The English Class

humanji

I'm watching The English Class on RTE 2 and I'm wishing there was something else on. It's like they took the job training skit from the League Of Gentlemen, the Fat Fighters skit from Little Britain, took Ricky Gervais from the office, removed the humour and somehow stretched to a series.

I can't wait to tune in next time to see the same jokes over and over

Angus MacGyver

Yea its rubbish. The teacher is a total rip off of Alan Partridge, he even said "back of the net" and pretended to kick a football. What a clown.

humanji

Angus MacGyver wrote:

Yea its rubbish. The teacher is a total rip off of Alan Partridge, he even said "back of the net" and pretended to kick a football. What a clown.

Ah, Alan Partridge! That was the other one I was trying to think of.

mike65

Have'nt seen it but this sounds like a reheat of Mind Your Language, which was a low point of western civilisation in 1977.

Mike

ianrush

Agree with everything that has been said here so far. Total rubbish. No originality, like watching a piss poor impression of steve coogan for 30 mins, with a script that's all over the place in terms of tone. Desperately wants to go for the awkward embarrassment moments of "the office" but fails utterly. It only got made because clearly it cost peanuts.

EdgarAllenPoo

I saw 30 seconds of this and gavomitted.

cashback

From the very first scene I knew it wouldn't be a milestone in tv comedy.
The administrator taking his application in the office scene. Such a strained sense of awkwardness. As if someone just staring at the camera as if to say "what sort of a prat is he?" is supposed to make us cringe.
Couldn't believe the complete partridge rip off with the back of the net thing and he even tried to sound like him sometimes.

I thought one or two of the students were ok, such as the chinese guy.
But The Office it ain't.

MayMay

OMG that was awful!!! Such a rip off of so many things!

Pepe LeFrits

You're all wrong.

I thought it was absolutely superb. Really hilarious stuff.

cazzy

The students werent all too bad at acting. The teacher was painful. The script was even worse. Maybe the students could move into carrigstown school of further education and get jobs in McCoys. Id fire the teacher.

BaZmO*

mike65 wrote:

Have'nt seen it but this sounds like a reheat of Mind Your Language, which was a low point of western civilisation in 1977.

Mike

Ah that's the one!! I was gonna post about this show the other day when I seen the trailers but couldn't think of the name of the old show.

kevmy

GDM wrote:

gavomitted.

My word of the day.

godtabh

kevmy wrote:

My word of the day.

Its not a word!

Ghost Train

Thought it was pretty poor. When you compare it to any other comedy on the tv it looks very amaturish.

Turnip2000

That show was by far the worst show i haver ever EVER watched.

I presume it will be taken off air?

It was an embarassment, i couldnt even laugh at it never mind with it, it was so awful.

gcgirl

the guy that played the teacher just did my head in ! i knew his face from somewhere and it just dawned on me this morning that he played Morgan in Fairly ****ty(fair City) it's really bad i had to turn it off i just could not take anymore!

topday

I really enjoyed it myself. I will watch it next week as id say the characters will develop and we will get more laughs. I really like the Polish girl and the Chinese guy…

kevmy

kearnsr wrote:

Its not a word!

Too late it's already on my list alongside squishy and confabulate

dulpit

I for one liked it, thought it was quite funny... I think the comedy is to come from the class, not the teacher... Quite like the Chinese & Spanish girls (bit of a hotty....)

Frank Funk

The worst thing is can see with chilling clarity exactly how this turd got commissioned. Its opening narration reads back RTE’s misguided first-year sociology student’s idea of a ‘Changing face of Ireland’ commissioning remit to them. Actually read it back. The following half-hour of cheap, anti-comedic non-event is nothing short of insulting and incriminating to everyone involved. Including the license payers who had the good fortune not to have RTE 2 on last night. (They still paid for it)

Not only did they think that if they mimicked the camera shakes and eye-rolling-to-the-camera aspects of The Office that that would somehow emulate comedy. (if only they had the presence of mind to lift the jokes as well – why not go all they way) Most insultingly of all, they thought we wouldn’t notice. Irish audiences are obviously that thick and complacent. Cheers RTE.

The rest of the cast are interchangeably bland, knowing, pretty, young foreign nationals eye-rolling at the blithering idiot Irish guy, again cynically ass kissing RTE’s all-permeating sense of Irish self-loathing. Yes RTE, we know that Irish people are loathsome gurning morons who should hate ourselves; we get it.

