[HN Gopher] When did Alan Partridge first appear on television?
___________________________________________________________________
When did Alan Partridge first appear on television?
Author : apophatic
Score : 210 points
Date : 2023-07-08 06:07 UTC (16 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.dirtyfeed.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.dirtyfeed.org)
| InCityDreams wrote:
| Twat!
| shaftoe444 wrote:
| Lovely stuff.
| Lyngbakr wrote:
| Not my words, Michael. The words of Shakin' Stevens.
| [deleted]
| lisper wrote:
| Could someone please explain to me why one would care about this
| character in particular?
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Especially when we could care for Peter O'Hanrara-hanraran
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnS07NS8110
| mattbee wrote:
| This DVD extra turned into his hands-down best sketch (and
| probably the best intro to puzzled Americans) - Peter
| O'Hanrara-hanraran, live on the scene at 9/11 :
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SPWgodul_E
| qingcharles wrote:
| Thank you - I don't think I'd ever heard this one before.
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Yes, it is embedded in the above posted: German Finance
| minister; Minister for Ships; General Motors; World Trade
| Center.
| [deleted]
| tetris11 wrote:
| ```Ich nichten lichten'' = I don't like it, but I'll have to
| go along with it
|
| Famous Valid German Phrase
| mattkevan wrote:
| Peter, you've lost the news!
| mattbee wrote:
| These are both regular phrases in my house.
| mattkevan wrote:
| The Chris Morris phrase I find myself using regularly, or
| at least thinking, is "You're WRONG and you're a
| GROTESQUELY ugly freak."
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPJoRWz8Sc
|
| Edit: Not you, obviously. Whoever was being wrong at that
| particular moment.
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Including the best part, "Peter, next time you cross the
| road, don't bother looking"?
| mattbee wrote:
| I mean I've not used it but it's definitely there and
| ready.
| MrScruff wrote:
| If you're British and of a certain age, then Alan Partridge the
| character encompasses a significant aspect of Britishness, and
| has a particular cultural resonance as a result.
| mr_sturd wrote:
| As a Farage-esque caricature to laugh at.
| arrowsmith wrote:
| He was popular on British TV in the 90s.
| lvturner wrote:
| This is how us Brits feel when some "random" information about
| a 90s American character hits the front page.
| InCityDreams wrote:
| Reagan?
| mattbee wrote:
| This place is ours until about 11.30, we should make more of
| that.
| KnobbleMcKnees wrote:
| Because after 30 years he's still able to get a second series
| mellosouls wrote:
| British cultural icon as important as other (more
| internationally famous?) British comedic characters such as
| Blackadder, Basil Fawlty and David Brent.
| henrik_w wrote:
| On the subject of Alan Partridge, I highly recommend the two
| books, "I, Partridge" and "Nomad".
|
| This is my Goodreads-review of Nomad:
|
| This is one of the funniest books I have read. I just love the
| Alan Partridge character, with all his insecurities and petty
| attempts to show off. I read the first book, I Partridge, and
| this is even better. In Nomad, Alan tells the story of his walk
| to honour his father - he will walk from Norwich to the Dungeness
| Nuclear Power Station. Not only is the book packed with hilarious
| episodes, the writing is also fabulously bad - full of examples
| like "the wind whistling through my hair like a wind whistle".
| Highly recommended.
| rorads wrote:
| I genuinely feel that these two books, and the audiobooks even
| more so, are full blown genius.
|
| The character has been steeping in his own mythology and
| metatext for decades, and these books use that to such a
| wonderful effect. I think they hold up as amazing comedy in
| their own right, but having the character describe events we've
| seen in previous formats but through a warped narrative is a
| wonderful and uncommon device, and the intentional bad writing
| is so joyous.
| InCityDreams wrote:
| Both are available on you tube, narrated by coogan. My us
| friends don't understand either.
| stevekemp wrote:
| I, Partridge had some outstanding footnotes, and from memory it
| also had a playlist at the back with notes to play specific
| tracks at particular chapters/moments.
|
| Alan Partridge is very underrated, and I'm surprised that so
| many here have heard of him - although hacker news has a large
| UK presence his shows are not those that have been exported
| widely to the best of my knowledge.
|
| There's just something so British about that kind of character,
| where you're half laughing with him (1) and half laughing at
| how blissfully unaware and cringey he is. (Much like David
| Brent in the UK/original "The Office", although there's a long
| history of that style of character)
|
| I actually paid for a Partridge-tribute to sing a happy-
| birthday song for my (Finnish) wife, on Cameo. We were both
| very impressed at how well his message was 100% in-character
| for the real AP.
