One-off dramas
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Snarkfest 4.0 :: Fame Talk :: Television
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One-off dramas
The other night I saw Holy Flying Circus, a "fantastical reimagining" of the furore surrounding the release of Monty Python's Life of Brian in the UK in 1979 (there were huge protests against the film, and loads of local councils banned it), culminating in a famous TV debate between Cleese and Palin and the journalist Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark.
It was done as a homage to Python, so there were plenty of surrealist interludes, fantasy sequences, men in dresses (Palin's wife was played by Jones in drag) and nods to various sketches and other Python projects (Cleese was played as a wildly OTT Basil Faulty-esque version of himself. The humour was a bit hit and miss, but when it hit it was genuinely funny (I loved the bit with Cleese and the newspaper vendor). Where it really stood out was the casting: all of them were pretty good (and looked uncannily like the originals), but the script focused on Cleese and Palin, and Charles Edwards as Palin in particular was absolutely extraordinary. Comparing the drama with the footage of the original debate, he absolutely nails Palin's expressions. Although the whole thing was a bit all over the place, it was at least a change from the standard docudrama format, and I really enjoyed it. And Edwards really needs to get more work after this.
It was done as a homage to Python, so there were plenty of surrealist interludes, fantasy sequences, men in dresses (Palin's wife was played by Jones in drag) and nods to various sketches and other Python projects (Cleese was played as a wildly OTT Basil Faulty-esque version of himself. The humour was a bit hit and miss, but when it hit it was genuinely funny (I loved the bit with Cleese and the newspaper vendor). Where it really stood out was the casting: all of them were pretty good (and looked uncannily like the originals), but the script focused on Cleese and Palin, and Charles Edwards as Palin in particular was absolutely extraordinary. Comparing the drama with the footage of the original debate, he absolutely nails Palin's expressions. Although the whole thing was a bit all over the place, it was at least a change from the standard docudrama format, and I really enjoyed it. And Edwards really needs to get more work after this.
allochthonous- Posts : 246
Join date : 2011-10-22
Re: One-off dramas
Much like NBC's executives, I'm not really sure where else to put Bryan Fuller's Halloween special/test pilot Mockingbird Lane.
A one hour dramatic "reimagining" of "The Munsters"? A troubled ten million dollar pilot that's like Pushing Daisies meets The Walking Dead, one that features Portia Di Rossi as Lily and Eddie Izzard as Grandpa Dracula?
I'm so there. Everything I've seen has me seriously impressed, and am hoping that it does well enough for NBC to go ahead on the six scripts they've ordered.
A one hour dramatic "reimagining" of "The Munsters"? A troubled ten million dollar pilot that's like Pushing Daisies meets The Walking Dead, one that features Portia Di Rossi as Lily and Eddie Izzard as Grandpa Dracula?
I'm so there. Everything I've seen has me seriously impressed, and am hoping that it does well enough for NBC to go ahead on the six scripts they've ordered.
Re: One-off dramas
A troubled ten million dollar pilot
To people viewing the pilot and thinking "this cost ten million dollars?," this is apparently the cost of the two plus years of development and redevelopment, not just the filming of the pilot that will air.
I can't imagine, no matter what Fuller thinks, that this thing is going to do impressive enough numbers on a random Friday with hardly any promotion and no lead in to get NBC to put it back into production, particularly when the lead is Jerry O'Connell. The only question is which will do worse ratings this or the premiere Fuller's Hannibal which is scheduled for mid-season at NBC.
biakbiak- Posts : 1454
Join date : 2011-10-24
Re: One-off dramas
I'm holding out for a "miniseries" dumped onto USA or Sci-Fi's schedule in the Summer or next Fall.biakbiak wrote:
The only question is which will do worse ratings this or the premiere Fuller's Hannibal which is scheduled for mid-season at NBC.
I highly doubt it if I'm going to be honest with myself, though. I was really excited about the project.
I'm baffled at the idea of Bryan Fuller's take on Hannibal Lecter. Nothing I've heard about the show is even remotely Fuller-y. No quirk,no romance, no music. Just another procedural. Why hire him to do a show like that?
Re: One-off dramas
I liked Mockingbird Lane. A lot. I'm bummed it probably won't get picked up. I loved Grandpa making cookies and enslaving the neighbors. Also, I DID NOT recognize Portia di Rossi with brown hair. Gorgeous.
Unlucky Bear- Official Succubus
- Posts : 1036
Join date : 2011-10-21
Age : 39
Location : Suburban Chicago
Re: One-off dramas
Portia looked a little like Minnie Driver, I thought maybe Eddie Izzard was having flashbacks to The Riches. I liked it for the most part, Jerry O'Connell was the weak link for me.
The kid who played Eddie totally looks likes a mini Lee Pace.
Also, I agree with Sepinwall and Fienburg that NBC's development team is full of morons because they dumped this pilot because it wasn't what they expected, this is exactly what I imagined it would be when I first heard that Fuller was updating the Munsters?
The kid who played Eddie totally looks likes a mini Lee Pace.
Also, I agree with Sepinwall and Fienburg that NBC's development team is full of morons because they dumped this pilot because it wasn't what they expected, this is exactly what I imagined it would be when I first heard that Fuller was updating the Munsters?
biakbiak- Posts : 1454
Join date : 2011-10-24
Re: One-off dramas
biakbiak wrote:The kid who played Eddie totally looks likes a mini Lee Pace.
Also, I agree with Sepinwall and Fienburg that NBC's development team is full of morons because they dumped this pilot because it wasn't what they expected, this is exactly what I imagined it would be when I first heard that Fuller was updating the Munsters?
If NBC changes their minds, I say replace O'Connell with Pace. It's easily explained by Grandpa needing to find Herman a new head.
Also, poor NBC thought that they could dump this and no one would watch. Oops.
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