Long term readers will recall that I spent much of the past year on a quest to watch the entire Comic Strip Presents DVD box. I did indeed finish up every episode, but the final disk (the one with all the extras on it) was gouged up. So I'll get to it when I can reinforce the disk and have a player that I'm confident in. Soon.
In the meantime a couple of tidbits to share:
The astonishing Mr. Dante Fontana brings my attention to the video of the Alexei Sayle tune, "Didn't You Kill My Brother," which I mentioned in this post.
In this post, I wondered about the whereabouts of Alan Pellay (aka Lana Pellay aka Lannah Pellay aka Alana Pellay and so on). At the time, I thought that I had done my best detective work, but I had not considered that someone who has changed their names that much would not have continued to do so. So, thanks to kitty_advanced, I can now give you a link to The Wonderful World of Al Pillay. Be sure to check out his "Demented Diva" line of greeting cards, and his health and beauty product reviews. And great news! He's got an album coming out, and he's shooting a couple of pilots.
Showing posts with label The Comic Strip Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Comic Strip Project. Show all posts
Monday, January 15, 2007
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The Comic Strip, Interlude - Well, so long as we are all trapped in this meat locker, we might as well pass the time by reminiscing.
At this point I should have guessed that theres a bunch of Comic Strip clips up on Youtube. Enjoy a few, and click through for more.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 43 - Some will sell their dreams for small desires or lose the race to rats
"Sex Actually" - December 28, 2005
One of the strange byproducts of the 1970's was a stage play that had the title "No Sex Please, We're British." This is one of those delightful romps that please audiences and annoy critics. In America at least, it is one of those standards that community theatres pull out when they want to raise money, so much so that the title is very easily recognisable.
Long time readers will have some idea that I've been a resident of these internets for quite a while, and that my tastes will frequently lead me to fora that are focused on British culture.
Somewhat intermittently, a conversation will veer into an exchange that hits these points:
Anyway.
The Comic Strip returns with the story of a young couple who moves to the suburbs and discovers strange goings on.
It becomes obvious quite quickly that the strange goings on involve sex. On the one hand, there's lots of it. On the other hand, well, it's really dull.
In earlier episodes, I've wondered about constituted shock value. In this episode, I know. There's nothing shocking here. Nothing cutting edge. Nothing to make any waves. The naughty sex stuff in this episode consists of people skipping about in their skivvies making "grr grr" noises.
What used to be an outlet for rebellion is now a jolly holiday event, like some old pop singer wheeled out to sing old favorites and perhaps one new song that sounds like his old stuff. Nice to see it still kicking, pity it's become so damned gutless.
One of the strange byproducts of the 1970's was a stage play that had the title "No Sex Please, We're British." This is one of those delightful romps that please audiences and annoy critics. In America at least, it is one of those standards that community theatres pull out when they want to raise money, so much so that the title is very easily recognisable.
Long time readers will have some idea that I've been a resident of these internets for quite a while, and that my tastes will frequently lead me to fora that are focused on British culture.
Somewhat intermittently, a conversation will veer into an exchange that hits these points:
- British participant mentions sex
- American participant make play on phrase "No Sex Please, We're British."
- British participant completely misses reference and is offended that Americans seem to think that Brits are incapable of sex.
- American responds with strange post, because they can't figure out if the British participant thinks Americans believe that Brits reproduce asexually or if the British participant continuing the joke.
Anyway.
The Comic Strip returns with the story of a young couple who moves to the suburbs and discovers strange goings on.
It becomes obvious quite quickly that the strange goings on involve sex. On the one hand, there's lots of it. On the other hand, well, it's really dull.
In earlier episodes, I've wondered about constituted shock value. In this episode, I know. There's nothing shocking here. Nothing cutting edge. Nothing to make any waves. The naughty sex stuff in this episode consists of people skipping about in their skivvies making "grr grr" noises.
What used to be an outlet for rebellion is now a jolly holiday event, like some old pop singer wheeled out to sing old favorites and perhaps one new song that sounds like his old stuff. Nice to see it still kicking, pity it's become so damned gutless.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The Comic Strip, Interlude - Let's take it from the top.
First off, a recent addition to the Wikipedia page for The Comic Strip contends that the map that the original intro is dropping a bomb on is centered around the town of Shaftesbury in North Dorset. So here is the equivalent in Google Maps.Now. The most recent broadcast episode of The Comic Strip Presents begins with the same cartoon opening has been in use since the Supergrass film:
But now we see the bomb continue and actually hit a building on the idealized Tolkien-like town green.
The cricket players, once static, are now moving around, continuing to play as a little red car appears and drives around the square.
And we cut to a real life shot of a particularly close recreation of the same image we've been watching bombs being dropped on since 1986.
It's like the resolution to a twenty-year old punchline!
Monday, September 04, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 42 - Once in every lifetime comes a love like this.