|
| 1: Needless to say I had the last laugh.
| throwaway743 wrote:
| Oh damn, I just assumed it started with Knowing Me, Knowing You
| aaron695 wrote:
| A great example why the semantic web is total bullshit and for
| the loons.
|
| Alan Partridge: First appearance on TV?
|
| The most basic things are impossible.
|
| It's why examples of semantic networks start with birth
| certificates, the most basic thing society measures that's taken
| 100's of years to get a system for.
|
| Which of course are no longer considered sources of truth as the
| West has become even more abstract. And anyone who's lived in
| developing nations knows accurate DOBs were always for the rich.
| chx wrote:
| Are you OK?
| aaron695 wrote:
| [dead]
| edent wrote:
| The best thing about the Dirty Feed blog is that it shows just
| how _fragile_ history is.
|
| We're talking about stuff that happened in the last few decades -
| and yet people's recollections are faulty, the documentation is
| inconsistent, and the contemporary commentary is already wrong.
|
| Now extrapolate that back a hundred years. What conventionally
| accepted history is wrong? What cause and effects have been mixed
| up?
|
| Popular culture isn't always well researched - and John shows
| just how difficult it is.
| I_am_tiberius wrote:
| Oh man. I think the second guy in the first embedded video is
| Denholm Reynholm from The IT Crowed.
| UncleSlacky wrote:
| Yes, Chris Morris played Denholm.
| andywaite wrote:
| And he appeared in an Alan Partridge episode:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxSbTlH0K4w
| jwmoz wrote:
| DAN
| bryanmgreen wrote:
| This is a very Partridge-esque look at its history.
|
| If anyone is a Coogan fan, I highly recommend seeking out The
| Trip. And not the terrible movie version, but the actual full
| series. Season 1 is such a brilliant piece of television.
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| I didn't know it was anything but the series of movies - which
| I enjoyed.
|
| I'll check out the series, thanks for the heads up!
| TradingPlaces wrote:
| I will watch anything with Coogan and Brydon. Also Tristram
| Shandy
| rojeee wrote:
| Did not expect to see Alan Partridge on hacker news. I'm Alan
| partridge was hilarious!
|
| "Jet from Gladiators to host a millennium barn dance at Yeovil
| aerodrome. Properly policed. It must not, I repeat not, turn into
| an all-night rave."
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| Same. It's like two normally distinctly compartmentalized parts
| of my personality accidentally got mixed up.
|
| "you're a mentalist!"
| throwaway743 wrote:
| "Oh btw, there are some strobe effects in this, so please, any
| epileptics get out now. Statistically one of you is, and two of
| you are gay. Btw guys, if you are gay, please remember, rubber
| up."
| ggm wrote:
| Coogan is best now in roles like "philomena", or "24 hour party
| people". "The trip" is good but he is (over) playing a version of
| his public self which gets a bit forced.
| foobar1962 wrote:
| He's also in Tropic Thunder.
| bmitc wrote:
| The movie _Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa_ is absolutely hilarious. I
| 've rewatched it several times, and I originally went into it
| never having heard of Alan Partridge and only barely of Steve
| Coogan. The trailers don't capture it all. "Trust me, Susan." is
| probably the greatest line ever in the midst of a shootout.
|
| I was properly introduced to Steve Coogan and also Rob Bryden
| through their movie _The Trip_.
|
| Some B roll impressions from _The Trip_ and maybe the follow-up
| movie(s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3eSud1_Cs
|
| Michael Caine impressions by them:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFIQIpC5_wY
|
| Even more impressions from them and probably shows their breadth
| the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWJTcblS4KI
| davv wrote:
| Your fog lights are on!
| globular-toast wrote:
| I was expecting _Ali G in da House_ but it was much better. Of
| course I did laugh a lot at the former when I was a teenager,
| though.
| permo-w wrote:
| it's a crying shame that for a large part of a recent
| generation, Ali G in da House is their only real awareness of
| Ali G. it's like knowing Ali G solely through the intros and
| interludes from Da Ali G Show
| namdnay wrote:
| Alpha Papa was good fun, but for some reason it didn't feel
| like classic Alan Partridge. The humour was slightly different
| ?
| hansjorg wrote:
| The Trip is amazing.
|
| That B roll cut is actually from the original TV series which
| is much longer than the movie. If you enjoyed the movie you'll
| love the series.
| KineticLensman wrote:
| > Steve Coogan and also Rob Bryden
|
| "Gentlemen! We ride at dawn! Or perhaps at about 8-ish"
|
| I still use this line whenever I can, e.g. when staying with
| friends and planning the next morning.
