New Chris Morris

[ifp]

Peep Show writers sign up for Chris Morris project[/url]

2 excellent shows, cant wait to see what they come up with!

[chu]

Holy fuck.

[thomas]

I might just explode, perfect comedy like this should not be made.

Whats next, Red Dwarf x Spaced

[pk-]

this was posted on Cook'd and Bomb'd a while ago;

So, as I mentioned before, there seemed to be some uncertainty over whether it was a TV show or a film...it's both as it turns out, a film for TV, with Morris writing and directing again. It's apparently about a bunch of Pakistani kids, and follows them as they work and play, while exploring their relation to the culture that surrounds them, their beliefs, and their sense of heritage. The brief description makes it sound really interesting, although the casting breakdown notably doesn't feature the word "comedy" in it at all. Was interesting wondering about what the tone would be when so little was known about it, the sighting of Morris at a debate on the ethics of Al Qaeda, and the apparent theme of the London Bombers being (to quote IanW) "like pissed off, pompous, narcissistic adolescents, blowing themselves up in something like a more extreme version of self-harming" had me envisioning a sort of Islamic Young Ones with smaller bombs, heh.

not sure if it's the same thing, though. there was a link to the casting sheet that someone had snagged but it seems to be dead now.

good news, despite peep show getting a bit crap in the fourth series and nathan barley being shit

[jackieboi]

this was posted on Cook'd and Bomb'd a while ago;

So, as I mentioned before, there seemed to be some uncertainty over whether it was a TV show or a film...it's both as it turns out, a film for TV, with Morris writing and directing again. It's apparently about a bunch of Pakistani kids, and follows them as they work and play, while exploring their relation to the culture that surrounds them, their beliefs, and their sense of heritage. The brief description makes it sound really interesting, although the casting breakdown notably doesn't feature the word "comedy" in it at all. Was interesting wondering about what the tone would be when so little was known about it, the sighting of Morris at a debate on the ethics of Al Qaeda, and the apparent theme of the London Bombers being (to quote IanW) "like pissed off, pompous, narcissistic adolescents, blowing themselves up in something like a more extreme version of self-harming" had me envisioning a sort of Islamic Young Ones with smaller bombs, heh.

not sure if it's the same thing, though. there was a link to the casting sheet that someone had snagged but it seems to be dead now.

good news, despite peep show getting a bit crap in the fourth series and nathan barley being shit

how dare thee!! nathan barley is genius you fucking mencap!

[pk-]

i can't really put my finger on what i didn't like about it, but i was just fucking bored throughout. i rewatched it recently and can honestly say i didn't even chuckle once.

i think it mightve been because it was so cartoon-like, so ridiculously exaggerated. on the hour, the day today, brass eye & both flavours of jam were gloriously over the top but it just didnt work in a sitcom

[onelouder]

All I can say is having been a morris disciple since BrassEye, I'm on tenterhooks... As for Barley, that show while cartoonishly exagerrated was nothing in comparison to the original synopsis (titled simply C##t) available on TvGoHome... which looked like it was written on a hate fuelled crack bender.

[fushimi]

Nathen Barley was horribly, horribly flawed, and for obvious reasons. Fact is, Charlie Brooker's one-joke "tnuc" character wasn't suited to a TV show in any way - who gives a shit about new media types anyway, I've certainly never met one - then they bottled out making the show and decided to introduce a much more interesting character (the journalist) and then made the Nathen Barley character sympathetic anyway, when he was supposed to be an unredeemable tnuc!

Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris obviously realised a show about the "tnuc" character would be shit, so why not drop him altogether, and just make a sitcom about a journalist working for an oh-so-cool magazine?

[two oh one]

Barley (The show) is much funnier if you've worked in a new media field and have experienced working with tossers like that. Then you can truly sympathise with the Dan Ashcroft character. Admittedly, the show is more of a festering pathos and grim reminder/excellent observation than a hands-on-knees chortle fest, but there is genius stuff there. The only time I actually laughed was during the Cat + Scissors in episode 4. I usually feel horrified and sickened as I watch. They've tapped into something, which is remarkable. I think the truly appreciative audience is very small. If nothing else, nothing else feels quite like Barley.

I'm glad Morris tried something new, instead of another attempt at a Day Today or Brasseye. I think Jam is as far as he can go with that format. It's the logical conclusion, in a way. He pushed it to the point of simply not being funny anymore and instead baring more of a resemblance to a self-indulgent Dadaist installation than anything else. I loved that show a little too much, but I think a lot of people just didn't get it. A sketch show meant to confuse and unnerve. Something you appreciate rather than laugh at.

The only epic fail I've seen Morris do is that awful character on the IT crowd. It's quite embarrassing to watch him do that. Seems quite beneath him. I do have a soft spot for the IT crowd, but it's just too straight forward and silly for Morris. I guess it just pays well enough so he can develop his own work, something like what Crispin Glover does.

It will be interesting to see what he does with the Peep show chaps. Peep show is sodding excellent and has great writing. I'm looking forward to whatever they do.

[pk-]

Admittedly, the show is more of a festering pathos and grim reminder/excellent observation than a hands-on-knees chortle fest

i'm not sure it is, though. it flits between the two and never really satisfies the criteria for either. Brooker's influence is painfully obvious - you can tell all the gurning, wacky, cock-muff-bumhole "lol he jumped out of the window" stuff was his input - and it erodes all the sharp edges and dilutes the bile of the programme's satire.

high hopes for this next thing though

[joseph-j]

Admittedly, the show is more of a festering pathos and grim reminder/excellent observation than a hands-on-knees chortle fest

i'm not sure it is, though. it flits between the two and never really satisfies the criteria for either.

i concur massively.

[dutty yuppie]

You should look out for him at DMZ, he lives very nearby Mass!

[pk-]

someone on here was working behind the till in a record shop when he bought warrior dubz, weren't they?

[hopper]

Find it strange how there are so many people who don't like Jam or Nathan Barley. As I simply love both of them - with all Chris Morris comedies he always seems to hit the spot completely. I think Jam works incredibly well with the unsettling and eerie ambient music and the intensely awkward humour which I'm generally a fan of. Nathan Barley in my opinion doesn't deserve nearly as much of the criticism as it gets. I can see it's faults - I think the chief one being that there are no genuinely likable characters in the whole programme but I just find the stupidness of some of the jokes quite funny and true eg sugaRAPE and Jonatton Yeah? Also the casting for both shows is brilliant as well.

[razer-wire]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!111

[pk-]

Find it strange how there are so many people who don't like Jam

Jam is fantastic

The 'lazy parents' sketch scarred me for life though

[gravious]

looked like it was written on a hate fuelled crack bender.

Who needs hate fuelled crack benders when you have THE BROOKER

[pk-]

don't you reckon he looks like a thunderbirds puppet when he speaks? he jiggles all over the place

[fushimi]

I think the chief one being that there are no genuinely likable characters in the whole programme

It doesn't matter if the characters aren't likeable if the show is funny. It wasn't.


Who else used to read PC Zone when Brooker was funny? Now he's become an establishment rent a rant, just the kind of idiot he used to take the piss out of. I suppose everyone's got to pay the mortage though .

[pk-]

just the kind of idiot he used to take the piss out of.

his rant on screen wipe about endemol was ridiculous

Who else used to read PC Zone when Brooker was funny?

yeah, him and the fat skinhead geezer (mac-something?) were always the highlight. his screen burn column is still quite funny