The Office V I'm Alan Partridge
Discover the unexpected twists and turns in the Sitcom World Cup Series as we analyze the quarterfinal victories of 'The Office' and 'Alan Partridge.' Join the ever-witty Leroy and Andreas as we unravel the charisma embedded in these shows. We'll traverse the genuine character developments in 'The Office,' paying homage to Tim and Dawn's tender romance and the nuances that make this British gem stand out from its American sibling. Even as we cherish these series, we bravely call out the minor blemishes that make them endearingly imperfect.
Leroy and Andreas and also pay tribute to the comedic finesse of characters like Matthew Holness' cameo in 'The Office,' and how a side role can unexpectedly capture an audience's heart. Then, as we dissect the comedy of 'Alan Partridge,' we delve into the subtle genius of Steve Coogan's expressions that leave fans in stitches.
The legacy of 'Alan Partridge' takes center stage as we ponder the character's resilience across various formats, from radio to film, standing as a testament to Coogan's brilliance. We contrast this with the mixed feelings towards David Brent's forays beyond 'The Office.' Our discussion is a love letter to sitcoms and the indelible characters that have become part of our cultural fabric. So join us for an episode filled with insightful critique, heartfelt nostalgia, and a dash of pre-show jitters as we approach the Sitcom World Cup Series' grand conclusion.
The Office V I'm Alan Partridge
Discover the unexpected twists and turns in the Sitcom World Cup Series as we analyze the quarterfinal victories of 'The Office' and 'Alan Partridge.' Join the ever-witty Leroy and Andreas as we unravel the charisma embedded in these shows. We'll traverse the genuine character developments in 'The Office,' paying homage to Tim and Dawn's tender romance and the nuances that make this British gem stand out from its American sibling. Even as we cherish these series, we bravely call out the minor blemishes that make them endearingly imperfect.
Leroy and Andreas and also pay tribute to the comedic finesse of characters like Matthew Holness' cameo in 'The Office,' and how a side role can unexpectedly capture an audience's heart. Then, as we dissect the comedy of 'Alan Partridge,' we delve into the subtle genius of Steve Coogan's expressions that leave fans in stitches.
The legacy of 'Alan Partridge' takes center stage as we ponder the character's resilience across various formats, from radio to film, standing as a testament to Coogan's brilliance. We contrast this with the mixed feelings towards David Brent's forays beyond 'The Office.' Our discussion is a love letter to sitcoms and the indelible characters that have become part of our cultural fabric. So join us for an episode filled with insightful critique, heartfelt nostalgia, and a dash of pre-show jitters as we approach the Sitcom World Cup Series' grand conclusion.
Living with Maidly. Living with Maidly. Living with Maidly. Maidly. Living with Maidly.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to Series 7, Episode 10 of the podcast Living with Maidly. This is the Sitcom World Cup Series. I'm one of the hosts. I am. Leroy Andreas is with me. Good evening. Yeah, it's evening now, Andrew. Good evening.
Speaker 3:It is, it's 6.33. And we're actually cheating. We're cheating because there's still four hours of the vote left for the quarterfinals. However, however, these two have fucking romped it. The office beat well is beating extras 81.8% to 18.2%, and Arnold and Partridge beat Gavin and Stace 75.8% to 24.2%. That's not going to turn around now, so we thought we'll get on it.
Speaker 2:Oh, and if it does, you won't hear this because we will have to re-record it, or hear this because we will have to record it or we could just lie.
Speaker 3:It's our thing. We could do like a Michelle Platini, Like corruption behind scenes. Stop fixing draw Today.
Speaker 2:I feel Partridge. What was his name?
Speaker 3:Oh no, was that Infantino? What's his name? Infantino? Yeah, today I feel what a dickhead he is, anyway, anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Well, I think we, or I certainly I can't speak for you, but I think I thought this would be the final, if I'm honest, the final, yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3:The thing is it's met in the semis because they both won. The group it office beat in between is by 1%. If that had gone the other way, partridge office would have been a second-round game and one of the big boys would have gone out. So I'd rather it happen here. I'd rather this be a semi-final than one of them going out in the second round. The four that we've got left, if you'd have said at the beginning of this they're the four, I have to admit I thought in-betweeners would get in there, not necessarily my. My favourite is just because of how popular it is, but these four are fucking brilliant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've got it down to a good four. So yeah, first up, we're going to start the ball rolling and up against Alan Partridge.
Speaker 3:But first of all, what we're going to. So, if you didn't hear the first semi-final, which was Phoenix Knights vs Father Ted, what we're going to do is pick out three things that we love about the office that we've not mentioned so far, and partridge up when that comes up, and three things we're not necessarily. Not sure we are scraping the barrel with all these. I think that's fair to say, isn't it, liam? Because they're all brilliant, but we're going to try and find three things that might make you doubt your vote.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're not exactly that. Yeah, in some instances we are scraping the barrel, definitely, but they are genuine. They are things that we've kind of had some sort of gripe about. Potentially we're not making them up just to get the content. We do think there are slight negatives in some of them and we are going to touch on them.
Speaker 3:Nobody's perfect. You know who said that? Madonna on some of them and we are going to touch on them so nobody's perfect.
Speaker 2:You said that madonna on her american life album look how that turned out exactly.
Speaker 3:Look at her now. I don't know what she's doing, actually, probably no, I don't.
Speaker 2:That probably probably sums up anyway. Uh, yeah, so the office. So the first thing is and we've got this down as a positive and, and it is the genuine storyline development of the Tim and Dawn relationship.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Now obviously there's loads of sitcoms that have kind of you know, on-off relationships, but actually there's a real progression here. We go from a tiny bit of office flirting Tim obviously really likes her, but she's with someone else and we see the journey through and actually I personally really like we covered it in the Christmas episodes if you want an in-depth review of the office Christmas specials. But I really like how they left it. I don't know if you've seen the American office, but obviously in that Jim and Pam get together and then there's episodes and series after that I think they end up having a kid together. I like the mystery of this that she breaks up with Lee. We see them at least look like they're going to start a relationship and that's it. Then they go off to do their own thing. We don't know and we don't need to know. We've seen kind of how we've got to this point and that's it, and I just think that's a really well told story.
Speaker 3:I think the realism of this is what makes it for my money. I think the best ever love story in a sitcom. Um, I'm talking even american stuff here. You know, like friends have, obviously, you know he uh, moniker and chandler, they get together, get off the plane yeah, we were on a break you don't say a lot. Um, yeah, uh. So anyway, loads of like things where there's like even stuff that's based around.
Speaker 2:I think.
Speaker 3:Del Boy and Raquel's quite a good one. Yeah, del Boy and Raquel's good. But I think this is the most realistic because it's so subtle. Not much happens between them, but you know they like each other. But it's not so open that Tim doesn't admit his feelings at all, really until the very last episode of the second series. He sort of does about it in a bumbling way asser out in series one, but not really he gets out of it.