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| Well off topic, but my favourite line from the movie Flushed
| Away:
|
| (all in a French accent)
|
| "We leave immediately!"
|
| "What about dinner?"
|
| "We leave... in five hours!"
| lvturner wrote:
| Top shelf!
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| Back of the net!
| thrdbndndn wrote:
| > In his book Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris,
| Lucian Randall says that the pilot of The Day Today was
| "completed in January 1993". I can independently verify this; the
| VT clock for that pilot is dated 29th January 1993. So the pilot
| for The Day Today was shot in either December 1992 or January
| 1993. Which gives us a rough date for this particular limbo
| incarnation of Partridge.
|
| Where does "December 1992" come from in this sentence? Is there a
| specific reason why it couldn't be October or November 1992?
|
| (I mean, maybe it's just common sense that a programme wouldn't
| take that long to shoot, but I feel like the author is more
| confident than that given the rigorousness displayed throughout
| the rest of the article.)
| radiowave wrote:
| My guess would be the common sense angle, within the context
| that when someone commissions you to make a pilot, _you get it
| done_ , because in part, you're trying to demonstrate that
| you're ready to do the thing for real.
| qingcharles wrote:
| If you like Chris Morris material I can highly, _highly_ ,
| recommend Nathan Barley which was ahead of its time:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqfkuc5mawg
|
| Sad that his web site is now offline... www.trashbat.co.ck
| frereubu wrote:
| I was in a digital agency during the first dotcom era, and
| TVGoHome was one of the thing that kept me sane. Such a shame
| it took so long for the TV version of Nathan Barley to arrive -
| felt like it missed the moment somehow.
| qingcharles wrote:
| TVGoHome! Great site. Charlie Brooker is another comedy
| genius. When I ran my TV torrent site we got hold of some
| pre-release shows of Charlie's from someone at the BBC and
| the second they were posted he sent me a really lovely email
| asking if I would take them down until after they were
| broadcast. Who am I to argue with a God?
| dayofthedaleks wrote:
| Saxondale is the better character/bit.
| jameshart wrote:
| I would have assumed it was on a _Look East_ segment in about
| 1983 about a young boy who had made his own TV studio at home in
| Norwich.
|
| Actually he was probably one of the presenters on the East Anglia
| week of _Why Don't You (Just Switch off your TV and Go and Do
| Something Less Boring Instead)_
| raffraffraff wrote:
| Best thing Coogan ever did was a little known animation called "I
| am not an animal". Many of the jokes are British pop culture
| references, but it's still sooo funny. And edgy. There's no way
| in hell it would get past today's sensitivity panel at the BBC.
| In fact I'm amazed it got on the TV at all.
| gybon wrote:
| When did Alan Partridge last appear on television? Is the
| character still active?
| gizajob wrote:
| I feel like the writing of the character isn't what it used to
| be
| hnlmorg wrote:
| Very much still active. Steve Coogan still does tours as Alan
| Partridge and there's a gig from (iirc) this year available on
| Netflix called Stratagem.
|
| In my opinion the most of the Partridge stuff since I'm Alan
| Partridge has been pretty poor. The one exception being the
| movie Alpha Pappa. But hardcore Partridge fans might still
| enjoy Stratagem.
| tomduncalf wrote:
| Agreed, actually I thought the movie was a bit weak too.
| Feels a bit like he's playing a dumbed down caricature of the
| old AP... although the Mid Morning Matters series was pretty
| funny, maybe more because of the supporting characters
| Philip-J-Fry wrote:
| The podcast thing is pretty good. From the oasthouse.
| mr_sturd wrote:
| The books were good; especially _I, Partridge_. I thought
| Alpha Papa was missing some of the tragic magic which was
| present in _I 'm Alan Partridge_.
| KnobbleMcKnees wrote:
| I found it had to get into This Time until I watched Welcome
| to the Places of my Life which is end-to-end hilarity.
|
| I'm now fairly convinced that This Time is the greatest
| version of Partridge. It's his equivalent of "Diamond are
| Forever" (and no, he's not showing off!)
| padjo wrote:
| The original Mid morning matters was also pretty good. Tim
| Key is such a breath of fresh air in it and the constrained
| format is fun.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| The Day Today was such a classic show. It often gets overlooked
| because of how iconic Brass Eye was but Brass Eye wouldn't have
| existed if it wasn't for Day Today and the former show is every
| bit as good as its predecessor.
|
| I also quite enjoyed Time Trumpet. It's a completely different
| show with different writers and comedians but follows a similar
| format.
