar references to sexual acts, and having characters swear is, in and as of itself, funny, instead of bothering with things like context, characterisation, etc.

>Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
So-called "comedy classic". Terrible slapstick, truly annoying central character. Shown all the time.

>Terry and June
A sitcom for people who read The Daily Mail - enough said.

The worst comedy series of all time has to be 'Whose Line Is It Anyway.' Posh people and irritating Americans trying to be funny and aren't is a minor crime. The amount of shit spin offs this show has produced is a capital offence. For example:

S&M
P's & Q's
Josie
The Big One (a romance with Sandi Toksvig and a fat yank, phworrr!!!)
That Tony Slattery sitcom about being a gigilo
Clive Anderson chat shows
Clive Anderson holiday programmes
John Sessions Tall Tales
The new Call My Bluff
Greg Proops thinking he's a stand up comic

Ahhhh! My second family!!!

*hug*















Sorry...

OK, my reasons why....

>1) Game On
Featured the dullest and least attractive characters in the history of situation comedy. Felt insistent that characters shouting "You mad old cow" was in some way amusing. Compounded error by being co-written by the usually reliable Andrew Davies (who did, after all, write A Very Peculiar Practice), and featuring a good theme tune. Also, Samantha Janus is hopeless.

>2) Gimme Gimme Gimme
Oh look a gay bloke and a slapper. Now, that's going to be hilarious as they're likely to be interested in the same blokes. Look at me, I'm Jane Root, a middle-class ignoramus who actually believes that this pile of old tosh actually reflects life in Britain today! Oh, and it's a relief to know that all gay blokes love Abba! (No stereotypes there.)

>3) Meet Ricky Gervais
Barely transmittable, let alone funny, another nail in the TalkBack coffin. If this charmless piece of failed irony had featured General Pinochet on the receiving end of RG's twatterings, you would have sympathised with the mass murderer rather than the fat old sod. (However, no doubt we can look forward to other spin-offs.)

>4) Never Mind The Buzzcocks
I've gone on and on and on about this at length already, and I don't want to upset the millions of people who love it. But I hate it.

>5) Bread
This is not misty-eyed nostalgic hatred. I saw two or three of these last winter, repeated during the afternoons on BBC1. And it defied belief - a kind of Scouse EastEnders with all the horrifying cod-sentimentality you'd expect from the rusty, shagged out pen of Carla Lane. Minutes would drag by with not an attempt at a joke, let alone a funny joke. At least Honey For Tea or You Must Be The Husband got thrown out after one or two series - Bread lasted six bloody years!

Recent shows:
1>Meet Ricky Gervais.
>Firstly, C4 kept switching the transmission times (it got shifted to later slots), and changing labels (controversial comedy, risque, comedy chat;etc;). The fact remains (and yes, I did watch this), it was a dire show. A prime candidate for replacing jokes and humour with swearing. Not even remotely funny. Gervaise has no personality, just oozes offensiveness. He tried to trap his guests, but some (such as Tony Hart & Jimmy Saville) didn't take the bait, thank goodness. All involved should be ashamed. Worst show of the year by a very long distance.

2>Up Rising
Dreadful attempt at good ol' sauce and risque postcard humour by ITV. Let down by ham acting and naff scripts. Woeful. Proves the adage - that ITV doesn't do comedy.

3>The 11O'Clock Show
Lousy thrice-weekly attempt at topical humour. A very weak HIGNFY at best. Still feel that a good opportunity to overhaul the show was lost when Lee & Donovan left. Less offensive than before. Totally loathe the pedalling of ninth-rate comedy charachters as the next best thing. That said, Talkback/C4 are probaly busy making the pilots as I type this. Of the new presenters, Holmes isn't that bad, but Ms Alexander has prob-lems.

I'd like to add some *older* shows that I haven't seen for some time, but I'd probaly be accused of Goldfish memory syndrome....

No, No, No & No. The worst comedy series ever must be Bottle Boys, closely followed by Plaza Patrol

Ah, but did you really see them Scary, or was it false memory under hypnosis? If you haven't seen it within the past year you must be lying.....

Glam Metal Detectives anyone? Or has everyone blanked it from their subconscious? If so, tell me how, I've been trying for years.

>Ah, but did you really see them Scary, or was it false memory under hypnosis? If you haven't seen it within the past year you must be lying.....


Definately seen both of them (in fact I saw a clip of Bottle Boys just the other month)

To jog your memory; Bottle Boys: Sit com about milkmen with Robin Askwith
Plaza Patrol: sitcom with Cannon & Ball as 2 shopping centre security guardssecurity guards

>Glam Metal Detectives anyone? Or has everyone blanked it from their subconscious? If so, tell me how, I've been trying for years.

Ha! I was the only one at school to like it. For no apparent reason, we used to discuss it as a class in German. But I liked it. I think, on reflection, everyone else was probably right.

I'd like to nominate Victor Lewis Smith's TV Offal, but no-one else on the planet agrees with me. I feel lonely here, and I'm ready for a kicking.

