10 O'Clock Live

[METALMAN]

I think sarah millican is one of the most unfunny people ever

OH LOOK AT ME I AM A DIVORCEE BECAUSE I AM ANNOYING AND A BIT TUBBY.

Seriously, the only comedian you need in life is Stewart Lee. Somebody should just give him telly.

[Hobo]

They did. It was called Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle and it is coming back for a second series.

[METALMAN]

not really enough

[stokeriño]

Yay, Stewart Lee.

In the meantime, I've just bought The Day Today on DVD. Take that, contemporary satire! It's back to 1994 for me!

[METALMAN]

stok has good taste

[Colly]

Understatement of the year. I saw Stewart Lee do standup last year, one of the best things I've ever seen. Round about 10 minutes per joke which was a big shift from Stewart Francis who I'd seen a week before, but when you can build a joke about a phrase passed down from generation to generation within his family, taking in the industrial revolution and migration for jobs, only to finish it with sheer anger that Gaymers pear cider had stolen it you know you're onto something special. Certainly by comparison to 'great' TV comedy darlings like Frankie Boyle who was fucking wank.

Oh, and if you haven't already, follow up The Day Today with the Brasseye DVD.

[stokeriño]

Already got Brasseye. I also got Stewart Lee's older (2005) stand-up DVD a couple of months ago since it was only £3 on Amazon. Will almost certainly pick up his newer one once its price dips below a tenner.

I find I can't watch his stuff with Stokerina, though. I can always sense the wave of boredom and/or indifference flowing off her.

But then, I would have expected as much. A lot of our comedy tastes overlap, but Stewart Lee is perhaps on the extreme edge of my preferred style which she doesn't care for. Just as, for example, Lee Evans is at the extreme edge of what she likes and I don't.

[Colly]

Ditto. I took the missus with me for that one and despite the odd laugh didn't seem too impressed. I actually think she was scared as she was on the end of our row next to the stairs as he made a slow ponderous walk up to the balcony of the small venue whilst ranting...

Aargh, Lee Evans too. Are you seeing my wife?

[stokeriño]

I, um, hope not. She's pretty enthused about marrying me...

[Colly]

Watched last night, again alright but not great. Loved Mitchells terrorism interview, but Brookers Andy Gray bit felt like a really watered down News/Screenwipe segment with canned laughter (I know its real, but its C4 laughter...) and Lauren Lavernes mad rant about Serco was poorly informed and sensationalist rubbish to fill three minutes. Strip it to half an hour of just David Mitchell and I'd be happy, possibly interspersed with recorded Brooker segments to give him a few minutes respite.

[Hobo]

It was a better show this week. It may come together in time.

[New Damage]

I watched both episodes last night. I've never liked Lauren Laverne really, but I do like her role as the 'host' of the show to bring everyone together at the table or to go to another segment. As long as the segment isn't hers.

I'd HATE to be the person interviewed by David Mitchell. He will mentally fuck you up. He's smart enough to debate rationally and obviously knows about the topics to answer back, but if you make a mistake, because he's a comedian, he will cut you down. I like his monologue too. I also like Charlie Brooker's segments. I don't like Jimmy Carr, mainly because I don't really find him funny. He's much better when he's a guest/not a focal point/has someone to bounce off, unlike his stand-up. I just don't like his delivery.

[Skummy]

A little late on this one - but some thoughts on last weeks, which was much, much better than the first one.

Charlie Brooker, as much as I love him, doesn't suit this format. Screenwipe is ideal for him, as he can jump from topic to topic if he needs to, but more often than not he will dwell on something for as long as he sees fit. Here, it's just the same thing condensed into an easy to swallow nugget, and it just comes across as watered down.

Jimmy Carr is...well, he's Jimmy Carr. He doesn't add much, but he's not bad. His own little segment at the start isn't so bad, and he's okay in debates, as he is a lot wittier than his stand-up suggests - I prefer to see him reacting off other people to doing scripted work, in any case.

David Mitchell is good, but Alistair Campbell rang rings around him. Of course he did, that's Campbell's job. But Mitchell did not come out of that looking good - if anything, he came out of it looking terrified. He glossed it over a little with the odd joke, but the interview was clumsy. For the most part, though, he was very good and I can really see him growing in to that role.

Lauren Laverne should stick to being the host - I love her dearly, but she came across as pretty ill-informed and, frankly, didn't really add any insight to her segment, she just asked questions. It was a topic that would have benefited from some insight, or a more in-depth analysis, and it got neither, so it was fairly forgettable. She can be funny, though, and she's charming, and does a good job of holding the whole thing together, but the show wouldn't miss her - I get the feeling she's only there as the token woman and, probably moreso, because Channel 4 have her under contract and don't have a blind clue what to do with her.

The terrorism debate was horrible viewing - mostly because the "expert" was such a prick, and as soon as that came to light, it was incredibly one-sided. He deserved it - they gave him plenty of time to talk uninterrupted, and he only dug himself deeper, but even on a comedy show, it's unprofessional for the guy who's supposed to be chairing the debate to side with one side of the argument, no matter how clearly right they are. It was entertaining in places, but mostly a bit of a trainwreck.

I can see this doing pretty well given time, but it's still got growing pains to work through.

For the people discussing Stewart Lee - check out Richard Herring's DVD "Hitler Moustache". Top stuff.

[YI]

In the discussion bit about protesting, that protester woman was absolutely fucking gorgeous (even if she did look a bit like a boy). She was so pretty.

That's pretty much the extent of my input.

[Skummy]

Yeah, I couldn't make my mind up whether she was cute or weird looking. I settled on cute.

It was a pretty good episode all round, but I still can't help feeling that the show is missing something, or the format could use some work. It was the first debate where it didn't feel really abruptly cut off, though, so Mitchell's getting better at that - if anyone is going to come out of this with their career stronger than it was before, it was him.

In related news, the last episode of "How Television Ruined Your Life" was fucking awesome.