New Irish Sit-com on RTE TWO?????

Capt'n Midnight

luckat wrote: »

the TG4 show CU Burn;

and the postman ones, the CU Burn crowd did another one as Guards didn't they ?
up north there's "give my head peace"

I can't see many people watching these over and over on DVD but they do provide the odd chuckle.

Scrap Saturday and Halls Pictorial Weekly were good. Bull Island was too safe, it just seemed to avoid any controversy, how did they reckon it would continue when even the dogs on the streets could see it was pulling punches all the time.

ianrush

Elmo wrote: »

Paris was Fr. Ted's Roaring Twenties

Who knows!? But without any kind of proper development structure in place in RTE, the options are limited to the filmboard/filmbase schemes where they could prove if they have talent, which is what most people have to do before they get even a sniff of the RTE production money (and even then you need a lot of luck and maybe a couple of relations in Montrose). It's an extremely competitive business, but I'm sure they already know that. I say good luck to anyone who sticks with it because there are a LOT more easier ways to make money (and where you don't end up crucified on boards.ie either).

Boardsbud

Just for the record :

Scrap Saturday was NOT Dermot Morgan's training ground. He was well established on The Live Mike on TV years before hand. He did some radio phone in character stuff with Mike Murphy on Morning Call at this time as well. He was also an accomplished stand up before Scrap Saturday.

Paris was NOT Graham Lenehan and Arthur Matthews dodgy flop show that may have prevented Father Ted happening. Those guys had been writing for Smith and Jones, Fast Show etc long before. They had a proven track record of sucessful comedy writing behind them. Yes Paris was a dud but please don't try draw parallels or comparisons between it and that sh1t from Monday. They also didn't have attitude that Mr Stubbs and Ms Jollie(!) have on here. Please accept that your show was rubbish. Its being slated all over the country by all sorts of people. Your arrogance shown on here would suggest that you think everyone in the country is wrong and that only you and your small band of supporters have any idea how to make a "good" sit-com. You're dealing (for the most part) with intelligent people who want to be entertained. We know what a sit-com is, why and how it should be funny. Its a formula thats been around since the start of TV. You're not inventing the wheel here but you failed on every count. Get over it. If you wish to continue with your arrogance and contempt for the viewing public you will be back in the call centre soon enough. Your suicide comment was in very bad taste or is that your sense of humour shining through again ? As regards the Herald review, (I mean come on its The Evening Herald !) you're spinning the article and grasping at straws.

I hope you put this bad episode, (no pun intended), behind you and go and put your energies into creating a hit show to prove everyone on here wrong, myself included. Stop trying to defend the indefensible. Next time bring some professionals on board though, you can't do it alone. I think the fiasco that is The Roaring Twenties has proved this.

SprostonGreen

Sh ite Sh ite Sh ite Sh ite!!

That was awful, they had to be taking the pi ss surely.

Wackly unbelievable characters worked on the Young Ones not on this codswollop.

That voice over narration was annoying, was meant to be a rip-off of Hitchers hikers guide?

Seriously bad, a new benchmark in Irish comedy.

iguana

I live in the UK so haven't seen the show so I can't comment on whether I thought it was good or not. But from reading this thread I just wanted to point out that while I respect that €100k is not very much money to produce a tv show Clerks was made with US$27,575 and shot in 21 days. Lack of time and money isn't an excuse.

Kel Varnsen

SyxPak wrote: »

Indeed.

Observe common occurrence.
Announce observation of common occurrence.
Co-star repeats announcement posed as question.
"Well don't you think it's funny that [occurence] [occurred]?"
Pause for canned laughter.

Fnck you and your banality Jerry.

The "canned laughter" you hear in Seinfeld is, in actual fact, the real sound of real people laughing.

PS: They laugh because it's comedy gold.

BnA

I would agree with all the negative comments here except those saying that it was worse than the English Class. It was indeed utterly terrible, but nothing could ever possibly be as bad as the English Class. The death notices on Clare FM are funnier than the The English Class.

Diogenes

AngelinaJolie wrote: »

And by the way, 100k is not a lot in television production. Check it out rates on www.filmbase.ie or www.iftn.ie and you'll see how quickly money can be spent on a professional crew.

I just wanted to comment on this first.

Really? Did you pay full siptu rates? How much money was saved not hiring an editor? Or DP?


Secondly Mr Stubbs, show a bit of class. Bemoaning your lack of budget is just whinging. Sorcese gave a talk in Ardmore giving his opinion on a set of UCD film students shorts, a few years ago. Before each film the head of the film school would introduce each film along the line of

"This was a short tough shoot with a limited budget..."