| helsinkiandrew wrote:
| WAR! is one of my favorite scenes - and seems to sum up a lot
| of todays 24 hour news.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3BO6GP9NMY&t=4s
| switch007 wrote:
| I always lose it when they switch to the reporter on the
| ground lol
| helsinkiandrew wrote:
| The stretched twig of peace is at melting point. People
| here are literally bursting with war.
| qingcharles wrote:
| The number of times I was kicked off IRC in 1993 for posting
| The Day Today memes is very high.
|
| IMO, probably the most under-rated show of all time.
|
| "CRAZED WOLVES IN STORE A BAD MISTAKE ADMIT MOTHERCARE"
| longwave wrote:
| Armando Iannucci is the link here; he produced and wrote for
| The Day Today, all the Alan Partridge shows, and also Time
| Trumpet.
| davv wrote:
| Yeah, he also wrote The Thick of It which is probably the
| best comedy series I've ever seen. Another writer on that was
| Jesse Armstrong of Succession fame.
| longwave wrote:
| Jesse Armstrong also co-wrote Four Lions and Peep Show,
| amongst others. It's amazing how a very small group of
| people can have such an influence on a vast amount of
| cultural output.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| It's also worth adding Charlie Brooker to that list of
| cultural icons too. Someone who has not only worked with
| Chris Moris, but also has an exceptional repertoire of
| his own as well.
| permo-w wrote:
| he was also an executive consultant on the tv show
| version of What We Do In The Shadows, which for a few
| years was the best comedy show on tv imo. The Jesse
| Armstrong, Armando Ianucci, Chris Morris, Charlie Brooker
| Channel Four-some has a lot to answer for (although most
| of Ianucci's work is BBC produced). I think the only
| other writing comedian of that generation I respect as
| much is Sacha Baron Cohen, although his work is slightly
| different
| andywaite wrote:
| Also Veep, a huge success in the US.
| rwmj wrote:
| Time Trumpet is enormously underrated. Some of the special
| effects were done by Ben Wheatley (now a movie director).
| (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840965)
| kiksy wrote:
| Armando Iannuccis back catalogue is so vast. He's done so so
| much stuff over the last 30 odd years and so much of it is
| top tier. Yet few people would recognise the name. He's
| talented on so many levels. If anyone hasn't I'd highly
| recommend the 'Armando Iannucci Shows'.
| mattkevan wrote:
| Love that show - profound, absurd and deeply silly all at
| once.
|
| Absolute favourite sketch is the 'East End Thug' with Alan
| Ford from Snatch.
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=49nKWoTgouQ&pp=ygUdZWFzdCBlbm
| Q...
| mdp2021 wrote:
| > _I 'd highly recommend_
|
| Oh, one of the best ever pieces of radio was
|
| _Armando Iannucci 's Charm Offensive_
|
| It's horrible that only 24 episodes have been produced. It
| should still be running today.
| mocko wrote:
| Slightly offtopic but anyone with a dark sense of humour would do
| well to check out Chris Morris's stuff - I get a feeling most
| younger Brits haven't heard of it. Day Today and Brass Eye, both
| still funny, are wonderful time capsules satirising Britain as it
| was thirty years ago.
|
| But IMO his finest work was Blue Jam - the radio comedy not the
| TV incarnation, hour-long episodes of low-key music and surreal
| sketches. Absolutely brilliant even today. Archive.org has a copy
| at https://archive.org/details/chrismorris_bluejam. Best enjoyed
| late at night.
|
| Trigger warning: basically everything. The BBC would never get
| away with broadcasting it now.
| gsinclair wrote:
| Sounds awesome. Thanks so much!
| mhh__ wrote:
| I don't think it's a coincidence that both of Chris Morris's
| parents are doctors.
| ealexhudson wrote:
| BBC probably wouldn't broadcast Blue Jam today, but only
| because it would get such limited audience. It's niche and of
| its time.
|
| Similar shows today would include the Skewer, and to be honest
| I would rank that as more legally dangerous to run, it skirts
| libel laws much more closely.
| mjhay wrote:
| In a similar and even darker vein, the animated sketch show
| Monkey Dust is also fantastic.
| mdp2021 wrote:
| And the movies: _Four Lions_ ; _The Day Shall Come_.
|
| And especially the relevant interviews: the movies are the
| artistic depictions, but the real world facts that made it
| important to produce them - the rationale and the exposition of
| salient research material that became the movie - are explained
| by Chris Morris in talks.
