fexil
Joined Dec 2005
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fexil's rating
Saw a few episodes on UK Comedy Central & as missed more decided to buy the DVD of both series on the basis of those early episodes. Have watched the lot now as I bought the thing & it's certainly not a 'keeper' like Scrubs or 30 Rock is. It appears Comedy Central don't show it anymore now.
OK, it's a watchable series that looks good in cast & set, but the overall point to it is just a little vague? The earlier ones as Sam discovers herself are the best, but after that where does it go? The trouble is there is not much comedy, more a weak romantic drama with San doing comedy bits that doesn't have any real direction. Sam's guy/flatmate is so bland I can't even remember his name (Todd on checking!).
The "Bad Sam" flashbacks are the easily highlight of the show. How much better 2 seasons of "Bad Sam" would be, the change in CA playing her is a great contrast to "Good Sam".
The other 2 females we don't really get to know much about and just fill in time with shallowness & a very superficial life as with Andrea. The Doorman guy is a wasted character only given very few lines.
Did I laugh? Erm, the only funny was the Doorman in the Restaurant scene & laughing at the surprise of it rather than what was said.
Memorable Episodes? Erm, not really any. No clever quotes or lines you'd remember forever. You'll compare the Doorman a bit to Rhoda, the vehicle the Dad buys to Frasier & the Mum to the woman Frasier dated in the later series! And naturally 'Married With Children' for Kelly Bundy.
Why was it cancelled? Well CA had her problems in real life & the before/after episodes you can't really tell, showing her high qualities of acting throughout the last episodes. You do feel a little awkward knowing the truth & that as a 'maybe' is a reason why, but don't think it. Another reason why is more likely the show had "No Direction" and it tried desperately to bring in some male characters later on in knowledge of it's weakness there.
The ending episode seemed a bit messy, it did offer an 'ending' to the main characters in a way so as not to leave it in mid air, in a way that '3rd Rock From the Sun' did a few times not knowing it'd be renewed. But it left ways to continue, if anyone was bothered watching more. It'll do for me as it is.
The last DVD of the 2nd season should be watched in this order: 1st title, the 3 "More Sam" ones then the last 3, to keep the continuity.
Is it a Chick Show? Male me tends to think it is. It's lack of Substance makes some of it tedious watching & you are left a bit empty after you surrendered to it, but it's only 21-22 minutes so not much time to watch just before going to bed!
All in All: it's one of those average frothy nothing shows that gets made far too often today, exactly like Blockbuster Films. Instead of concentrating on good writing like Frasier or Scrubs, it's just very expensive looking with little substance.
Next...
OK, it's a watchable series that looks good in cast & set, but the overall point to it is just a little vague? The earlier ones as Sam discovers herself are the best, but after that where does it go? The trouble is there is not much comedy, more a weak romantic drama with San doing comedy bits that doesn't have any real direction. Sam's guy/flatmate is so bland I can't even remember his name (Todd on checking!).
The "Bad Sam" flashbacks are the easily highlight of the show. How much better 2 seasons of "Bad Sam" would be, the change in CA playing her is a great contrast to "Good Sam".
The other 2 females we don't really get to know much about and just fill in time with shallowness & a very superficial life as with Andrea. The Doorman guy is a wasted character only given very few lines.
Did I laugh? Erm, the only funny was the Doorman in the Restaurant scene & laughing at the surprise of it rather than what was said.
Memorable Episodes? Erm, not really any. No clever quotes or lines you'd remember forever. You'll compare the Doorman a bit to Rhoda, the vehicle the Dad buys to Frasier & the Mum to the woman Frasier dated in the later series! And naturally 'Married With Children' for Kelly Bundy.
Why was it cancelled? Well CA had her problems in real life & the before/after episodes you can't really tell, showing her high qualities of acting throughout the last episodes. You do feel a little awkward knowing the truth & that as a 'maybe' is a reason why, but don't think it. Another reason why is more likely the show had "No Direction" and it tried desperately to bring in some male characters later on in knowledge of it's weakness there.