"Four Men in a Plane" - January 4, 2000
The lead-in for The Comic Strip Presents in America was always The Young Ones. I suppose that it is inevitable refer to one when talking about the other, but for Americans of a certain vintage, they are like bookends. (The Young Ones is still on BBCAmerica, while apart from the brief video release of the two Bad News episodes, The Comic Strip has disappeared.)
Watching the two back to back could be a surreal experience - depending on how many people were hanging out, and how much attention was being paid, there could be quite intense arguments as to which actor was which ("that can't possibly be the guy who plays Vyvyan"). The biggest arguments came when someone was positive that one of the actors in a Comic Strip episode was played by Christopher Ryan. None ever was, but most of the time the character that was causing the confusion was played by Peter Richardson. I find from the Wikipedia article on The Young Ones that Richardson was originally cast as Mike.
This sort of makes sense. Christopher Ryan frequently seemed like he was completely lost in the part. I wonder what Richardson could have done with the part, and what effect it would have had on the show. I think it would have been more of a unit, rather than a group of three and detached "Mike, the cool one."
Something like, well, this:
These are nominally the same characters as the ones from "Four Men in a Car," but look at them. All the way through this we've seen that the four of them can play just about any type. Just look at how close they are to what you might imagine Vyvyan, Rick, Neil and Mike might be like twenty-ish years out from college.
Of course, this episode looks nothing like The Young Ones. It is stark, brutal, widescreen film. No dancing vegetables or interjections from the ska band du jour, just the four of them squabbling and backstabbing as always. But now the mayhem has consequences, and the slapstick leaves wounds. Something everyone learns as they grow older.
The lead-in for The Comic Strip Presents in America was always The Young Ones. I suppose that it is inevitable refer to one when talking about the other, but for Americans of a certain vintage, they are like bookends. (The Young Ones is still on BBCAmerica, while apart from the brief video release of the two Bad News episodes, The Comic Strip has disappeared.)
Watching the two back to back could be a surreal experience - depending on how many people were hanging out, and how much attention was being paid, there could be quite intense arguments as to which actor was which ("that can't possibly be the guy who plays Vyvyan"). The biggest arguments came when someone was positive that one of the actors in a Comic Strip episode was played by Christopher Ryan. None ever was, but most of the time the character that was causing the confusion was played by Peter Richardson. I find from the Wikipedia article on The Young Ones that Richardson was originally cast as Mike.
This sort of makes sense. Christopher Ryan frequently seemed like he was completely lost in the part. I wonder what Richardson could have done with the part, and what effect it would have had on the show. I think it would have been more of a unit, rather than a group of three and detached "Mike, the cool one."
Something like, well, this:
These are nominally the same characters as the ones from "Four Men in a Car," but look at them. All the way through this we've seen that the four of them can play just about any type. Just look at how close they are to what you might imagine Vyvyan, Rick, Neil and Mike might be like twenty-ish years out from college.
Of course, this episode looks nothing like The Young Ones. It is stark, brutal, widescreen film. No dancing vegetables or interjections from the ska band du jour, just the four of them squabbling and backstabbing as always. But now the mayhem has consequences, and the slapstick leaves wounds. Something everyone learns as they grow older.
The Comic Strip, Part 41 - Take the world in a love embrace
"Four Men in a Car" - April 12, 1998
After a decade slumming around the BBC, The Comic Strip returns to Channel Four with the core cast (Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Peter Richardson, Nigel Planer, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders) and an episode directed by Richardson and written by Richardson and Pete Richens. Seven of the first thirteen broadcast episodes of The Comic Strip had all six in the cast and eight had Richardson and Richens on hand for writing or directing duties.
It's like going to a high school reunion!
Of course, for many people, high school was like Lord of the Flies.
This episode is nothing but a showcase for these actors to play the sort of character that they have all been playing at this point for close to three decades. A car carrying four go-go salesmen breaks down on the way to a training conference, and all hell breaks loose. And then two women show up to provide redemption.
If this were indeed the last ever episode. If they had all come together at the wrap party and said that this would be the end, the last one that they would do, then this would be absolutely perfect.
But the DVD menu says otherwise, and so it ends slightly less so.
After a decade slumming around the BBC, The Comic Strip returns to Channel Four with the core cast (Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Peter Richardson, Nigel Planer, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders) and an episode directed by Richardson and written by Richardson and Pete Richens. Seven of the first thirteen broadcast episodes of The Comic Strip had all six in the cast and eight had Richardson and Richens on hand for writing or directing duties.
It's like going to a high school reunion!
Of course, for many people, high school was like Lord of the Flies.
This episode is nothing but a showcase for these actors to play the sort of character that they have all been playing at this point for close to three decades. A car carrying four go-go salesmen breaks down on the way to a training conference, and all hell breaks loose. And then two women show up to provide redemption.
If this were indeed the last ever episode. If they had all come together at the wrap party and said that this would be the end, the last one that they would do, then this would be absolutely perfect.
But the DVD menu says otherwise, and so it ends slightly less so.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 40 - Bah.
"Jealousy" - May 27th, 1993
This is the last of the episodes to be a part of a series -- all the ones remaining are one-off specials.