Here's why I think it was steamingly bad.
VLS spent years criticising other comedy writers, particularly Chris Morris for becoming lame and lazy (for instance his Brass Eye review ran after the show was pulled from broadcast. VLS took advantage of the fact that he was the only one who'd seen it and was pointlessly bitter and personal. Every argument collapsed once you'd had actually watched BE) and then he wheels out his own show which is some kind of pseudo-dangerous retread of Tarrant on TV, laced with 70s homophobia and loose sophomoric insults to celebrities (how naughty!). The only redeeming feature of TV Offal was the archive footage, which was clearly dredged up by some underpaid work experience kid in the research department.
All artists want to see their critics "try and do it better". Chris Morris must have popped a lung laughing at Lewis Smith's efforts.

There. TV Offal. It's worse than, say, Terry and June because T&J succeeded in its aims (whether you liked them or not) and TV Offal UTTERLY FAILED.

Glam Metal Detectives had some pretty good fake adverts. Everything else was just inexplicable.

Hope that was "relevant "enough for the surprisingly strict Forum Watchdog we seem to have picked up. Who voted for him, then?

I liked the 'Colin Corleone' bits, but to be fair, I only saw about 2 or 3 episodes.

GMD: Betty's Mad Dash. Good idea. Badly executed. And not funny.

Worst ever: You Rang M'Lord. Croft and Perry on autopilot. (Okay, probably not the worst ever, but still damn poor.)

>
>Worst ever: You Rang M'Lord. Croft and Perry on autopilot. (Okay, probably not the worst ever, but still damn poor.)
>
..and you could also add, Allo Allo and Oh! Dr Beeching to that.

Does anyone remeber Thompson!
That was rubbish, eh chums?

Wow - lots and lots of people who treat comedy as seriously as I do! My ha'penny's worth...

Eeveryone seems to hate Game On. I like it... stereotyped, is it? Surely that's the point? Complaining that the show's stereotyped is like complaining that Eminem likes to rape women. It's not meant to be taken seriously as a study of gritty realism for the late 20th century - I see them more as deliberately unrealistic characters that are trapped with each other.

So that's my defence of the show that seems to be most hated here. Other shows I like that others seem to hate with a religous passion - TV Offal (and most VLS stuff), Ricky Gervais (again, he's deliberately unrealistic for satirical effect - some people miss the point) and (shock horror) I occassionally watch the 11 o'clock show!

My worst TV comedy - Last Of the Summer Wine (not a slapstick fan).

>>Take a Letter, Mr Jones. No contest.
>
>For some reason, I was thinking of that show in work today *shiver*...
>
Perhaps you have a male secretary who reminds you of John Inman.

> TV Offal (and most VLS stuff)

Patchy but fun.

> Ricky Gervais (again, he's deliberately unrealistic for satirical effect - some people miss the point)

No. No no no. There is no "missing the point" going on. Michael Winner's coming on the show? Make fat jokes. Charlie Dimmock jokes? Make tit jokes. Et cetera. The laziest form of Pavlovian knee-jerk celebrity-bashing, only for once with the celebrities there in person. However through the magic of television, Gervais if the one who comes out of it looking like a cunt.


> and (shock horror) I occassionally watch the 11 o'clock show!

So do I. Through my fingers.

>Eeveryone seems to hate Game On. I like it... stereotyped, is it? Surely that's the point? Complaining that the show's stereotyped is like complaining that Eminem likes to rape women. It's not meant to be taken seriously as a study of gritty realism for the late 20th century - I see them more as deliberately unrealistic characters that are trapped with each other.

I don't think the Eminem analogy stands up. I'm not implying that people would copy 'Game On' or anything. Just that it rehashes a load of unfunny cliches about male and female behaviour. I don't think something has to be realist to draw on crass views about people. The characters aren't deliberately unrealistic. Exagerrated, yes, but clearly based on identifiable 'types' - the macho one, the wimp, the bimbo slapper etc etc. And its not funny. Its laboured, crude for crude's sake, and poorly performed. Terrible television, and so disappointing after Marshall's 'A Very Peculiar Practice.'

No no no. 'Davies'

I'd pay to see Andrew Marshall's "Game On".
Men and women standing in different corners of rooms, sulking and sighing.

When 'Game On' started, Davies wrote an article somewhere or other explaining how it was a brilliant example of the sitcom craft, following the classical models, etc. (he was an Eng. Lit. lecturer originally, you understand). I didn't see it, but I did read a Francis Wheen article comparing theory with practice and taking the piss out of Davies as a result.

I did also see a 'TV lecture' he gave, explaining the craft of scriptwriting, with reference to the TV adaptations he'd done (the Michael Dobbs Parliament thrillers and some others, probably at least 1 Dickens).

I think his main point was that writers should get as much mileage out of sex as possible, both in displaying it, and getting the characters to talk about it. He was very proud of fiddling the plot line of some work or other to make the TV version sexier than the original novel.

So that's the creative genius behind the 'Game On' blueprint.

>No no no. 'Davies'

Sorry - I'm always getting their names mixed up.