Russell Davies' Cucumber/Banana Premiers (Queer as Folk/Dr Who reboot creator)- Page 2

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 5:26am

I was going to say that there's also Please Like Me, one of my favourite comedies of the year and a show that I got my sister into recently but... That kinda proves your point, Haterobics...

Vera Charles--thank you, I have been able to work and complain enough on here for a bit that I don't think my health will be an issue :P

I think the cast of Banana--down to being largely "unknowns" is meant to make up partly for the older cast-

Updated On: 1/23/15 at 05:26 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 12:48pm

I adore Please Like Me, but it is between seasons right now. But yes, it is another gay show that is so much better than Looking.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 1:28pm

I wish it were discussed more on here (Please Like Me,) but it seems to get even less than the 200,000 viewers Looking does.

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 1:59pm

I read somewhere that were it not funded in part by Pivot over here, there wouldn't even be a third season of Please Like Me, as it had abysmal ratings in Australia.

"As for Australian ratings, Thomas told The Monthly: “It’s ABC2’s highest-rated scripted show,” before adding “there are a lot of caveats there.” The series two premiere failed to crack the top 100 shows for the day, with an audience one tenth of The Block’s."

I mean, 100 other shows the day of a new episode of Please Like Me ranked higher?!? That's horrific.

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/aug/26/josh-thomas-please-like-me-interview

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 3:28pm

Pivot did save Please Like Me. I live in Canada--does anyone even watch or no of Pivot? My ex who lives in Melbourne knew Josh Thomas's as a comedian--and disliked him--but hadn't heard of the show--which he loves.

But it was one of Pivot's buzz shows, so I'm glad if it got a third season.

It really is a great show, and I wish people like Namo would watch, and comment (even if I disagree,) on it.

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 3:42pm

I somehow learned of the show when it was first airing in Australia, so I caught it early, but then I bought the Pivot versions on iTunes, since they were priced cheaply and 1080p.

Josh is like an Aussie Simon Amstell, and I also liked Grandma's House...

But yeah, according to Wikipedia: On 12 July 2014, it was announced that the networking partnership had renewed Please Like Me for a third series also comprising ten episodes.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 5:53pm

Happy news indeed! After the end of last season I assumed a third was in the plan, but...


I'll have to track down Grandma's House...

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 6:10pm

There are two seasons of Grandma's House, after which Amstell supposedly said he was done with it.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 7:10pm

And apparently I smoke too much pot--I watched all of the first year. But didn't know there was a second! I agree their comedy styles are similar--and neither one of them is a great actor, but they make up for it with the writing and by surrounding themselves with brilliant actors.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 1/23/15 at 7:29pm

It helps to be somewhat familiar with Amstell's NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS work before starting GRANDMA'S HOUSE. Otherwise, you may be wondering how this terrible actor got cast along with with all of those wonderful ones.

I wish A(ustralian)BC or Pivot had eps of PLEASE LIKE ME on demand. Would love to see it.

Looking forward to checking out Gherkin/Carrot/Quinoa this weekend.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/24/15 at 2:51pm

Horsey, what did you think of Cucumber/Banana etc?

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/24/15 at 3:10pm

For me Cucumber/Banana very much dovetailed and, two days later, I wouldn't like to say which scenes were in which programme. Yes, there was bound to be sensationalistic sex in the opening, just as there was with QaF ("They didn't teach you about that at school.") but it has quickly built its plotlines for the rollercoaster ride that will, I assume, carry us through the next seven episodes.

What I'm not clear about is, when Henry reported the man in his house "that won't go away", did he mean his boyfriend or the pickup. It makes a hell of a difference to our understanding of the character and I'm assuming this will get answered in future episodes just as the first episode of Banana answered some other questions that the first episode of Cucumber left me with.

So in summary so far - great fun, compulsive viewing established.

Can't be bothered to watch Tofu yet - I tend to go with the theory that the ones who talk about it are the ones who don't get enough of it.

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/24/15 at 3:15pm

"What I'm not clear about is, when Henry reported the man in his house "that won't go away", did he mean his boyfriend or the pickup."

It read like he meant the boyfriend to me.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/25/15 at 5:00am

Henry and Lance seemed to be talking, in the restaurant, about Lance getting a promotion and moving to a bigger house in an elite area of Manchester. So I was assuming their current house was owned jointly rather than just being Henry's. Therefore Henry was not in a position to refer to it as his house alone and get Lance thrown out.