The plot is that sitcom evergreen where a charactor's neuroses drive them to make ever escalating amounts of an ass of themselves. I hate that plot, it always makes me uncomfortable. I found this one to have a large vaneer of dull. It has Nigel Planer driving a bulldozer in drag, and that seems dull here. Perhaps I'm just not in the right mood.
This is the last of the episodes to be a part of a series -- all the ones remaining are one-off specials.
The plot is that sitcom evergreen where a charactor's neuroses drive them to make ever escalating amounts of an ass of themselves. I hate that plot, it always makes me uncomfortable. I found this one to have a large vaneer of dull. It has Nigel Planer driving a bulldozer in drag, and that seems dull here. Perhaps I'm just not in the right mood.
The Comic Strip, Part 39 - And I laid traps for troubadours who got killed before they reached Bombay
"Demonella" - May 20, 1993
Before I say anything else, I have to say this: In this one Ade Edmonson gets to play Sid Vicious.
I repeat for emphasis.
In this one Ade Edmonson gets to play Sid Vicious. That's just too cool.
So anyway. This is one of those "sell your soul to the Devil in exchange for a hit song" plots that used to happen on The Monkees every six episodes or so. Robbie Coltrane is the poor schlub just lookin' for that hit. Jennifer Saunders is the Devil. I'm starting to think that they really like doing the musical numbers, because here's another one.
This episode was directed and co-written by Paul Bartel, and he has a marvelous time getting the feel of Tin-Pan Alley/Brill Building Manhattan (we can't actually tell when the episode takes place - some of the stock footage are vintage 1930's, but after his success, Peter Capaldi's office is in a modern glass skyscraper. This is not a detriment - I like the feel of the different eras existing simultaniously.)
Miriam Margolyes shows up as Capaldi's Mother. (It turns out that the Devil is after her recipe for chicken soup.) I don't know why, but she always makes my skin crawl, which helps to make the ending so brilliantly disturbing.
Before I say anything else, I have to say this: In this one Ade Edmonson gets to play Sid Vicious.
I repeat for emphasis.
In this one Ade Edmonson gets to play Sid Vicious. That's just too cool.
So anyway. This is one of those "sell your soul to the Devil in exchange for a hit song" plots that used to happen on The Monkees every six episodes or so. Robbie Coltrane is the poor schlub just lookin' for that hit. Jennifer Saunders is the Devil. I'm starting to think that they really like doing the musical numbers, because here's another one.
This episode was directed and co-written by Paul Bartel, and he has a marvelous time getting the feel of Tin-Pan Alley/Brill Building Manhattan (we can't actually tell when the episode takes place - some of the stock footage are vintage 1930's, but after his success, Peter Capaldi's office is in a modern glass skyscraper. This is not a detriment - I like the feel of the different eras existing simultaniously.)
Miriam Margolyes shows up as Capaldi's Mother. (It turns out that the Devil is after her recipe for chicken soup.) I don't know why, but she always makes my skin crawl, which helps to make the ending so brilliantly disturbing.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Comic Strip - Interlude - Another opportunity for sightseeing
Here's someone who thought that it would be fun to work out all the locations for Mr Jolly Lives Next Door.
Particularly the pubs.
Here's the Flickr set where he is getting it all put together.
Particularly the pubs.
Here's the Flickr set where he is getting it all put together.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 38 - You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer
"Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase" - May 13, 1993
I remember seeing The Silence of the Lambs in the theater back in 1991. The reason for this is because we decided to see the 11:30 pm showing. And then walk home. Through the park. At 2:00 am. In Milwaukee. I think I remember the walk home better than I remember the movie.
I suspect that it the folks who put this episode together are in the same camp. It feels to me like the costume designers and set designers worked overtime to get everything exactly right. The direction is note perfect. The actors, likewise. Everything is falling into place.
Except the script. The script feels like everyone sat down to show their prep work and the writers went "oooh," slapped their heads and ran off to the corner of the room and tried to chug out dialogue ahead of whatever set piece was next on the clipboard.
So on the whole, not a bad episode, just one that loses nothing if you were to watch it with the sound off.
I remember seeing The Silence of the Lambs in the theater back in 1991. The reason for this is because we decided to see the 11:30 pm showing. And then walk home. Through the park. At 2:00 am. In Milwaukee. I think I remember the walk home better than I remember the movie.I suspect that it the folks who put this episode together are in the same camp. It feels to me like the costume designers and set designers worked overtime to get everything exactly right. The direction is note perfect. The actors, likewise. Everything is falling into place.
Except the script. The script feels like everyone sat down to show their prep work and the writers went "oooh," slapped their heads and ran off to the corner of the room and tried to chug out dialogue ahead of whatever set piece was next on the clipboard.So on the whole, not a bad episode, just one that loses nothing if you were to watch it with the sound off.
Friday, July 14, 2006
The Comic Strip, Addendum - I can't look at hobbles either
The title of a recent post comes from the lyrics to the Cole Porter song "Don't Fence Me In."