| cm2187 wrote:
| I never knew what to think of Four Lions. It's a hugely
| politically charged topic (suicide bombers, islamist
| terrorism, particularly perpetrated by UK
| residents/nationals). I watched it 10 years ago so perhaps I
| misremember it, but it didn't feel to me that the movie had
| any particular political agenda, it was just making fun of a
| band of clumsy terrorists.
| hnhg wrote:
| It was also written about complex cultural issues in ethnic
| minorities by people who weren't from those minorities. I
| am a big fan of Morris, but there is something inauthentic
| (edit: I originally wrote "slightly patronising" but I
| think the film was made in very good faith) about that.
| Also there are no shortage of voices from those communities
| represented, so why should it be left to a bunch of people
| removed from them to tell their story?
| actionfromafar wrote:
| A good story can always use more writers, amirite?
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Nobody is talking about a <<political agenda>> - art as a
| lucid portrait exposing salient traits is not involved in
| that -, and it was not simply <<making fun>>.
|
| The very fact that you write <<a band of>> suggests you are
| not seeing the universality of the depicted. It is not like
| the long dream in Mulholland Drive, that changes and
| deforms a reality: it is meant to be a _description_
| through a satirical lens. And it 's not "wacky break": it's
| "Wackyland".
|
| The right-winged that converts himself after studying the
| texts of the opponents with the original intent of
| deprecating them; the special radicalism of the converted
| "local"; the actual nature of the largely misunderstood
| special culture hosted in the alien lands; the tone based
| on constant references to actual events (those who hid
| weapons in a park and found them stolen; those who hid them
| in a playground and found the children playing with them;
| those who filled a boat with them and it sank...); the
| social and internal states, flow and dynamics of the
| involved... The causal relation leading to the "necessary
| conclusions". All of this is a portrait - an analysis.
|
| And statements such as "I have hit them, so they must be
| the bad ones" are fed to the police - not the protagonists.
| <<Clumsy>> who? And the interrogator in the "extra-
| territorial" container, that seems to be imported directly
| from Joel and Ethan Cohen - <<clumsy>> who? No, not just
| "the protagonists".
|
| Maybe, as suggested, you could check a few of the
| interviews that Chris Morris gave.
| frereubu wrote:
| I thought of it as satirising the picture painted by the
| security services of terrorist groups as Mission
| Impossible-type bad guys who were amazingly organised and
| professional, so they needed loads of money for counter
| terrorism. Don't get me wrong, I do value (some of) the
| work of the security services, but I think this kind of
| portrayal too easily allows people to ignore the fact that
| "terrorists" are often just directionless people drawn into
| that kind of world almost by accident. The Day Shall Come,
| released nine years later, expands on that idea.
| cm2187 wrote:
| I am not sure you can get that message from the movie. In
| the end it does show them as dangerous, murdurous
| criminals. It doesn't take a PhD or lots of means to kill
| a large number of people. Which is also the difficult
| challenge posed to those security services.
| frereubu wrote:
| I didn't (intentionally) say they didn't end up as
| dangerous, murderous criminals. I said that they were
| directionless people - they weren't criminal masterminds
| in a glamorous world of high-tech equiment and fast cars,
| they were tragic characters who got sucked into a farcial
| which saw someone blow themselves up in a shopping
| precinct while dressed as a chicken. It's a fundamentally
| humanising film which hints at the reasons people join
| those kinds of organisations, which are much less high-
| tech and organised than the security services
| (intentionally or otherwise) paint them as.
| phpnode wrote:
| The key point that Four Lions makes is that the terrorists
| are _not_ the highly devoted, strict followers of Islam
| that they claim to be. They are bored, directionless clowns
| and the devout want nothing to do with them. This is
| highlighted in the ringleader Omar 's relationship with his
| brother - Omar and his wife tease and mock his brother for
| his strict adherence to Islamic customs. The devout brother
| tries to persuade Omar to abandon his terrorist plans, but
| is later targeted by the security services because they too
| assume that it's the strict, devout muslims that are behind
| it all.
| netsharc wrote:
| A sort of "favorite" of mine is this speech by an
| anthropologist about muslim extremists.. indeed you can
| apply it to white supremacist terrorists too, they join
| up to the cause for a feeling of belonging and purpose:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbirlSA-dc
| mdp2021 wrote:
| Not _the_ key point, I would say, but an important point.
|
| It returns to OP's missing that the movie may have <<any
| particular political agenda>>:
|
| there is a political point, which is "outcasts in search
| of an identity conflictually with their environment may
| have a political agenda, which causes a political
| problem". Disregarding such problem implies potential
| tragedy.
