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Ripping Yarns

Written and performed by Michael Palin, this is a show that’s long been on my radar but never seen.

It’s really good! Spoofs of Boy’s Own type adventure stories, with the expected Python approach.

If like me you have BritBox, well worth watching.

The Devil In Ohio

Based on the book of the same name, and adapted by the author, TDIO tells the story of May Dodds, a teenage girl who arrives in hospital bearing disturbing marks of abuse one evening after flagging down a passing car on the roadside in the middle of nowhere.

I think the first thing to say is that, largely down to its unusual pacing, this show isn't for everyone. It pushes the idea of slow burn close to breaking point. It's also not unfair to suggest that the pay off in the end doesn't justify the patience anyone watching will have shown nor the time invested.

But for all that, the show does have something to offer. For a start it does an admirable job of hinting at supernatural powers at work while presenting little that isn't utterly mundane. It also keeps the viewer guessing as to where the true threat is coming from all the way through, in one sense even after the final credits roll, which is no mean feat.

The main plot structure is supported by a good number of sub plots, and thanks to the generally universally high standard of casting it's easy to invest in most of the characters. The only actor I really struggled with was unfortunately Emily Deschenal in the lead, and that's probably mostly due to the fact that her role, or her portrayal at least, seems to blend rather with her character on Bones, which I guess is always going to be a risk when an actor's career is defined by such a prominent part.

It's hard to imagine that anyone would come away from watching TDIO totally disappointed, but conversely it's hard to see anyone raving about it either. It's probably worth an episode or two to see if it grabs your attention, or adding to the list for when there's not a lot else tickling your fancy.

Hard Cell

I only started watching this because I'd seen some reviews and wanted to see exactly how bad it is.

This may be the first thing Catherine Tate has created from scratch since her self titled sketch show, and she also stars as multiple characters (write the feem toon, sing the feem toon) from the prison governor to several of the inmates (it's set in a women's prison, but that's where comparisons to Orange Is The New Black start and stop.)

This is British sitcom, red in tooth and claw, with all the trimmings, from slightly uncomfortable racial stereotypes to, well, other slightly uncomfortable racial stereotypes.

By the first 10 minutes of episode 1, I was so angry at the lack of quality I was about to turn it off, and if it wasn't for the timely deployment of a poop joke that made me smile in spite of myself this would be a different review.

Hard Cell has a 20% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a near 80% viewer score, and that tells you everything. Most critics will base a review on a few episodes, and it really takes the show all of that and more to differentiate itself from the clichés of the worst of its kind.

Watched in its entirety it manages to elevate itself to at least watchable, if not even outright good at times, and the last episode carries a sting in the tail that, largely thanks to the fact that you just don't expect it from a comedy, doesn't feel like it would be out of place in the writing room of Game Of Thrones or Line Of Duty.

I can't in good conscience recommend this to any random person who might be reading, large parts of it are poor, if not bordering on offensive (and not the good sort of offensive for a comedy.) But thanks to a timely joke about number 2s, I kept watching to the end, found a surprising amount of heart and drama in a place I was least expecting it, and should there be a second season (not confirmed at time of writing) I'll happily go back for more. But that's my problem, and you don't need to make it yours.

Oh, and Heather from EastEnders is in it playing someone called Cheryl Ferguson, whoever that is.

Still over the moon to have Beavis and Butthead back.

They’ve mixed it up with some Old Beavis and Butthead, where they’re middle aged, but definitely no less stupid. And in our increasingly stressful world, a weekly dose of stupidity goes a long way.

I don't know what's worse, that some idiot thought it would be great to bring back that unfunny pile of s***, or that some people are glad they have.

Beavis & Butthead is a stone cold classic. Absolutely formative to me, and something to be enjoyed entirely unironically.

Simple stories of a pair of self destructive simpletons blundering their way through life. It’s influence on animated telly cannot be underestimated. Like. At all.

Well, it's all subjective of course, but I found the animation crap, the jokes non-existent and the actual voices utterly hideous. It's ranks (to me) one the most unappealing pieces of TV.

It is of its time. The humour is a lot like Viz (another thing I adore). On the surface? It is just fart and knob gags galore. Especially in the early days for both.

But, lurking below the surface is some pretty sharp social satire.

Giving Wayward Pines a spin.

So far, I’m impressed. Shades of American Gothic (and not just because of Juliette Lewis), and a certain degree of Twin Peaks. Perhaps just a pinch of Silent Hill too.

