Phoenix Nights

petes

I watched this a couple of years ago and though it was great. I had no idea. I bought the box set there a couple of weeks back and I can't stop watching it. This is TV comedy at it's best in my opinion.

I am getting more and more jokes that I didn't get the first time around and the out takes are hilarious especially Max and Paddy - "What about Tommy dick fingers"!!

This is probably more of an appreciation post but to ask a question, does anyone out there not like it? Surely not!

Basq

Oh, there are probably plenty that don't like it.

But for me, it probably even surpasses 'The Office' as one of the best British comedies of the last 10 years!

Sammy The Snake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DjTIiCJwCw

Young Kenny: Can't we disguise it?
Brian: Yeah Yeah, we'll put a wooly hat on it and say its you!

Superb!

fifth

Check out the spin off - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere if you liked Phoenix nights.

Basq

funkyflea wrote: »

Check out the spin off - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere if you liked Phoenix nights.

It was decent.. but far from the class of 'Phoenix Nights' unfortunately!

abouttobebanned

funkyflea wrote: »

Check out the spin off - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere if you liked Phoenix nights.

Don't.

Shinyboots

funkyflea wrote: »

Check out the spin off - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere if you liked Phoenix nights.

yea max and paddy is class......!!!!! ding dany do!

petes

funkyflea wrote: »

Check out the spin off - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere if you liked Phoenix nights.

I've seen it. I just rang HMV in Dundalk to see did they have it and they do. Collecting it after work

Basquille, I have it above The Office (as good as it is) already,

I think my favourite character is Kenny Dawglaish, the compulsive liar. The stuff he comes out with is great!

Penn

Shinyboots

Insurgent wrote: »

I've seen it. I just rang HMV in Dundalk to see did they have it and they do. Collecting it after work

Basquille, I have it above The Office (as good as it is) already,

I think my favourite character is Kenny Dawglaish, the compulsive liar. The stuff he comes out with is great!

na, has to be Jerry St Clare!!!!

ronnie3585

Tommy d*ck fingers!

So many one liners from a superb show. The Max and Paddy spin off wasn't a patch on Phoenix Nights.

petes

Shinyboots wrote: »

na, has to be Jerry St Clare!!!!

But I'm all clear!!

Shinyboots

Insurgent wrote: »

But I'm all clear!!

ha ha.....easy peasy...lemon sqeezy.....

Basq

Ahhh.. back when Dave Spikey was funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXHtokQ2bxc

It is a shame that Peter Kay is apparently still not talking to Dave Spikey and Neil Fitzmaurice.

Shinyboots

basquille wrote: »

Ahhh.. back when Dave Spikey was funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXHtokQ2bxc

It is a shame that Peter Kay is apparently still not talking to Dave Spikey and Neil Fitzmaurice.

didn't no that!!!! pity as it's class comedy........

Morgans

First series of Phoenix Night was very very good. Apparently Peter Kay accepted a BAFTA for best writing in a sitcom and never gave co-writer Spikey and Fitzmaurice any credit. I dont know if that was the actual cause of the disagreement or just a symptom of the breakdown in relationship.

Since Pheonix Nights, I havent liked any of Peter Kay's stuff. Max and Paddy was godawful with absolutely none of the charm of PN. Just set piece to set piece (wasnt there a girlfirend who was a dwarf in it) with little or none of the humour. Just awful, And then the X-Factor skit.

It doesnt take away from Pheonix Nights though. "Chorley FM, 'coming' in your ears." Second series not quite as strong as the first but very very good.

Shinyboots

Morgans wrote: »

First series of Phoenix Night was very very good. Apparently Peter Kay accepted a BAFTA for best writing in a sitcom and never gave co-writer Spikey and Fitzmaurice any credit. I dont know if that was the actual cause of the disagreement or just a symptom of the breakdown in relationship.

Since Pheonix Nights, I havent liked any of Peter Kay's stuff. Max and Paddy was godawful with absolutely none of the charm of PN. Just set piece to set piece (wasnt there a girlfirend who was a dwarf in it) with little or none of the humour. Just awful, And then the X-Factor skit.

It doesnt take away from Pheonix Nights though. "Chorley FM, 'coming' in your ears." Second series not quite as strong as the first but very very good.

Max - yea, she's a kinda midget.........................
Paddy - isn't that a Queen song?

haha......

Basq

Peter Kay's stand-up is absolutely superb if you've never seen it by the way.

A lot of sly references in Phoenix Nights (e.g "Garlic Bread"?)

petes

basquille wrote: »

Peter Kay's stand-up is absolutely superb if you've never seen it by the way.