Speaker 2:Well, actually, yeah, for all the kind of comedy and the high, you know, the mad moments in the Office. I am going to play a little clip there of that. I think we may have possibly played something from this or similar previously. But anyway, I think you know what I liked in the Office in their relationship is they weren't afraid to kind of go for those quite sort of touching moments. It didn't all have to be awkward laughs, so it's kind of Tim just summarising his. What I would say is because they're not in a relationship at that moment in time. It's just. Anyway, I'll play the clip. It speaks for itself, I think time, it's just, and anyway.
Speaker 4:I played a clip. It speaks for itself. I think so.
Speaker 5:Obviously, when someone comes in who you, you have a connection with, yeah and dawn was a ray of sunshine in my life and it meant a lot but if I'm really being honest, I never really thought it would have a happy ending.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's brilliant that because it is. It's superb how it does it because, like I say, and this is what I think is so good about this storyline is that there's no sort of I think it's like lesser written shows or I think they'd sort of dumb it down for the audience. They'll be sort of having little scenes where he's I don't know looking at a love heart or something and looking at her or something. Really probably what fucking you're facing right now, to be completely honest, like really over the top, sort of in your face.
Speaker 3:This is brilliant because we all know that they both like each other, but the way it ended in series two, where they didn't end up with each other, that could have worked easily as an ending. The fact that they did end up together spoilers alert in the Christmas special were obviously the perfect ending people would say. But I think both could work, because it wasn't this sort of when she turned him down, I wasn't like fuck, she's turned him down. It was like you know, it's real life that, yeah yeah, absolutely yeah, really well written, you're right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we didn't need the Christmas specials, that kind of wrapped it up nicely and put the ribbon on around it.
Speaker 3:But yeah, it didn't need that.
Speaker 2:It could have quite easily finished with them not being together and it just never worked out and yeah, but I think we're going to touch on this a little bit later on but some of what happens with a Brent character seems to become very over sentimental. But I just think that's perfect. So it's funny, it's awkward, it's a bit embarrassing at times, but it's very realistic. And yeah, you know to say that we're reviewing comedies. It's not a kind of last per minute element which we're judging on there, but I just think that, yeah, it's just a really well-written relationship very true to life.
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, great, completely. So where are you going now? I think we're going negative, are we? It's your negative, yeah, how's it mine? Um, I mean to be fair. This is this is do we agree with this? Maybe we've had a couple of messages and you've spoke to a couple of people who've said the same thing, and this is about gervais and where he's gone to after this and that people now and he's a bit like the love hate character now, gervais but there are certainly people who've kind of fed up of him, don't rate him particularly anymore, and I think those people, looking back now in hindsight, think actually it's a bit overkill with gervais. There's so much of gervais' big face on screen, isn't there.
Speaker 3:So the thing is we've got a couple of messages in from people who have never seen the Office before and have started watching it since we've been doing this World Cup sitcom thing and because they've seen Gervais' lot of stuff which everyone's in charge of their opinion. I think it's shit. I think you think most of it's shit as well. He's put them off this and because of you know, and it's almost the hindsight effect of this, guy's not very good and they're red. You know what I mean, but they've never known him as being any good. So when they're looking back at this, they're coming at it from like a negative starting point, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:I think that's a difficult one to get around because you can't give people fresh eyes to go and watch it we watched this when he was up and come in. I think we'd seen him on the 11 o'clock show previously.
Speaker 3:Yeah, brilliant, absolutely fantastic. This is not going to work for everyone, by the way. There's people who absolutely love Afterlife and stuff like that it's just a massive success.
Speaker 2:I mean he's stand up people love it. It sells. It's worth millions. On Netflix it's always a top rated.
Speaker 3:Yeah, these people are a little bit younger than us and they've come to the office and the only thing they've known of Ricky Gervais is his latest stand-up and afterlife and maybe Derek or whatever. And then they thought, oh, I don't really like him and he is all Gervais. There's so much Gervais in this. And if you don't like Ricky Gervais, you know, in the same way that if you don't like Steve Coogan in the next one, you might not like Partridge, but he does play a character. You might think Steve Coogan's a shit actor or whatever, but the character Partridge is apart from Steve Coogan. There's not much similarities between the two. I don't think Gervais and Bren are very similar as, like you know, the actual actor and the character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think he kind of likes that, but I think they are because you know, it's his sort of first major character that he seemed to develop and it did play on a lot of his exaggerated mannerisms. But yeah, is it tough or not? Because I think we're mentioning it, because we said if anybody has got any negatives we'll mention. I think we're mentioning it because we said if anybody has got any negatives we'll mention them. But we have the advantage that we saw it live. So this is more if you're going back in hindsight and you're tainted by what you think is some of his latest stuff which isn't very good, which actually I think it's a mixed bag.
Speaker 2:I think there's a lot of people who think it's sort of cool to jump on the slag off Gervais. I think it's sort of cool to jump on the slag off Gervais. I think he's, I think he's still very talented. I just think that he's kind of, you know, he's just kind of gone down a certain route. It's not for everyone and that's why he's making a lot of money and I'm sure he doesn't care what everybody else thinks.
Speaker 3:So good luck to him and I think on the other side of this is a lot of people I see, like certainly on XFM, like Twitter accounts and stuff, who hate, or on the Reddits and stuff like that hate Gervais now because they feel like he's let them down almost you know what I mean. Because he's gone from something they love to down, this other avenue which they hate, and they feel let down and they probably find it difficult to go back and watch the office to some degree as well. Like I say, we're all scraping the barrel here. If you're new to this podcast or whatever, we're not saying this is shit. We've had to really try and get three bad things for each single.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but that's right there, actually that one you've just said. So we have a mutual friend who got blocked by Gervais. Yeah, massive fan of Gervais and the old XFM stuff. But in the same way that I felt a little bit as well, felt bit cheated, that some of his more modern stand-up seems to be pinching material from the old XFM shows, in particular stuff. Carl said yeah, I don't know quite where I stand on Gervais at the minute because he is responsible, or half responsible, for one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Yeah, I don't like him taking from those old XFM shows.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because the guy got blocked just because he said you mentioned this before or something, and I don't think it was like offensive about it.
Speaker 2:No, it wasn't, absolutely not.
Speaker 3:And again, you know we're going on about a personal thing here and we're judging a sitcom, not Gervais as a person or anything like that, but it is going to taint it. It's like you know, people say about you like your favourite bands, if they come out and say certain things, it does put you off them and stuff. So that's one of the negatives. I think yeah, yeah, okay, so let's go back on a positive, yeah, positive for me.
Speaker 3:For me, this guy is the best one-episode character in comedy history. He's only in the I'll time this. He's only in it for three minutes and 30 seconds.
Speaker 2:And we genuinely have been racking our brains to think is there a better one-off character in a show?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's Simon the IT man who's in series two. He's absolutely superb. So when you first meet him, he's putting like a firewall on Tim's computer and we get this.
Speaker 4:What are you doing with my computer? It's not your computer, is it? It's Wernham Hogg's, right? What are you doing with Wernham Hogg's computer? You don't need to know? No, I don't need to know, but could you tell me anyway? I'm installing a firewall. Okay, what's that? It protects your computer against script kiddies, data collectors, viruses, worms and Trojan horses, and it limits your outbound internet communications. Any more questions? Yes, how long will it take? Why do you want to do it yourself? No, I can't do it myself. How long will it take you out of interest, it'll take as long as it takes, right? How long did it take last time? You did this? Right, thank you. Now I'm going to switch it off when it comes back on and I'll ask you to hit yes, no or cancel. Hit, cancel. Do not hit yes or no. Right? Did you hear what I said? Yeah, what did I say? Hit, cancel, good thanks.