|
| Edit (wrote in a rush): hence, that if there is a risk,
| quite worth of assessment, you'd better see things
| flatly, for what they are.
| amiga386 wrote:
| It picks up a political agenda near the end when it shows
| the authorities to be clueless, and suspecting entirely the
| wrong people, but more generally the film has political
| origins.
|
| When 7/7 happened, we saw the CCTV footage; Yorkshiremen
| getting on a train at Luton. Three of the four bombers were
| from Leeds, they were born in the UK, what on earth
| possessed them to go to London and try blowing it up?
| Fanciful notions of being a mujahideen? Some disconnect of
| belonging to the UK when they were clearly brought up fully
| within it?
|
| I'm pretty sure Morris said he made the film to answer that
| question.
|
| Monkey Dust series 2 (broadcast 2003, two years prior to
| the attack) had a similar examination with its Abdul and
| Shafiq sketches. Their friend Omar preaching to them about
| jihad but their lives mainly revolving around what's on
| telly and their mum feeding them turkey twizzlers.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhxQT1d1AvE
| foldr wrote:
| And of course, even Omar isn't very keen on doing any of
| the jihad stuff _himself_.
| louthy wrote:
| Blue Jam is amazing, but it was the TV version of it: Jam, that
| really blew me away. Dark as anything, surreal, challenging,
| spectacular use of language, amazing use of music, and video
| editing techniques ... incredible.
|
| I remember when it was originally aired, it would be on around
| 10pm. Then repeated around 4am, but with the visuals just
| bouncing around inside a small square (like a 'Pong' ball).
| Each episode they would mess with the visuals in a different
| way. Definitely will never see anything like that on Tv again.
|
| Probably my favourite sketch (which is also on Blue Jam) [1],
| but there are so many [2][3][4][5]. Even the intros [6] were
| disturbing, and set you up for what was coming in the next 30
| minutes.
|
| [1] https://youtu.be/5SqHtWudI24 - 'Suicide with an escape
| clause'
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGex0kLgNok - 'Thick People
| as a Service'
|
| [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKxM4ToLLR8 - 'Symptomless
| Coma'
|
| [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhKla4MEstY - 'Living
| Outside'
|
| [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krsj2bcnRlM - 'Lizards'
|
| [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-i0XIux9vo - Intro
| compilation
| gizajob wrote:
| You forgot "baby plumber" - I sent this to Americans a few
| times and they couldn't even compute it as comedy
| mattbee wrote:
| Here's a great parody of Jam by Adam and Joe. I enjoyed Jam
| but when it misfired this was exactly how ridiculous it
| came across - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0t0Ocau-CUg
| lampington wrote:
| That was brilliant! Thank you for sharing it.
| louthy wrote:
| I didn't forget, I thought that might be a step too far for
| HN ;)
| mattkevan wrote:
| My housemates and I used to do Jam nights where we'd binge
| the whole series in one sitting, usually the Jaaaam version
| that was even more woozy and disorienting.
|
| Ended up in some very strange headspaces at about 2am.
| lordfrito wrote:
| Wow some seriously strange/funny/interesting stuff... Laughed
| my ass off at "Thick People as a Service"
|
| American here. Reminds me heavily of Monty Python. I didn't
| realize there were other shows in such a similar vein. Will
| def checkout Jam / Blue Jam. Can you recommend any other
| shows I might not be aware of?
| cal85 wrote:
| Look Around You [0] is little known even in the UK, but I
| think a lot of HN readers might love it. It's a surreal but
| perfectly observed parody of the 80s/90s educational videos
| we used to watch in school science classes.
|
| [0] Episode 1: Calcium
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBaVwwuErmU
| amiga386 wrote:
| Thanks, ants.
|
| Thants.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaI6kBVyu00
| notahacker wrote:
| I'm feeling nostalgic just over the clock at the
| beginning!
| louthy wrote:
| The series of 'Look Around You' that is a pastiche of
| 'Tomorrows World' is amazing. The 'Music 2000' episode is
| my favourite [1].
|
| This is an example of the original 80s TV show it was
| doing the pastiche of [2]
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2myFLUDB74
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0dn0lcvWkY
| Joeboy wrote:
| It's a fair bit less dark, but you could give Big Train a
| go.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rEBtpWQ7x8
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8ofz1OnlNI
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtllWIiOTuA
|
| Edit: The League of Gentlemen
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wB0OkcCps8
| rwmj wrote:
| You missed the classic:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKH9ECC_Qa4 (apparently
| not intended as an analogy for smoking, although it does
| work for that).
| mdp2021 wrote:
| _Big Train_ : directed by Graham Linehan - _Father Ted_ ,
| _Black Books_ , _The IT Crowd_...
|
| (And the guard of the hospital in Darth Marenghi's
| Darkplace.)
| louthy wrote:
| Love Big Train, some seriously good sketches. Here's some
| more of my favourites (outside of the ones you've already
| mentioned).
|
| Unfortunately my favourite sketch, 'Cake Factory', isn't
| on Youtube any more. That was where I first realised how
| brilliant Simon Pegg was as a comedy actor.
