Badults - Series 1 Page 7

The only person working really hard on this show is the guy who has to "sweeten" the supposed audience laughter. I really would like to be in the actual audience observing them. For one thing there cannot be THAT many people in the audience after the first five minutes of any screening.

Having watched episode two my chief thought is that material, though sometimes weak, was not well-served by the approach of the production.

Studio sitcoms are tough to pull off, but their great strength is in creating the illusion of a shared experience between live audience and the viewer at home. If you damage that bond, you might as well film single-camera and add in canned laughter.

If you look at how the show was directed, the camera is often moving around, as if it's trying to emulate a single-camera show. But this ends up being very distracting; single-cam technique fused with a multicam look (flat but bright overhead lighting bouncing harshly off table tops etc). They could have used a brighter, warmer look, too. The set looks incredibly cheap.

I think the show would have done better if it had adopted the staged feeling of a FRIENDS or FRASIER. There, the cameras are relatively static and dynamism is created in the shot selection, with four of five cameras' worth of footage to use in the edit but the wide-shot POV of the studio audience a constant.

One from Badults looks a bit like Christoph Lauer, German politician of the "Piratenpartei".

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Maybe it's just because I'm a fan of Pappy's slapdash and messy style from their podcasts, but I'm quite enjoying Badults. It's quite broad and definitely not something I would usually like, but the main cast (with the exception of Emer Kenny) seem to simply be having fun with what they're doing and not trying too hard and to me that's just really charming.

I was a little put off by the first few minutes of the first episode, but after Tom leans close in to Rachel and shouted "Shut up, you dick" I understood the kind of attitude the show was after.

The umbrella gag made me laugh. First chuckle of the series.

I'm finding the show likeable, although it continues to feel dated what with this week's archaic Lock Stock, and Jurassic Park references.

I wasn't very familiar with Pappy's, but decided to give episode 1 a view and didn't feel it was that bad. There were lots of funny little gags and visual japes, but it never really grabbed hold of my attention and my mind started to wander at times. Maybe it was just too silly at times at the expense of plot? I might watch another episode, but won't be rushing.

Quote: Smartcomedy @ July 27 2013, 3:23 PM BST

(And plot driven sitcoms are far harder to write than sitcoms with little plot, where the characters sit around insulting each other for 30 mins, like Two Pints, Grownups, Coming Of Age, Vicious etc.)

Wow. You've not watched any of those programmes, have you? Two Pints, at very least, is one of the most plot- (and character-) driven sitcoms of the past decade.

I love the stage show, but that's the problem, it's a game show.

They just don't seem to handle the cold, cold world of TV.

Quote: MCharsley @ July 28 2013, 11:32 AM BST

I just watched the first episode and was pleasantly surprised after reading this thread/Twitter. Loads of fun, so silly. It could have been a kids' show. Not all the jokes were hits but I laughed out loud a few times, which is unusual. I can see it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but I'm amazed at the level of vitriol. I'll definitely watch the next episode.

This.

I've only got around to watching the first two episodes today, but was hugely relieved. It didn't always work, and I thought it could do with a stronger plot around which to hang their anarchy, but the sense of silliness and make-you-laugh humour was refreshing, enjoyable, and I too laughed out loud on multiple occasions.

Quote: curtis patrick @ July 30 2013, 8:10 PM BST

And I think people do give comedies a chance - that's why the classics become the classics but if you hate sushi it ain't going to drastically change having a second one.

Yeah, but the fact I hate seafood doesn't mean it's a null-and-void foodstuff that no one else should eat either. Comedy is equally a matter of taste.

Quote: Jinky @ July 30 2013, 10:11 PM BST

I tried to find the viewing figures for the first episode but all I discovered was that Family Guy makes up the entire top ten for BBC Three.

You can find viewing figures (for that episode) in our guide. Not difficult.

Ratings for the two episodes since have indeed been too low to record.

See also: https://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000848/bbc_three_ratings_continue_to_slide/

Quote: Aaron @ August 12 2013, 9:39 PM BST

Yeah, but the fact I hate seafood doesn't mean it's a null-and-void foodstuff that no one else should eat either. Comedy is equally a matter of taste.

Agreed, I was more referring to the issue that people don't give comedies a chance, I think after watching one ep sometimes you just know it's not for you, where as with the classics, you see something good maybe even small and then it grows as the show grows.

It's horrible, not one single laugh in the first episode, thought I'd give it another go but only managed 5 minutes before switching off. All the "jokes" are set up so clumsily you can see the punchlines coming a mile off. The acting is poor and there is nothing about the characters that makes me want to spend another minute watching them. To me it smacks of three people desperate to be the new Young Ones rather than coming up with something original of their own.

Quote: curtis patrick @ August 12 2013, 10:56 PM BST

Agreed, I was more referring to the issue that people don't give comedies a chance, I think after watching one ep sometimes you just know it's not for you, where as with the classics, you see something good maybe even small and then it grows as the show grows.

There are people who dislike even some of the classics, of course. But yes, I misunderstood slightly; a fair point. :)

Really enjoyed episode 3 a lot more, glad I stuck with it. Some weak links again, but the bank scenes had me laughing a lot.

I really can't understand how anybody can like this show, it really is awful, one of the worst comedies ever made in my opinion. But everyone is entitled to their opinions but I really do hate Badults, hopefully a second series won't come to fruition.