Quote: Gordon Bennett @ January 29 2013, 7:58 PM GMT

I know this "realism" discussion leads to nowhere. But yesterday I thought: this Gary is sexier (as far as I can judge this being a hetero guy), then Miranda claims to be in love with him for the last 14 years, she knows the other guy two weeks or so, the other one gave her the elbow for a job and and and...

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They were trying to suggest that Gary's a bit rubbish with commitment and keeps changing his mind about whether they should be friends or in a relationship. And all that jazz.
And the other guy is more stable.
But, no one would think she should go with him over Gary!

Quote: Aaron @ January 29 2013, 7:55 PM GMT

That was why they weren't interested in ordering a revival recently. Big, big difference from any decision to originally end the series more than a decade ago.

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Still, strange thing to admit officially you're not interested in a certain kind of audience.

Commissioners are twats.

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ January 29 2013, 8:00 PM GMT

Still, strange thing to admit officially you're not interested in a certain kind of audience.

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The BBC make no secret that they're trying to appeal to different groups with different shows, and that - for example - they're not particularly interested in more My Family-esque middle-class sitcoms at present.

And they're not ashamed of being twats.

We have the same problem here in Switzerland (also paying a licence fee). The makers of our national TV feel obliged to give as a balanced range of programmes. So everyone seems to be dissatisfied.

I don't get the popularity of this I just don't! Woman falls over, she is tall, woman likes man, he is small, friend is tiny, woman falls over, woman gets stuck, woman likes man, woman falls over.
It is just not funny!!!!!

Quote: Charley @ January 29 2013, 9:44 PM GMT

I don't get the popularity of this I just don't! Woman falls over, she is tall, woman likes man, he is small, friend is tiny, woman falls over, woman gets stuck, woman likes man, woman falls over.
It is just not funny!!!!!

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Are we related?

Can anyone help me with this please?

The scene when Miranda told Stevie that she's going away :

STEVIE: No, you won't really go away. You're all mouth and no trouser on the travel front.
SOME OF THE AUDIENCE LAUGH
MIRANDA: Sometimes, literally, if you remember Marbella '96?
AUDIENCE LAUGH
Then the flashback.

So, what's funny about Miranda's line? Any historical incident happened in Marbella '96, or any reference that I don't know about?

There'll be no singificance to it Cheryl, in Miranda every single line gets laughed at, it's all automated. Some will be light laughs and some will be ridiculous, to give it some balance, but at the end of every line a can will be activated. They get through 743 cans an episode on average and it takes them a year to fill the cans they use for her prattish falls. This is why there's a long gap between series, as it only takes five minutes to actually write one.

(can laughter)

Quote: Cheryl @ January 30 2013, 2:07 AM GMT

Can anyone help me with this please?

The scene when Miranda told Stevie that she's going away :

STEVIE: No, you won't really go away. You're all mouth and no trouser on the travel front.
SOME OF THE AUDIENCE LAUGH
MIRANDA: Sometimes, literally, if you remember Marbella '96?
AUDIENCE LAUGH
Then the flashback.

So, what's funny about Miranda's line? Any historical incident happened in Marbella '96, or any reference that I don't know about?

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The above scene doesn't make sense! STEVIE is stating a fact, bacause he was in Marbella when it happened. So, why did MIRANDA confirm what he had just said???

Wouldn't have been better to do this ...

STEVIE: No, you won't really go away. You're all mouth and no trouser on the travel front. Remember Marbella '96?
SOME OF THE AUDIENCE LAUGH
Then the flashback.
MIRANDA glares at the camera.

Agreed, neither version is very funny. I'm not a miracle worker.

First of all Stevie is a SHE, not a HE.

"Marbella 96" can be considered as funny, because with a chaotic character as Miranda is an expression like "Marbella 96" can be associated with disaster. "Marbella 96" sounds like "9/11" or "D-Day" or something.

Quote: Charlie Boy @ January 30 2013, 9:17 AM GMT

The above scene doesn't make sense! STEVIE is stating a fact, bacause he was in Marbella when it happened. So, why did MIRANDA confirm what he had just said???

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Stevie's a girl - the second most important character in the show.
So probably best to have seen the scene before commenting.

However...Miranda is referring to a time when she 'literally' had no trousers on - painting a visual image that amuses the audience.
Hence the laughter.
The flashback then adds flesh to the bone, showing the incident in question.
It's a pretty standard way of raising a laugh.

Edit: GB got there first.

It's like in a Father Ted episode where Ted says to Dougal something like: "Don't leave your seat...we don't want a repeat of the Sea-Link-incident, do we?".
And we all know there must have been a disaster involving Dougal.

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ January 30 2013, 9:28 AM GMT

It's like in a Father Ted episode where Ted says to Dougal something like: "Don't leave your seat...we don't want a repeat of the Sea-Link-incident, do we?".
And we all know there must have been a disaster involving Dougal.

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But it works with Father Ted, and not with Miranda.