9 hours ago
(This post was last modified: 9 hours ago by Besticus Maximus.)
benji dateline='[url=tel:1786330471' wrote: 1786330471[/url]']
Because he was in Bottom and presumably because I watched Blackadder, I'm watching The New Statesman and I like Mayall in this more than in the other things I've seen him in. I like it, I especially like that Alan gets away with nearly everything, that was one aspect of Blackadder I didn't think was as smart after the first series. And most sitcoms of any of this type refuse to let the bad guy main character actually get away with his schemes even when he's smarter than everyone unlike a, say, Always Sunny.
What I don't understand so much is the "satire" claim, especially the claim of "provocative" and "biting", because Alan (and really a few of the other Tories in the show) is less "conservative" compared to flat out evil. He doesn't even try to justify any of it to anyone.
I know I know, that's conservatives, but he does things like argue for slavery just to be more extreme in order to get a column printed and makes at least half the other political choices because of what would benefit him personally in some sudden scheme that came to mind. I liked the porn episode but the other people are (mostly) all portrayed as honest in their opposition and Alan just takes advantage for himself rather than the show even critiquing the censorship position. Arguably the most honest Alan is is in the early episodes before they decide to just make him totally evil where he admits to being libertarian but there's too much power (or money) in his pretending to be conservative.
Not to say there's not any, just that it's not really part of the show's plotting, it's more characters making commentary. To compare with Yes, Minister where it's generally core to the plot. Again, I don't mind it, I like it and Alan's being evil, I'm just commenting on the way others wrote about it. Which might be why I enjoyed it as I was expecting a more typical dumb "political" sitcom versus a real b'stard. The porn episode is a decent example, but one where Alan eliminates the dole for the elderly is another good one, where the show goes an extra step beyond what a typical show would do. Of course Alan is going to try to con someone opposed to porn and his mother is going to have to come live with him and he'll hate it, and he'll have to get out of a complication but that's only really the halfway point of the plot and Alan is going to have to scheme at another level.
The last season where everyone becomes MEP's and the show moves to Brussels is kind of clearly worse in every way but the budget. It really feels in places like they started with a normal season in London and UK politics but then decided to move it, hastily rewrote chunks to keep the general episode ideas and forced in a bunch of references to other European countries. I do like that Alan was gone for three years but the show feels like he was only gone a week and nobody really acts like he was really gone longer and it's right back to things as normal.
Can't watch any of the specials as they're behind an additional subscription for some odd reason. Not the only UK show like this on Amazon Prime where the entire seasons are available but special episodes aren't. And those are often not on any other service.
New statesman is secretly the best one tbf.
The conservative framing is more explicitly Thatcherite in focusing on how evil he is compared to the wets, he’s the manifest of self interest and grasping