New Chris Morris show: Nathan Barley

[Vash]

'Barley himself comes over as a mixture of David Brent, Alan Partridge and Ali G. At least three of the scenes from the first episode reek of The Office.'
and..
'What you expect from a new Chris Morris show is something bursting with originality and inventiveness, not lame mobile phone gags, unfunny background details and tired old sitcom cliches.'

 

[killer b]

to be fair, they've been pretty unimpressed by anything he's done for the past few years, and i've loved loads of stuff they've hated in the past... i think they're old-morris fetishists more than anything else...

 

[kyser_soze]

All seems about 3 years late IMO - the whole 'Hoxton twat' thing was seemingly past last time I was around that general area (altho there are still lots of people with 'ironic' mullets and other assorted stupid haircuts)...

I'm waiting to see this with trepidation - I love Screen Burn, TVGH and Unnovations and Morris is usually above everyone else but this will have to pull something out of the hat in a big way...

I also reckon they should have done 'Daily Mail Island' as a spoof reality show instead of Nathan Barley...

 

[stdPikachu]

stdpikachu - confused about why you think it was misogynistic?

Not so much the "moral" of the column, more the imagery associated with Cunt. There was just endless tales of woe of Barley fucking some poor prostitute, etc etc. We were never left in any doubt that he was being a complete and utter cock, but I don't think TV would let you show half of the imagery portrayed and prepetrated in the column - hence, I feel, leaving out a rather vast swathe of his cuntingdom.

 

[fishfingerer]

I also reckon they should have done 'Daily Mail Island' as a spoof reality show instead of Nathan Barley...

 

[Clintons Cat]

I thought that was what Charles Clarke was up to today

 

[stdPikachu]

I also reckon they should have done 'Daily Mail Island' as a spoof reality show instead of Nathan Barley...

Crap, I missed this one first time around!

You're right, Daily Mail Island would be an utterly stellar concept for a comedy show (they could even smatter it with a few trailers for Mick Hucknall's Pink Pancakes and Fuck Your Felt Aunt whilst they're at it) - but I doubt there'd be any way for C4 to make it without risking a hefty libel suit.

 

[MysteryGuest]

Right, after all the hype I'm firmly lowering my expectations on this one - when expectations are that high disappointment is almost inevitable. So I've calmed down about it all now, and will watch on Friday hoping for a little mild amusement, nothing more.


edited to add:

I was pretty underwhelmed by thesmokehammer tbh.

 

[akirajoel]

Right, after all the hype I'm firmly lowering my expectations on this one...

yeah. me too. which can only be a good thing either way...

did anyone ever read the morris suicide journalist colume in the observer? or his 9/11 piece? fucking wicked!

uh oh! expectations raising again!!!

 

[spacemonkey]

Wow! I think TVGOHOME is one of the funniest websites ever made. AND i'm a massive fan of chris morris.

I'm praying it works cos the tvgohome tv series was gash.

 

[ddraig]

Why? Have you been on the telly then?

yeah, he was on the telly on a a drugs prog bout 2odd years ago.
they followed him about off his tits iirc
a choirboy on rugs funny as fuk

saw that wasp poster thing somewhere in s london but sortof ignored it

 

[treefrog]

It's tonight!
Seen two trailers, looks like the Office with dafter clothes Still, I will reserve judgement until I actually see it.

 

[Orang Utan]

yeah, he was on the telly on a a drugs prog bout 2odd years ago.
they followed him about off his tits iirc
a choirboy on rugs funny as fuk

I've just seen a clip of it - well funny!

 

[kyser_soze]

It's probably worth mentioning at this point that if you don't have a clue about what Hoxton or Shoreditch are, what they were like between 1999 and 2002 (less so now) and have never read a 'style' mag like Dazed and Confused or Sleaze Nation, or remember the craze for micro-scooters, mullets and 3/4 length shorts on men...you're really not going to find this remotely amusing.

 

[Wolfie]

sounds like that counts me out then

I thought mullets were a 70's thing

 

[secretsquirrel]

I'm going to be watching it much like a historical documentary type thingy about what life was like way back in those crazy days of nearly being run over by a sodding scooter every 3 mins.

Having had the extreme misfortune to have worked for a 'new meediiaarrr' agency during the bullshit that was the 'dotbomb' era and being surrounded by Nathan Barley-a-likes I think I'll either hate it for reminding me of the worst job of my life or enjoy it in a 'thank fuck I don't have to deal with these people anymore' type way.

Key phrase bandied about at the agency I was with: 'we're going to recontextualise the future'

No you're sodding not. You're going to build a mediocre website with too much sodding flash on it and shite navigation you bunch of cunting coke whores.

Does it still show I was a tad unhappy there?!

 

[Orang Utan]

Many of thepeople who are going to be laughing at it are going to be the people it's taking the piss out of - I've already heard people saying things are 'well weapon'. Just you wait.

 

[Griff]

Key phrase bandied about at the agency I was with: 'we're going to recontextualise the future'

Oh dear.

 

[kyser_soze]

Key phrase bandied about at the agency I was with: 'we're going to recontextualise the future'

Does it still show I was a tad unhappy there?!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I remember when I was working at Fastbridge (Initiative Media's online media buying group) we had some spod from Excite (IIRC) who told us that their website

'Is helping to develop the new, node distributed informational and business tranist paradigm of the 21st century'

I then asked them that if online advertising is 100% trackable, and only 10% of my campaign get's a response do I get the rest of it for nothing. A one minute silence and lots of evil smirks on my collegues faces as the three of them presenting shuffled in their shoes...

 

[kyser_soze]

Many of thepeople who are going to be laughing at it are going to be the people it's taking the piss out of - I've already heard people saying things are 'well weapon'. Just you wait.

Ah, but do they know this and are they simply being ultra-ironic and knowing by mockingly saying 'well weapon'? I know I was when I said it in quotes last night while trying to explain Hoxton to an Australian...

 

[innit]

I've already heard people saying things are 'well weapon'.

I don't think I'm going to enjoy this... I have just had a vile flashback to how bad the tvgohome series actually was, and how much mileage they thought they could get out of the same lame jokes... morris does have a wee tendency to stretch the gag too far as well.

Obviously I will be setting the video anyway though

 

[exosculate]

Is this on tonight? Fantastic. I love it already.

 

[akirajoel]

only a few more hours before i get my heart-broken...

i know its probably gonna be shit and a major let-down but i'm looking foward to it anyway...

damn.

 

[exosculate]

Shit - its pants.

 

[Dillinger4]

fucking hell

 

[agricola]

Utter, utter genius. It captured the essence of Barley's beginning on tvgohome simply by making you want him to be stabbed to death every time he appeared, as did his sundry mates at SugarApe.

The look on Dan's face when he was on the phone while the two guys were playing cock-muff-bumhole in front of his face was what made it for me though, and the general despair of his life (there were several moments when he looked like Christ on the cross, especially when he went back to SugarApe) being the only person, aside from his sister and the receptionist at SugarApe, who isnt a cunt and doesnt speak the language of cuntery.

 

[butchersapron]

Nah.

 

[R.I.C.O.]

...

Oh dear. I really expected this to be in the same league as Jam, and instead it was pure rubbish. That main character (with the long hair) looked like he really did'nt care, Nathan Barley was just plain annoying.

Channel 4 have really shot themselves up the arse in the schedules with this one - lame "new" simpsons, followed by this fetid rubbish, followed by wankstain Carr and his "chav" jokes. What a shower of shite....

 

[Dead Cat Bounce]

Dull , dull , dull.

If it got better after the first ten minutes , someone let me know.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

I enjoyed it.