Hardy Bucks - THE TV SERIES

KerranJast

It wasn't as funny as the web series for two main reasons:
- Having to reintroduce characters
- Having to shoehorn in a plot

The original stuff was mostly improv'ed AFAIK and when you start asking amateurs to stick to a script it starts to show.

Still it was funnier than every other RTE "comedy" offering I've seen in a looooooong time. I was crying with laughter at some poor gormless Garda stuck out in Africa

If you don't like it switch off and don't bother filling the thread with "OMG that was like sooo crap" and the like OR give it a chance for another few eps.

Buy Irish, hai.

Jesus Wept

ScumLord wrote: »

Are there episodes I haven't seen, the ones I seen on youtube where just copies of the storyland ones.

Just watched it on RTE player (fair dues to RTE on getting shows up quick they used to be very bad at it) while I wasn't blown away by it, it got an infinite more amount of laughs than any show RTE have done recently. It's hard for me to judge as I couldn't tell if it was picking up from the wedisodes (which I think it was) but liked it overall. It's hard to know which way it needs to go, more production gloss or more script or just back to basics.

At first when I saw Eddy in the car I thought these ****ers have just blown all the RTE money on fancy stuff for themselves but was delighted with the ending.

Very promising show overall, not perfect by any means but still an improvement for RTE.

The Storyland Hardy Buck's episodes are pretty much edited down versions of the somewhat longer original youtube episodes. I find them far snappier and funnier.
I did watch the youtube episodes to see if I was missing out and I'm sure hardcore fans wouldn't want to miss out, but, they aren't as funny - they are still quite short regardless.

If someone watches the storyland episodes and doesn't find it funny, then it's not for them.

Also, RTE are pathetic, they should have let them do what they want, plots me arse, they already had plots.

Scucca

Just watched it there on the RTE Player.
Definitely didn't think it'd be up as fast as that!
To start thoughm I don't see why some people are bashing this as hard as they are. It was actually pretty good. By far better than most of the **** that RTE put on.
I don't even own a TV for the sheer sake that paying for a TV licence is really only paying for the "luxury" of watching RTE embarrass itself time and time again.

Although it does seem a bit strange because the show is sort of caught in limbo. What I mean is, its confusing that it keeps running on with the story line from the webisodes, but is also trying to introduce itself as a new show.
The Bucks probably should have decided to be one or the other, by either screening the webisodes on RTE first and then continuing on from there, OR just starting fresh without getting straight into storylines.
Too much was introduced.
Half the craic with the webisodes was when the lads were just lounging around talking bollox to each other. What we saw tonight was more like "The Eddie Durkan Experience".

Funny non the less but maybe they just went all out on the first episode and get back into the shwing of things with the next few episodes.

Sharkey 10

xabi wrote: »

Fixed that for you

your probably the first person ive encountered that didnt like that programme.

There seems to be some dispute over which episodes the hardtbucks put on rte and youtube Afaik everything that was put on rte was put on there you tube channel and some more besides, the bits rte have taken out were the best bits .
I have found the hardybucks less and less funny since they started storyland. Heres the link to there you tube channel .http://www.youtube.com/user/hardybucks
it has all there work apart from some there first epsiode which was pretty good , they used to be on bebo but im not sure where they are now

ScumLord

KerranJast wrote: »

Still it was funnier than every other RTE "comedy" offering I've seen in a looooooong time. I was crying with laughter at some poor gormless Garda stuck out in Africa

That was classic, really seriously loled at that.

The-Rigger wrote: »

The Storyland Hardy Buck's episodes are pretty much edited down versions of the somewhat longer original youtube episodes.

I remember now, your right the storyland was better.

Scucca wrote: »

Although it does seem a bit strange because the show is sort of caught in limbo. What I mean is, its confusing that it keeps running on with the story line from the webisodes, but is also trying to introduce itself as a new show.

That was probably half the problem and maybe they missed both markets in the attempt. First episode though, the next one looks good and will hopefully have more pace to it as they're over the important hurdle now.

Rockery Woman

Watched it tonight - not as good as I hoped it would be - but Ill tune in again next week and give it a chance.

The Garda in Africa was hilarious though. As was the Viper with his cobra t-shirt.

And putting E5 worth of petrol in the car....

Jayob10

Watched the shows online, its a grower for sure, ya kinda have to know the characters over time before ya can find it humourous. I wasn't that keen after seeing the 1st episode online even, but soon got into it and found it very funny.

Its not even the one liners what made the online episodes funny, it was more the lads in it had a funny way about them. The casual use of swear words seems to be their main source of humour and i'd have to admit the delivery is quite funny.

