Green Wing
 

What a great show. I watched the special last night. I was much happier with that ending than with the previous one where Guy meets Caroline at the train and Mac rides off on his bike.

Now I'm watching the out takes, trying to DL the alternate ending.

I think that was the best TV show I've ever seen.

It was funny and sweet how Boyce and Statham missed one another, and I also loved the whole lord of the flies reference.

Sad that it's over.

I checked out the first episode on Hulu the other day.

Ugh.

I still don't know what I saw.

It was like someone spilled a box of jokes, and that's how we got them. Random, utterly disconnected humor. There was humor. Of a sort.

Not a well-put-together venture at all. Scenes too short, no continuity. No flow.

You've got to stick with it. At first, I thought WTF? This totally isn't working. The second episode improves and by the third you hit your stride. To me, the disconnectedness puts you more in Caroline Todd's place as a new comer to this crazy ass hospital where nothing makes sense. You can imagine her disequilibrium, and you experience it via the editing of the video.

In a behind the scenes bit I saw they explained the sped up camera. They taped in a working hospital and if a non performer walked through the set, they'd crank up the speed and the person would effectively disappear.

There were a lot of clever production elements, and the character development was very thorough.

Like Mike Leigh films, much of Green Wing was improvised and came together in the edit.
I agree with your point about seeing things through Caroline's eyes though. Much cult TV - especially British - is surreal/ anarchic in some fashion. I enjoy comedy which is not, for example I adored Cheers, which was quite densely plotted, as far as sitcoms go.

I blame Spike Milligan.

Yes, Spike.

I'll try, try, to make it to episode 5.

If I'm still not there, I hold the two of you personally responsible, and I will harrumph in your general direction, but only cuz the two of yas are in the same, somewhat, kinda, sorta general direction from me.

I will not harrumph two separate times. I'm just not that kinda guy.

Also, an hour of "Green Wing" goes a long, looong way.

You know Grav, I never thought of you as a man who saved his harrumphs.
You want to be careful how you store them. They can go off unexpectedly.

Hey foot, I just found out that two of your Green Wing actors are in my new favorite show. It's called Episodes, and is about the follies of trying to port a British comedy over to an American audience.

Not strictly comedy, there's some surprisingly poignant dramatic moments, but I went into it not expecting much and then ended up watching all of season 1 at once (only seven episodes, but still.)

Thanks, I'll check it out. Especially now that my gay, dead viking show is over.

Stephen Mangan was on a quiz show the other night. Might even have been QI.
There was a question asked which referred in some way about Switzerland. He'll get that, I thought, he's half-Swiss after all.

I had to shift the gears in my brain to remember Guy Secretan was half-Swiss, NOT Stephen Mangan.

Oh wow...Foots, I assumed you'd seen Episodes! You'll love it. Or, at least, I think you will.

I watched the first part of season one episode one last night. It was hard not seeing them as Guy and Caroline. Despite their on screen dynamic, I'm not sure casting them together was the best plan. They're not Bogart and Bacall.

Bogie, man, Bogie.

hey totally unrelated: did The X-files get good? I remember it was all the rage and I got the first disc from the 'brary and, I gotta say, it bored the pants off me. Not Amish pants, just virtual pants.

So maybe I should stick with? I dunno. Maybe it was a 'for its time' thing.

Then again it took me a thousand years to watch Twin Peaks and I loved it, until the end when I was like WTF WAS THAT IT?

I'm literally thinking of you virtually pantsless...