And Mr Sorcese would stand after the film and say;

"Y'know film makers don't get to stand infront of an audience and say, "sorry about the sucky scene fifteen minutes in, the actress had a cold.."

Let your film/show stand on it's own merits/flaws and don't come on to a website trying to defend it because of its budget or lack thereof.

Secondly, don't try and justify your poor script based on on budget. Script development costs nothing, just time sweat and tears. Paths to Freedom was made for a similar budget as to what you had; less even, so trying to claim that the budget was the greatest hinderance to your producing a quality intelligent comedy is an insult to anyone with a modicum of intelligence.

And the clockwork orange esque trailer, was just offensive and stupid, and a dead cert to annoy 90% of anyone living in this country. C'mon flashing "rathmines" and "Not gay" seriously? Trying to come off as witty and postmodern and playfully cheeky, comes off as unimaginative childish and purile.

I'm sure Angelina, will take a few moments from adopting a small kenyan village to call me a "begrudger", frankly I've never seen an Irish producer, or crew member get onto a message board and attack their critics, most of us have better things to do with our lives.

The Sparrow

Boardsbud wrote: »

Just for the record :

Scrap Saturday was NOT Dermot Morgan's training ground. He was well established on The Live Mike on TV years before hand. He did some radio phone in character stuff with Mike Murphy on Morning Call at this time as well. He was also an accomplished stand up before Scrap Saturday.

Paris was NOT Graham Lenehan and Arthur Matthews dodgy flop show that may have prevented Father Ted happening. Those guys had been writing for Smith and Jones, Fast Show etc long before. They had a proven track record of sucessful comedy writing behind them. Yes Paris was a dud but please don't try draw parallels or comparisons between it and that sh1t from Monday. They also didn't have attitude that Mr Stubbs and Ms Jollie(!) have on here. As regards the Herald review, (I mean come on its The Evening Herald !) you're spinning the article and grasping at straws.

I hope you put this bad episode, (no pun intended), behind you and go and put your energies into creating a hit show to prove everyone on here wrong, myself included. Stop trying to defend the indefensible. Next time bring some professionals on board though, you can't do it alone. I think the fiasco that is The Roaring Twenties has proved this.

I completely agree with this post. In fact when I read the nonsense from others about The Roaring Twenties being touted as similar to Paris I just had to laugh. I mean as you point out they already had a very strong track record as comedy writers. This is completely different.

And while I hope that the writers etc of this show recover and go on and do well their attitude on here just screams of amateur behaviour which was certainly evident in the pilot episode. What sort of writer of anything comes onto a message board to defend their show?!

Dude close your computer and start trying to think of some better ideas. Oh and while I'm at it the argument that if ppl think that it was rubbish that they should write their own pilot is so ridiculous that it is almost laughable. Viewers are not paid to make engaging television. In fact they pay others like everybody involved in this show to do it for them. If a plumber messed up fixing my toilet and when I told him that he did a rubbish job he got in a huff and said well why don't you try and do it and see where you get, I think you could imagine what the response would be.

Look lads fair play for giving it a go but it didn't work out and you should never have been commissioned. You are like the Steve Staunton of sitcom writers... Given too big a job WAY too soon. But I really do hope that you all recover from it, grow up and take some criticism and then come back with a belter of a show.

FensterDJ

HI, it looks like another new two cents poster arriving but I'm a long time boards user who got banned from TV for the heinous crime of posting a link to a streaming site, I've managed to eke out a sub standard existence without posting in the TV forum but i had to re register to give my opinion.

I enjoyed the roaring twenties, I thought it was very rough round the edges and the acting left a lot to be desired but it was rich with ideas and plots, a lot happened in those 26 minutes (or whatever) there were a number of story lines that came together well (very seinfeld but that's never a bad thing) there were a lot of jokes per minute (whether you found them funny is neither here nor there) and there was a lot of room for the characters to develop.

In general I think the programme was let down by the casting and acting, the actors were trying to be wacky but they had no innate "wackiness" and it showed, lovable comic characters like Dougle, Kramer, JD or whoever are a combination of the script plus the actors natural style, get the balance wrong and you're screwed.

but I think the writing and humour showed a lot of promise and I would be very interested to see how the writers/ creators develop and I hope they get a chance to, if they can find the right people to work with, they could well produce something we can all be proud of.

chadjared

'steve staunton of sitcom writers.' genius.
I dont even follow gaelic but this is such an apt comparison.

