Comments for Carrie Griffin

Comment on Gender-Neutral Awards and the Comedy World by carogriffin

carogriffin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:42:42 +0000

It’s similar with the Oscars–any non-acting award can go to a person of any gender. The acting awards are the things people really tune in for, though so I wonder to what extent it’s likely to be split along gender lines like that forever just as a sort of ratings-grab.

I did wonder if it was worth mentioning that this specific award in question is a) a People’s Choice sort of thing b) appears to have only been around for a couple of years and c) has (unless I’m incorrect in thinking it’s only been around for a couple of years) exclusively gone to women thus far (Miranda Hart in 2010 and Sarah Millican in 2011).

Comment on Gender-Neutral Awards and the Comedy World by Al

Al — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:02:46 +0000

The music world has a handy way of getting past this problem: having some award categories that are gender specific and some that aren’t. I’m not sure how much that helped but it does mean that women are never completely marginalised.

It certainly seems like comedy is more of a boys’ club than music at the moment. There have only ever been two female winners in the history of the Edinburgh/Perrier Comedy Award. Pretty shocking when you think that some of Britain’s favourite comedians like Jo Brand, Miranda Hart and Sarah Millican passed through without picking up the award. And Josie Long has been shortlisted the last three years and lost out to inferior competition every time.

Comment on 30 Rock and Comedies With “Heart” As The New Norm by Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:47:28 +0000

Good point about the preconceived story arc. One of the classic failings of American TV is that successful shows just keep getting milked for every last dollar until they become ridiculous parodies of themselves and eventually “jump the shark”. Having a notion of where things are headed from the beginning gives the producers freedom to develop as well as wisdom to know when enough is enough. This holds true for dramas even more than comedies, witness The Wire and Breaking Bad, two of the best shows American TV has ever produced.

Comment on 30 Rock and Comedies With “Heart” As The New Norm by carogriffin

carogriffin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:48:38 +0000

Of course I’m not going to mock you! I really liked Outnumbered. Did they change that substantially, though? Obviously the kids changed out of necessity since they were aging anyway. I suppose I’m mostly thinking of the Sue/her sister stories which tended to go back to status quo. But that’s probably more an accurate representation of sibling relationships than something happening because of Sitcom Law.

Comment on 30 Rock and Comedies With “Heart” As The New Norm by Al

Al — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:44:43 +0000

Yeah, I think the UK Office did. I think because they set out with a story arc in mind from the start they could let things change because they knew where it was going.

Are you going to mock me if I suggest Outnumbered?! The changes were pretty much forced on them in that case.

Comment on 30 Rock and Comedies With “Heart” As The New Norm by carogriffin

carogriffin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:47:08 +0000

I’m trying to think of things that defy this…The Office, maybe? I definitely felt like the original Office had same concrete character development, but it was a very short series and had the benefit of being about monotony, so all of those changes would have been really minor and subtle (until the last few episodes of the series).

Comment on 30 Rock and Comedies With “Heart” As The New Norm by Al

Al — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:30:45 +0000

I think comedies with heart have a big problem. In order to abide by Sitcom Law all these deep moments can’t result in anything. It’s a bit unsatisfying to see a person have the same personal insight over and over and be just the same by next week’s episode.

Although that probably is uncomfortably close to real life.

Comment on Veep/The Thick of It Discussion on In Media Res by carogriffin

carogriffin — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:58:08 +0000

That’s typically what all those discussions lead to (and what Armando Ianucci has directly said is the reason for the lack of Malcolm-type character). And then someone else says “Rahm Emmanuel comes pretty close.”

I think there’s still room to fit someone like that in there somewhere (the White House liaison’s direct superior, maybe since he is one of the most ineffectual characters on the show). But it’s a good enough reason that from a narrative standpoint, I don’t have a problem with it in the context of the show. I suppose everyone on the show just seems extra-ineffectual. At least occasionally Malcolm seems to represent a part of the government with more important things to worry about, but there’s no real glimpse at an outside branch of government or whatever on Veep. With nothing to compare the triviality to, it ends up just feeling a little like a trivial show instead of a sharp satire of the trivial nature of parts of the government.

Comment on Veep/The Thick of It Discussion on In Media Res by Al

Al — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:30:13 +0000

I’m clearly too stupid to be allowed to comment on In Media Res so here’s what I wrote:

I wonder how much the lack of a Malcolm character in Veep is down to the differences in our political systems.

In the UK the Prime Minister is all-powerful and the House of Commons is the only chamber that matters. That makes bullying and shouting a very effective way of getting things done.

The US has much stronger separation of powers. You’d never get the budget deadlocks of the US in the UK. Even with a hung parliament those are nodded through. It’s no wonder the characters in Veep are so ineffectual. A Malcolm Tucker type in the US would have much less power at his disposal.

Comment on Adaptation – In The Loop and The Trip by carogriffin

carogriffin — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:40:40 +0000

I can’t tell if the implication is that it’s one likeable character as opposed to six or as opposed to zero! I think the non-Rachel friends characters were mostly pretty likeable, personally!

Monarch of the Glen used to air on PBS! But I don’t think that counts. I think they might show EastEnders occasionally on BBC America.