But I agree that most people I've spoken to seem to have interpreted Henry as wanting to get rid of Lance rather than the pickup.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 1/25/15 at 5:47am

So, I'm sorry to say I'm not in the CUCUMBER fan club. Unfortunately, it's just not for me. But, then again, neither was QAF. QAF was - rightly, I'd say - celebrated for its frank portrayal of gay life in the late 90s/early 2000s, but I didn't think Davies wrote remotely believable characters then and I don't think he does now. And, I suppose that's okay. There's nothing wrong with campness or the fantastic, but if something is going to be this messy and unsubtle, as a viewer you've got to buy into the creators' sensibilities and I just don't. It all felt a bit manic with wild shifts in tone that I just couldn't go along with. Did Davies work on telenovelas in a past life? Lots of amusing moments throughout, but it all felt so disjointed to me. And, frankly, it doesn't feel like a 2015 show. It felt like something I'd expected to have seen on tv 10-15 years ago. TV's gotten a lot more sophisticated in that time. Well, a lot of it has.

I saw 1/3 of BANANA. Unfortunately, the Channel 4 On Demand player kept shutting down when I got to the first commercial break. I will say that what I saw of BANANA was a bit better than CUCUMBER. It seemed to have a lighter touch and it's nice to focus on a somewhat more interesting and optimistic character as played by Fisayo Akinade, rather than the sourpuss at the center of CUCUMBER.

It's nice to see another show in which LGBT characters are not just sidekicks and minor characters. Although I didn't connect with the material, I hope they find an audience. Perhaps it will encourage development execs to greenlight more LGBT programming that doesn't have any connection to Andy Cohen.

And, that's all I'll say about these shows. I recognize that they aren't for me, so I won't pollute this thread with an endless parade of complaints, nor will I start a separate thread to catalog all of my grievances with Russel T. Davies and his cast. I'll simply move on and watch something else. Happy viewing!



Updated On: 1/25/15 at 05:47 AM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 2:44am

I continue to love Banana. Today's episode, focusing on Scotty felt like the few really great early character episodes Skins did--but with zero drug use.

And I am very into Cucumber. Cyril Nri stands out as my fave actor in a somewhat thankless role. I did like him angry flirting with the "straight" Daniel partly because I've met a number of guys who have been exactly that way (and a few of them did genuinely actually turn out to be gay.) I still love how RTD can write these over the top set-pieces and yet they really are based on realistic emotions. Julie Hesmondhalgh, who I admit I always liked when I tuned on Corrie, is my MVP--and I'm kinda glad to hear she'll have her first sex scene (ever) on the show. As Henry's sister, as written and played, she showed just the right balance of bemusement and sympathy for his predicament...and fear of anal sex. (I can see people already complaining about that aspect of the show.)

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 1:00pm

Yeah, this show looks like it will continue to be a fun watch... unfortunately, the interwebs is really parsing these out, so I usually get to see Cucumber on the day, Banana a day or so later, and Tofu whenever....

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 1:26pm

Do you...torrent? There is a certain gay porn site that places all of them up by the time I get home on Thursday night. (PM me if you want details.) They didn't have Tofu, so I did watch that streaming. (It was only ten mins and I appreciated it more--they seem to have cut the guy who thinks every prostitute he is with marvels on how large his****is and falls in love with him--wise move.)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 1:30pm

A friend of mine complained that the scene with straight (maybe) Daniel made no sense, especially how he kissed Lance's head after freaking out. For me that was one of the best moments--specifically when I lived in Dublin working at Tesco's after high school there was a guy who was *exactly* like that with me. Of course he was usually more drunk than Daniel seemed to be--but he would ask me intimate details about my sex life, then freak out, then say some of his, then freak out more, and then leave (and yes, kiss me on the head,) and send me dirty messages. We've become better friends since then, and I *think* he is straight, mostly, though we fooled around, but...

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 1:39pm

I usenet by preference and torrent when I have to...

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 3:03pm

Eric - please can you PM me the details of the porn site as well? I don't need it for Cucumber/Banana/Tofu, I just want to know what you're into. Thanks.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 6:54pm

LOL

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/30/15 at 7:04pm

I was once on a gay porn torrent site (I'm making this all past tense for some reason?), and invited two friends, and that somehow made me privy to everything they uploaded/downloaded, and it was way TMI.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/31/15 at 5:05am

Thanks for the link Eric.

Okay. Wow. Who'd have thought it?! Obviously a minority interest. And you always seemed such a nice young man too.

You should so be interviewed for Tofu.

Updated On: 1/31/15 at 05:05 AM

[HorseTears]

Posted: 1/31/15 at 6:29am

Eric, I'm very happy to report that I, too, am able to receive PMs.