Quote: Gary May @ March 5 2011, 11:45 AM GMT

The trouble with Simon Bird is everyone thought he was funny after Inbetweeners....which led to him climbing way up on his pedestal. After The King is Dead and now Friday Night Dinner - it appears his 'acting' is just him being his normal self!!!!!

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(SHAMELESS NAME-DROP ALERT...) I don't think so. The one time I had a chat with Simon Bird he didn't come across at all like when he's "in character"; he was a fairly softly spoken, seemingly modest young man. He also struck me as very polite, as he patiently listened to me droning-on for ten minutes without once telling me to f**k off. I suspect that his character in this show was written with him in mind and therefore the dialogue will tend to play to his perceived strengths.

Quote: Gary May @ March 5 2011, 11:45 AM GMT

The trouble with Simon Bird is everyone thought he was funny after Inbetweeners....which led to him climbing way up on his pedestal. After The King is Dead and now Friday Night Dinner - it appears his 'acting' is just him being his normal self!!!!!

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Regardless of whether Bird is funny or not (I think he is), whenever somebody is involved in a succesful show or film they get other shows thrown at them willy-nilly. I suspect the cast of The Inbetweeners will be dining out on that show for the next fifteen years or more.

Oh - and I've finally worked out who it is that Paul Ritter's voice reminds me of - the late Ken Campbell.

Quote: Mark @ March 3 2011, 12:09 PM GMT

It is too early to write it off. Just like Grandma's House, this reportedly gets better as it goes along. Plus, hey, we haven't had a chance to get to know the characters properly yet.

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Not to stray too much off topic but I disagree. The first episode of a new series should be good enough to keep viewers interested. ( I know there have been some exceptions to this but mostly this is the rule, right?) This applies to building the characters' relationship with the audience as well. Expecting viewers to hang around to see if it gets better is a bit much to ask. Personally I thought it was OK but nothing special.

Quote: bob4apples @ March 6 2011, 9:04 PM GMT

Not to stray too much off topic but I disagree. The first episode of a new series should be good enough to keep viewers interested.

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Agreed. Films and plays don't get a second, third or fourth chance to impress, they have to do it first time round, so why make an exception for sitcoms?

Sure, they *should* get it right first episode. But what if episodes 2-6 are hilarious, and you've stubbornly refused to watch them just because the first wasn't up to scratch? You're losing out on good entertainment just as much as they are losing out on one viewer.

And that doesn't allow for growers. The first time I watched epsiode one of Green Wing I thought it was boring and unfunny, but I kept watching and came to love it, then the second time I watched that first episode I loved every minute.

(And that's happened to me with a few films and albums too, so it wouldn't be an exception for TV or sitcoms.)

I didn't really enjoy the second episode as much. Thought there was far too much repition of lines (repetition of lines? Yes, repetition of lines) and of lines that really weren't funny in the first place.

I found myself thinking that nothing's happening and that in the same amount of time in an Only Fools and Horses *loads* would have happened.

I laughed, and lots, at some of the lines. But was seriously disappointed in this, this week.

My mum, who basically watches nothing I watch, specially pointed this out as a terrible, terrible, rubbish thing she'd watched. We never talk about TV. Ever. So she must have thought it was bad.

Dan

Quote: zooo @ March 6 2011, 9:32 PM GMT

Sure, they *should* get it right first episode. But what if episodes 2-6 are hilarious, and you've stubbornly refused to watch them just because the first wasn't up to scratch? You're losing out on good entertainment just as much as they are losing out on one viewer. And that doesn't allow for growers. The first time I watched epsiode one of Green Wing I thought it was boring and unfunny, but I kept watching and came to love it, then the second time I watched that first episode I loved every minute. (And that's happened to me with a few films and albums too, so it wouldn't be an exception for TV or sitcoms.)

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Life's too short to make yourself sit through hours of sitcom pap on the off chance it might improve, zooo! You pretty much know in that first 30 minutes if it works for you or not.

Agree that life is too short to watch a whoooole series, but give it 2 or 3 episodes!

And totally disagree with the first 30 minutes thing. I've gone from hating something to loving it several times, and it took more time than that.

Of course, if I absolutely despised something I might ditch it after 10 minutes. So I am a massive hypocrite.

Quote: chipolata @ March 6 2011, 9:21 PM GMT

Agreed. Films and plays don't get a second, third or fourth chance to impress, they have to do it first time round, so why make an exception for sitcoms?

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Yes, sitcoms should make you want to watch more from the first ep, but it's obviously not quite the same as a one off film or play. A sitcom can start a bit shaky, as long as there's SOMETHING there to perk your interest, and improve from there.

Quote: zooo @ March 6 2011, 9:32 PM GMT

And that doesn't allow for growers. The first time I watched epsiode one of Green Wing I thought it was boring and unfunny,

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I remember not liking the first ep much too, or being a bit thrown by what I was seeing anyway; but soon tuned in to it.

Quote: bob4apples @ March 6 2011, 9:04 PM GMT

Not to stray too much off topic but I disagree. The first episode of a new series should be good enough to keep viewers interested.

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Yes, this is true. It should have something that makes you want to watch more, even if it hasn't completely won you over yet.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ March 6 2011, 10:01 PM GMT

Yes, sitcoms should make you want to watch more from the first ep, but it's obviously not quite the same as a one off film or play. A sitcom can start a bit shaky, as long as there's SOMETHING there to perk you'r interest, and improve from there.

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And I'm more than happy to stay with a show if it perks my interest, even if it is flawed.

Arguably a conventional sitcom should grab your attention from the outset, but something really original might require that the viewer adjusts. Take Peep Show, for example; there are several people on this very messageboard who don't watch it because they never came to terms with the point of view shots. Their loss!

Quote: Nogget @ March 7 2011, 6:26 AM GMT

Arguably a conventional sitcom should grab your attention from the outset, but something really original might require that the viewer adjusts. Take Peep Show, for example; there are several people on this very messageboard who don't watch it because they never came to terms with the point of view shots. Their loss!

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A good example. The first ever episode of Peep Show (if you can watch it objectively) whilst perfectly fine, doesn't have the words "instant hit" written all over it. It does what needs to be done in Episode 1, i.e. establishing characters, situation and the beginnings of a plot arc (Mark and Sophie), but doesn't exactly set the world on fire in terms of hilarity. (Saying that, the episode does contain the excellent Mark line "I am the Lord of the Bus, said He!" - which was possibly enough for people to give episode 2 a go.)

Quote: Tim Walker @ March 7 2011, 8:19 AM GMT

A good example. The first ever episode of Peep Show (if you can watch it objectively) whilst perfectly fine, doesn't have the words "instant hit" written all over it.

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It's still not a 'hit', is it? Despite seven great series!

Quote: Matthew Stott @ March 7 2011, 9:09 AM GMT

It's still not a 'hit', is it? Despite seven great series!

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That said, I can't think of many recent C4 sitcoms that would get better ratings.