TV Rec: League of Gentlemen & others
Sep. 13th, 2015 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowfireflameRight off the bat, let me say that I blame ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
daasgrrl and her fantastic Sherlock Mycroft/John/Sherlock threesome crossover with League of Gentlemen, No Place Like Home (or, Return to Royston Vasey) for everything that happened next. In that story, Mycroft and Sherlock are originally from Royston Vasey and take John on a very surprising (and sexy!) trip home for Mummy’s birthday, where they interact with all sorts of strange characters.
Curious about the in-jokes in the story that I’d missed, I decided to check out the show League of Gentlemen, quickly devoured it all, and became a bit obsessed with the creators, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (and Mark Gatiss, obviously). (Jeremy Dyson is also one of the League but is a writer instead of a writer/performer, so I don’t feel like I know him as well.)
How to describe shows these men produce? To quotedaasgrrl, “While notionally a comedy, The League of Gentlemen is dark, twisted, and frequently tasteless…” Psychoville, which just stars Pemberton and Reece, is very similar. At its most basic, The League of Gentlemen reminded me frequently of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, except with more of an emphasis on the horrific than the comedic, though it is supernatural horror-comedy with three actors playing recurring characters, frequently in drag. There are a lot of LGBTQ themes, as well, which I enjoyed—though, warning: like all their themes, they are handled deliberately tastelessly. I originally enjoyed this because of Mark Gatiss’ involvement, but I ended up staying because once you can get over a knee-jerk reaction to the grotesque characters, I found their stories addicting. So here are some reviews:
League of Gentlemen—Royston Vasey is a small British town populated, it seems, almost entirely with people who are insane or sociopathic, and generally who have very bad personal hygiene standards. But something happened as I continued to watch: for some of those characters I initially found despicable, by the end of the third season, I was actually starting to be on their side and actively rooting for their happiness. It’s like the writers turned the tables on me every time.
Psychoville—This show is quite similar to League of Gentlemen, except with more of an overarching storyline. I suppose it’s most similar to the third season of LoG. Mark Gatiss even has a lovely Sherlock Holmes-themed cameo in episode 4! Also, for you Sherlock fans playing along, Amanda Abbington has a cameo (I think in episode 2?) as a mother trying to organize a fun birthday party who has to deal with a mentally disturbed clown.
Inside No. 9—the newest series written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, each of these twelve 30-minute episodes is an unsettling standalone story with a twist at the end, each taking place in a location called No. 9 (a house, an apartment, a dressing room, etc.). Unlike LoG and Psychoville, there is less comedy in these stories, as well as much less drag or LGBTQ themes (except for one notable episode!). Some episodes are much better than others—I like “Sardines” and “Tom & Gerri” best. The quality ranges from mildly distressing to flat-out disturbing, but all had me thinking about them for days afterwards. I’d say of all of them, I liked this series (two seasons) the best because of its sheer capacity to surprise me.
If you like this sort of British comedy, I enjoyed the work of another comedy troupe, the people who made Little Britain (though on my first try, I couldn’t get into that one), Matt Lucas and David Williams. Their sitcom Come Fly With Me, about the hapless employees of an airport, reminded me very much of Cabin Pressure. Lots of tastelessness and characters in drag.
I also liked the creepy seven-episode series Black Mirror, which has standalone stories that reminded me of Inside No. 9. If you want to watch that one, people suggest skipping the first episode and coming back to it later since it has an implied scene in which the Prime Minister is coerced into bestiality to appease terrorists. I found this episode to be one of the most harrowing of the series, though. But of them all, by far the best is the seventh episode, the Christmas special “White Christmas,” starring Jon Hamm. There are so many twists and turns and shocking developments, all leading to a profound message.
daasgrrl and her fantastic Sherlock Mycroft/John/Sherlock threesome crossover with League of Gentlemen, No Place Like Home (or, Return to Royston Vasey) for everything that happened next. In that story, Mycroft and Sherlock are originally from Royston Vasey and take John on a very surprising (and sexy!) trip home for Mummy’s birthday, where they interact with all sorts of strange characters.Curious about the in-jokes in the story that I’d missed, I decided to check out the show League of Gentlemen, quickly devoured it all, and became a bit obsessed with the creators, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (and Mark Gatiss, obviously). (Jeremy Dyson is also one of the League but is a writer instead of a writer/performer, so I don’t feel like I know him as well.)
How to describe shows these men produce? To quote
daasgrrl, “While notionally a comedy, The League of Gentlemen is dark, twisted, and frequently tasteless…” Psychoville, which just stars Pemberton and Reece, is very similar. At its most basic, The League of Gentlemen reminded me frequently of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, except with more of an emphasis on the horrific than the comedic, though it is supernatural horror-comedy with three actors playing recurring characters, frequently in drag. There are a lot of LGBTQ themes, as well, which I enjoyed—though, warning: like all their themes, they are handled deliberately tastelessly. I originally enjoyed this because of Mark Gatiss’ involvement, but I ended up staying because once you can get over a knee-jerk reaction to the grotesque characters, I found their stories addicting. So here are some reviews:League of Gentlemen—Royston Vasey is a small British town populated, it seems, almost entirely with people who are insane or sociopathic, and generally who have very bad personal hygiene standards. But something happened as I continued to watch: for some of those characters I initially found despicable, by the end of the third season, I was actually starting to be on their side and actively rooting for their happiness. It’s like the writers turned the tables on me every time.