Speaker 2:Matthew Alden. The way he looks is funny without him saying anything. But yeah, matthew Alden, we've mentioned him a few times absolute comedy genius, and what a great bit of casting to put him in in this little role he's so good, he's brilliant.
Speaker 3:Like I say, three minutes and 30 seconds, and I think this is probably my most quotable character in the entirety of the office. This is another fantastic bit where he's talking to gareth um about when he went uh well, basically go-karting you any good?
Speaker 4:hey, first. Last time I went eight minutes 51 got certificate. You know, I went down there the first day. It opened right and I did a couple of laps. I pulled over. He broke the runs. The thing came over and said oh no professionals. I took my helmet off. I said I'm not a professional. He said you're not a professional. I said no. He said well, you should be. If I was you I'd take up Formula 1 and if you drive like that you'd probably be the best in the country.
Speaker 3:So I'm not interested in making shit loads out of computers yeah, there's a little bit here, by the way, that I love. I don't know if I'll play it in the clips, I'm not sure. But Gareth says, yep, I've got second place, and he points up he's framed his certificate a go-kart in second place and put it up in the office.
Speaker 5:Classic Gareth.
Speaker 3:So good. He points it like yep, second place up there, and this is absolutely fantastic. This sums up this character so well Pedantic. We all know someone a little bit like this. I think these people do exist, they absolutely exist, these people and this is him talking about one of the Bruce Lee films.
Speaker 4:You know when he's fighting Chuck Norris in Enter the Dragon? No, you've not seen that. No, have you not? I can't. That is a classic. No, I've not seen that. No, have you not? I can't, that is a classic. No, not seen him fight Chuck Norris in Enter the Dragon. I've seen him fight Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon. That's what I meant, is it? Yeah, why did you say seen him fight Chuck Norris in Enter the Dragon? He fights Bob Wall in both, but Norris is only in Way of the Dragon. Yeah, I know so. The winner to track? Yeah, I know. So when is Final Track Norris In what? In Way of the Dragon? Correct?
Speaker 2:At last. I love that. That is one of my favourite ever sitcom clips. Yeah, despite watching, you know there's two series and specials. So what are you talking? I don't know. Let's say there's eight hours of material. If you ever speak to anyone about, or did you watch, the Office, he's kind of a go-to, isn't he Our brilliantly IT guy? He steals it, doesn't he?
Speaker 3:Not even in it for four minutes. He's in it for less than four minutes. What a character. I don't know if it would work as a sitcom, it would be easier to say I want more from him. Maybe this is it. He played a very similar character they called the sketch show. We did it in underrated sketches.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know what you mean.
Speaker 3:I can't remember. I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head Bruiser was it? Yeah, I think it was Bruiser, but this character, I honestly think it's the best one-off character in any sitcom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm happy to be corrected if anybody can send us any better examples. Maybe there are, like I mean, you get sort of celebrity cameos in certain things like extras that were covered. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean Les Dennis, maybe on that we were talking about, but I think there's just that.
Speaker 2:Les Dennis kind of is a feature of that episode, isn't it this? Is just a bit part character that could so easily just go by without you even really noticing him yeah brilliant, steals it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, fantastic from mr holmes yeah, fantastic, um, but we're on a negative now. It's a little bit like we're talking about just now, like another negative. The office is for me this, we're judging the office. So this is a, like I said, we're scraping the barrel to to criticize here. But the life on the road film, david bre film and the album that came and the tour and all that was too ridiculous for a serious character In the way that Alan Partridge, for instance, we're going to come on to him next and we're obviously comparing the two. Alan Partridge, I don't think, has done anything that you think. That's completely ruined the canon of the character. This is just. I don't, we don't acknowledge it exists.
Speaker 2:Do we Life on the road, not as part of the Office David Brent storyline, no, and that, yeah, that's our decision. This is a different character in a different universe that maybe went a different direction, but I still think that the office david brent could come back, but then you'd have to ignore this, this other nonsense that he did, that went too far, that was too ridiculous. Yeah, I mean, let's face it, the the whole sort of music thing was gervais just wanting to be a musician up on stage and he did it, he did, he toured, he did stage. I don't know if he did arena shows as, uh, david brent on, yeah foregone conclusion wife on the road.
Speaker 2:We've got it as as another point coming up, so I don't want to go too much into it right now in this particular point. But yeah, I just, I just don't understand why they've made the money out of this character. You know Gervais is selling out stand-up tours worldwide. The life on the road just felt like cashing in on Brent. It felt like he was better than that. Some people probably love it and you might be listening to this thinking what are you talking about? That's the best bit of Brent ever. But to us, once christmas special finished, we we kind of we've seen any more of that same character yet we've seen a different brent and that's that's.
Speaker 3:That's not the same brent the worst part for me are the songs. So the songs that he does in the office, the series could easily be a deluded man thinking these are good songs. You've got free love freeway. It's not a terrible. The lyrics are ridiculous, but they're not that ridiculous. Pretty girl on the hood of a Cadillac yeah, you know what I mean. You can imagine someone writing that. Or the serpent who guards the gates of hell, or the other one spaceman comes down to answer some things yeah brilliant, the one Spaceman Comes Down to Answer Something.
Speaker 3:The shit, the shit lyrics, yeah, but they're believably bad, aren't they? If you'd have said to me maybe not you just slagging you off here, saying you're completely untalented, but if you'd have turned around and said I've written this song, when it were rushing through the Paris night, I'd be thinking this is shite, but I could imagine that you've written it. If you know what I mean. It's not that ridiculous, whereas you go to the songs that he does on Life on the Road and it's please don't make fun of the disabled. It's basically your head on a pillow.
Speaker 2:You might find that funny, that's a funny song, but it's so unrealistic as a serious song. Yeah somebody's genuinely thought that, that I tell you what this could be a hit. This could get me in the charts.
Speaker 3:this song about a disabled person, even the cover song he does like If you don't, that is, I could imagine that If you don't know me, If you don't know me, the song summer, why? For me, life on the road is just so shit compared to the office, because it becomes just trying it. It ceases to be a realistic character and he just becomes a sitcom character, which is fine.
Speaker 2:In certain things partridge is more of a sitcom character than brenn, but he always was whereas I mean you could try to make the argument, I suppose playing devil's advocate, that this is a guy who's kind of built up to some sort of breakdown and maybe he does think he's some sort of pop star or rock star. But then I suppose the bit that almost doesn't make sense is that Brent's supposed to be a failed pop star. So if he's selling out arenas as Brent, then Brent kind of is a legitimate rock star. Then, yeah, yeah, I think the characters are all changes arenas as Brent. Brent kind of is a legitimate rock star. Then I think the characters are all changers.