The English Class however was not a good idea corrupted by an incompetent broadcaster. Nowhere in that twenty minutes could one gleam any mote of ability at any level. The script, deceitfully billed as a comedy, has absolutely no jokes. Not one. Prancing a woeful Ricky Gervais impression around an ugly, harshly-lit room for twenty minutes is not comedy or entertainment or even a Andy Kaufmanesque practical joke.

The only reason it won’t go down as being worse then Trouble in Paradise is that it looks like it couldn’t have cost twenty euro. But knowing RTE’s wastefulness, they probably somehow managed to blow the development budget for the next five years on it.

I mean… Christ…

ianrush

Frank Funk wrote:

The worst thing is can see with chilling clarity exactly how this turd got commissioned. Its opening narration reads back RTE’s misguided first-year sociology student’s idea of a ‘Changing face of Ireland’ commissioning remit to them. Actually read it back. The following half-hour of cheap, anti-comedic non-event is nothing short of insulting and incriminating to everyone involved. Including the license payers who had the good fortune not to have RTE 2 on last night. (They still paid for it)

Not only did they think that if they mimicked the camera shakes and eye-rolling-to-the-camera aspects of The Office that that would somehow emulate comedy. (if only they had the presence of mind to lift the jokes as well – why not go all they way) Most insultingly of all, they thought we wouldn’t notice. Irish audiences are obviously that thick and complacent. Cheers RTE.

The rest of the cast are interchangeably bland, knowing, pretty, young foreign nationals eye-rolling at the blithering idiot Irish guy, again cynically ass kissing RTE’s all-permeating sense of Irish self-loathing. Yes RTE, we know that Irish people are loathsome gurning morons who should hate ourselves; we get it.

The English Class however was not a good idea corrupted by an incompetent broadcaster. Nowhere in that twenty minutes could one gleam any mote of ability at any level. The script, deceitfully billed as a comedy, has absolutely no jokes. Not one. Prancing a woeful Ricky Gervais impression around an ugly, harshly-lit room for twenty minutes is not comedy or entertainment or even a Andy Kaufmanesque practical joke.

The only reason it won’t go down as being worse then Trouble in Paradise is that it looks like it couldn’t have cost twenty euro. But knowing RTE’s wastefulness, they probably somehow managed to blow the development budget for the next five years on it.

I mean… Christ…

Couldn't agree more. Think this show was commissioned by the previous head of entertainment in RTE who has moved on to another department now. Looks like he left a large comedy bomb as a parting gift....

philstar

i wish rte would just give up the ghost on comedy, they just can't hack it!!

thank god they never got their hands on father ted.

Cork

This rubbish was unwatchable.

It was dire.

Upwardly Mobile was classis compared to this.

Cork

This rubbish was unwatchable.

It was dire.

Upwardly Mobile was classic compared to this.

lostexpectation

Frank Funk wrote:

The worst thing is can see with chilling clarity exactly how this turd got commissioned. Its opening narration reads back RTE’s misguided first-year sociology student’s idea of a ‘Changing face of Ireland’ commissioning remit to them. Actually read it back. The following half-hour of cheap, anti-comedic non-event is nothing short of insulting and incriminating to everyone involved. Including the license payers who had the good fortune not to have RTE 2 on last night. (They still paid for it)

Not only did they think that if they mimicked the camera shakes and eye-rolling-to-the-camera aspects of The Office that that would somehow emulate comedy. (if only they had the presence of mind to lift the jokes as well – why not go all they way) Most insultingly of all, they thought we wouldn’t notice. Irish audiences are obviously that thick and complacent. Cheers RTE.

The rest of the cast are interchangeably bland, knowing, pretty, young foreign nationals eye-rolling at the blithering idiot Irish guy, again cynically ass kissing RTE’s all-permeating sense of Irish self-loathing. Yes RTE, we know that Irish people are loathsome gurning morons who should hate ourselves; we get it.

The English Class however was not a good idea corrupted by an incompetent broadcaster. Nowhere in that twenty minutes could one gleam any mote of ability at any level. The script, deceitfully billed as a comedy, has absolutely no jokes. Not one. Prancing a woeful Ricky Gervais impression around an ugly, harshly-lit room for twenty minutes is not comedy or entertainment or even a Andy Kaufmanesque practical joke.