Psychoville—This show is quite similar to League of Gentlemen, except with more of an overarching storyline. I suppose it’s most similar to the third season of LoG. Mark Gatiss even has a lovely Sherlock Holmes-themed cameo in episode 4! Also, for you Sherlock fans playing along, Amanda Abbington has a cameo (I think in episode 2?) as a mother trying to organize a fun birthday party who has to deal with a mentally disturbed clown.
Inside No. 9—the newest series written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, each of these twelve 30-minute episodes is an unsettling standalone story with a twist at the end, each taking place in a location called No. 9 (a house, an apartment, a dressing room, etc.). Unlike LoG and Psychoville, there is less comedy in these stories, as well as much less drag or LGBTQ themes (except for one notable episode!). Some episodes are much better than others—I like “Sardines” and “Tom & Gerri” best. The quality ranges from mildly distressing to flat-out disturbing, but all had me thinking about them for days afterwards. I’d say of all of them, I liked this series (two seasons) the best because of its sheer capacity to surprise me.
If you like this sort of British comedy, I enjoyed the work of another comedy troupe, the people who made Little Britain (though on my first try, I couldn’t get into that one), Matt Lucas and David Williams. Their sitcom Come Fly With Me, about the hapless employees of an airport, reminded me very much of Cabin Pressure. Lots of tastelessness and characters in drag.
I also liked the creepy seven-episode series Black Mirror, which has standalone stories that reminded me of Inside No. 9. If you want to watch that one, people suggest skipping the first episode and coming back to it later since it has an implied scene in which the Prime Minister is coerced into bestiality to appease terrorists. I found this episode to be one of the most harrowing of the series, though. But of them all, by far the best is the seventh episode, the Christmas special “White Christmas,” starring Jon Hamm. There are so many twists and turns and shocking developments, all leading to a profound message.
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no subject
Date: 2015-09-13 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-13 11:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-14 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-14 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-13 06:25 pm (UTC)While I adore Gatiss, I have to say Steve Pemberton is my absolute stand-out in these. I just love watching him and all his characters - I think he always plays the most grotesque ones, or at least he makes them that way! But somehow very human as well - I adore Tubbs so much. And yet as 'himself' SP's so charming and 'normal', lol. If you saw BC in Murder is Easy he shares a scene with SP playing a vicar by some beehives *g*
I went back and watched Little Britain quite recently and was actually horrified by how unfunny I found most of it now. There's a time and place, I guess. But I will try Come Fly With Me and Black Mirror now, based on that! I think that League is tasteless, but its heart is in the right place, or at least it doesn't make me cringe the way Little Britain does now.
I haven't even watched it yet (okay, a few seconds) but you might want to try Mapp and Lucia (based on the novels), which is SP's 'baby' and in which he stars along with every British stalwart you've ever seen (Mark Gatiss, Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor).
But back to the post! Mark is also amazing in LoG, of course. I think he plays generally sweeter, or at least more sympathetic characters. I adore Valerie so much, and I honestly could not believe he was Mickey when I first saw him. In fact, going into it 'cold', it took me a while to realise that only three people played most of the characters! When I did, I kept looking for Mark in the Pauline ones and while he could only have been Mickey, my brain just wouldn't buy it. The teeth and the haplessness just make him an entirely different person *g*. I hope you check out the LoG live show, and all the other League stuff if you haven't already - for the Hamlet skit if nothing else, but it's all so wonderful, and in tuxes! The pantomine-style show, too. They're a delight on stage.
Isn't Psychoville horifically charming? Trivia: when LoG was sold to Japan (!) they apparently called it 'Psychoville', which is where they got the name. This one is so amazing as well. That ep with Maureen and David (you can probably guess the one I mean) just wreaked havoc with my feelings - I was genuinely sad, utterly appalled and amused all at the same time *g*
Loved Inside No. 9 and have to agree with everyone that Sardines is a stand-out, along with Tom and Gerri. I really enjoyed The Understudy too.
Hee - hope you don't mind the rambling, but I'm truly delighted to read your review and thanks for giving me some new things to check out!
♥
no subject
Date: 2015-09-14 01:24 am (UTC)Thanks for the Psychoville trivia!!! It definitely is a great name for LoG; thanks, Japan!
It's also so funny that you mention Steve being your favorite--I actually love all of them but came to really appreciate Reece Shearsmith's skills. He has such confidence as the sort-of more classy ladies? He kind of reminds me of Eric Idle from Monty Python in his drag roles. But I adore Monty Python so I compare everything to that. :)
no subject
Date: 2015-09-14 01:42 am (UTC)It's on youtube! Sooo good. Mark singing Voodoo Lady in a tux is worth clicking for alone, but there's so much more *g*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWeZ0RbaEig
I do get the vibe from various places that Shearsmith is the 'popular' one, which I don't really get at all, but I'm not a Python fan, either (I know!) so maybe that helps explain it *g*. I do like him as the innocent in the Denton household, and I love the librarian/Silent Singer thing in Psychoville *g*. But for some reason his characters aren't as distinct for me as the ones that Pemberton/Gatiss play. I think he seems not to have as broad a vocal range, or maybe I'm just making that up because I simply prefer the other two *g*
no subject
Date: 2015-09-14 02:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-25 11:49 pm (UTC)...Now weirdly topical :P
I've only seen one episode of LoG - I thought it was tasteless but kind of great and very, oddly, true to life :) Particularly the job centre.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-05 11:05 pm (UTC)And "tasteless but kind of great" is a perfect description!