Speaker 3:I hate in the film how many times he goes like that, because that wasn't a big thing of Brent before. He did it a couple of times and we were nervous. Does he about 100,000?
Speaker 2:times it makes him absolutely ridiculous. Like you say, we love the Office, so it's not easy to despise it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one of the good points obviously you'll lead this one. It is the most influential show, comedy show, in our generation, I'd say.
Speaker 2:I think so, yeah, so I think in common parlance at work with a group of mates, I'd say it's the most quotable show. And it's not even as close in terms of like specific phrases, but it can just be a look. It can be pointing at your chair with both hands Like you can find yourself in the hot seat, it can be. There's so many things that probably daily, there's probably not many days that I don't do some kind of gesture or mimicry of the office. And like people around me, like Jordan I was sat with at work I can't remember what he said the other day, but I sort of just in conversation, dropped in an office quote and he started laughing. Obviously no one else got it, but yeah, it's just normal part of my routine and it's so well ingrained in my head that I don't know.
Speaker 3:It's just it kind of changed the way that I think I think the two things that I do the most and is the tim stare, and I think everyone does that now, like my son does something a bit big eyes and like big eyes and looking the other way.
Speaker 3:It's unbelievable. It's just a little stare. You don't work on a podcast, but everyone who's seen it knows what we're on about. And the Brentisms the well. I'll do that if someone's like saying I don't know. It could be anything like someone at work saying I don't know you've not put these in right order. Well, I'll just like in the background, do that. Do you know what I mean? Or I sometimes do that huh, you know when he does that like huh yeah well even like things like I've been slagging you off.
Speaker 2:What what me personally, yeah, I don't know just so many things into, like just only me.
Speaker 3:I always think people have not seen the office. A lot of younger people I work with and stuff must think I'm insane, genuinely mad. I work with and stuff. I must think I'm insane, genuinely mad when I'm just going around slagging you off. Well, yep, and you? I just think I'm absolutely mad. There's so many quotes Could go from all Simon the IT crowd, one of them as well. At last, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean there's so many. I'm sure if you're a fan of the show, if, like us, you've watched it repeatedly over the last 20 years, I'm sure you have your own. But yeah, I just think it's the one on the list, out of all the sitcoms, that I would say has entered kind of language, or certainly our language.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's just become without even thinking about it. So there might be a situation where you're trying to think, oh, what was that peep show thing that Mark Corrigan said? The Office is almost like I've got a library in my head of different moments and quotes that you can kind of call upon at any moment.
Speaker 3:I always like seeing stuff like that.
Speaker 2:I mean that is so influential, it's huge, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:To our group, this one sitcom, this two series and two special sitcom, has become part of sort of people's dialogue, yeah, and like I say, work is another good example where I don't know, you know steve, and stuff like, and he'll say, hey, I think this is a bag of shit or something. And I'll say, and that's steve saying it, at last he must like what's he talking about?
Speaker 2:I mean, like you said as well, if anyone sort of says, um, I don't know, like oh yeah, not a great weekend, end up getting into an argument with a girlfriend, people always look at it and say not a happy home life, yeah, not a happy home life.
Speaker 3:So yeah, so that's another one, even that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's probably to people who aren't a fan of this show probably find it like really really irritating people making up stories. Yeah, completely, but yeah, to me that's a positive. I think it's given us such a kind of I don't know just sort of such a depth of quotable content.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I completely agree, but unfortunately I'm finishing on the negative. We should have done it the other way around, really, but this is how we roll on this. Well, on the negative, we should have done it the other way around, really, but this is how we roll on this, is it? Well, we've already touched on this one, to be fair, the roll with the punches. Well, I think this next one, it's instant hatred. This starts in Series 2, doesn't it really?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean more life on the road, which is obviously not what we're reviewing, but it he's to. And it's this ridiculous. It's this, this thing where somehow they've written bren, rather than being an office manager who's kind of had his head turned by the cameras and wants to be a comedian, they've written him as this instantly unliked man and it's just not believable. We mentioned it in the last round or the one before that but. But the Swindon office group come in to him and he's their new boss and he does a bit of a stand-up set and they're all sort of scowling at him and frowning at him. Why did they think he needs to be hated? I'd get it if one or two were sort of laughing but then afterwards saying I can't believe that's a manager.
Speaker 5:Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But they have him just looking at him like they hate him and I'm not quite sure where that came from. That it's one thing for him to kind of be his own downfall so he's creating this mess around himself. He's not focusing on his job, he's too obsessed with the cameras. That all makes sense. That's great story. But the fact that new people come in who don't know him and see this guy who seemingly has quite a lot of charisma he's quite funny and straight away like oh god why?
Speaker 3:yeah, it does nothing. In the early scenes it tells that uh racist joke, but that's after the, you know the the stand-up thing and that joke is not offensive enough, I don't think, for four or five people to report him about. Personally, I don't know, maybe I'm just being I don't know, maybe I'm not woke enough.
Speaker 2:I mean, even at the end, even if you weren't, even if you didn't get the joke right, who here knows Eric Hitchmell? So what about this then? I thought I mentioned it once. I I don't agree with that. I would be crying with laughter even if I didn't know who Eric Hitchmell was. That is mental for a manager to be doing. On your introduction, I don't agree with that.
Speaker 3:In the workplace he talks exactly like that, but they're all just scowling at him with absolute hatred and I think again, again we're not judging that scene by the way. We covered it in a previous episode. That scene, the worst thing I always don't like about that scene is Gareth doesn't even laugh. Gareth laughs at fucking everything that he does. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Gareth thinks he's great. In that moment, Gareth still worships him. Yeah, again, we're not judging the office by life on the road. Further the point.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Once you get into that space, it just becomes absolutely farcical, I mean the end of that film is one of the worst endings of any film. He's got a gang of people with him on his payroll, he buys them a beer and they sit scowling at him and tell him to go away because they don't like him. And then all of a sudden at the end they actually he's alright, that's it. There's no moment that changes anything?
Speaker 3:no, he doesn't do anything. They just turn around one like at the end and go do you know what he's alright, actually, do you know?
Speaker 2:what. He's not that bad. He never was that bad. He's never done anything. I mean, and it's even like when he goes out on stage in the office of series 2 when he's trying to become oh, it's one in it and he does his who the fuck are you? Or whatever it is you're the wanker mate. If anyone is, I get people who shout stuff out at him, but again there's not even a polite clap or there's not even a he's not a horrible man, partridge, we're going to come on to next.
Speaker 3:This would work with him because he's a prick. But Brent in the prick is just, he's just cringe. He's just a cringe man, isn't he? And I just?
Speaker 2:think out of politeness. I know he's in a club where the drinks are there. I'm not saying everybody there would cheer him on and I agree somebody would probably shout wanker. But I just don't get this like oh Brent, for fuck's sake, it's Brent. What is it that he's done that's so bad? He's just an office manager who wants to be a chilled-out entertainer.
Speaker 3:And he must have been fairly funny before, because no-one hates him at the very start of this series of the Office. No-one hates him. Board road for him.
Speaker 5:Well, yeah, well, that's like, Well, that's like.
