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Back to DTDD as easy, familiar watching. Turns out this is the series with one of my favourite jokes (“More on Heseltine…” “Yes he is, isn’t he”), Daniel Craig’s early role, an incredible piece of using silence as comedic tension builder, and some iffy sexual politics around “turning” a lesbian, but such is life. Fun to see, in 1993, an older character say “you can’t even compliment a woman these days!” and feel like that’s the #MeToo equivalent of the ancient Greek quotation everyone brings up about how the kids today have no respect.
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Watching this for maybe the second or third time? I recall catching a fair amount of it when Joe and Phoebe were watching it in the kitchen in 2nd year, but I dont think I’ve ever sat down to do a proper rewatch. I still think it works better than most of its detractors are willing to give it credit for. Maybe that’s just another example of my preferring creative swings for the fences, ambition being more interesting than easy success. A crying shame that the real version of S4 is hidden in the Netflix interface for the inferior remix, which defeats the entire writing structure of the season. At it’s best when multiple characters are around to work off each other, but by the time we get to the back half of the season and the threads are paying off, it’s glorious.
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For some reason, we’ve each been hankering for a bit of a Comedy Vehicle rewatch, so why not. Weird to see how embryonic it still feels in this form. The sketches by and large don’t work yet, and it lacks the interrogator. But the stand-up routines themselves are untouchable. Toilet books, Trigger making a face, and dick caught in zipper. It’s all there.
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An infuriating watch, mostly by design - of the four main characters, there is barely one I can actually empathise with. Maybe that’s a failure on my part. I’m sure, if faced with the fate of a terminal diagnosis, I might look blindly for any hope I could find, orthodox or not. But Apple Cider Vinegar broadly fails to even really attempt to paint that, so instead you’ve got these unbearable people eschewing all sensible medical advice. Interesting to find another angle as to how social media is a terrible idea all around, and Kaitlin Dever is phenomenal to watch as ever. It’s a bit too pleased with itself sometimes, especially around e.g. how it does the “based on a real story” disclaimers, but at least it’s having fun.
One of those annoying instances where the hype is absolutely correct. Four breathless hours of television, each with their own highlights, but I think the common consensus of episodes 2 and 3 being the stand outs holds up. Obviously it’s all subjective, and I would never claim that you couldn’t dislike Adolescence on its own terms, but I think it’s telling that a lot of the criticism comes from a place that the show itself is trying to depict - the idea that all this stuff is out there in the manosphere, that teenage kids are consuming it, and that you - someone older, an adult, a parent - might not even know it, that we’ve stumbled unaware into the abyss. Incredible performances all around, not least from Owen Cooper in the lead as his debut role. The final episode, arguably a coda of aftermath, is somewhat anticlimactic, but even in that performs as a moment of reflection, a depiction of life going on.
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It’s a relatively last minute decision to stay up and watch this live, but not one I regret. Conan is a great host, Kieran Culkin is a delight, Adrien Brody needs shutting up, and so does Mariella Frostrup in the studio. Jonathan Ross is the perfect ITV coverage host, though. Roll on next year.
Big big fan of the gambit Rooke pulls in the final episode of this, I am an absolute sucker for that sort of thing. A fitting end to an excellent series.
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Continues to be a really charming show, that doesn’t fully coast on the likeability of its cast. I think it helps that I personally was at uni in the same time period. Makes me nostalgic for a) that, and b) Fresh Meat - slice of life uni sitcoms/dramedies, yes please.
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On the whole enjoyable, leaning more into the drama than the previous series, but with some wonderfully comic moments throughout. It’s not that I dislike Lenny Rush elsewhere, but yeah, you really remember why he’s hitting it big when you watch him in this. I think I still don’t fully buy some of the character motives, which is difficult when, as mentioned, it starts to care more about plot than comedy, but it just about holds up that end.
Had my doubts before it started - Amanda not being my favourite character in Motherland - but this so quickly falls into the strengths of the original that you could easily have kept the title. Siobhan McSweeney is so very good as a stand-out in an excellent ensemble, and Peter Serafinowicz throws the whole thing into a new loop. I would watch this for years.
More two-episode miniseries, please. Or, I mean, just make it a film? I dunno. The kind of show that is absolutely reliant on the performance of its leads, and luckily both Coogan and Walter show up. Walter especially, given the long list of previous Thatchers. I don’t know if it really says much about the rise and fall of long-form political interviews on television, but it’s entertaining to watch another Thatcher downfall.
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As the rest of it does, admittedly, get stale, Dictionary Corner remains arguably one of the best showcases of comedians who don’t quite make sense in the panel show format. Take, for example, Ewins - he needs the tech, that’s his USP, and that would never fly on Mock The Week or WILTY or anything. But a space of just “you get three minutes with no constraints within the format”? Perfect. Him, Campbell, The Delightful Sausage, ABK. And, of course, the show’s poet in residence, Dr. John Cooper Clarke.
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Took about an episode to ramp up, but it grows from a lot of deliciously written lines, to wonderful scenes, to tightly drawn and lived-in characters. A charmingly bleak little thing.
I think it must be about 7 years since I last watched this, and I love how happy I am every time I remember a character. Much soapier than I remember, and I don’t mind it! The music is gorgeous. David Lynch passed away between us starting to (re)watch this and finishing this season, so that’s added a whole new weight to it.
A cracking edition of this, to be fair. A good cast who enjoy the studio and can relax into themselves. Would I want a full series with them? Maybe not, but that’s what this is for.
Oh god, it’s still one of the best things on TV. Claudia Winkleman is perfect for it and I cannot believe the formula keeps working. The producers are definitely playing with the contestants’ expectations more, which is a lot of fun.