Very disappointed with the first episode tonight, had a few mates with me tonight in front of the tv and had been hyping it as they hadn't heard of it before. very embarrassing when they thought it wasn't up to much. Even by fans standards it was poor.
They seem to be acting in it, whereas from what i've seen online its alot more natural.
personally i think they need to persevere with it, let them find their feet and let people get to know the characters. Be a bit more natural rather than in acting mode. Tonight was like watching bad actors playing the roles of the funny blokes we know so well from the online version.

The sad thing is there are supposedly only 2 more episodes in this series from what I have heard, crazy i know!
And going by tonights episode they need to impress in the next 2 episodes or else they will be a laughing stock.

Krang Murphy

Here's a good interview with Chris Tordoff (the viper) about their experiences taking it to telly - http://www.filmireland.net/2010/10/08/interview-with-hardy-bucks-director-co-writer-and-star-chris-tordoff-aka-the-viper/

an extract:

Who wrote scripts?

CT: Me, Martin (Maloney, Eddie Durkin in the show) and producer Mike Cockayne of Integral Productions . With Hardy Bucks it’s about the characters you don’t need big hooks or plots so we would write two or three drafts of each twenty-six page script. In rehearsals the boys would come up with new ideas or new ways of saying what we had in the script. I hope if we get a chance to make more episodes that we have a longer lead in time, the more time you have to rehearse the better, as you will find stuff when rehearsing that is funny. We couldn’t have the long meandering scenes like we had on the internet, although there are scenes in the TV shows that do go on longer than in your average sitcom. I hope it sits well with people who haven’t seen it before.
Mike helped us with structure because we would write limitlessly and wouldn’t be thinking about hook or structure. He is a director and is in tune with what we are doing and helped us keep in what we wanted in the limited time frame we had. It was a big learning curve for us all.



What was it like working with RTÉ on a TV show after working with them on Storyland?

CT: Eilish (Kent, RTÉ) was always very lenient with us, the main thing they wanted to see was the scripts, so that we weren’t throwing any curved balls. Once they had the script they were happy to let us go at it. I would have loved to have cut it aswell, but it would have been too much work. We had to have all the rushes back to Grainne at the end of each day so she could start assembling timelines. Once it was finished we just sat in with her for three or four weeks, because we had a script it was a lot more efficient then it used to be. Before it was genuinely like a documentary where we had a load of random stuff and tried to piece it together, which you couldn’t do for TV because you would be working on it for months.

Better to see the whole three episodes before making up my mind.
Good luck to the lads!

johnn

*Knocks over stereo*............."You Ignorant Prick"

Duggy747

Right first off, fair play and much respect to those guys from Swinford for creating something that is, regardless of whether it being liked or not, known up and down the country before it even hit the TV. Hell, they pulled together a show that actually had people anticipating it on RTE, an extreme rarity. I am far from being a big fan of theirs but credit where credit is due.

When they first came on the scene I found their first few shows to be funny because they took the piss out of small towns (boredom, wannabe "high-rollers", the escape to Galway :pac:, etc), something people from the cities wouldn't fully understand. As the show progressed, though, the jokes became weaker and the show seemed like it ran it's course (The Xmas special being fairly disappointing to many fans).

The fact that they got a green-light for an RTE show after winning Storyland boosed their appeal. People tend to forget that these guys are just average joes like everyone else, they didn't go out with the intention to re-invent the wheel. They just wanted to make shìt they thought was funny, and a huge amount of people liked it.

However, this 1st episode was dire, even for the name that is The Hardy Bucks. It felt like RTE made them start from scratch again, ignore the base they already founded, and just build on the type of jokes people knew the show for (Bizzare quotes, the "culchie" way of doing things like the talent show) while trying to introduce others to it in a fantastical way. The interaction with the camera crew was a big no-no, the main gripe being that in "seperate angles" of scenes the crew would be nowhere to be seen, it detracted away BIG time. It wa as if they kept forgetting that the "camera crew" had something to do with the show.

The jokes felt so forced and, bizzarely, this felt "acted" and far, far less natural. It almost seems a galaxy away from what they created on the web. Now it just feels like a medicore run-of-the-mill comedy, something I don't think the guys should be entirely blamed for.

People shouldn't be so quick to put them down, a bunch of friends saw an oppertunity with Storyland and now they have a TV show on RTÈ. Seriously, who wouldn't want to have had that kind of success story?

The 1st episode was disappointing and I fear it set the tone for the other 2 shows but it was far from being awful like so much other home-grown "comedies" of the past few years. I never got the fascination with them but, then again, give them a chance.

EDIT: Actually, the Gardaì / Africian exchange piece was excellent, that was a superb piece of comedy right there.