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcAqR-Hs9II - Join
| the Army
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUm-2x-2dM - Do You
| Speak English?
|
| [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyj5cv5FPWA - Eagle
| Line Super Train
|
| [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxiOfepOxe8 - Evil
| Hypnotist
|
| [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIIAQME1Uhg - Jockeys
| in the Wild
|
| [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GmmAUbfhMU -
| Champion sprinter
|
| [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRBYGhqI8Y - On Call
| Surgeon
|
| [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMh9CDNQhBg - Office
| Politics: Jesus vs Devil
| Joeboy wrote:
| Cake Factory was indeed a great sketch!
| mattkevan wrote:
| I'd recommend anything by Julia Davis, who was in the
| 'thick people' sketch. Her comedies are pitch black and
| very good, including Nighty Night and Hunderby.
|
| For a sketch show I'd recommend Big Train - it went
| slightly under the radar, but has an absolutely incredible
| lineup of talent.
| Joeboy wrote:
| I love her Dear Joan and Jericha podcast, where she and
| Vicki Pepperdine play wildly inappropriate agony aunts.
| tudorw wrote:
| https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/ might be a good
| place to start rummaging...
| mdp2021 wrote:
| > _Can you recommend any other shows I might not be aware
| of?_
|
| Really, too many.
|
| Other genius-level of strangeness? _The Mighty Boosh_ , by
| Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding (radio, TV, theater). -
| Radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OZN1zyS7gY&list=PLf
| lSnz9gSh... ; also live shows are on YT. The core are the
| TV series though.
|
| Logical genius to the extreme, madness revealing? _People
| Like Us_ , by John Morton (arguably the best thing ever
| made for the radio). - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjZ4
| mBz5Qcc&list=PLJPeS4Ugqq...
| frereubu wrote:
| One that I absolutely loved, but which rarely comes up, is
| Mr Don & Mr George by two Scottish comedians Moray Hunter
| and Jack Docherty. I think there was only one series, but
| it has a beautifully gentle, slightly surreal, slightly
| slapstick humour.
|
| Edit: And for a much more brutal sense of humour, I don't
| think any political comedy has bettered The Thick Of It.
| amiga386 wrote:
| > Mr Don & Mr George
|
| It was very funny, but also a spin-off to _Absolutely!_ ,
| which itself was a great series - 4 series! - with lots
| of funny characters:
|
| * Calum Gilhooley, the most boring man in the world:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebG3ZE4Ugqs
|
| * McGlashan, the Scottish nationalist and anglophobe:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND-SVKrvCxs
|
| * Denzil and Gwenned:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw7tQOyfwyk
|
| * Stoneybridge Town Council:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njiH4i4Kkf0
|
| * The Little Girl:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNc9VOipw0
|
| They were Edinburgh's answer to Glasgow's _Naked Video_
| (Gregor Fisher, Elaine C. Smith, Andy Gray, Helen
| Lederer, etc.) although the welsh John Sparkes was in
| both, and had is own spin-off series, _Barry Welsh is
| Coming_
| olddustytrail wrote:
| I recommended Still Game to an American colleague and he
| found it hilarious even though I thought it would be a
| bit crude at times for an older gentleman. I guess the
| fact they're pensioners themselves softens the humour a
| bit.
| frereubu wrote:
| Maybe you should him on try Rab C Nesbitt next :)
| algesten wrote:
| I love the TV show also. It's just so surreal and dark.
| tetris11 wrote:
| I like to human think that _Garth Marenghi 's Darkplace_ is a
| spiritual successor of sorts.
| thebruce87m wrote:
| > The cabin crew suggested we all go out and club it. I had
| no option. It was that or one of their B&Bs. I figured it'd
| be safer on the streets. For the first time ever I saw the
| Scotch in their natural habitat, and it weren't pretty. I'd
| seen them huddling in stations before, being loud but...