A lot of sly references in Phoenix Nights (e.g "Garlic Bread"?)

It's the future. His stand up is brilliant. Do you wanna brew?

Basq

One of my first uploads on YouTube with almost a million views:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA0q_vkeoDA

Morgans

Pretty sure his best stand up is from the same era as Pheonix Nights. They "Mam wants a bungalow tour" and it is very good as was the earlier stuff. (That Peter Kay thing was good) For someone who was going to be absolutely huge at that stage, he has kept it pretty much low-key for the last 5 years. For whatever reason.

I dont get why garlic bread is so funny. I dont understand why it became a catch phrase. It was only mentioned once in the program. I suppose its whatever grabs the most people, but several funnier one-liners throughout.

grumpytrousers

It's quite sad the way Peter Kay has gone. Phoenix Nights was absolutely inspired and the forerunner - That Peter Kay Thing - was very good as well. Since then, however it's happened, he appears to have alienated Spikey and Fitzpatrick and tried to carry on the laughs himself.

I sat down to watch Max and Paddy when it ran originally, beer in hand, wanting to laugh and just feeling embarassed. It was buttock-clenchingly awful. Landfill comedy, pure and simple. The only good moment in it was when they brought back the other Phoenix Nights characters to spring the lads out of prison.

I dunno what to make of Kay. In a sense, he should stop NOW. If Phoenix Nights was all he'd ever be remembered for, it's a bloody good legacy. As things stand, he's just attained such success that people are afraid to tell him when an idea or a joke is just sh*te. I think that in Fitzpatrick and Spikey he had that; they must have ruthlessly worked on the PN scripts as there isn't a dull moment in there and the lines come at you thick and fast.

Contrast with the X factor parody he did and, once you look beyond the guest cameos and the piss taking of the format, it wasn't actually that 'belly laugh' funny as it thought it was.

Seems over at www.peterkay.co.uk that he's performing for a few nights in Manchester next year. Hope he gets his mojo back. I saw him live years ago and he was great but he needs to do something *more* now and i'm not sure what!

Shinyboots

Morgans wrote: »

Pretty sure his best stand up is from the same era as Pheonix Nights. They "Mam wants a bungalow tour" and it is very good as was the earlier stuff. (That Peter Kay thing was good) For someone who was going to be absolutely huge at that stage, he has kept it pretty much low-key for the last 5 years. For whatever reason.

I dont get why garlic bread is so funny. I dont understand why it became a catch phrase. It was only mentioned once in the program. I suppose its whatever grabs the most people, but several funnier one-liners throughout.

Jesus Wept!!!!

abouttobebanned

I agree grumpy, I saw him the other night that comec relief concert...he's put on some weight for starters! But I's pained me to see him churn out all his old material again and again. He's a shrewd business man, and like many shrewd business men, he's lost some good friends along the way.

Penn

The problem is that he's just coasting. How many different versions of the same stand-up tour can he possibly release? He released it on DVD, then released it again on DVD, but this one was the final show of the tour or something, then he released a DVD with the best bits from both, even though they're pretty much the same.

Then last year he released a DVD with clips of tv interviews and appearances he's done. I think there was something like 17 minutes previously unseen footage, but I don't think any of that was new. The only thing he's really done since Max and Paddy (apart from the Comic Relief songs) was the X Factor thing, and that really wasn't great. One or two funny bits, but... just not great at all.

Basq

With regards to his stand-up, he announced he was giving up stand-by a few years ago to focus on family. That plus the 180-night "Mum Wants A Bungalow" tour was some achivement.. and anyone would need a break after that.

Personally, I would consider myself a very big fan of Peter Kay.. but i've made my opinion of his recent stuff clear.

'The X Factor' parody wasn't funny.. tongue-in-cheek and accurate? Yes, but funny? No.

These "Best Of" DVD releases pain me. I own, in my mind, what is the essential Peter Kay DVD releases - the 2 Phoenix Nights series and his Live 2 DVD boxset (Top Of The Tower / Bolton Albert Hall). Everything since has been repackaging of bits of the two live DVD's above (and the "Live at Manchester MEN Arena" which is the same tour as "Bolton Albert Hall") into 55 minute packages.

The Peter Kay nowadays is a far cry from the talented man of the late 90's / early 2000's.

But in saying that, I would love to see the man live. He is still very witty and engaging in interviews - that hasn't changed - but I do think it's obvious Fitzmaurice and Spikey as owed as much credit as Kay for the absolute comedy gold that is "Phoenix Nights".