100k, you really should of put some thought and effort into this and treated it with some respect, or at least have some respect for your viewers, us.

deep throat was shot on 30k and didnt suck as much as your show. and thats dollars so is probably only about two fifty euro notes here.

heres a course for you stubsie

http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?BG/317descr.

luckat

Please ignore the sneers and the boors, Mr Stubbs and any others who have had the courage to post here.

But you're getting some sensible advice from others. Consensus seems to be that Kevin doesn't suit this particular part, and that you have some great ideas and routines, but this particular show hasn't yet come together.

I'll probably still have my television next Monday, so I'll try to catch up with the second episode. Then I'll be able to see what people are talking about.

But if you want to post a YouTube link meanwhile...?

Havermeyer

HI, it looks like another new two cents poster arriving but I'm a long time boards user who got banned from TV for the heinous crime of posting a link to a streaming site, I've managed to eke out a sub standard existence without posting in the TV forum but i had to re register to give my opinion.

I enjoyed the roaring twenties, I thought it was very rough round the edges and the acting left a lot to be desired but it was rich with ideas and plots, a lot happened in those 26 minutes (or whatever) there were a number of story lines that came together well (very seinfeld but that's never a bad thing) there were a lot of jokes per minute (whether you found them funny is neither here nor there) and there was a lot of room for the characters to develop.

In general I think the programme was let down by the casting and acting, the actors were trying to be wacky but they had no innate "wackiness" and it showed, lovable comic characters like Dougle, Kramer, JD or whoever are a combination of the script plus the actors natural style, get the balance wrong and you're screwed.

Very Seinfeld? Are you ****ing crazy or what? You're comparing this load of bollocks to probably the best sitcom of all time? Cop on. And why the hell are the only people defending this show, apart from elmo, prodigal users of boards? Oh, I lost my password, I got banned etc etc. Grow a bollocks and sign in with your regular user names. The fact that nearly everyone defending the no-show has lost or been denied access to this forum is as much bull**** as the program itself.

But you're getting some sensible advice from others. Consensus seems to be that Kevin doesn't suit this particular part, and that you have some great ideas and routines, but this particular show hasn't yet come together.

TBH, I think the 'general' consensus is that this show doesn't suit TV/comedy or any other medium to project this to the masses.

luckat

Prodigal means generous - am I misreading this post?

Wertz

chadjared wrote: »

'steve staunton of sitcom writers.' genius.
I dont even follow gaelic but this is such an apt comparison.

I found that a pretty good jibe too....but I'm unsure as to where gaelic comes into it. Do tell.

chadjared wrote: »

deep throat was shot on 30k and didnt suck as much as your show. and thats dollars so is probably only about two fifty euro notes here.

Deep throat was shot over 35 yrs ago...I see where you're coming from with the suck thing, obviously an aspiring comedy writer yourself, but what has an american porno movie got to do with amateur comedy in late 2007 Ireland? Have you ever heard of a concept called inflation?

This thread is becoming very personal toward the people involved with the show in question and not in a good way.

FensterDJ

Very Seinfeld? Are you ****ing crazy or what? You're comparing this load of bollocks to probably the best sitcom of all time? Cop on. And why the hell are the only people defending this show, apart from elmo, prodigal users of boards? Oh, I lost my password, I got banned etc etc. Grow a bollocks and sign in with your regular user names. The fact that nearly everyone defending the no-show has lost or been denied access to this forum is as much bull**** as the program itself.

quote]

My usual posting name is "joeschmoe" and I didn't say it was in anyway as good as seinfeld, it certainly wasn't, I just said i saw seinfeld influence on the show and i approve of that, the point of my post was to say that beneath the crappy acting and production i saw promise in the writing and do believe there was possibly quite a lot of talent in the roaring twenties's theory if not much on show in it's execution

Gekko

jeez I watched it and I cringed, it was so awful.

what was going on with the voiceover too?

Bushalicious

Hey Stubbs

I like everyone else here wasn't into the show at all but i understand where you are coming from. I made a pilot with some friends a while ago with he idea of pitching it but we realised during the shoot but mostly in the edit that it was not what we had set out to make. It was a case too many cooks. The central idea and tone of the show had been lost. We cut it as far as we could then prety much put it on the back burner. That could well have been what happened with you guys and rte, i dont know. I commend you for getting up and making a pilot and sending it in to try and get funding. It is a very difficult task and requires alot of patience and dedication, and money. You got further than many other people. And you had the guts to come on this board and face the backlash. Try and make a few shorts or something and get back at it. Good luck man.