The ending episode seemed a bit messy, it did offer an 'ending' to the main characters in a way so as not to leave it in mid air, in a way that '3rd Rock From the Sun' did a few times not knowing it'd be renewed. But it left ways to continue, if anyone was bothered watching more. It'll do for me as it is.
The last DVD of the 2nd season should be watched in this order: 1st title, the 3 "More Sam" ones then the last 3, to keep the continuity.
Is it a Chick Show? Male me tends to think it is. It's lack of Substance makes some of it tedious watching & you are left a bit empty after you surrendered to it, but it's only 21-22 minutes so not much time to watch just before going to bed!
All in All: it's one of those average frothy nothing shows that gets made far too often today, exactly like Blockbuster Films. Instead of concentrating on good writing like Frasier or Scrubs, it's just very expensive looking with little substance.
Next...
As others say this was an enjoyable prequel to Only Fools with a good amount of early stuff mentioned in OFAH explained. It was well cast throughout and the period detail was a good attempt! The "errors" included the tone of 1960 being very rose-tinted. Denzil for a start had a 70s afro & his manner in 1960 would have been much less loud due to how life was & the limited views of the day. The other black guy however, looking very like Muddy Waters the blues legend, was spot on.
The incessant music & record references were a bit OTT, ooh we got the original record! You could see they had no-centre ex-jukebox records & reproduction London sleeves! The music chosen was certainly the pick of the era all USA artists even though many happily listened to UK pop like Max Bygraves & other MOR artists.
The purple pill popping was wrongly called "drugs" which is not even how we spoke of such in the 80s. Slater dancing stoned saying he was like a "rock star" was foolish, such a term not used until well into the 70s.
The "intense" cinema manager was a bit out of place perhaps, it appeared to be an attempt to appeal to today's TV crowd, although it ended up hilarious & the final joke subtle enough to only be understood by those old enough, which is a nice bit of writing. The Coffee joke was nice too in typical OFAH style.
Kellie Bright & James Buckley were perfect castings. Nicholas Lyndhurst was the obvious choice for Freddy, but he wasn't consistent & ended up more like Gary from 'Goodnight Sweetheart' simply as NL is known as a nice guy.
The title itself 'Rock & Chips' was a bit feeble after the working title & only a mention of it eating such on the bus.
Overall certainly the best show of the year so far & not to continue with it would be a shame, although having covered all the story we knew about having watched OFAH anything further would need some strong writing to keep the quality. One of those shows guaranteed to please those familiar with OFAH & being over 30 but it may just confuse those younger without the show knowledge.
The incessant music & record references were a bit OTT, ooh we got the original record! You could see they had no-centre ex-jukebox records & reproduction London sleeves! The music chosen was certainly the pick of the era all USA artists even though many happily listened to UK pop like Max Bygraves & other MOR artists.
The purple pill popping was wrongly called "drugs" which is not even how we spoke of such in the 80s. Slater dancing stoned saying he was like a "rock star" was foolish, such a term not used until well into the 70s.
The "intense" cinema manager was a bit out of place perhaps, it appeared to be an attempt to appeal to today's TV crowd, although it ended up hilarious & the final joke subtle enough to only be understood by those old enough, which is a nice bit of writing. The Coffee joke was nice too in typical OFAH style.
Kellie Bright & James Buckley were perfect castings. Nicholas Lyndhurst was the obvious choice for Freddy, but he wasn't consistent & ended up more like Gary from 'Goodnight Sweetheart' simply as NL is known as a nice guy.
The title itself 'Rock & Chips' was a bit feeble after the working title & only a mention of it eating such on the bus.
Overall certainly the best show of the year so far & not to continue with it would be a shame, although having covered all the story we knew about having watched OFAH anything further would need some strong writing to keep the quality. One of those shows guaranteed to please those familiar with OFAH & being over 30 but it may just confuse those younger without the show knowledge.