I was unsure of the lyric, so I took to the web, and found the song written out in at least four different places. Two sites took the lyric to be "I can't look at hovels," another used "hobbles" and the fourth used "hovels" the first time the chorus came around and "hobbles" the second time. So, as the word "hobbles" made less sense to me and "hovels" had the most votes for usage, I went with "hovels."
I am now informed that "hobbles" are "short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off." So while both words are lyrically coherent, I am inclined to think that "hobbles" is the correct lyric.
See, kids! The internet is for learning!
I was unsure of the lyric, so I took to the web, and found the song written out in at least four different places. Two sites took the lyric to be "I can't look at hovels," another used "hobbles" and the fourth used "hovels" the first time the chorus came around and "hobbles" the second time. So, as the word "hobbles" made less sense to me and "hovels" had the most votes for usage, I went with "hovels."
I am now informed that "hobbles" are "short straps tied between the legs of unfenced horses, allowing them to wander short distances but preventing them from running off." So while both words are lyrically coherent, I am inclined to think that "hobbles" is the correct lyric.
See, kids! The internet is for learning!
Saturday, July 08, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 37 - I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences
"Queen of the Wild Frontier" - May 6, 1993
At the beginning of one of my undergraduate terms, I was having a conversation with a group of exchange students. One of them, a girl from the UK, wanted to talk to me, as she had heard that I had a car that was quite good for road trips. Turns out that the only reason that she took the exchange was so she could take a particular trip.
I love the look of this episode - it could not only very easily be a film, it could very easily be a very good film. It feels even more different than these episodes generally do, because the cast is almost entirely new -
Peter Richardson turns up for about three minutes as a yuppie neighbor, and Alexei Sayle shows up to almost steal the show as a police chief. The episode was broadcast a few months before the Harrison Ford version of The Fugitive was released, but it's hard to watch Sayle giving instructions to his search party without thinking that they're doing a goof on Tommy Lee Jones. It's a hilarious moment, and it doesn't detract from the tone of the episode as a whole, which is quite a neat trick.
At the beginning of one of my undergraduate terms, I was having a conversation with a group of exchange students. One of them, a girl from the UK, wanted to talk to me, as she had heard that I had a car that was quite good for road trips. Turns out that the only reason that she took the exchange was so she could take a particular trip.
Me: "Where do you want to go?"The reason why she wanted to go to Montana was because she had hooked up for a weekend with some guy who said he was from Montana. As the guy was skipping town, he told her that all she needed to do to find him again was to come to America, go to Montana and ask for him, because everyone in Montana knew him.
She: "Montana."
Me: "Where in Montana?"
She: "Just Montana."
Me: "What's his name?"Quick fun statistic to help put this story into perspective:
She: "Bill."
Me: "Bill what?"
She: "He told me to just go to Montana and ask for Bill."
- Total approximate land area of the United Kingdom - 245,000 km²
- Total approximate land area of Montana - 381,000 km²
I love the look of this episode - it could not only very easily be a film, it could very easily be a very good film. It feels even more different than these episodes generally do, because the cast is almost entirely new -
Peter Richardson turns up for about three minutes as a yuppie neighbor, and Alexei Sayle shows up to almost steal the show as a police chief. The episode was broadcast a few months before the Harrison Ford version of The Fugitive was released, but it's hard to watch Sayle giving instructions to his search party without thinking that they're doing a goof on Tommy Lee Jones. It's a hilarious moment, and it doesn't detract from the tone of the episode as a whole, which is quite a neat trick.
The Comic Strip, part 36 - Long journeys wear me out, Oh God we won't live without it
"Space Virgins from Planet Sex" - April 29, 1993
First a bit of history. One of the dominant images in the history of British Science Fiction television is the introduction to the second Quatermass serial. It begins with a couple of army guys looking at a radar screen showing strange objects coming from outer space.
This quickly became a part of the science fiction iconography as the situation was so easy to reference. It was used multiple times in Doctor Who, for example.
So, when they do it here, even though it is a cliche, I would like to think that in the back of their minds the folks making this episode know the
cultural weight of this throwaway scene.
I enjoy crappy dumb science fiction films. A lot of people do. Round about the seventies, studios decided to start making crappy dumb science fiction films on purpose because they thought that it would be more fun. But for the most part, those films tend to not be very good. This is because it's one thing to try to make something well and fail because you are inept, but if you try to make something that looks inept and fail at that.... well then you're just stupid. So now, after many years of poor attempts to look inept, we have quality, well thought out, high budgeted productions that still embrace the tones that the old inept science fiction films were trying for, but try to justify it with a load of post-modernism.
Which might be what's going on here. There seems to be some attempt to unpack the films that this episode was based on, but it's hard to do that, because once you start getting more complicated you then start to jettison the tone that you're trying to capture in the first place. And the mainstream source material is already starting to take a look at things in the same way. At the time this was broadcast, the last few actual James Bond films were trying to address (half-heartedly, but still...) how the concept of James Bond no longer fits in with the sexual mores of contemporary society. Why do you need "James Blonde" doing the same thing?