Bazzy

funkyflea wrote: »

Check out the spin off - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere if you liked Phoenix nights.

I'm sorry but it was one of the best spin offs in a long time pure genius i even went and bought the pakistan cricket shirt!!

Penn

basquille wrote: »

But in saying that, I would love to see the man live. He is still very witty and engaging in interviews - that hasn't changed

Agreed. Him and Paddy on Who wants to be a Millionaire especially were brilliant. He is funny, no doubt about it. Like I said, he just needs to stop coasting

bullpost

I loved phoenix nights but when I saw his stand-up I just wasn't mad about it.
It was missing the surreal quality that gave pn that genius edge.

Shinyboots

paddyirishman85 wrote: »

Agreed. Him and Paddy on Who wants to be a Millionaire especially were brilliant. He is funny, no doubt about it. Like I said, he just needs to stop coasting

yea, the xfactor thing was crap....he's just puttn anything out there, the dvd's clips and books..........the stand up tour now should get him back to his best.....

Basq

bullpost wrote: »

I loved phoenix nights but when I saw his stand-up I just wasn't mad about it.

I think what makes his stand-up so great is it's just so well observed and true to life!

His stand-up is about his home-life growing up on Bolton.. but it may have well been a small town in Ireland.

Stuff like the "mum's buying crap cola" ("there's starving kids in Africa!", "send it to them, they won't drink it. They'll send it back - it's crap!") and ringing people and asking "what time is it over there?!" while on holidays - it's just so well-observed.

His stand-up is probably not for everyone.. but it shows that real funny stand-up doesn't need a swear word every 8 seconds to be funny (take note, Mr Tiernan!).

Actually.. this thread has made me wanna pop on one of the live shows later.

Shinyboots

basquille wrote: »

I think what makes his stand-up so great is it's just so well observed and true to life!

His stand-up is about his home-life growing up on Bolton.. but it may have well been a small town in Ireland.

Stuff like the "mum's buying crap cola" ("there's starving kids in Africa!", "send it to them, they won't drink it. They'll send it back - it's crap!") and ringing people and asking "what time is it over there?!" while on holidays - it's just so well-observed.

His stand-up is probably not for everyone.. but it shows that real funny stand-up doesn't need a swear word every 8 seconds to be funny (take note, Mr Tiernan!).

Actually.. this thread has made me wanna pop on one of the live shows later.

watched the bolton albert hall DVD bout a week ago....funny as hell.....mammmm.me biscuits fallen in me brewwww maammmm

Basq

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PrEuFA_WOc

PS - sorry.. this thread is descending into Peter Kay's live performances.

Shinyboots

basquille wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PrEuFA_WOc

PS - sorry.. this thread is descending into Peter Kay's live performances.

ok back to PN.....one of the best is when max and paddy get the ear pieces and max goes off on the bus to get chips.....Max Max get back here it's all kickn off,

Basq

Shinyboots wrote: »

ok back to PN.....one of the best is when max and paddy get the ear pieces and max goes off on the bus to get chips.....Max Max get back here it's all kickn off,

Did you ever see the bloopers on Phoenix Nights? There's about an hours worth on season 1 and 2. There's one of Peter practising the fall Max does on the way back.. fantastic!

Absolutely hilarious stuff!

Just a snippet of them..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgFgZKKepi0

grumpytrousers

basquille wrote: »

I own, in my mind, what is the essential Peter Kay DVD releases - the 2 Phoenix Nights series and his Live 2 DVD boxset (Top Of The Tower / Bolton Albert Hall). Everything since has been repackaging of bits of the two live DVD's above (and the "Live at Manchester MEN Arena" which is the same tour as "Bolton Albert Hall") into 55 minute packages.

I could be misinterpreting you - but if you don't have That Peter Kay Thing, then you're missing one vital component in an 'essential Peter Kay DVD Release'.

You've already hit the nail on the head (and i paraphrase) with the point that it's the observation *as well as* the delivery that makes him funny. Seriously - TPKT, 7 mini documentaries on facets of life in Bolton, including the Neptune club, run by one Potter, B, is great. Not to mention the Bingo Hall which first introduces us to Keith Lard. I've had a look for the canteen scene in it, where the actors corpse so much, and can't find it on youtube, but seriously, go find the DVD. If you don't like it, i'll give you a tenner!

Basq

grumpytrousers wrote: »

I could be misinterpreting you - but if you don't have That Peter Kay Thing, then you're missing one vital component in an 'essential Peter Kay DVD Release'.

Sorry.. have that too!

Completely forgot about it as I haven't watched it in ages!

