Graham ([info]tao_) wrote,
@ 2007-06-14 17:41:00
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It's a very small picture, but look closely and you will see a still from the 'new look' 'It Crowd'. Same old set, I'm afraid, and the characters...hang on...

...You know what? My mistake. It's actually from a new show called 'Big Bang Theory'. Completely different show. This one is about "a beautiful woman moving next door to some particle physicists".

Phew! For a second there I thought it might be a bit like my show! I suppose it is a bit, but luckily it's not on British TV.

...My mistake. It's going to be on British TV. But at least it's not going to be on Channel 4.

...It's going to be on Channel 4.

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[info]petrichor_fizz
2007-06-14 05:22 pm UTC (link)
What would the world be like without plagiarism, eh?

Oh, yeah. A lot less irritating. And we might not be at war. But... minor point.

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[info]whirringblender
2007-06-14 05:37 pm UTC (link)
That just seems like a bad move on Channel 4's part.

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(Anonymous)
2007-06-14 06:29 pm UTC (link)
There, there - imitation is the nicest form of flattery.

Oh! Wait... sorry, imitation is the nicest form of rape. Do excuse me.


Jasper Goodballoon

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not buying it
(Anonymous)
2007-06-14 06:58 pm UTC (link)
sorry, but particle physicists are completely different to IT workers. Also one of the physicists is wearing a red hat. The IT Crowd didn't even have a hat of any kind!

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[info]swayworn
2007-06-14 07:35 pm UTC (link)
Dang. A friend of mine auditioned for a pilot that sounds exactly like that here in NYC.

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[info]swayworn
2007-06-16 03:26 pm UTC (link)
Ah. Called “Weird Science”

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Trailer
(Anonymous)
2007-06-14 07:46 pm UTC (link)
I watched the trailer for this show yesterday, and it looked awful, predictable and really patronising to what they ignorantly class as a "nerd". So therefore even if it was "borrowing" ideas from other places you can look at it is trying to "stand on the shoulders of giants" which of course it is failing at so far, due the IT crowd being actually funny.

What really annoys me about trying to pander to mainstream comedy audience and trying to please EVERYONE (What else would I expect from the writer of Two and half men?) is that I will watch the stereotype of a particle physicist from an outside perspective of people with no clue whatsoever of the fact that real people are not cardboard cut-outs. Now, I'm not a particle physicist, I work on building sites, but I'm a geek myself and these programs really wind me up the wrong way because there are twice as many shows using the geek stereotype as a scapegoat for a cheap laugh rather than finding all the great comic material that lies beyond the first and extremely broad impression. Rant over.

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[info]whizzerandchips
2007-06-14 07:57 pm UTC (link)
At least none of them have shit on their forehead. Yet.

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[info]bergenboi
2007-06-14 08:23 pm UTC (link)
I think you are underestimating the plenitude of particle physics jokes. I'm sure this show will focus on the hilarity of day to day life in a particle physics lab and won't even venture close to the nerd turf you have staked out.

Just imagine the comedic possibilities of the CERN Large Hadron Collider ALONE!

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[info]michaelcl
2007-06-14 08:51 pm UTC (link)
I thought you needed an observer to make those things work ;)

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(Anonymous)
2007-06-14 08:26 pm UTC (link)
I wouldn't worry. I don't know if you've seen the trailer, but it looks absolutely abysmal.

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[info]longlongwaytogo
2007-06-15 12:19 am UTC (link)
Doesn't sound that good to me.

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[info]stylishbastard
2007-06-15 12:44 am UTC (link)
...and yet it might be sod all like your show. It also might be funny. Which would means it does have something in common with your show.
I don't know yet. Neither does anyone else who hasn't seen it.

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[info]lemmy101
2007-06-15 10:42 am UTC (link)
Isn't that Dean Learner in the middle?

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[info]captainjen
2007-06-15 11:38 am UTC (link)
This looks majorly more cliché to me.

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[info]michaelcl
2007-06-15 04:08 pm UTC (link)
is there more to it?

