Papa Lazarou's Television Review Topic |
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Papa Lazarou
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Posted: 02 Aug 2014 at 9:59am |
Figured since I watch so many bloody shows and some of them make the PBS circuit or get sold as DVDs (I know how big some of our regulars are on DVDs) eventually, I may as well make one area to gush about them.
So, yeah. There we go, get some of my random spiels out of other topics and into one organized area. English Shows: ITV's Vicious - 8/10 ITV's Doc. Martin Guest Review by Jimbo - 10/10 (Ed. note: 9/10 from me) ITV's The Job Lot - 7/10 BBC One's Outnumbered - 9/10 (It gets an extra star JUST for Jimbo. :P) BBC One's Doctor Who - 10/10 BBC One's Boomers - 9/10 BBC Three's In The Flesh 10/10 Channel 4's The IT Crowd 8/10 Channel 4's Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy - 6/10 Channel 4's Black Books - 9/10 SKY 1's Chickens - 6.5/10 |
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Papa Lazarou
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Show: Vicious Country: England Made by: ITV Type: Comedy Series: 1+Special ~ Starring: Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen I think this may have only just started airing on PBS Because I only recently saw Episode 2 on there. Anyway, the premise is both interesting and simple. Following a gay couple who've been together for 50 years, Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen play an ascorbic pairing that make Marie and Frank look like the poster couple of Marriage. Their friend is a lush and a whore-in-denial, and their neighbor, Ash, is a poor unassuming youth sucked into the crazed and bi-polar world they've created. Series 1 is basically following the gradual initiation of Ash into their den of vipres. As he deals with girl trouble, a lack of direction, and some obviously troubling family-issues. The elderly couple take him under their collective wings while simultaneously engaging in constant cockfights. Like my Marie and Frank comparison, though,hidden underneath the mountains of hate, verbal violence and death wishes is a bizarrely genuinely sweet love. Series 1 doesn't seem to have a low-point. Six episodes of perfect writing, especially considering they only seem to use one set for all but two episodes. The Christmas Special is also true to form and keeps things interesting, including a brilliant moment with Balthazar, the almost-dead 20 year-old dog who is constantly poked, blasted, kicked, and startled from his sleep to make sure he's still alive, and lying on the side that still has fur. All in All it seems to be an utterly perfect slice of accessible English comedy, the likes of which hasn't been seen in high volume since the early 90's (It would feel very at home wedged between Keeping Up Appearances and Vicar of Dibley). I'd rank it as an 8/10. |
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Jimbo
Honor Roll Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Location: Florida Status: Online Points: 56960 |
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What exactly is an "ascorbic pairing"? Do they, when together, posess some type of antioxidant properties? Are they vitamin C addicts? Have a citrus fetish? Oh wait.... you meant ascerbic, di'n ya? I've seen about 3 or 4 episodes of the show & I find it watchable & even enjoyable to an extent, though I prefer the " old fashioned" Brit coms to most of this new "striving to be hip & modern" stuff. The two of them (named Freddie & Stuart, btw) really push the "mincing, swishing fairy" stereotype of gay men to the extreme too, so I'm kind of surprised that you like it. Personally, I don't really care for their choice of theme music, that old 1970's Jackson Five song "Never Can Say Goodbye". Seems a bit too "disco/clubby", though it is an accurate & literal description of their relationship. Maybe it's just whoever they have singing it that I dislike. She has kind of a "disco diva" sound. I hate disco divas, but apparently, gay men are supposed to worship them, so.... Then, there's the show's logo... ...combined together with that disco-club theme, they give the show a bit too much of a "slick", contrived, stereotyped quality. At least to me, anyway. I'll continue to watch it, though. One needs a bit of light, airy comedy on a Sunday night, after the deep, dark, depressing drama of Masterpiece Mystery! And there is some good, genuinely amusing comedy in it. I give it a 5/10. |
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Jimbo
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You forgot to mention the funniest thing about Balthazar, which is that you never actually see or hear him. He's just a lump underneath a blanket in a doggie bed on the floor, that they poke with a stick once in awhile. I think that is much funnier than if you saw an actual dog lying there. One other odd thing I've noticed about the show, is the really old fashioned telephones they use. They're all 1970's era land line, touch tone phones with the curly-Q cord from the phone to the reciever. No cell phones anywhere. Not that that isn't mildly refreshing & all, but I just find it rather odd. And speaking of the phones, did you notice how, every show always opens with Stuart talking with his mother on the one in the living room, after which Freddie comes down stairs & makes some catty remark about how old she is, how she still doesn't know after 48 years of living with him, that Stuart is gay, or wondering when she's going to hurry up & finally die? Like the unseen Balthazar, it is one of the show's little "hooks". |
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...the ads take aim and lay their claim to the heart and the soul of the spender
Jackson Browne - The Pretender C'mon, man! Joe Biden - 46th President of the United States |
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Thor
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Gloria Gaynor had a disco hit with the song, but I see gay 80s band The Communards did the one used in the show. They were somehow related to Bronski Beat, an earlier gay pop band that was somewhat popular. But the singer in the song was a he, not a she. |
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Jimbo
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Sounds like a female to me.