| this time I was surrounded. Everywhere I went it felt like
| they were watching me; fish-white flesh puckered by the
| Highland breeze; tight eyes peering out for fresh meat;
| screechy, booze-soaked voices hollering out for a taxi to
| take 'em halfway up the road to the next all-night watering
| hole. A shatter of glass; a round of applause; a sixteen-
| year-old mother of three vomiting in an open sewer, bairns
| looking on, chewing on potato cakes. I ain't never going
| back... not never.
| zeristor wrote:
| Is that you watching the YouTube video?
|
| https://youtu.be/T8wIgQB9GIA
| thebruce87m wrote:
| Yes, lived in Glasgow for 10 years so it's one of my
| favourites.
| thom wrote:
| Perhaps moreso Monkey Dust?
| ndsipa_pomu wrote:
| I'm a big fan of Monkey Dust, but due to legal
| complications with the music copyrights, they were only
| able to release the first season on DVD. Pirating is the
| only way too watch seasons 2 and 3.
| gybon wrote:
| Some brilliant sketches in there.
|
| One of my favourites is the man who attends his own funeral:
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=HhBkC6B9I2U
| algesten wrote:
| My favorite is the detached upperclass parents who didn't
| notice their child not coming home from school:
| https://youtu.be/sydPKgC_Or4?t=1137
| GordonS wrote:
| I remember staying up late as a kid, so I could listen to Blue
| Jam! Such amazing sounds! I seem to recall it was annoyingly
| late tho, like 2am or such.
| mellosouls wrote:
| We should also remember On The Hour, the original radio
| precursor to The Day Today, though I think the TV series is
| more important.
|
| My own favourite Chris Morris production is probably his Radio
| 1 series with the painfully embarrassing improvised tasks he'd
| set his hapless roving man on the scene.
|
| I think that was also the one that got him temporarily banned
| from the Beeb for implying - but not outright stating - that
| Michael Heseltine (very senior British politician at the time)
| had died from a heart attack.
|
| Edit: Ah, here. Typically facetious interview with "close
| personal friend, colleague and bass player of the Jam, Bruce
| Foxton"
|
| https://youtu.be/SiTEtJN2LdU
|
| "hit the ground screaming",
|
| "which of your bass lines would be a suitable sort of lament",
| etc, etc
| petepete wrote:
| Chris Morris is still on form. Here's his speech from the LMC
| Conference from a couple of months ago.
|
| https://youtu.be/vECEz1E0HWg
| inopinatus wrote:
| Circling back to the OP, _On The Hour_ is the radio programme
| for which the character of Alan Partridge was originally
| developed in 1991.
| AndrewOMartin wrote:
| > "The Ukraine declared its own independent laws of physics.
| Under the new legislation only natural-born Ukrainians were
| granted the right to have density, speed was calculated to
| equal boiling-point over height and friction was abolished,
| which caused increased mortality around hills, but meant that
| Ukrainians could glide over hundreds of miles with just one
| push. Meanwhile in Kiev over three hundred protesters were
| injured in gravity riots."
| evere wrote:
| Backed the full shows up here a few years ago if anyone is
| interested.
|
| https://archive.org/details/OnTheHour
|
| The Chris Morris Music Show was another humorous radio show
| he did in 1994.
|
| https://archive.org/details/TheChrisMorrisMusicShow
| raffraffraff wrote:
| Oh, speaking of Radio shows, there was a hilarious spoof
| call-in show on BBC Radio front 2006 to 2013. That's really
| worth a listen.
|
| https://archive.org/details/DownTheLineBBCRadio4
| Cipater wrote:
| Thank you.
| rwmj wrote:
| If you like Chris Morris, then you might also like Victor Lewis
| Smith who had a similar sense of humour. (I'm not going to get
| into an argument about whether one influenced the other. There
| was apparently a bit of bad blood.) He (VLS) died recently and
| the BBC did a retrospective:
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kgd2
| mattl wrote:
| https://archive.org/details/vls-archive seems to have a lot
| of good stuff
| afavour wrote:
| The Suicide Journalist sketch has been rattling around my head
| ever since I first heard it.
| Bluecobra wrote:
| Thanks for this, I never heard of Blue Jam but I do own the Jam
| DVDs. I had to get a region free player to watch them.
| harel wrote:
| Blue Jam was so funny and horrific at the same time. I actually
| liked the TV version of it. Good to hear it mentioned.
| totetsu wrote:
| The kind of thing they 'got away with' was cutting in shots of
| black and brown people doing their cultural dances with shots
| unrelated Brits with a laugh track backing.
| joiqj wrote:
| Sounds amusing.
| Gordonjcp wrote:
| [citation needed]
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