Sergeant

Scucca wrote: »

Does anyone know when it'll be up on the RTE player?

It's not up on the international player, which is unusual as they normally put up home produced stuff very quickly. Looking forward to having a look, fan of the web series.

johnn

I think they need more scenes where there are more of them together, i dont think we saw Eddie, Buzz, French toast & The Boo together once. I think much of the comedy of the youtube videos was built on the improvisation in the background, in the storyland episodes i think there was a script, but when Eddie was saying his lines you could always sort of "half-hear" a hilarious statement from someone else in background. Last night it seemed to be only really Eddie and then the Viper delivering a script.

If they were gonna go back to the start they should have redone the 9 youtube episodes in better quality to catch everyone up and then they could move forward with the next 3 episodes they've been signed up to do. Instead they sort of half did the episodes again, things from the old series like Viper appearing in the background while Eddie is talking shouting across, which was directly lifted from the first youtube episode.

If they were gonna lift things they could of at least taken the guaranteed laughs things like "He was no more the Shtig than I am Brian Adams" which would probably have a wider audience laughing. The whole "Mitzi-Turbo Cup" thing was also hilarious and i think would have translated well with a bigger budget and more time. I don't think I would have liked that at all if i wasnt familiar with the lads work

The show last night wasn't a masterpiece and it wasn't their best work, but I must admit I still found parts of it to be very funny. I cracked up when he's leaving the house drinking a bottle of wine dressed as Chuck Norris trying to explain to the future wife that he HAS to do it.

I have to agree with some previous posters in that the show really shines when the cast members are together more, but that said they did need to create some sort of timeline to introduce people who had never seen the show before. It ends with the lads altogether in the gaf so I'm sure next week will be better.

The line it ended on was classic too. "All the lads back together, rent free"..."What?"


It was a million times funnier than anything I've seen on RTE in a long time. And I hope it does well.

optogirl

I really liked it - much better than any 'comedy' RTE have cobbled together in the past - shows what the Storyland idea has the potential to do.

Miguel_Sanchez

The-Rigger wrote: »

The Storyland Hardy Buck's episodes are pretty much edited down versions of the somewhat longer original youtube episodes. I find them far snappier and funnier.
I did watch the youtube episodes to see if I was missing out and I'm sure hardcore fans wouldn't want to miss out, but, they aren't as funny - they are still quite short regardless.

Funnily enough I always found the longer Youtube versions of those episodes funnier. I liked the longer rambling scenes and half the charm for me was in some of the pointless asides like Buzz becoming obsessed with pallets for no reason in one episode.

homerun_homer

Loved the 1st web episode when I saw it. That was when I was a good bit drunk - sober it didn't hit the same funny bone but I kept with it and was cynical of their comedic talent. They've some funny bits and lines (love the random inserts) but stretched to a full episode on TV I know would push their limits.

How they do a "live show" is beyond me - it was worse than anything they do on TV. The first thing they need to do is stop making those appearances.

TV show - had moments that made me grin but that's mostly because they've ripped off or used quotes/images etc from friends of mine. The one positive thing I'll say from it is that one friend is making a few quid off the back of them, so fair play to him.

I'd like to see them do well, but only if they start hitting the right notes with the comedy, story & direction.

noiniho

Gets a thumbs up from me , as normal lads i think they should be commended for the fanbase etc they have built. The web episode 4 'the Mitzi turbo cup' is just quality and stands up to be being rewatched over and over again and still being very funny (believe me i know). granted it is not going to turn into the next Fr. Ted or anything but it was far better then the rest of the muck on RTE ever. usually cringe at RTE comedy, had a small on my face for the whole episode.

if that pr!ck Ricky Gervais can get a show with the heap of sh!t office and now this idiot abroad crap then anything can count as comedy for fu<ks sake.... but then again, its all about opinions eh!

Ash.J.Williams

Big thumbs up from me, very good stuff.

Miguel_Sanchez

homerun_homer wrote: »

TV show - had moments that made me grin but that's mostly because they've ripped off or used quotes/images etc from friends of mine. The one positive thing I'll say from it is that one friend is making a few quid off the back of them, so fair play to him.

What do you mean ripped off quotes from friends of yours?

Ash.J.Williams

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

What do you mean ripped off quotes from friends of yours?

there was one or two generic gags, such as "if there was work in the bed, he'd sleep on the ground"? could that be what he meant??????

elefant

Duggy747 wrote: »

Right first off, fair play and much respect to those guys from Swinford for creating something that is, regardless of whether it being liked or not, known up and down the country before it even hit the TV. Hell, they pulled together a show that actually had people anticipating it on RTE, an extreme rarity. I am far from being a big fan of theirs but credit where credit is due.