It’s definitely atmospheric.

Hmm, no-one seems to have mentioned Detectorists yet.

Beautiful, heartwarming, absolute labour of love written, directed by, and starring Mackenzie Crook. You can summarise it as being largely about 2 blokes who go out metal-detecting in their spare time, but that really doesn't do it justice. It's honestly one of the best comedy series (although Americans in particular might not even recognize it as such - it's no laugh-a-minute, filmed in front of a cackling studio audience type of thing) I've ever seen. Just watch it!

With new material coming! (Just a special rather than a whole series, but exciting nonetheless!)

Yeah I had heard that was coming. Really looking forward to it - but at the same time, everything had ended nicely and I don't want that spoiled...

Crispy78 wrote:
Hmm, no-one seems to have mentioned Detectorists yet.

Beautiful, heartwarming, absolute labour of love written, directed by, and starring Mackenzie Crook. You can summarise it as being largely about 2 blokes who go out metal-detecting in their spare time, but that really doesn't do it justice. It's honestly one of the best comedy series (although Americans in particular might not even recognize it as such - it's no laugh-a-minute, filmed in front of a cackling studio audience type of thing) I've ever seen. Just watch it!

Genuinely great series with both comedy and heart. Reminds me of more traditional TV in a good way.

Crispy78 wrote:
Yeah I had heard that was coming. Really looking forward to it - but at the same time, everything had ended nicely and I don't want that spoiled...

Mackenzie Crooke has total control of the whole thing, he's writer, director and co star and is on record as saying he'd only go back if he felt he had an idea worth telling, I think it'll be ok.

The Undeclared War was a good show, even if it ended rather abruptly. So was Trigger Point.

Really anything with Adrian Lester in it.

Both simple 6-part British television shows, the first one dealing with cyber-terrorism/state propaganda and the second with a MET police explosives disposal unit.

I trust you’ve enjoyed Hustle then? Not only Adrian Lester, but the delightful Jaime Murray. And The Man From Uncle.

I own every season of Hustle. Watched it a few times.

Yes, big fan of Jaime Murray. And Kylie Mino... I mean Kelly Adams.

Not long now until the final third of the final season of The Walking Dead.

As I’ve said before, it really found its feet again in the latter seasons. Doing away with Rick and Carl was a risk, but I think it paid off. Still sucks for Chandler Riggs who allegedly found out he was to be killed off when they got their scripts.

Crispy78 wrote:
(although Americans in particular might not even recognize it as such - it's no laugh-a-minute, filmed in front of a cackling studio audience type of thing)

I've seen plenty of British shows with cackling studio audiences and canned laughter.

And American dramadies with no laugh track.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Crispy78 wrote:
(although Americans in particular might not even recognize it as such - it's no laugh-a-minute, filmed in front of a cackling studio audience type of thing)

I've seen plenty of British shows with cackling studio audiences and canned laughter.

And American dramadies with no laugh track.

I quite agree with you Kid Kyoto.

And the “Americans in particular….” kind of stereotyping gets old as an American who has lived in Europe for over two decades.

Trouble there is we only get certain shows on U.K. shores.

Tripe like Friends and Big Bang Theory, written by lazy boring comedy slags. Where the inference becomes “Americans need to be told when to laugh”.

That doesn’t make the inference true, but it is a perspective limited by select exposure.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Tripe like Friends and Big Bang Theory, written by lazy boring comedy slags. Where the inference becomes “Americans need to be told when to laugh”.

I still think that's entirely unfair. While both are as funny as a puddle of fresh puke, it's true to acknowledge they are massively successful. That may be why there is a blindness to other countries (i.e. UK) doing the same with less internationally famous shows. Ever had to suffer through an episode of Miranda? It's one of the least funny things ever commissioned. Without the laugh track it would be impossible to know it was a comedy.

The inference still exists because of bias.

Stuff like, sorry these are dated, I don’t watch much broadcast Telly, Young Ones, Bottom, Black Books etc don’t have laugh tracks, and are treasured gems.

Now the USA absolutely does produce top notch comedy, such as What We Do In The Shadows and Frasier.

But the bias remains “American’s need to be told when to laugh”. It’s inaccurate. It’s insulting. It’s based on extremely selective viewing. But it still exists. The relative success of crap comedies sadly reinforces this, whilst we brush off comedy stinkers the U.K. produces.

