“Blink and you’re dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink.” The Doctor’s words in “Blink” seem to resonate with BBC4’s The Thick of It, a program which requires the viewer’s undivided attention due to its quick wit, shaky camera, and the incredible pace at which the characters speak. I had the accent barrier against me, but it still seemed as though a mere blink or mishearing of a line would have me lost. There’s certainly no slumping down in front of the boob tube and turning your brain off with The Thick of It. This falls in line with Cinema Verite’s position on the British comedy spectrum as opposed to surreal humor like The Mighty Boosh, much of which is more easily accessible slapstick. The comedy in Cinema Verite is easily missed if one does not look for it, especially when the dialogue is bursting with sophisticated references to politics and pop culture. The articulate language of The Thick of It makes much of the humor of the show lie merely in the manner in which the words are spoken. A sharp viewer is required for this show, but if one is willing to put forth the effort, The Thick of It has a hilarious payoff.
When The Thick of It started, I first noted that Malcolm Tucker was played by Peter Capaldi, who also plays Sid’s father in Skins. It wasn’t until about five minutes in that I realized I’d seen a few of these characters before in the film In the Loop with James Gandolfini and Anna Chlumsky (of My Girl fame). This film depicts the British government’s relations with the American government as the U.S. moves forward with war in the Middle East. I’d never heard of the television show before seeing the movie, but that certainly didn’t affect my enjoyment of it. Although many of the TV series cast returned, the only actual returning characters are Malcolm Tucker, Jamie MacDonald and Sam Cassidy, with other actors from the series playing new characters. In The Loop was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2010 and is really worth checking out. Here’s an old trailer:
I was also surprised to learn that I’d heard of the HBO remake coming out in April. Veep features TV darlings Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale (as well as Anna Chlumsky again) in a political comedy about the female vice-president of the United States. With a less shaky camera and seemingly fully new and different cast of characters, it doesn’t seem to be as much a remake as an entirely new show with the same auteur behind it. There was a more loyal remake (produced by Arrested Development‘s Mitch Hurwitz) in the works back in 2006 for ABC which revolved around a low-level member of Congress and never made it to air.
The Thick of It‘s creator and writer of the failed ABC remake, Armando Iannucci, stated the following of the U.S. network version, “It was terrible…they took the idea and chucked out all the style. It was all conventionally shot and there was no improvisation or swearing. It didn’t get picked up, thank God.” Let’s hope HBO can deliver Iannucci’s crassness and wit without the sacrifice of style with Veep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soJggb_jDL8
In the Loop’s trailer is just so good. It makes me laugh every time I see it. And I’m glad I got to watch Veep’s trailer again too. I posted it somewhere on here as soon as I saw it, and I’m glad you gave it some context because I’m sure anyone who saw it was like, “WTF does this have to do with England and why is Brenna being a nerd about it?” It’s just so great that the concept can translate in different ways. It’s interesting because TTOI was 100% UK, In the Loop was 50/50 US and UK, and Veep is going to be 100% US – just an interesting transition from one side of the pond to the other.
Anyway, I think you pointed out some great points about TTOI. It’s something you have to pay attention to because it’s so fast paced and witty, even though it’s dealing with something that we’d typically find mundane. I think that’s a great strength of British comedies – making the mundane entertaining. It’s like we talked about with Him & Her last week. UK television shows make the everyday more entertaining by being smart or detail-oriented to the point of hilarity where US tv is very slapstick a lot of the time.
Malcolm Tucker is just one of my favorite TV characters EVER. He’s sometimes hard to watch because you start to shrink away because of the words flying out of his mouth, but he has some of the BEST one liners. The Brits are so good at writing one-liners (see: Maggie Smith in Downton). It may just be me, but I don’t find myself attached to characters like him in a lot of US tv. If they’re vulgar and mean, they’re usually put to one end of the likability spectrum, but Malcolm is just so funny and witty that his dickishness isn’t endearing, but it definitely makes me like him more. If someone is going to be a jerk, they might as well be good at it.
This may be a little off-topic, but since you brought up the shaky camera style I had to ask – has anyone else noticed that this style has become more and more frequently used? I think of “Lost” or other such shows (obviously “The Office” as well) but I also have noticed it way more in films – most recently in “Melancholia” and even “The Hunger Games”. I, like Prof. Becker, get physically nauseous watching any of those on a big screen. I have to close my eyes for periods of time (the same as when I watch 3D). I felt it a bit even during “The Thick of It”. Am I just a wimp or does it bother anyone else?