Finally this year we get a new comedy show. I love his radio stuff and hope that this is a better transition than The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff.
 

I can't wait! Hope it's as good as the review on here suggests.

He is wayyyy overdue his own show

Hope it is worth the wait
 

Well that was a bit meh


 

It's Milton Jones, so here were a handful of great lines, but overall it just didn't work. It felt flat, like Spaced with all the air taken out. It might have worked better and had more energy with a studio audience.

All in all a real disappointment after his radio stuff.
 

Had quite an Amelie feel to it......

It had an odd sort of airless quality, stilted, which with a bit of sharper editing and music choices could be sorted. I wasn't really sure what to make of it half the time, but by the time the two gas men were fighting I was enjoying it.

Actually, the feel reminded me of Lee Evans sitcom, which was terrible.

I'd be interested in seeing more. It would need more laugh out loud bits next time though, but an intersting and different pilot.

Quote: Jinky @ January 13 2012, 11:03 PM GMT

Had quite an Amelie feel to it......

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Yeah, there was a bit of that.
 

I thought it was brilliant personally - we all know he can do the one-liners, but the surreal links from one scene to the next worked really well, as did the played for laughs OTT supporting characters. Seriously hope this gets picked up.

It wasn't very funny, but that is no reason to turn down a sitcom these days. Too much style over substance for me, but at least the bits that tried something tried something (I laughed three times, but they were good quality laughs).

It wasn't at all what I expected so took a bit of adjusting to, but I really enjoyed it. As Badge says, only a handful of really good laughs, but it had the most bizarre, subversive feel to it, which made those light moments all the sweeter. Overall I felt that the first half was a bit slow and it only really fell into place after the advert break; not perfect, but then few pilots are. More than enough that I'd welcome a series.
 

I know the past had it easy and used up all the best sitcom scenarios but does that mean the only place to go now is production gimmickry and camera trickery?
You couldn't imagine, 30 years ago, that this is what they'd be making as sitcoms. This isn't a sitcom, it's just a mess, trendy or not. IMO. I'd honestly rather watch My Family or Life Of Riley than this sort of stuff.

And but for one or two funny lines, the script had more pauses and gaps than a Pinter play. Making a sitcom shouldn't be this ruddy complicated. The old way works - decent characters, decent storylines, a good funny script is always a bonus, but they don't grow on trees. This sort of stuff is just going down the wrong track. Sitcom's already been invented and it works! The odd good one in this vein, like HNTLYL or Spaced is fine as a bit of variety, but I'd hate this to become the norm.

Actually, Spaced is quite old now so what's this one doing trying to copy it?

By Milton's own admission there is a hint of Spaced about it. He claimed if he'd made a more traditional looking sitcom it wouldn't work to his benefit.

When asked 'Is it quite a traditional sitcom?' he replied...
"Yes, sort of. Except it's non-audience. The film techniques they use make it seem more like a film than a sitcom. There is slow-motion and fast-motion, dark lighting... this isn't a totally old school sitcom. There is a hint of Spaced thrown in as well."
"If I had to put it in one of those dreadful, so-and-so meets so-and-so lines, it would be Rising Damp meets Mr Bean. That's terrible. It's big and physical. There's a lot of physical humour rather than clever wordplay. It's visual jokes."

I think it's a great vehicle for him to express himself in a new way. It felt like classic Milton but in actions as opposed to words.

Despite what you or I think of how it was shot it made me laugh, and that's all I ask from a comedy show. Good work Milton.

Here's an interesting interview on Digital Spy posted two days ago
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/interviews/a359798/milton-jones-interview-mock-the-week-had-too-much-testosterone.html
 

Quote: Badge @ January 14 2012, 1:08 AM GMT

It wasn't very funny, but that is no reason to turn down a sitcom these days. Too much style over substance for me

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Yeah, for me all the trickery just ended up having a distancing affect, which is a shame as there was some nice stuff buried underneath it all, begging to be brought to the surface.
 

It took me some time to get into but by the end I was really enjoying. Some of the sight gags were great. I also agree with most of the points made by Aaron.

Quote: hotzappa11 @ January 14 2012, 6:32 PM GMT

It took me some time to get into but by the end I was really enjoying. Some of the sight gags were great.

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I liked it in this way too.