The only reason it won’t go down as being worse then Trouble in Paradise is that it looks like it couldn’t have cost twenty euro. But knowing RTE’s wastefulness, they probably somehow managed to blow the development budget for the next five years on it.

I mean… Christ…

I think they were knowingly taking the piss out of that, the premise of the show being the guy taking the class to try and make his life more interesting...

but overall poor give it an E

BaZmO*

Just watched it. I could go into a long detailed post saying where and how it was a mess and God how easy would that be! But there's nothing worth really saying about it other than it just wasn't funny. Derivative, badly produced nonsense, the only thing it had going for it was that it had no add breaks otherwise I would've of switched it off before the end.

aidan_dunne

That's a half hour of my life wasted that I'll never get back! :mad: What a great big steaming pile of horseshíte that was!

What the hell is it with RTE and comedy, eh? How can they get it so right with something like 'Paths To Freedom' and then get it so wrong with something like this crap?

Casmo

Having watched the english class, i am left in utter astonishment. This is an embarrassment and an insult to comedy fans everywhere. The lack of credit it gave its audience was just amazing, to think that people weren't going to spot such glaring reference point is unforgivable. The opening scene was taken almost shot for shot from the opening scene of the office. Even down to the shakey zooms and cutaways of janitors etc. Fiveteen minutes in, i thought i was safe in the knowledge that it wasent going to get any worse and then......back of the net. My jaw hit the floor. First rule of writing an original tv comedy: dont directly lift a catchphrase (complete with gesture) from argueably the most iconic and well respected comedy character of all time. Lets face it, noone is expecting a lot from rte in terms of comedy but this derivitive rubbish cannot be the best we can do. Just looking at the irish standup scene, its clear that theres no shortage of talent out there.
Ive angered myself thinking about this, im off for a lie down.....

Davedubh

I dident bother watching it,i could tell from the trailers it was **** and all the posts here confirm that.

Clare Bear

I think it's the worst Irish programme I've ever seen....and that's saying something! It was so awful. I'm not just jumping on the bandwagon, I can't believe they aired that crap!! So bad!!!

HBK

can anyone tell me the name of the song that is played on the ad for the english class on rte???? and who its by?

ruskin

The english class is yet another pathetic attempt by RTE to try comedy. There is nothing original about it. The whole premise is a rip off of a 1970s UK sitcom called mind your language, which centered on a group of stereotyped foreigners being taught english by an idiot. The main teacher makes a rubbish attempt to copy the mannerisms of Alan Partridge, while the direction is equally ****e in trying to copy the shakey camera style of the office. Is there any one in this country who can write a half hour of comedy fit to be broadcast? anyone?

Maynooth

Oh God it was terrible, absolutely awful!! Such a rip off of so many things. There has to be better material out there for RTE surely????

GhostInTheRuins

I've seen a lot worse shows I'll admit, but this was still terrible. It was the sickening rip offs that really pissed me off. The moment he said "Back of the net" really made my stomach turn. The attempted awkward scenes just didn't work at all either.

Tha Gopher

Coogan and Gervais must be alright for money, seeing as if they werent theyd sue the hole off RTE. Some gags, scenes and set ups were recycled (trying to rip up the book reminded me of Brents "special filing cabinet" for letters from head office i.e. the bin). Woeful stuff

Still, the little Chinese bird, rarr

Wheels

A quick IMDB of the writer of the show tells us that he also wrote such gems as "The IFTA's" and "You're A Star" and the spectacularly awful "Fallout".

Is there any genre he can't or won't do?

Ghost Train

thought it was slightly better this week, one or two cheap laughs (prostitute related jokes). But then lots of stuff to cringe at. Could be so much better... i think there'd be more laughs in a real english class

JohnnyStones

sorry to say it but yes it was terrible, saying prostitution a hundred times is not funny.
from the law of averages you'd think they (RTE)could make one funny "comedy show":mad:

Dennis the Stone

I think it's the worst program I've ever seen. Who writes this ****, a 12 year old? The teacher guy used to play Morgan in Fair City, who hanged himself. I think everyone involved with this should do the same. Film that and maybe that would be funny

BendiBus

I don't usually visit the Television board but I had to drop in to see what you were all saying about it.