It is fun to see Peter Richardson doing a pretty good Sean Connery impression though.
In the end, I think this episode succeeds in getting the look right, and putting together an entertaining episode. It does seem at times like many of the people involved aren't really agreeing on what sort of thing they're doing (Dawn French and Miranda Richardson put in good performances as always, but they both seem to be on auto-pilot).
And as a side note, if anyone needs to mimic John Kerry, get Robbie Coltrane to use his "Emperor Zarran" voice. It is quite perfect for that.
First a bit of history. One of the dominant images in the history of British Science Fiction television is the introduction to the second Quatermass serial. It begins with a couple of army guys looking at a radar screen showing strange objects coming from outer space.
This quickly became a part of the science fiction iconography as the situation was so easy to reference. It was used multiple times in Doctor Who, for example.So, when they do it here, even though it is a cliche, I would like to think that in the back of their minds the folks making this episode know the
cultural weight of this throwaway scene.I enjoy crappy dumb science fiction films. A lot of people do. Round about the seventies, studios decided to start making crappy dumb science fiction films on purpose because they thought that it would be more fun. But for the most part, those films tend to not be very good. This is because it's one thing to try to make something well and fail because you are inept, but if you try to make something that looks inept and fail at that.... well then you're just stupid. So now, after many years of poor attempts to look inept, we have quality, well thought out, high budgeted productions that still embrace the tones that the old inept science fiction films were trying for, but try to justify it with a load of post-modernism.
Which might be what's going on here. There seems to be some attempt to unpack the films that this episode was based on, but it's hard to do that, because once you start getting more complicated you then start to jettison the tone that you're trying to capture in the first place. And the mainstream source material is already starting to take a look at things in the same way. At the time this was broadcast, the last few actual James Bond films were trying to address (half-heartedly, but still...) how the concept of James Bond no longer fits in with the sexual mores of contemporary society. Why do you need "James Blonde" doing the same thing?
It is fun to see Peter Richardson doing a pretty good Sean Connery impression though.In the end, I think this episode succeeds in getting the look right, and putting together an entertaining episode. It does seem at times like many of the people involved aren't really agreeing on what sort of thing they're doing (Dawn French and Miranda Richardson put in good performances as always, but they both seem to be on auto-pilot).
And as a side note, if anyone needs to mimic John Kerry, get Robbie Coltrane to use his "Emperor Zarran" voice. It is quite perfect for that.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The comic strip, part 35 - I get so angry when the teardrops start
"Detectives on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" - April 22, 1993
Billions of years ago when I was young I spent half a year saving up for a book called "The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure" by Dave Rogers. In those days before the internet, it cost $55 to get an import copy of a book that had a list price of £9.95. This book was close to 600 pages of wonders, television programs that I was quite familiar with (The Avengers, The Prisoner) shows that I had heard whispers of, but had no hope of ever seeing in my lifetime (Ace of Wands, Sapphire and Steel) and finally a huge number of programs that I had never heard of. It was like an entire other world was opening up. All of these things had been made and broadcast. Millions of people had watched them. And, of course, many of them had been deleted long ago. Lost forever before I had even a clue that they existed in the first place.
My heavens I poured over that book. I learned all about Man in a Suitcase and Special Branch, and when I, through the magic of videotape trading, was able to get blurry, washed out seventh generation copies of things like Kinvig and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, I jumped at them.
I say this here because I want to get across just how incredibly strange it is to see this episode. When Jim Broadbent arrives in the role of "Shouting George of The Weeney," I know exactly what he is sending up, even though I've never seen an episode of The Sweeney in my life.
I think that in the course of my life I have seen a grand total of three still photographs of Peter Wynegard. (apart from the episode of Doctor Who where he swishes across Lanzarote in a burkha), and that is the total of my experience with Jason King. But when Peter Richardson swishes in as Jason Bentley, I know precisely what is being referenced.
Bonehead and Foyle - well, we've met them before. They're meant to be The Professionals (as I understand it) and I know about them because Rogers cunningly entered their previous Comic Strip adventure in the book as well. And here they are again. The Professionals used to show up at two in the morning in the summertime now and then. I think I've seen about seven minutes total, and as far as I can recall it all has to do with different images of sportscars pulling up to park in front of pubs.
The odd man out, for me at least, is "Northern Detective" Dave Spanker. I suspect that the show he is supposed to be sending up was broadcast after The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure was published. Still, I get the drift about what sort of show it was.
The musical numbers could be a reference to Cop Rock, but I would prefer to imagine that it was never shown in the UK and the Comic Strip production team were just having fun.
This is the first episode of the last real season that the Comic Strip has had to date, and it is sort of odd. On the one hand, once again, they go to what seems like a sequel, but really it isn't. The Bonehead and Foyle in this episode are the same as the ones in The Bullshitters, but if they were invented for this episode, it would work just as well. Sort of like if Bad News had wandered in through Private Enterprise, it would be weird but it would make sense.