I know the singer in The Communards' version is a male, though I never listened to the entire thing. Are you sure that is the version they used? |
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...the ads take aim and lay their claim to the heart and the soul of the spender
Jackson Browne - The Pretender C'mon, man! Joe Biden - 46th President of the United States |
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Thor
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That's what Wikipedia tells me. It also says that the Communards' version was used in an episode of Doctor Who. I don't know that show, but I know you do. |
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Jimbo
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Actually, I have never seen Doctor Who & probably wouldn't care for it much, as it seems to have a bit of a "sci-fi nerd" appeal (not that there's anything wrong with that) that I don't go in for.
But as for The Communards & their version of it, yeah, I just watched it on YouTube. Damned 1980's, girly-voiced male singers. |
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...the ads take aim and lay their claim to the heart and the soul of the spender
Jackson Browne - The Pretender C'mon, man! Joe Biden - 46th President of the United States |
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aka ron
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It's nice to see things are back to normal around here.
My brother wanted to come out here a few months ago. I told him wait till it warms up, now he is working and can't get away, my bonehead mistake.
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Papa Lazarou
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To be fair, Jimbo, that "sci-fi Nerd" appeal was pretty much only for the classic show when it got imported to America (Though the 4th Doctor's era had some of the highest ratings stateside, up to 7 million).
In England it's seen more as a Tea-time light entertainment show for everyone to watch together. In reality the science element only plays into it now-and-again and up until series 4, the "time travel" aspect (As it was in the classic show) is used more as a device to get from one setting to the next (Though after series 5, time travel actually gets used as a very large aspect of the show including a very heavy use of self-contained time loops) I honestly am not much of a science-fiction type (To the point I never even cared for the super-hero craze) Doctor Who and Red Dwarf are about the closest I get, and both like to make fun of the genre as much as they embody it. |
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DKS
Junior Executive Joined: 22 May 2012 Location: Crowley Status: Offline Points: 2165 |
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Well, I like sci-fi a lot. I dig Star Trek TNG and DS9, I'm a huge Godzilla/kaiju nut(I've seen every giant monster movie I can find, from Harryhausen to Godzilla to Gamera to Pacific Rim and so on), the PC game I'm currently subscribed to is based on the Star Wars universe(I'm actually not a fan of the movies though), I've recently read all the Bolos books I can find(Bolos are massive, heavily armed, intelligent super-tanks originally created by Keith Laumer then later expanded on by other writers), I like super-hero movies(just got back from Guardians of the Galaxy, I saw Lucy yesterday)...so I guess I can definitely qualify as a sci-fi nerd. That said, Doctor Who is some of the worst sh*t I've ever seen. |
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"I see the sadness in their eyes
Melancholy in their cries Devoid of all the passion The human spirit cannot die" |
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Papa Lazarou
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^I'm curious as to what of Doctor Who you've seen, now...I have my suspicions...XD
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i8acannibal
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Vicious is funny, but I wish PBS would bring back shows like Outnumbered and Reggie Perrin.
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Say something clever here...
No, I'm too lazy. Imagine it yourself. |
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Jimbo
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I like the older Britcoms.