For instance, by opinion on Mrs Brown’s Boys cannot be shared on Dakka. Pretty sure that has a laugh track too, from the small sample I saw before my brain refused.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Onto more positive things

The Walking Dead

A strong opener for the last stretch. Villainy! Derring do! Little bit of Politics ladies and gentlemen but I’ve not been Ben Elton, and of course, some solid and nasty Zombie related deth.

Building quite nicely overall, and a decent cliff hanger..

Oh, is TWD finally back? It feels like so long I have completely forgotten what happened last time... lol.

I’ve not long finished rewatching

Not all comedy is for everyone. I find Black Books as unfunny as Seinfeld. I love What We Do in the Shadows, but my wife doesn’t find it funny. We both enjoy Schitt’s Creek and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but some of our friends don’t.


And if you want to know the secret of Friends and Big Bang Theory; it’s not so much that they’re funny as that they are comforting. Both aired often on reruns, and the characters, lame as they are, feel like coworkers or even friends. Just leave the TV on while you clean and cook and they become a parasocial friend group.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
For instance, by opinion on Mrs Brown’s Boys cannot be shared on Dakka. Pretty sure that has a laugh track

Brown's Boys has a live audience. Rather than being forced upon the show it is a natural feature, with the cast often struggling to corpse their way through when things break the fourth wall. I know those other shows have live audiences, but the canned laughter is dubbed over them in production. Brown's Boys is almost entirely genuine.

I once read that the laugh track on Red Dwarf was worked out in an interesting way. They'd record the episode longer than required, then screen to a very small select audience (in a shed!), note when they were laughing, re-edit to extend the funniest bits and skim through where the audience weren't overly amused, then add the laugh track over that. It all sounded rather complicated.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

fething finally. 7 long years. 7 years! Gundam is finally back with a full series entry that isn't a Build Fighters spin-off and it's already bloody glorious.

Now we just have to hope we get an ending like Code Geass or Eureka Seven out of the writer and not Guilty Crown. Please not Guilty Crown that gak didn't remotely make sense.

Alternate titles for this series:

Revolutionary Gundam Utena
Mobile Suit Gundam The Tempest

One of these is a lot more tragic than the other and I don't know which way it's going but I have to say I'm impressed someone slammed these three concepts together (Gundam, Revolutionary Girl, and The Tempest). The lead Gundam Aerial is an impressive design too with references and motifs that recall prior Gundams from across the franchise. Also it's the first Gundam in the series to be canonically confirmed sentient and possessing its own will which is pretty sweet for a series dipping its toes into cyberpunk and transhuman themes.

Dahmer

Ryan Murphy and Evan Peters reunite for a dramatised serialisation of the Milwaukee Cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer.

Dark, bleak, heavy, tragic and long wouldn't normally be words you'd expect someone positively disposed towards something to use when reviewing it, but here we are.

This show is a commitment, 10 episodes of at least 40 minutes telling any story is a commitment, but telling this story especially so. It took me a couple of weeks watching this an episode at a time, and while I'm not a great advocate of binge watching episodic drama, I would have minor concerns what doing that with this show could do to a viewer's mental state.

Dahmer's actions are a matter of public record, and there's be little point in recounting them here. The show's main strength and the main reason I'd recommend it is that it has the time and space to explore the impact on the victims, their families, Dahmer's family and others that get caught up in the fallout of his arrest.

The other main reason to recommend the show is it manages, largely successfully, to show the audience the tragedy of Dahmer as well as the irredeemable monster. There is potentially a victim of circumstances behind the serial killer, and this side is quietly presented to the audience without feeling like it's trying to defend his actions.

I've pretty much covered the downsides, it's long, it's bleak and nobody gets out of it unscathed. There's no happy endings and no levity. This show is all shade and no light.

But for all that, this show is a fascinating insight into the extremes human behaviour can reach when the right circumstances come into alignment. I make no guarantees as to the accuracy, but the details I was aware of all featured at some point. There's a follow up documentary hitting Netflix sometime this month. This is an excellent show if you feel you can handle the bleak outlook.

Ghosts

When looking for the new season of What We Do In The Shadows, turns out season 4 of Ghosts snuck it’s way on to iPlayer.

That’s my evening sorted! Got a pie in the oven, chips beans and beetroot to go with it, so an evening of darker season comforts is a go.