Finally, I am nerd enough to know that at the time this was being made a group of television fans were searching out and compiling locations from various shows. The manor house, for example, looks like every other manor house that The Avengers or The Persuaders or The Champions or whatever would go pulling up to in the course of their investigations. It all looks familiar like that. So when I saw one shot in this episode:
I had to do a little digging, as it looked sort of like the exterior of Steed's flat from the color seasons of The Avengers. That would be a smart little in-joke. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. The Avengers filming was done in Dutchess Mews and looks more like this:
Close though -- I get points for trying.
Billions of years ago when I was young I spent half a year saving up for a book called "The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure" by Dave Rogers. In those days before the internet, it cost $55 to get an import copy of a book that had a list price of £9.95. This book was close to 600 pages of wonders, television programs that I was quite familiar with (The Avengers, The Prisoner) shows that I had heard whispers of, but had no hope of ever seeing in my lifetime (Ace of Wands, Sapphire and Steel) and finally a huge number of programs that I had never heard of. It was like an entire other world was opening up. All of these things had been made and broadcast. Millions of people had watched them. And, of course, many of them had been deleted long ago. Lost forever before I had even a clue that they existed in the first place.
My heavens I poured over that book. I learned all about Man in a Suitcase and Special Branch, and when I, through the magic of videotape trading, was able to get blurry, washed out seventh generation copies of things like Kinvig and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, I jumped at them.
I say this here because I want to get across just how incredibly strange it is to see this episode. When Jim Broadbent arrives in the role of "Shouting George of The Weeney," I know exactly what he is sending up, even though I've never seen an episode of The Sweeney in my life.
I think that in the course of my life I have seen a grand total of three still photographs of Peter Wynegard. (apart from the episode of Doctor Who where he swishes across Lanzarote in a burkha), and that is the total of my experience with Jason King. But when Peter Richardson swishes in as Jason Bentley, I know precisely what is being referenced.
Bonehead and Foyle - well, we've met them before. They're meant to be The Professionals (as I understand it) and I know about them because Rogers cunningly entered their previous Comic Strip adventure in the book as well. And here they are again. The Professionals used to show up at two in the morning in the summertime now and then. I think I've seen about seven minutes total, and as far as I can recall it all has to do with different images of sportscars pulling up to park in front of pubs.
The odd man out, for me at least, is "Northern Detective" Dave Spanker. I suspect that the show he is supposed to be sending up was broadcast after The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure was published. Still, I get the drift about what sort of show it was.The musical numbers could be a reference to Cop Rock, but I would prefer to imagine that it was never shown in the UK and the Comic Strip production team were just having fun.
This is the first episode of the last real season that the Comic Strip has had to date, and it is sort of odd. On the one hand, once again, they go to what seems like a sequel, but really it isn't. The Bonehead and Foyle in this episode are the same as the ones in The Bullshitters, but if they were invented for this episode, it would work just as well. Sort of like if Bad News had wandered in through Private Enterprise, it would be weird but it would make sense.
Finally, I am nerd enough to know that at the time this was being made a group of television fans were searching out and compiling locations from various shows. The manor house, for example, looks like every other manor house that The Avengers or The Persuaders or The Champions or whatever would go pulling up to in the course of their investigations. It all looks familiar like that. So when I saw one shot in this episode:
I had to do a little digging, as it looked sort of like the exterior of Steed's flat from the color seasons of The Avengers. That would be a smart little in-joke. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. The Avengers filming was done in Dutchess Mews and looks more like this:
Close though -- I get points for trying.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 34 - If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?
"I am on this account not displeased that the figure is not known as a Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the truth the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on."
--Benjamin Franklin
"Wild Turkey" - December 24, 1992
Ruby Wax and Paul Bartel are both American. Bartel was from Brooklyn and although studied in California and Italy, maintained the Metro New York area as his base for his entire (too short) life. Ruby Wax was born in the same Chicago suburb that I was.
I have no idea why either one of them didn't take a moment in the production of this episode to say "You know, Americans don't say 'Happy Christmas,' they say 'Merry Christmas.'" They also would know that Americans don't call turkeys "turks," don't use party poppers, and, more often than not, eat ham for Christmas dinner. (Because Christmas is just a month past Thanksgiving, when we do eat a gigantic turkey, the leftovers of which are just about gone when Christmas comes around and if someone wheels another big turkey at us we'll just get sick at the sight of it.)I suspect that Bartel went along with whatever was thrown at him because he knew that this episode was a pastiche and was playing to the British stereotype. Ruby Wax, I'll be charitable for this fake Christmas and just say that, well, this is her stock in trade.