Shinyboots

Shinyboots wrote: »

ok back to PN.....one of the best is when max and paddy get the ear pieces and max goes off on the bus to get chips.....Max Max get back here it's all kickn off,

When the dwarves are approaching the club and Max says to Paddy "How far away are they?"

grumpytrousers

grumpytrousers wrote: »

I could be misinterpreting you - but if you don't have That Peter Kay Thing, then you're missing one vital component in an 'essential Peter Kay DVD Release'.

You've already hit the nail on the head (and i paraphrase) with the point that it's the observation *as well as* the delivery that makes him funny. Seriously - TPKT, 7 mini documentaries on facets of life in Bolton, including the Neptune club, run by one Potter, B, is great. Not to mention the Bingo Hall which first introduces us to Keith Lard. I've had a look for the canteen scene in it, where the actors corpse so much, and can't find it on youtube, but seriously, go find the DVD. If you don't like it, i'll give you a tenner!

I like the one where he was an angry ice cream van driver!

Shinyboots

zorro2566 wrote: »

I like the one where he was an angry ice cream van driver!

yea he used to listen in on the police radio and when there was a crime scene be there selling ice creams....no that's comedy!!!

SerialComplaint

zorro2566 wrote: »

When the dwarves are approaching the club and Max says to Paddy "How far away are they?"

Class.

My personal favourite was the one-legged Elvis impersonator - Blue Suede Shoe.

Trotter

You are the wiiiiindddd beneath myyyyy wheeeeeeells...


Or when he's stuck on the stairs chairlift... What would Thora Hird do?!! :P

Trotter

Trotter wrote: »

You are the wiiiiindddd beneath myyyyy wheeeeeeells...


Or when he's stuck on the stairs chairlift... What would Thora Hird do?!! :P

You broke me door,you broke me door!

Basq

Love the scene in Phoenix Nights when Jerry and Brian are fighting:

Brian: "You should try walk a mile in my shoes Jerry"
Jerry: "You oughta try it yeself Brian"
Brian: "Oooooh, that was a bit below the belt"
Jerry: "Well if it was, you wouldnt of felt it"
Brian: "Oh oh oh.. go on.. go for the hat-trick Jerry, go on....slash me tires!"

And one of the best visual gags ever - when the dwarves are coming to the door for the stag night:

Max: 'How far away are they?'

basquille

basquille wrote: »

Love the scene in Phoenix Nights when Jerry and Brian are fighting:

Brian: "You should try walk a mile in my shoes Jerry"
Jerry: "You oughta try it yeself Brian"
Brian: "Oooooh, that was a bit below the belt"
Jerry: "Well if it was, you wouldnt of felt it"
Brian: "Oh oh oh.. go on.. go for the hat-trick Jerry, go on....slash me tires!"

And one of the best visual gags ever - when the dwarves are coming to the door for the stag night:

Max: 'How far away are they?'

See post 37!

Basq

zorro2566 wrote: »

See post 37!

Apologies..

.. completely missed it!

Shinyboots

basquille wrote: »

Love the scene in Phoenix Nights when Jerry and Brian are fighting:

Brian: "You should try walk a mile in my shoes Jerry"
Jerry: "You oughta try it yeself Brian"
Brian: "Oooooh, that was a bit below the belt"
Jerry: "Well if it was, you wouldnt of felt it"
Brian: "Oh oh oh.. go on.. go for the hat-trick Jerry, go on....slash me tires!"

And one of the best visual gags ever - when the dwarves are coming to the door for the stag night:

Max: 'How far away are they?'

class,

Jerry St Clair: ...and what made you apply for this job?
Spencer: The DSS.
Jerry St Clair: And why do you think I should give it to you?
Spencer: Because it will be the DSS paying me wages and it won't cost you a penny.
Jerry St Clair: Really?
Spencer: Yeah.
Jerry St Clair: When can you start? Welcome to the Phoenix, Spencer lad.

Brian "I know a pissed horse when I see it.Get it a kebab"

"Its Half A Shilling,not the Who"

hyperbaby

That show is gold...

petes

Was off sick the last couple of days and watched it again. There is a scene in the first series where Brian asks Gerry about dating. Gerry is washing his hands under a dryer so you can't here what he saying. When he's finished and the dryer goes off all he says is "covered in piss"!!:)

loyatemu

Phoenix Nights is 100% quality - definitely one of the best comedies of the last 20 years. A personal favourite is the quiz episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktZ7ZnqJX0#t=02m06s

petes

I can't see youtube in work. Love the part of that episode were Kenny senior goes out to ring his mam for the answer. He hadn't spoken to her in yonks!!