Speaker 3:But like I I say we are scraping the barrel of both of them there. So it might be a minor thing, but it is something for something that I find is one of the most realistic comedies of all time. That is always something that I think I don't know why they dislike him this much on the christmas special with that. He goes on that day and she's oh, you're not that awful boss, are you? He's not an awful boss, he awful boss, he's just a cringe boss.
Speaker 2:Yeah he's not a bully, he's not horrible to people, he just misjudges situations. But yeah, like I said, I think we are. I'm genuinely torn today on this We've even said before this like cards on the table. I'm not even sure which one of these two I'm going to vote for.
Speaker 5:I'm not.
Speaker 2:I'm not even sure which one of these two I'm going to vote, for I honestly cannot decide. But I think one thing that I will say is we found it quite hard to come up with those negatives and actually I think they all blur into one almost. So yeah, if you're disagreeing with us, we create the rules that we have to give three negatives. So we had to do that and, yeah, I found that quite hard for the office.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely, and the next one was difficult as well, and the office is up against. I'm Alan Partridge.
Speaker 1:The string back just gives you a bit of extra purchase.
Speaker 3:So Alan Partridge and Alan Partridge two series it ran for. One of the things that I absolutely love about this is and we've mentioned it before when we were talking about when we were picking our favourite scenes from all the sitcoms that got through to the final 16. How many could you have had from this, liam?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I said to you it's madness how pretty much every even things like the, the initial bit before, so like it, just does a, just pop that in a bin. I mean I know as a clip that's not particularly funny, but just seeing him do it is fun. Everything partridge does is set up in such a way that it could be a sketch. You can imagine it on the Fast Show or something like that called Radio Showman or something. You could just clip almost any 30 seconds out of what he's doing, and create a playable clip.
Speaker 2:That would be funny in itself. It's the most clippable sitcom, I would say.
Speaker 3:That's it. That's the biggest thing. That's the first thing that I love about it. It's the first thing that I love about it. It's the most clippable sitcom ever in my opinion, and it's literally like every conversation, isn't it?
Speaker 2:like it just moves from not just that moment to moment. Every interaction with someone is funny, even if it's just him rolling his art. I mean when that guy's laughing in the lift oh yeah the actor the actor Kevin Alden. Kevin Alden. Yeah, yeah, even him just rolling his eyes like nothing's really happening. But each each 30 seconds stands alone.
Speaker 3:I would say yeah, keep that, folks. That's something else I want to come on to. But when you say everything's like a sketch, like at the top of my head, this word, like, I've wrote a couple down that first came to me. I've not actually done that much research, because there's that many that come to you. There's the playing the bass to gary newman, which is an unbelievable scene that we can't play on here because it won't work beyond. Boom, boom, boom. It is actually so. That could be a sketch on its own. I'd be pissing myself at that, even if I didn't know the character. Well, yeah, but it's, and I'd be pissing myself at that even if I didn't know the character.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, but it's like I say, it's just whenever he like he has brief scenes that are basically to take him from his room to where he's going, to his car or to a different. So he'll have 30 seconds with somebody on reception, yeah, and that little bit of conversation. It's actually just there to tell you, like, right, the progression is he's left his room, he's on his way to his car, but just him walking past somebody saying something is so it's brilliant, it's lovely little bits where when he's singing, he'll say she's a queen, goodbye, whatever it is, and then she'll go hello, alan, classic queen, I'm very good.
Speaker 3:Yes, thanks very much. That other one've possessed you. I hated you. I loved you too. I loved you too Brilliant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's loads. I mean just his dealings with Michael when he's kind of sat at the bottom of the elevator polishing shoes and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5:I was in the army.
Speaker 2:Mr Partridge, yeah, just fantastic.
Speaker 3:Are you actually playing clips from this? I'll play a couple of clips from this. Yeah, so this is the really famous one, but this is him trying to get a second series from Tony Hares, and just the desperation of these shows that he's making up on the spot.
Speaker 1:Cooking in prison, a partridge amongst the pigeons. What's that? Well, it's just a title. No opening sequence me in Trafalgar Square. Title I mean, um, no, no Opening sequence me in Trafalgar Square feeding the pigeons going. Oh God, no, I'm sorry, no, stop. You've Hostile-ing with Chris Eubank Monkey Tennis Amazing First time.
Speaker 5:I saw that yeah.
Speaker 1:Monkey Tennis.
Speaker 2:Amazing. First time I saw that, yeah, monkey Tennis. I was already laughing, but Monkey Tennis really got me. Yeah, and I bought these clips. By the way, I would watch Monkey.
Speaker 3:Tennis? I would absolutely watch Monkey Tennis. And what about Armwrestling with Chas and Dave? I'd definitely watch that as well. Are they both still alive? I don't know if one of them is day even better, to be honest. Um, even more of a yeah, more of a hit. So these these clips I'm going to play here. I've got a couple more. They feel cliche, but that's how good partridge is. I'm not. I thought I can't play that. Everyone knows it, but that's, that's part of the white so good. So this is a really famous clip, brilliant where he's got a new best friend called Dan Alan Partridge, and he thinks he sees him when he gets out of his car in this car park.
Speaker 5:There's Dan Dan, dan, dan, dan, dan, dan Dan.
Speaker 1:Dan, dan, dan, dan, dan, dan, dan, dan Dan.
Speaker 5:No, he's not seeing me. I'll get him later.
Speaker 3:Dan Dan. This is fucking brilliant. This because it's the. No matter how many times I watch it, I still forget when he's going to end. You have to watch it really as well to get it. Dan desperation.
Speaker 2:There's that bit where it looks like he's sort of given up and then he goes again. And yeah, it's one of those jokes where it's funny, then you think it's gone too long, then it's funny again, and you think it's gone on too long, and then it goes again and it's funny again.
Speaker 3:It's brilliant, dad, dad the last clip I want to play. He's talking to a South African. He was asked into an awards night. I love this.
Speaker 1:No clams, no gags of jokes. No, ellen, no, Please, no, you can't. Well, there's no need for that. I wanted to do a couple of jokes. You can't. You've done it again, you've said it again, just because I've got a shit table.
Speaker 3:What I love about this is why it's more sitcom-y than the Office by a mile-long portrait. Why is he shouting you can't? Why is he saying that he shouting you can't? Why is he you can't?
Speaker 2:oh come on.
Speaker 3:You've said it again yeah, he said it again. That's another thing we talk about the office quotes. I remember a festival ages ago we were saying that all weekend. He said it again. He said it again, like a lot of people saying things ridiculous, unbelievable. These are Ridiculous, unbelievable.
Speaker 2:These are absolutely two giants of sitcom history. These, yeah, yeah, I'm struggling, like even as we're recording, I'm sort of in my mind trying to process both. Yeah, same, I love both. And yeah, I think I'm sort of playing through episodes in my head of parts and thinking are there any sort of dull moments? Are there any bits that I would skip or fast forward? I don't think so.
Speaker 3:From memory, I mean, I remember looking at that scene yesterday and it's not like do you want a cup of beans? A cup of beans, aye, aye, you've got to have a cup of beans, man.
Speaker 2:A cup of beans, he's got a sausage for a spoon. I love how he has a bit of it and he says I are you sleeping on the step?