This is a one-off Christmas special, and it has a weird feel to it. Apart from a special effects shot at the end, the whole episode takes place on one set that's laid out like a stage play (we even get one of those immense fake skylines that has multiple light levels so it can change with the time of day, like in Rope). The episode itself feels like six people locked themselves in a room with a bunch of paper and a couple of bottles of tequila, and spent a fun weekend lobbing ideas at each other and sort of took notes. Then, after they had all passed out someone else came in, scooped up the notes and did their best to make sense of it. This is the only reason I can come up with for them to have (as an example) made the immense gun-wielding turkey a bacitracin addict. It's one of those details that is either complete genius or the result of some other idea that's gone completely haywire.
Friday, June 09, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 33 - Is there concrete all around, or is it in my head?
"The Crying Game" - May 5, 1992
Hey look! Just in time for the World Cup!
This is another one that I've spent a lot of time on - a couple of weeks, in fact. I've decided to ditch most of my thoughts as they add no value to the internet. Ultimately, my deleted ramblings about this episode end up here:
I have no doubt that sooner or later some professional team sport athlete will come out of the closet. The trouble is, that it will have to be a marquee player, just like in this episode. That is really the only way that they will be kept on the team. If it is some third-string backup player, it will never happen, they'll just be cut loose. So what is in some way meant to be a satire, in the light of day, is not really. Mark my words. This is a blueprint for what will happen. I'm looking forward to it, to tell you the truth.
That, and I really like prosthetic chin guy, on the left there.
Hey look! Just in time for the World Cup!
This is another one that I've spent a lot of time on - a couple of weeks, in fact. I've decided to ditch most of my thoughts as they add no value to the internet. Ultimately, my deleted ramblings about this episode end up here:
I have no doubt that sooner or later some professional team sport athlete will come out of the closet. The trouble is, that it will have to be a marquee player, just like in this episode. That is really the only way that they will be kept on the team. If it is some third-string backup player, it will never happen, they'll just be cut loose. So what is in some way meant to be a satire, in the light of day, is not really. Mark my words. This is a blueprint for what will happen. I'm looking forward to it, to tell you the truth.That, and I really like prosthetic chin guy, on the left there.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 32 - Now if there's a smile on my face, it's only there trying to fool the public
"Red Nose of Courage" - April 9, 1992
Another political one. This time the focus is on John Major.
Turns out that he was moonlighting as a circus clown.
It is nice to see a move away from the "Hollywood" version of political figures and actually work to capture them. The scenes where young John Major has been banished from the circus and finds his way to an office supply store is both completely absurd but somehow rings completely true, much like the action hero histrionics ring totally (and deliberately) false.
In the meantime, let me see if I've got this straight: At the time this was taking place, the opposition leader was Neil Kinnock.
In this version, as the two opponents are supposed to fall in love, the opposition leader has to be turned into a woman. The easy way out would be to just call this character "Nellie Kinnock." But what they do instead is take Kinnock's wife, Glenys Kinnock (who was also a Member of Parliament at the time), and make her the unmarried leader of the Labour Party who then gets to have an affair with John Major. I'll bet the Kinnock house was a happy one the night this was broadcast.
Another political one. This time the focus is on John Major.
Turns out that he was moonlighting as a circus clown.
It is nice to see a move away from the "Hollywood" version of political figures and actually work to capture them. The scenes where young John Major has been banished from the circus and finds his way to an office supply store is both completely absurd but somehow rings completely true, much like the action hero histrionics ring totally (and deliberately) false.In the meantime, let me see if I've got this straight: At the time this was taking place, the opposition leader was Neil Kinnock.
In this version, as the two opponents are supposed to fall in love, the opposition leader has to be turned into a woman. The easy way out would be to just call this character "Nellie Kinnock." But what they do instead is take Kinnock's wife, Glenys Kinnock (who was also a Member of Parliament at the time), and make her the unmarried leader of the Labour Party who then gets to have an affair with John Major. I'll bet the Kinnock house was a happy one the night this was broadcast.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 31 - Gettin' ecstatic an' sorta dramatic
"The Pope Must Die" - Feature Film 1991
First of all, this is another film not in the box. It is also not on DVD. I picked it up on VHS for $4.
The things I do.
Secondly, I have to make mention of the title. When the film was released in America, it was felt that the title was offensive. So it had to be changed. Unfortunately, there was not enough budget to actually come up with the layout for a new title, so a "t" was clumsily added to the end of the title, creating "The Pope Must Diet."
So even before we hit "play" we're down a few notches, expectation-wise.
The film itself is a mostly innocuous vanilla pudding cup of a comedy. We get the over the top bad guys - Paul Bartel is excellent in a typical Paul Bartel sort of role, Herbert Lom is there doing his thing - he's like the uncle who is great to see at family gatherings once or twice a year, but you don't want to be stuck in a car with for five hours, Ade Edmonson is ... well.. there. I'm sure he was paid for showing up. Good for him.
On the side of the angels (to coin a phrase) is Robbie Coltrane. One of the weird things about the concept of this film is that Coltrane's "Pope Dave" is an archetypical innocent, but in order for the plot to advance he has to be more worldly. This results in the character swooping back and forth from oblivious naif to self-aware rebel, like his main tragic flaw is an inability to get his Paxil dosage timed. He does play an impressive guitar (or at least he's good at miming Jeff Beck, who is listed as Original Music by) and three cheers for not having a climactic "Hey Vatican, Let's Rock!" concert on the Piazza San Pietro.