I've nothing new to add. My own views match what's alreavy been posted. To say it's not slightly funny would be a huge understatement. A poor attempt to copy Steve Coogan & Ricky Gervais.

I was embarrassed for the cast!

The Chinese girl is cute though.

colly_browy

Folks, you do realise the budget for this show is €480,000!! (€80,000 per episode)


Look it up on RTE's independant productions section of their website.

Zaph

I caught about 3 minutes of this the other night. There were tears, and not of the laughter kind.

listerdave

colly_browy wrote:

Folks, you do realise the budget for this show is €480,000!! (€80,000 per episode)


Look it up on RTE's independant productions section of their website.

I can't find this. Where exactly is it?

Legend_76

colly_browy wrote:

Folks, you do realise the budget for this show is €480,000!! (€80,000 per episode)


Look it up on RTE's independant productions section of their website.

How ???

How???

How could such a steaming turd as this cost so much ???

colly_browy

I can't find this. Where exactly is it?

http://www.rte.ie/commissioning/commissioning_round.html
Download: 2008 Commissioning Round.doc
Page 22

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMING
RTÉ TWO – Comedy and Entertainment, Mondays and Tuesdays 21:30. 22:00
Scripted comedy
We intend to commission more of this genre. We already have one series in production, “The English Teacher”, and one in development. This output will have a budget of approximately €80, 000 per half hour.



"How could such a steaming turd as this cost so much ???"

That was the budget - no-one ever said it cost that much. It clearly didn't. The production company obviously took the money and ran.

listerdave

I think they mean half hour scripted comedy in general will have a budget of up to €80, 000 per half hour. I'd say The English Class was commissioned because it was cheap(er) to make.

colly_browy

Doubt it. A budget is a budget. RTE are public service broadcasters and don't run as a business. Plus, All prime time shows average shows average at least €2,000 per minute.

Call Me Jimmy

I saw it last night and my honest opinion is that everyone involved with it should have their arms chopped for the blatent stealing and raping of the ideas of proper comedy shows.

It was like a bunch of talentless pricks trying to do their best office impression and failing miserably. Every single manerism of the teacher was copied from ricky gervais. I don't wanna type any more coz I'm actually getting annoyed just thinking about it.

chadjared

I actually joined this forum because i heard there were a few angry people going on about this show.
I actually wrote it and stand by it as an original piece of contempary irish work reflecting the social trends in our country-dublin.

Just messing, i cant even spell. i hate this show so much i get sick on myself everytime i think about it. I did join the forum for this tho. you guys have no idea how much i hate this show.

We all no how bad the show is, its time to do something about it. I've been- harrassing would probably be the best word to use, harrassing rte and the production company behind the show almost daily since i saw the first episode.

I emplore all of you to do the same. these guys are a bunch of jerks and that was the last straw. we are an intelligent nation that enjoys decent comedy and they have never, never ever tried to give us anything back- sure you got the pannel and maybe podge and rodge but they're only funny if you love getting sloshed on fat frogs and throwing up your tiesto collection for a living.

Our time has come to speak out, as their target audience (16-35) (14-25 if your a lady) we should have our say in what our national public sevice broadcaster provides in our share of the market-that being monday night comedy night.

Who will join my cause?

SNIPPED

send hatred and nonsensical emails.

and if i dont see you all alive tomorrow morning, i'll tell your wives you died heroically. saving irish comedy from a sinking ship.

i know you all think its already sunk like the old woman in titanic's boyfriend, but its not baby, its just drowning and everyones sitting back afraid, afraid to get too close being caught in the sucky water void thats left back after ed byrne's sitcom sunk years ago 97 i think, maybe 98, either way it was balls. and they said that it was the one sitcom that not even god himself could sink. ....

So who will join me?

Chad Jared Mitchelson

Dennis the Stone

Batten down the mizen masts and haul your slack in as she goes! I'm on board!!

GhostInTheRuins

chadjared wrote: »

I actually joined this forum because i heard there were a few angry people going on about this show.
I actually wrote it and stand by it as an original piece of contempary irish work reflecting the social trends in our country-dublin.

I thought you were serious for a second there. It would have been great if you actually did write it

I'll join the cause