When they first came on the scene I found their first few shows to be funny because they took the piss out of small towns (boredom, wannabe "high-rollers", the escape to Galway :pac:, etc), something people from the cities wouldn't fully understand. As the show progressed, though, the jokes became weaker and the show seemed like it ran it's course (The Xmas special being fairly disappointing to many fans).

The fact that they got a green-light for an RTE show after winning Storyland boosed their appeal. People tend to forget that these guys are just average joes like everyone else, they didn't go out with the intention to re-invent the wheel. They just wanted to make shìt they thought was funny, and a huge amount of people liked it.

However, this 1st episode was dire, even for the name that is The Hardy Bucks. It felt like RTE made them start from scratch again, ignore the base they already founded, and just build on the type of jokes people knew the show for (Bizzare quotes, the "culchie" way of doing things like the talent show) while trying to introduce others to it in a fantastical way. The interaction with the camera crew was a big no-no, the main gripe being that in "seperate angles" of scenes the crew would be nowhere to be seen, it detracted away BIG time. It wa as if they kept forgetting that the "camera crew" had something to do with the show.

The jokes felt so forced and, bizzarely, this felt "acted" and far, far less natural. It almost seems a galaxy away from what they created on the web. Now it just feels like a medicore run-of-the-mill comedy, something I don't think the guys should be entirely blamed for.

People shouldn't be so quick to put them down, a bunch of friends saw an oppertunity with Storyland and now they have a TV show on RTÈ. Seriously, who wouldn't want to have had that kind of success story?

The 1st episode was disappointing and I fear it set the tone for the other 2 shows but it was far from being awful like so much other home-grown "comedies" of the past few years. I never got the fascination with them but, then again, give them a chance.

EDIT: Actually, the Gardaì / Africian exchange piece was excellent, that was a superb piece of comedy right there.

I was going to write something long-ish here, but you've said pretty much everything right there. I love the web episodes, and I'd actually nearly prefer if they just showed the web eps on TV first so people get to know the characters.

It must have been bemusing if you hadn't seen it before. The characters just seemed so... bland on the TV because they seem to be trying to cram 9 or 10 episodes of background into an hour. And it is, after all, a character driven comedy. I can see why people would hate it after that.

applehunter

Thought it was funny enough.

Didn't think the gf or the mother's scenes were great. They were too real in the surreal world that was going on.

I will be watching next week anyway.

Magic Eight Ball

noiniho wrote: »

if that pr!ck Ricky Gervais can get a show with the heap of sh!t office then anything can count as comedy for fu<ks sake

:rolleyes:

AnonoBoy

applehunter wrote: »

Thought it was funny enough.

Didn't think the gf or the mother's scenes were great. They were too real in the surreal world that was going on.

I will be watching next week anyway.

I dunno - I liked the girlfriend bits:

"There's a global recession on!"
"That's your answer for everything!"

Henno30

I was dreading last night in a way as I fully expected RTE to wring all the charm out of the show. Thought it was ok. The viper seems to have made the transition pretty well, and some of the lines still have an authentic West of Ireland feel about them.

What disappointed me was how 'zany' the whole thing was presented. The real appeal of the youtube videos was their ability to be genuinely insightful about life in a rural Ireland town while writing some very funny conversations that would resonate with anyone from the country.

Some of that was still there last night, but you couldn't help feeling there wasn't enough trust in the original premise. So you ended up with some over the top stuff like the Garda in the African village. It felt a bit forced and it didn't need to be. This show shouldn't be about slapstick, it's got way too much going for it to resort to that.

cson

It was shite I'm sorry to say.

high heels

Anywhere I can download it or watch online except the RTE player as Im out of the country at the moment..

Basq

high heels wrote: »

Anywhere I can download it or watch online except the RTE player as Im out of the country at the moment..

Please do not asking for any download links here other than the official RTE Player!

afatbollix

basquille wrote: »

Please do not asking for any download links here other than the official RTE Player!

Why do mods have to type in bold.. Its kinda weird as if Im above you I use bold when I need to talk to you normal people!

Anyway

I thought it was good.. It did have to go back to the start tho again to introduce everyone.. Buzz on the phone to his dad was good.. I enjoyed it and will be watching next week.

The Gardai in Africa and the ending in the house was priceless!!

Basq

afatbollix wrote: »

Why do mods have to type in bold.. Its kinda weird as if Im above you I use bold when I need to talk to you normal people!

Christ, don't be ridiculous! :rolleyes:

Mods don't type in bold.. it's simply a warning I wanted to be heeded. It's to get that across!