Lil' Smiler

hmm.... didn't enjoy it, thought it might be better!


although found it weird that the shop bein opened is the shop 2 mins up the road from me....weird!!

Havermeyer

Prodigal means generous - am I misreading this post?

Maybe. I meant prodigal in the biblical sort of context. The lost posters have come back to defend the program. It made sense in my head. The same way this show made sense in the creator's heads.

My usual posting name is "joeschmoe" and I didn't say it was in anyway as good as seinfeld, it certainly wasn't, I just said i saw seinfeld influence on the show and i approve of that, the point of my post was to say that beneath the crappy acting and production i saw promise in the writing and do believe there was possibly quite a lot of talent in it's theory but not much on show in it's execution

I see. I just don't see any aspect of seinfeld in it though.

chadjared

Wertz wrote: »

Deep throat was shot over 35 yrs ago...I see where you're coming from with the suck thing, obviously an aspiring comedy writer yourself, but what has an american porno movie got to do with amateur comedy in late 2007 Ireland? Have you ever heard of a concept called inflation?

This thread is becoming very personal toward the people involved with the show in question and not in a good way.

i just used deep throat cos A; i wanted to use a film with a budget cheaper than this and someone already mentioned clerks which i was going to mention and B; i wanted to make the joke about how the roaring twenties sucked-get it- porno blow job and deep throat being a term used for necking back a c.o.c.k, get it?

Im glad you called it amateur because thats problem i have with it.
the national broadcaster shouldnt be producing amateur programming, thats wat youtube is for.

This show was terrible and not in the way that it might find its own voice after awhile cos it wont. I'll tell you why, because you dont get many chances or opportunities in the media industry to prove yourself and they got a huge one. Besides, the tv license fee isnt so we can watch works in progress its so we can be entertained by decent programming. its rte's fault for not being able to decipher what could work and what not. but the reason it wont find its voice is because they had the chance and this is wat they produced. Whereas it should have been their moment of glory. It was their chance to prove themselves.
i appreciate that a lot of personal energy went into this and the sacrifices involved but they got it wrong and dont fully understand the format or comedy for that matter and the ultimate proof of this was the character kevin.

Stubs, you were the director and writer,please tell me this wasnt honestly what you had invisioned? and can you really believe in the character kevin?

Im sorry if ive been too personal but who do i blame? Rte 'are well aware of [my] views' As director and writer your the boss, the chief, the leader and this is what you create? Its just a shame that they chose you as their 'new young talent' they wanted to back. I would say dont quit the day job...but well its too late.

And further more, dont tell people to have their go at it, you took the money its your job now. No one is saying its excellent except those involved and the evening hearld- its the evening hearld man, they walk up and down the motor way knocking on car windows to sell their sludge. Dont call us begrudgers, as representitives of your business, and it is a business, its undiplomatic.

The thing is though at the end of all this, you just dont get it

estebancambias

After reading this thread, Bush needs to make his final act as president a war on television. Perhaps the biggest barrier to peace since Gavrillo Princip.

Wertz

I know why you used Deep Throat, I'd already "got it" (the joke) hence my jibe about you being an aspiring comedy writer.
Never explain your jokes....even when they are funny, it doesn't do them any justice to disect them. A lot like this show perhaps....as I mentioned way back when, I went in with very low expectations and got a laugh.
As has been discussed at length, what people find funny is entirely down to them....personally I don't like a lot of what others find funny, of what's been mentioned in here so far Scrubs and Seinfeld would be among that list, yet those are two polished and very well funded shows. They are well acted and produced, I'll give them that....but to me it still doesn't make them outstandingly funny....however overly zany the characters in Roaring 20s and however poorly acted, I still find them a bit easier to relate to than a bunch of Americans.
The people behind roaring 20s have taken cues from both the above shows and some others besides (HHG2tG, Shameless maybe?) and tried to run with it....perhaps they are running before they could walk...and yes, RTÉ have to hold up their hands in some regards, but I can't criticise RTÉ for doing what I've always said they should be doing (promoting homegrown, emerging talent) even if the end result isn't up to the standards that we all expect. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that RTÉ allowed poor production standards to slip through the net, except it's usually them doing the producing. Dodgy sets anyone? Sh*tty sound and camerawork? It's ALL license fee money....but I only see the real daggers out when it's a bunch of newcomers trying their hand?