Speaker 3:go now. Like it just works out with skinhead. I've never seen him again. He just looks really confused. On a negative, I think by series two. This I don't think it doesn't. I think this started looking dated by series two. Simply, 2002 was series two. By that point, the first series of phoenix knights and the office has already come out with more, a more realistic looking sitcom or a more realistically believable sitcom, and I do remember watching the second series of partridge. In fact it's really funny, by the way. So, but it's almost been. Do you like when a when a band takes too long to do a second album and then someone else has come in and stole the glory? But like stone roses did, like they took five years between albums and then Oasis had done definitely maybe a morning?
Speaker 5:walk.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they came back. They were old heart. I felt this with Partridge in series two.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think it's a good show. I think it I'm not sure if it's the way it was filmed or the or the kind of framing of it, or the digital switch from film to digital. I don't know what it is, but you're right, it's certainly. I don't even just mean in terms of the style of it. I actually think the visual of it, the first series of Partridge. When you re-watch it now, it looks really dated. I don't know if it's the colours or the filter, I have no idea why it looks so dated. But you're right, it felt like these kind of quite staged sequential sitcoms that this happens after this, after this.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I suppose Phoenix Knights is still like that. But Phoenix Knights feels much more Like a fly on the wall.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, more realistic, but it used to be a fly on the wall, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think obviously the Office very, yeah, yeah, realistic, but it used to be a fly on the wall, yeah, well, and, and I think obviously the office very much went for that, it was a fly on the wall. So, yeah, things were moving quite quickly. I presume we kind of had, in that space between us as well you're getting like your, the cruise with jay mcdonald and airport, and yeah, there were there were sort of things coming out where we were seeing real people and and these very sort I wouldn't say old-fashioned, because in some ways you've kind of gone back to it.
Speaker 3:No, it's like a larger-than-life character, whereas Brent's larger-than-life, but Alan Partridge is a sitcom character. People used to watch the Office and think it were real.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember that at the time People would switch over and think I'm not watching that. I really can't stand him.
Speaker 3:Yeah, whereas Alan Partridge, this series of Alan Partridge, maybe not knowing me, knowing you, I'm Alan Partridge. I don't think you could watch it for more than a couple of minutes, and not really. You know, it's a comedy.
Speaker 2:Well, knowing you that he did his chat show, I I turned over and caught a couple of minutes of that and thought it was a real chat show and thought that is appalling, just switch straight off.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it was only when this came on that I realized and yeah, you might say it's gone back that way, but at the time I'm talking about at the time and we know people younger than us don't like colin portridge because they think he's dated that much. I think it started looking dated or feeling dated around 2001, before the second series had come out.
Speaker 2:I think even like his makeup and how he's done. I mean I think he's only supposed to be 43. Is he in this? Yeah, yeah, yeah, and he looks really old and his hair's kind of big and grey. Yeah, I think sort of they got, as time progressed they got the character better, but this is fantastic.
Speaker 3:This, to me, is a good segue onto the positive the longevity of the character, yeah, and we talked about this earlier.
Speaker 2:It's kind of a complete flip side to Brent. So we personally believe that the Brent character, after the Office finished, just fell off a cliff. Basically, like you know, some people might love it, but from our point of view we really didn't feel it. I think Partridge has gone on to do various different things since this. We've had a major film, we've had podcasts, we've had a radio show, we've had one-off documentaries, we've had his sort of what do you call it? The one-show equivalent?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah yeah, and nothing contradicts itself in the way that.
Speaker 2:No, the story works all the way through. The character is consistent, the progression is consistent. They're all good material. I think some of it is absolutely great. I love the host house, the podcast. To be fair, I don't think there's a, I don't think there's a weak spot in any of that. I think it's all good and and you prefer some bits to others. Obviously that's the way it works. But I don't think there's a moment where you would say I lost his way a bit there, didn't I, and I think we're bringing this still because we are struggling for bad things about it.
Speaker 3:But we've just criticised the Office or, you know, David Brent character for sort of jumping the shark or whatever. So I think it's only fair to bring up Partridge has never done that.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely not, and I still think, for as long as Coogan wants to keep doing it, there still seems to be a lot more to go at. So yeah, you have to. Although we're just judging the two series against each other, you kind of have to give some credit to Partridge that clearly at the end of these two series there was a lot more to do with Partridge, whereas with the Office it did feel a little bit like we've taken Brent as far as we can go. Now let's take him off on this mad tangent. I don't think that's happened with Partridge. I think we're still seeing the same character that we did back then.
Speaker 3:I actually think the character development has been brilliant on Portrait, the subtleties of how he's got older. He's not as confrontational now but he's still a really arrogant, awkward grumpy. I don't think he's as much of a twat in his older years, partridge, but he's still very much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's still mellowed, hasn't he? But he's not as confrontational, I don't think. But he's more self-assured than ever before. He's so certain of himself now and again, I think, as the comparisons to Madeley, the namesake of the podcast have kind of grown. I think he's embraced that.
Speaker 3:Whereas there were similarities, it almost feels like that they're blurring into one person a little bit now. Yeah, yeah, brilliant the longevity honestly one of the most longest running characters ever despite it being a two series sitcom.
Speaker 2:We're praising it for longevity, but I think that's that's because of the wealth of material that's come out after that. So I think it counts, so shut up if you don't agree well you're negative now.
Speaker 2:So so yeah, my, my weak point to partridge and I think this probably is the the biggest one for me actually and it's that I don't think there's actually any strong side characters, and I'm sure sort of the actors playing michael and and lynn would be sort of disappointed to hear that. But I think it's written in such a way that everybody is just there pretty much just to facilitate partridge being funny yeah, they don't give many people.
Speaker 2:There's no, there's no story or character arc really to anyone. We we don't know anything about Lynn. She gets a boyfriend in one of them and that's a little bit of a side story, but we never see any moments of Lynn and her boyfriend away from Partridge. No, no. I actually have cut streaks myself because I can think of one straight away. But it's very, very rare that you see Lynn without Partridge or Michael without Partridge Partridge is on screen pretty much every moment.
Speaker 2:Well, there's the one where they go in his drawer in the room and they see what they're all slagging him off yeah, it's only a couple of seconds, isn't it?
Speaker 3:yeah? And she does that really weird will they go here or will they go there?
Speaker 2:and he sort of says yeah, bit odd or something like that, but I can't think of any other moments where you get Lin on screen without Partridge.
Speaker 3:Partridge being a fun one rather than the other one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a build up to him to come in and slam the drawer shut and whatever he does, yeah it's. We've mentioned other things previously, like Father Ted. The side characters are a bit divisive, but I think I. But I actually think Sophie behind the desk is very good. Yeah, I don't know his name, the guy who plays Ben is very good.
Speaker 3:I think obviously Michael's great, they're all good characters in it, but there's not anything in this way that the Office has got Tim Dawn, Gareth, even Olmos on that one seed and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and even like you can get. Yeah, you can have 10 minutes where it's Tim Dawn, gareth Lee might pop in, you might have Keith Gervais can be absent for periods of time in the office. It feels like if you get 30 seconds without Partridge in this, it's quite rare and yeah and that's fine. But, like you said earlier, I think the difference in this is I think, if you don't like the character of partridge, there's nothing here for you.
