30 Rock

Question of the week: do you prefer multi-camera or single-camera comedies?

21 September 2011 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

On Friday, in response to my review of Whitney, Mark asked “What’s wrong with single-camera comedies?” (or something like it). Okay, let’s set out some definitions. Here’s 30 Rock as a single-camera comedy.

And here’s 30 Rock as a multi-camera comedy.

You’ll notice, for starters, that the multi-camera comedy

  1. Is shot on video, looks cheaper and is over-lit
  2. Has a studio audience guffawing at almost everything
  3. Has performances geared towards a guffawing studio audience and ensuring that the people at the back of the studio can hear what’s being said
  4. Largely is stuck indoors
  5. Not as funny

Okay, you might not be able to tell those last two instantly from those clips, but my points stand. Nevertheless, for much of sitcom history, multi-camera has been the way things have been done, single the rarity, so some might prefer it to single-camera.

So today’s question is:

Do you generally prefer single- or multi-camera comedies?

US TV

Review: Up All Night 1×1

15 September 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Up All Night

In the US: Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC

A common question asked is “Do two wrongs make a right?” Here’s my question: “Do two rights make a wrong?”

Because here we have the very right Will Arnett (30 Rock, Arrested Development, Running Wilde) and the very right Christina Applegate (Married With Children, Samantha Who?) in a sitcom about having a baby.

Yes, that’s right. That’s what it’s about. That’s not just a fact about Applegate’s and Arnett’s characters. This is the intended main source of all the show’s humour.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have children. Nevertheless, I can confidently say, through simple osmosis, I know just as much as these two characters about raising kids, if not more, and apparently have just as much insight as the writers.

Here’s a trailer that contains the funny bits. You’ll notice that since the pilot, Christina Applegate’s character has switched from PR person to talk show host assistant.

Continue reading “Review: Up All Night 1×1”

Friday’s “This Is Tennant” news

3 June 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Doctor Who

Film

British TV

  • British buyers unimpressed by new US dramas, but like the comedies [subscription required]
  • BBC4 planning series about the rise of American culture [subscription required]
  • Jessica Hynes and Douglas Lodge to star in BBC1’s One Night
  • Sky Atlantic’s This Is Jinsy to feature David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Peter Serafinowicz, Don Warrington, Harry Hill, Jennifer Saunders, Kevin Eldon, Jane Horrocks, Nigel Planer, Simon Callow and KT Tunstall

Canadian TV

US TV

What have you been watching this week (w/e April 15)?

15 April 2011 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

My usual recommendations for maximum viewing pleasure this week: Archer, Community, The Daily Show, House, Modern Family, Stargate Universe and 30 Rock. Watch them (and keep an eye on The Stage‘s TV Today Square Eyes feature as well) or you’ll be missing out on the good stuff.

Separate reviews of this week’s episodes of Spiral/Engrenages are over here, but this is what else I’ve been watching this week:

  • Being Human (US) – an interesting way to end a series that actually became a lot more interesting over the course of the season than its first couple of episodes would have suggested. Once it found its feet, starting picking and choosing from the UK original and then twisting it to its own ends while sticking to the same template, it actually became better than the original in a lot (but not all) ways. It was actually able to take things that had been squished into a single episode and let them breath over a couple of episodes. To avoid Internet spoilers, the finale really wasn’t what you might have expected if you’d seen the original – and actually used expectations of what happened in the original to mislead you. So looking forward to the next season now!
  • Breaking In: Cleverer than the first episode and Alyssa Milano was rather a good guest star. But not really very funny at all and I don’t really care about any of the characters.
  • Chaos: after an acceptable start, episode two was actually rather dull, despite some quite nice spy stuff. James Murray’s toned down his Scottish accent a lot – and now is starting to sound English a lot more. Not awful, but not worth tuning in for. Disappointing.
  • Chuck was quite fun, but Chuck’s just a dull character now, Sarah still really hasn’t got a character and what’s happened to Linda Hamilton? The family Volkoff are the only things to look forward to on this show now.
  • Endgame was really quite excellent, bar a slightly disappointing ending, so it’s going to be promoted to the “you should watch” bit at the bottom
  • Happy Endings: Coming to a separate review near you, soon!

But what have you been watching?

“What have you been watching this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched this week. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?