Last of the Summer Wine is one of my favorites. |
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...the ads take aim and lay their claim to the heart and the soul of the spender
Jackson Browne - The Pretender C'mon, man! Joe Biden - 46th President of the United States |
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Papa Lazarou
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I'll do my next review on Outnumbered, since it's finished. :D
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Jimbo
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I had completely forgotten about that show. It used to play around here, I think as part of the Sat nite Britcom lineup.
Prior to your review, I'll just come right out & candidly admit that I hated it. I cannot stand any show with nauseating little brats who get away with murder while their spineless, ineffectual, limp-wristed yuppie parents just coo over them. UGH!!!! Never made it thru an entire episode. If they had tanned those little fannies once in awhile, I might have actually liked it. But please, feel free to review.... |
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...the ads take aim and lay their claim to the heart and the soul of the spender
Jackson Browne - The Pretender C'mon, man! Joe Biden - 46th President of the United States |
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Papa Lazarou
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On the contrary, I think they managed to get away from that a bit. They both have their feminine quirks, certainly, but I wouldn't say they dive into the realm of stereotypes to the point shows like Will and Grace do, both of them stay well within the realm fitting the character (Stuart being the needy latch-on who ends up being a glorified toyboy, and Freddie being more of the "woeful actor" stereotype with a bit of gay thrown in). From what I hear, the role of Stuart was originally written with John Inman in mind, which explains why Derek plays him so fey. Anyway: Show: Outnumbered Country: England Made by: BBC One Type: Dramady Series: 5+3 specials Starring: Hugh Dennis, Claire Skinner, Tyger Drew-Honey An interesting concept from the get-go, Outnumbered sought to do two things: Show the maturity of children as they naturally grow, and the childishness of parents who constantly worry they're doing right. THe show is half-improvised, in that the children were given basic concepts on their lines and story progression, but largely allowed to go their own way with it. Something that could only be done outside the constraints of child-labour laws that hinder US Television. Pete and Sue are not young hip parents up on all the trends, but a couple of middle-aged haggard parents out of their depth. with three kids, both working, and the madness of a world that changes every day, they fret, whether it's about Ben with his abnormally accelerated growth and penchant for practical jokes, Karen's bizarre maturity and need to ask questions that no one is equipped to answer when someone so young asks...or Jake who's...well, he's a bit sarcastic, but other than that he's actually the straight man of the whole setup. We follow them through years as the kids grow up, family causes chaos (Namely Sue's sister with a string of fantastic and failed relationships), and other hellish issues occur (leading to a funeral, an embarrassing parent's night at school, and a burning desire to remove floorboards. Throughout the script writing is brilliant, making full use of Hugh Dennis' talent at spitting out absolute venom over the most mundane issues. The kids are almost always at top form, even as they get older and a bit more scripted (A highlight would be the series 5 episode where Ben and Pete go camping while Ben has a current obsession with Bear Grylls. Tyger Drew Honey is the shining gem of the show, and he seems to be the most prolific of the youth, having done acting in several other shows and getting plenty more in the pipeline. To be fair, the kids don't really seem to rule the roost, they just know enough to hold their own, and the parents aren't ineffectual, they're just held down by having to worry about that one bill, the keys under the counter, why the print is making that funny noise, oh, and there's one of those religious cults knocking at the door. At the end of the day, no matter what problems and chaos arise, the day seems to work out okay; no one's dead, hurt too badly, or expelled. And while I won't spoil series 5, it ends with what is perhaps the ultimate lesson to those over-coddling, worried, numpty parents "They've actually turned out just fine, haven't they?" Yes, it does look one way, but I think once you really watch and enjoy it, you see more than that. It's not a show praising anything, that's FAR too American; no, true to it's country's style, it's more a show making fun of some suffering people and letting us enjoy their misery. 9/10 from me. :) |
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Papa Lazarou