You do make a very valid point in all of that though; in these days of youtube, there is a place to stretch your wings and hone your skills before you start spending real money and getting airtime...

Mr Stubbs

Hi all,

Thanks again for all comments. I'm surprised its gotten such a long, sustained and sometimes frenzied reaction.

Anyway its pointless me posting anything more. I'll just get myself into more trouble or end up smashing my laptop off a wall -- and I really like my laptop.

Hopefully some of you will tune into Ep2.

Goodbye everybody and may all your ventures succeed!

SS.

standbyme

& thank you for posting in the most popular forum around,as you're probably aware of its reach.

But do take note of the advice given here & dont put all your eggs in one basket, try other places on where you can post your video like youtube for a global audience, you might be surprised IMO.

Elmo

Im sorry if ive been too personal but who do i blame? Rte 'are well aware of [my] views' As director and writer your the boss, the chief, the leader and this is what you create?

The gaffer!

chadjared do you ever have anything nice to say. Do you honestly believe that if you show your anger in full you will be successful in make changes? Have you ever worked in the TV industry? I know that that question is a loaded one since the reply is general "I am a viewer, I have the right to an opinion" but if you are so f.u.c.k.ing unhappy with Irish TV why don't you try to change it, and become involved.

Or change your tone. You can be critical without being so vicious. And you will generally get a response.

I have emailed RTE on several occassion about their programming, I have got a few minor changes in realtion to their scheduling and I have got a few nice replies explaining where they are coming from. I have also written to the BCI in relation to TV3 and its total abuse of the terms of its licence. (I would never expect anyone to reply to any of my emails, just as long as I know they have been read I am happy, but then I general expect people to delete my emails).

Also its not healthy to be so unhappy about anything.

OTT!

MattE

wow, so many moaners, didn't know RTE put a gun to your head & forced you to watch the show! it wasn't advertised as "the next bachelors walk" or something. it was on @ 10.50 on a monday nite. you either watch it or you dont, dont see what all the fuss is if you dont like it! switch it off then & quit bitchin.

at least the lads are trying to do something different, give them a break! most of the half-wits who are complaining probably prefer to watch the more boring, predictable dumb comedy you would probably get in an episode of friends. people complaining about your paying tv licence fees, just shut it cuz i'd say most of you dont even pay them, and the program is only 2 episodes anyway. if you want to complain about a waste of money on tv programs then email rte regarding fair shi*ty.

anyway, just wanted to say i enjoyed the episode, thought it was quite funny. looking forward to see how it develops in the next. keep up the good work lads.

Our man in Havana

FensterDJ wrote: »

HI, it looks like another new two cents poster arriving but I'm a long time boards user who got banned from TV for the heinous crime of posting a link to a streaming site, I've managed to eke out a sub standard existence without posting in the TV forum but i had to re register to give my opinion.

Enjoy your new ban.

Havermeyer

at least the lads are trying to do something different, give them a break! most of the half-wits who are complaining probably prefer to watch the more boring, predictable dumb comedy you would probably get in an episode of friends. people complaining about your paying tv licence fees, just shut it cuz i'd say most of you dont even pay them, and the program is only 2 episodes anyway. if you want to complain about a waste of money on tv programs then email rte regarding fair shi*ty.

anyway, just wanted to say i enjoyed the episode, thought it was quite funny. looking forward to see how it develops in the next. keep up the good work lads.

The people who are criticizing this are probably into 'predictable dumb comedy' like friends? Yet, you enjoyed this 'predictable dumb comedy'?! lol

Mossy Monk

MattE wrote: »

wow, so many moaners, didn't know RTE put a gun to your head & forced you to watch the show! it wasn't advertised as "the next bachelors walk" or something. it was on @ 10.50 on a monday nite. you either watch it or you dont, dont see what all the fuss is if you dont like it! switch it off then & quit bitchin.

at least the lads are trying to do something different, give them a break! most of the half-wits who are complaining probably prefer to watch the more boring, predictable dumb comedy you would probably get in an episode of friends. people complaining about your paying tv licence fees, just shut it cuz i'd say most of you dont even pay them, and the program is only 2 episodes anyway. if you want to complain about a waste of money on tv programs then email rte regarding fair shi*ty.

What the hell? If people do not like something then they shouldn't let that be known? I watched it purely from the reaction on this thread and thought it was ****. What is wrong with posting that? Instead you whinge about people who did say it was bad and insulted them at the same time. Go you.