Speaker 3:No, if you don't like partridge, that's it. On the other two, what's got through? Peep show, you might not like mark, you might not like jez. If you like one them, you can get something out of it, because they interact with the likes of Johnson, big Soos Superhands.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:There's enough characters in it for you to like, even if you're not keen on one of those two. Phoenix Eyes is loads. It's all about Brian Potter, really.
Speaker 2:You've got Max and Paddy If you don on Absolutely is you have to be a fan of the character Alan Partridge to get this sitcom?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:On a more positive note, the good news is the subtlety of Alan Partridge, I think, is massively, massively overlooked. He's known for these big wacky scenes, almost like piercing his foot on a spike or you know, smell my cheese, you mother. But the subtleties are brilliant and that's no better evidence. I don't think by the partridge shrug if I said to anyone our age oh I did the partridge shrug. I reckon 90% of people know what you're on about yeah, definitely Peter. Millen's program and he says this is Peter Millen new current affairs programme.
Speaker 2:This is it. He's just finished his ramp in current affairs. It's just a massive drug, yeah. Yeah, I think you're right. I think you know we have credited it for that. He could clip each 30 seconds into a sketch and that's great. But actually some of his funniest moments are just his sort of little looks, or I've got one here.
Speaker 3:I've got one here. This is such an unbelievably funny reply. It's not great writing or anything, it's great. You know, what I reckon is that if they had themselves proper jobs, they wouldn't be up to all this larking every night. What? What I'm saying is that if they had themselves proper jobs, you know for every night, what? What I'm saying is that, like, if they had themselves proper jobs, you know for a gang till then they wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1:A lot of them were from broken homes. That's right, that was just a noise.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a bit. I'm not sure if it's in that same bit actually, but it's where he talks to Michael about something and then, as he's leaving, he says something else. He says yeah, you've gone again, and that's it.
Speaker 3:He's just gone the list closes. There's a great little bit. He's not really like subtle acted in a facial sense, but there's a brilliant bit where he goes. You're not going to fight me, are you? You're rotten shit. Yeah, you're rotten shit. Get your coat so good.
Speaker 2:I like his as well. He sort of says, he sort of mumbles in the background where he's in the lift with Kevin Holden and he plays that madcap just so he's Partridge starts laughing with him and then as he gets out he just goes unbelievable under his breath.
Speaker 3:It's brilliant what is that? When he says this country, that's another one. When he says it under his breath, I can just not look at it. I love that One of the best ever scenes in Mal and Partridge and this is unbelievably well shot like in a comedic sense is when he's at the funeral and he turns around and he's wearing a cash flow.
Speaker 5:GTX jacket.
Speaker 3:Yeah, amazing he's so good at this because he's at a funeral. He doesn't give a shit about it. He's Tony Ayres who's died. He hates Tony Ayres, but he's only going to this funeral so he can meet the new director of the BBC, chris Feathers. Chris Feathers, yeah, the commissioner. So he's put no effort into his dress, so it looks like he's wearing just a black suit jacket. It turns around Castro GTX jacket.
Speaker 2:So well, done that shot innit, because, yeah, he's got a black jacket on. It, looks smart, check it on he looks smart, turns around Castro, gtx and big red letters. Yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 3:So many good. I'm not playing him, but there's so many good lines when he goes and speaks to his wife and he goes. She goes, yeah, it'd have been 41, he goes. All those people say life begins at 40, they're notable by their absence. And another one as well nothing to say to her, he goes were you close? Oh, a married guy? Yeah, of course, yeah, of course yeah, yeah, I love.
Speaker 2:he's talking to the Irish guys and he says yeah, I love all the Irish stuff. I mean, he says what does he say? Like he mentions some sort of beer and he says you too. Really encapsulates the feeling of Sunday, doesn't it? You know, you're fed up, the kids have got to go here, they've got to go there, and you think Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Speaker 3:I like as well the subtlety of when he goes. I've got an idea for a show and he goes A Partridge Amongst the Pigeons what's that about? Because I don't know, it's just the title. Then he goes just me going and Trafalgar Square. I've got nothing. There's also those little bits where I've seen on the DVD commentary of Coogan says if you enter a writing class they tell you not to make jokes like this. But you know, when he says stuff like I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. It's five and a half thousand, nine and a half thousand pounds yeah unbelievable, absolutely fantastic yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2:I think, people do talk about the sort of big, obvious gags in it. But yeah, the Office, because it's reacting to a camera. It's very much glimpses at camera, very obvious sort of big eyes and turned heads. There's loads of little subtle expressions in this. You're right, I think the character of Partridge is so good at well, he's so bad at it but so funny to watch when he kind of can't hide his disdain for something. It's like as soon as someone comes in a room and he doesn't lie, he just can't hide it. And it's brilliant. It's so well acted.
Speaker 3:I love as well like where he's really like shoring stuff. We did it. We obviously covered the episode when he goes an infected spinal column in a bat, but it sort of moves his head like so happy you played the clip, but I love in that one where someone says yeah, have you got a brain?
Speaker 2:is your head just full of shit? And he goes moo. I can't remember the second one, but the last one is oh you ignorant. Da, da, da, da da, and he looks so pleased with himself that he pressed the button at the right time.
Speaker 3:I can see when he's walking from scene to scene, the sort of thing where he's like the brilliant bit is he goes into the funeral of that first series singing life isn't everything. Then, because he gets commissioned again, he comes out in life. It's the name of the game and I want to play with you. Brilliant, but we're going to end on a negative for some reason, liam and I think it's yours- yeah, we both agree with this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've sent me the running order, so I'm putting it on you. I don't know why we're finishing on negatives. I don't know why we're doing this. This is again absolutely scraping the barrel, because we love both of these, but this is genuine. This is something we've mentioned before, before we ever came to do this sitcom.
Speaker 5:World Cup, the laughter track can feel quite intrusive on this.
Speaker 2:It's not just. It's great that you kind of get this thing of people laughing and I presume it sort of helps the audience sort of laugh along if they feel like they're in a group of people laughing. But there are times when it sort of almost blurs over the dialogue and it's quite hard to hear what's going on.
Speaker 3:I think our mate Travelling said on one of the things that because he's never seen Parsley before or this series of Parsley before this, that when we were doing the scene I'm not driving in any Metro, I'm not driving in any Metro. You can't get the line because the laughter is that loud you can't get the line because the laughter is that loud.
Speaker 2:I've got the clip. I'm gonna play it. So Got the clip, let's hear it now.
Speaker 5:But you do have to make substantial savings.
Speaker 1:Lynne, I'm not driving a Mini Metro, but if you do, you can keep Pear Tree Productions going with a skeleton staff of two and there's no point finishing the sentence, lynne, because I'm not driving a Mini Metro. But if you, lynne, try and finish the sentence and see what I do, go on. I'm not driving a mini metro.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, it's different. It's called a rover metro. So obviously there, without being able to view it. You're just listening to the audio. You can't really hear him saying I'm not driving a mini-metro. I'm not driving a mini-metro. I'm not driving a mini-metro. The joke still works, but the laughter's actually drowning out the gag. People are sort of preemptively laughing at what he's doing.