Sexy girl gets stuck with nerdy boys isn't a very unique premise is it?

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(Anonymous)
2007-06-15 05:06 pm UTC (link)
graham,

fear not. it will serve as a plinth upon which "the IT crowd" will be mounted, for a better view.

while i have you, my sketch show pilot was rejected by rte a few years back. it's on youtube now. love to hear your thoughts. i think this sketch still holds up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHMkbrHDwNc

best,
john

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[info]tao_
2007-06-15 09:16 pm UTC (link)
well, eh...hmm...that's the best one? Really? What exactly is the joke? He's in an art gallery and...what...the recorded guide has been taped over?

It's very nicely shot, but I just don't see the joke. A few rude lines (which never make me laugh) and...hmm...the machine's broken? Is that it? Is that really it?

Sorry, man. It just didn't do it for me.

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(Anonymous)
2007-06-16 08:45 pm UTC (link)
no problem.

the idea was that you would like it more (hate it less), but thanks for watching and feeding-back.

cheers,
john

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[info]tao_
2007-06-17 08:28 am UTC (link)
i didn't hate it--I would only hate it if it was deliberately offensive in some way. I do think it's a very well shot and acted piece, but that's not enough to save it from its weak premise. The premise is what I call a CBA (Could Be Anything). In other words, the audio guide turns into a sort of pornographic novel, but it could turn into anything...a Stephen King story, a restaurant review, a guide to a zoo...and the sketch would be more or less the same.

Had the audio guide suddenly started talking about the value of the painting, and then suggesting that the man attempt to steal it, really piling on the temptation, then you start getting to what a sketch ought to be because there's a situation with a beginning, middle and end.

I'm not saying that this idea of mine is so good that I would attempt writing it, but it does have the basic elements I need before I begin writing a sketch.

I hate to be negative about something you care about, but if your show wasn't picked up, these are the things you need to think about to ensure that the next one doesn't suffer the same fate.

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Stereotypes in comedy? Never!
[info]happymutt
2007-06-15 07:58 pm UTC (link)
Speaking as an ex-physicist who now works in IT as a systems designer and also writes fiction, I have no problem with the odd bit of stereotyping about geeks in IT or physics, as long as it's done with panache.

The IT Crowd indulges in a fair bit of stereotyping, but I liked that. I didn't find it insulting. It was bang on in a lot of places. And classing physicists as socially awkward people who fawn over a good looking girl is not far from the truth either, in my experience. But it's not the subject matter that I care about (bar really bad taste stuff), but the quality of the writing and the talent of the actors and directors.

Physics not funny? Rubbish. I could tell you such stories about my time with amorphous solids, oh yes. Reverse monte carlo modelling? Oh great days. (wipes tear from eyes)

I think the clue is in the title of the show, by the way. 'Big Bang Theory'? Please. Might as well call it 'I want to fuck the girl next door' and be done with it.

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Joyball
(Anonymous)
2007-06-16 11:44 am UTC (link)
I think the joke in the joyball sketch is really that the man tries to see all the stuff the tape is talking about in the painting in front of him. There IS a clever idea there, but it doesn't quite come over, and then the ending just peters out...

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Joyball
(Anonymous)
2007-06-20 10:08 am UTC (link)


I think the Art gallery sketch has promise. If it was a Brian Sewell type voice on the tape it might work better. And maybe instead of it cutting to a seperate dirty story in the audio it could just be the art commentary slowly changing from a cold art history tone into a more graphic commentary about such an abstract piece. If everyone else was nodding away beside him. The premise of highly abstract and dry piece art being talk about in a sexually specific and pictorial way is one I like (there's a PG version of this scenario in LA Story with Steve Martin)

And the sketch might end with him moving to the next painting which actually is a graphically sexual figurative piece and maybe the commentary could switch back to being cold-historical-speach or else really go off on one. Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

And on another note....loving the blog and really looking forward to IT 2, Graham. Good luck with it.

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