Which brings me to another point. I always wonder about the amount of comedy that comes at the expense of Catholicism, and how much of it is deserved. The bishops and cardinals all have these groovy crucifix cell-phones (In 1991 you had to be majorly blinged to have a cell phone). I took a look to see if such things now exist. It seems that the only reason they don't is that the modification will make the phone too big.
First of all, this is another film not in the box. It is also not on DVD. I picked it up on VHS for $4.
The things I do.
Secondly, I have to make mention of the title. When the film was released in America, it was felt that the title was offensive. So it had to be changed. Unfortunately, there was not enough budget to actually come up with the layout for a new title, so a "t" was clumsily added to the end of the title, creating "The Pope Must Diet."So even before we hit "play" we're down a few notches, expectation-wise.
The film itself is a mostly innocuous vanilla pudding cup of a comedy. We get the over the top bad guys - Paul Bartel is excellent in a typical Paul Bartel sort of role, Herbert Lom is there doing his thing - he's like the uncle who is great to see at family gatherings once or twice a year, but you don't want to be stuck in a car with for five hours, Ade Edmonson is ... well.. there. I'm sure he was paid for showing up. Good for him.
On the side of the angels (to coin a phrase) is Robbie Coltrane. One of the weird things about the concept of this film is that Coltrane's "Pope Dave" is an archetypical innocent, but in order for the plot to advance he has to be more worldly. This results in the character swooping back and forth from oblivious naif to self-aware rebel, like his main tragic flaw is an inability to get his Paxil dosage timed. He does play an impressive guitar (or at least he's good at miming Jeff Beck, who is listed as Original Music by) and three cheers for not having a climactic "Hey Vatican, Let's Rock!" concert on the Piazza San Pietro.
Which brings me to another point. I always wonder about the amount of comedy that comes at the expense of Catholicism, and how much of it is deserved. The bishops and cardinals all have these groovy crucifix cell-phones (In 1991 you had to be majorly blinged to have a cell phone). I took a look to see if such things now exist. It seems that the only reason they don't is that the modification will make the phone too big.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
The Comic Strip, Interlude - I am rewarded for my attention
So I am poking through my links and I see this post on Cool Hunting.
Ordinarily, my reaction to this post is "Oh." And then I forget about it.
But I catch this bit: "The 20-year-old daughter of actor and sometime booze-hound Keith Allen," and I pause. I know that name, thanks to this project. This alone inspires me to have a look.
Interesting stuff. Hard-edged lounge with a smirk - I'm interested in seeing what she's up to in five years or so.
It looks like her album is coming out in July.
Ordinarily, my reaction to this post is "Oh." And then I forget about it.
But I catch this bit: "The 20-year-old daughter of actor and sometime booze-hound Keith Allen," and I pause. I know that name, thanks to this project. This alone inspires me to have a look.
Interesting stuff. Hard-edged lounge with a smirk - I'm interested in seeing what she's up to in five years or so.
It looks like her album is coming out in July.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
The Comic Strip, Part 30 - And here I am again my girl, wondering what on earth I'm doing here
"Les Dogs" - March 8, 1990
My dreams frequently involve me finding myself in strangely familiar settings where I don't quite know what is going on, but I sort of wander through making sense of some of it even though no sense is there. And then there is an explosion of violence.
This is more like my dreams than many things I've seen that have tried to be "dreamlike." I think it's because there isn't so much effort put into being surreal. There isn't that sort of Yellow Submarine "This is a dream" telegraphing of nonsense going on - you sort of think that there is a logic to it, and at the end it will all make sense in a real-world framework. Twin Peaks would premiere in America a month after this was first shown in the UK. Interesting coincidence, but I don't know what it means.
And nice to see Kate Bush as the "Mystery Bride." She did the soundtrack for an earlier episode this season, and here she is acting. Was she a friend of theirs or did they just decide that she was the logical person for the part. Either way is fine with me, I can't imagine anyone who would fit the part quite as well.
My dreams frequently involve me finding myself in strangely familiar settings where I don't quite know what is going on, but I sort of wander through making sense of some of it even though no sense is there. And then there is an explosion of violence.
This is more like my dreams than many things I've seen that have tried to be "dreamlike." I think it's because there isn't so much effort put into being surreal. There isn't that sort of Yellow Submarine "This is a dream" telegraphing of nonsense going on - you sort of think that there is a logic to it, and at the end it will all make sense in a real-world framework. Twin Peaks would premiere in America a month after this was first shown in the UK. Interesting coincidence, but I don't know what it means.
And nice to see Kate Bush as the "Mystery Bride." She did the soundtrack for an earlier episode this season, and here she is acting. Was she a friend of theirs or did they just decide that she was the logical person for the part. Either way is fine with me, I can't imagine anyone who would fit the part quite as well.
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