Speaker 3:And it is in a studio audience. By the way, it's not canned laughter. This, it was taken.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this just blew my mind a little bit. This, because I'm stunned that this was filmed in front of a live studio. I just imagine it was literally in Linton Travel Tavern. It's well done, but yeah, to be fair, I'm not going to play loads of clips, because you asked me to get some clips and I couldn't find any in time.
Speaker 3:So I'm only gonna. By the way I was looking for it, someone said I would pay nine and a half thousand pounds which is obviously lynn's salary to hear to watch alan partridge without a laughter track. Just as someone said, they try to do it and it becomes a really tragic in the same way that the office. I imagined. You know just really tragic scenes in the office. Yeah, but last track in the office, him doing his dance and doing so everyone would be laughing. But there is that tragic bit of it.
Speaker 2:Partridge is just as tragic as the office but the difference is in this and the reason why we're criticising it is because you could retrospectively put a laugh track on the office, and you'd have to. Obviously you'd have to. Obviously you'd make the volume fit to the jokes. Yeah, yeah, he's filmed in front of a live audience. Yeah, what's that from filmed in front of a live studio audience? Is it Cheers? Yeah, no, he's filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Speaker 2:It's Friends, friends is as well, isn't it? Yeah, but it's somebody that said it before the episode, wasn't it?
Speaker 3:I'm sure it's Cheers.
Speaker 2:Cheers is a film for a live studio audience, Anyway so what you see them doing, and particularly Coogan, is when he's delivered a line or he's partway through a funny line, he has to sort of correct himself and pause to let the laugh die down. And by the way, but I think if you took the laughter track out you'd find it a bit odd because I?
Speaker 3:why did he pause there? Yeah, it looks like bad acting rather than yeah, because he's good acting, obviously, the way he's done it. I'm trying to think like so, fawlty Towers, fools and Horses, all these classic sitcoms before the last 30 years that we're not doing? I've never found that with any of them, and I do with Partridge and I don't think Fawlty Towers. I think that is Cannes Laughter, isn't it? Both of it, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think so, yeah, both of them. Yeah, I've never filmed in front of a live studio audience. But yeah, as I say, it is intrusive in Partridge, it's not. It's fine if you're watching it, of this actually, because I had. So I don't know if I mentioned it before, I'm not sure, but I quite like dad's army.
Speaker 3:I know it's a bit dated, it's a bit I thought you were Irish again.
Speaker 2:Uh no. So when I said dad's army in my island blanket um no but with a pint of caffreys, but uh, you can't get that anymore, can you? But but no, I had had some audio books or some sort of. I don't know if they were called that back in the day, back when we were young, but I had some cassettes of some of the Dad's Army ones.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And there were laughs on that. They were laughing over stuff and I didn't know what happened. It's only sort of years later, when I watched the episodes, that I kind of figured out what the laughs were and what people were saying and I think that's similar in this respect. It's genuine laughter which I kind of again, I'm sort of loathe to criticize it for having a live audience who found it really funny. That should be a positive. But it does mean watching the TV version of it. There are certain moments where you think what did he say there? Or did I miss something? Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3:Again, it's just soft criticism if I'm being honest, to stick up for it at the time. It would have been really unusual for it to not have a laughter track. Not many, I mean. They wanted the Royal Family to have a laughter track and obviously Caroline we've mentioned it Carolina Herman.
Speaker 2:I mean, that would have just been yeah ridiculous.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she said, well, we're not doing it then, but that's the only reason that it was. It was just commonplace to have a laughter track. It wasn't like he said we need to have a laughter track on there, so it wasn't like this was pre Office and Phoenix Night, the first two big ones. I remember not having a laughter, and this is what I sort of go back to with the second series feeling a little bit old.
Speaker 2:I'll praise you. Good guys we've mentioned before.
Speaker 1:That had a laugh track.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that, despite it being a mockumentary, that had a laugh track, didn't it?
Speaker 3:So yeah, Phoenix Knights in the office with the football, that Peter Kay thing actually the first one that I remember that didn't have a laugh, track over the brass eye, obviously, and stuff like that on day to day. I think like Victoria Wood did on like yeah, there was last year yeah obviously all the sketch shows, harry Enfield and all that. So but anyway that look, if you've come to this and you think why the fuck are they slagging these two shows off, that were the rules that we gave.
Speaker 2:We wanted to make it a little bit yeah, right, no, sorry, all I meant there is. We didn't really, we didn't really want to criticize these two.
Speaker 3:These are the two hardest, I think but for me I think all four of them are really difficult yeah, I think so, yeah, but I think particularly these.
Speaker 2:like I said I, I would probably have had this as my final and I found this quite hard work being down on either of them. So, yeah, just give generously, give generously.
Speaker 3:So who can't make it? I just wanted to make sure we weren't favouring Office by doing a quote.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:The votes are open. Now, as soon as you're listening to this, you can vote for the first semi-final. It's going to be Peep show versus phoenix knights and obviously this one's the office versus. I'm on partridge. Once those votes are in, we are in the grand final and it's okay just for us to get here. I'm really excited with both of these. I have no idea because I don't know where I'm going to vote for both of them. So I know you're, I know one of yours, I know you don't want to give it away yeah, yeah, I think.
Speaker 2:By the way, it's ended up being tighter than I thought, but I think I've decided on the first semi-final. I really don't know on this one yet. No, I don't.
Speaker 3:I don't know on either of them and I might even listen back to these episodes to see what I found easy to talk about, but they're going to be open anyway. Next time you hear from us, we'll be the final live at Wembley Stadium. Imagine that if we'd ever hired Wembley to do the finals.
Speaker 2:Would anyone come and watch it? I don't know if anyone would come.
Speaker 3:actually, I don't know if anyone would bother coming all the way down to watch it. I was going to say, but I'd say, no, I'm not bothered. No, I don't think anyone would, just us two at Wembley. Have you ever seen today when um?
Speaker 2:because question time live from wembley stadium. You're like, is there a question there to the audience? Brilliant, but yeah, anyway, it's not actually live from when it's going to be. By the way, just uh, just to anybody still with us once you've heard the final, there will be uh, it might be a double episode. It might. Yeah, there'll be some kind of summary, because we do appreciate all the messages, feedback, everything we've been sent throughout. We are going to try and wade through all that for a kind of summary episode.
Speaker 2:It might even end up being a two-part of that, so thanks for all your comments. We genuinely do appreciate everything everyone's sent.
Speaker 3:Yeah, some brilliant comments and we'll go through them all. Like I say, it might end up being a two-parter, but yeah, we'll try and get that done after the final. Well, we will get it done after the final. I'm going away, but if we can't get it in before, then it'll not be too long after, but anyway, leroy Jenkins, thank you very much and I will see you for the final, the showpiece yeah, I can't wait, nervous, but yep, we all knew it'd come to this.
Speaker 2:If anyone wants to get in touch with us, send us anything. Find us on Twitter at livingwithmade1.