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Show: In The Flesh Country: England Made by: BBC Three Type: Drama/Horror Series: 2 Starring: Luke Newberry, Emily Bevan A twist on the Zombie Genre (been a rash of those, recently), In The Flesh explores a world where every person who died in 2009 comes back to life as typical zombies...but we don't see that. What we see is a few years later, when scientists have developed a medication to treat the Undead, or as they're referred to now, "Partially-Deceased Syndrome sufferers", and work to reintegrate them into the community. The story follows Keiran's re-introduction to his family. Which is sometimes painfully awkward to witness. He commited suicide, leaving his father incredibly sensitive and incapable of being real assertive or honest, and during the period he was dead and...not dead, his sister joined the Human Volunteer Force to protect their town from the "rotters", and she killed more than her share. Throughout the town, there is a rising hatred of the rotters being stoked by the local vicar; and on top of that, news comes to the leader of the HVF that his son is "alive". It's not a fast-paced show, and there's never any major goal to reach; what you get is a very human drama that looks into a world and let's you enjoy the characters and how they react. There's very little to say about it without spoiling some great moments, but I will say it's FAR from a typical zombie flick in any sense of the term, and it does its craft brilliantly. a 3rd series will probably be made and aired early next year. 10/10 |
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DKS
Junior Executive Joined: 22 May 2012 Location: Crowley Status: Offline Points: 2165 |
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I've seen several from different eras, the most recent Matt Smith era of course, and some from the one before him, some from when with the doctor wore a goofy scarf, I think that was the 70's era? And one from the late 80's that I don't remember anything about other than that I didn't like it either. |
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"I see the sadness in their eyes
Melancholy in their cries Devoid of all the passion The human spirit cannot die" |
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Neil R
Junior Executive Joined: 14 Nov 2008 Location: Statesboro, GA Status: Offline Points: 635 |
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I'm an unashamed and unapologetic Anglophile when it comes to television.
When I was a teenager our local PBS station was loaded to the gills with stuff like the Goodies, The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs, The Good Neighbours, of course Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Ripping Yarns, The Bounder, and a load of others. One of the commercial stations in Atlanta even had the good sense to run Dave Allen at Large which was a lifelong favorite of mine. In the 80s A&E starting showing the crowning achievement in English comedy; the Blackadder series. Although I'm not above digging the daytime stuff too like Bargain Hunt |
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Papa Lazarou
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Hmm, I was expecting Tennant-era XD
"Goofy scarf" was Tom Baker, considered the epitome of perfection in the role (Though he did last a little too long, at 7 years...) Late 80's would probably be Sylvester McCoy, who suffered a lot of issues, as that is when the BBC was headed by Michael Grade, who disliked the show, and did everything to ensure its death (Including forcing the head, JNT to stay on with the threat that as soon as her left, the show was cancelled) Matt Smith, for me, is one of the greats in the role, and I can think of only one episode (Curse of the Black Spot) that was really dire. Still, I'll pop a review of that off at some point, though I may wait until the end of series 8. |
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Papa Lazarou
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Neil, I LOVE BARGAIN HUNT! XD Better than Top Gear!
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Neil R
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I liked Cash in the Attic too.
As for science fiction, I never could get into Dr Who but I did try to catch every episode of Red Dwarf, Blake's 7, and Hitchhiker's Guide. It's sad that PBS deteriorated into showing not much more than Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances. I'd love for there to be a Classic British TV Channel that would show just about everything. |
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Papa Lazarou
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As far as Doctor Who, I think it's a show you don't just walk into...I think most sort of "tolerate it" until they find that one episode that clicks, and all the magic of the show just comes alive then, and the previous episodes can be seen in a different light.
I recommend watching "Vincent and the Doctor" not so much because it's the best of Doctor Who (Which it is, one of), but because it's one of the best pieces of television cinema I've seen. An utterly beautiful heartfelt episode with a unbelievably tragic performance. |
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i8acannibal
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We don't get "Keeping Up Appearances" or "Are You Being Served" here anymore. Only "The Vicar Of Dibley" and "As Time Goes By". Although I do like them, but time for something new. Papa Lazarou: Thanks for taking the time to write these reviews.I have been curious about "In The Flesh". Now I'll have to check it out. And as for "Vicious" I totally saw the Mr. Humphries. Didn't know that the role was written for him. Thanks for the info. Now I miss "Are You Being Served" I grew up watching that. |
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Say something clever here...
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