I enjoyed yesterday's episode although the montage at the end did feel rather random! Why include guest stars nobody remember and not Barbara (Miranda Hart) who was a series regular over four series? It did feel very final (and I remember reading somewhere that Lee Mack was writing a British version of Everybody Loves Raymond) and I'd be sad to see it go. It's easily one of the funniest sitcoms of recent years and it's always worth a watch. Hopefully there'll be some Christmas specials in the coming years.
I think I remember reading that his version of ELR was cancelled after the pilot was filmed.
I think they can continue it with Lucy and Lee as an official couple now but they will have to make some changes where he can't make the same or as much jokes at her expense which was always a cover for what he really felt for her.
They can still make him a bit of a general cynic but in other situations. Will they do it though? Probably best to spend some time thinking of good storylines/plots if they do.
I was hoping Tommy Cannon would make a guest appearance but by the time I recognised him most of the gag was wasted on me.
And the only reason I can think of for the random selection of flashbacks was to help sell the older DVDs.
Three-quarters of an hour seemed like three hours to me.
It was definitely overkill. Think the montage was basically to make it up to 45 minutes. Could easily have been done in a half hour.
The idea that Lucy would just agree to marry him seemed far fetched to me. I know they've lived together for years, but wouldn't you want to see what someone was like in a relationship first? It's an entirely different thing.
Not having Hugh Dennis' character acknowledged at the wedding was bollocks, particularly seen as how he's the reason they got together anyway.
It does look like the end. A word for Sally Bretton who never seems to get mentioned. She may play 'the straight man' but surely is far more than that. Would you watch it if she wasn't so attractive?
Yeah, I actually thought the woman from the first series was more to my tastes, at least as far as being attractive goes. I watch it mostly for Lee and because, while no masterpiece of comedy, it has a few good lines here and there. It's funny, I think Lee's good in this and superb on Would I Lie To You, yet I watched one of his stand-up DVDs and just thought he was shockingly bad.
Firstly we need to realise that Not Going Out is a vehicle for daft puns and awkward situations for Lee Mack as well as being absolutely warm in it's heart.
I was hoping Tommy Cannon would make a guest appearance but by the time I recognised him most of the gag was wasted on me.
And so? The reveal and the braces were lovely. Tommy can't help what he looks like. (although as they are both born again Christians it was an apt part - and as it was Christianity that brought the two of them back together it was a nice touch - and that is from 'religion: tosh' person.
Three-quarters of an hour seemed like three hours to me.
Seemed like half an hour to me.
And there's the rub...it is/was a daft show and if this is the last episode I'll be happy. The flashbacks were great and the story had Lee's naivety, his dad's wrecklessness, his father-in-law's love for his daughter, Daisy's flakiness, Lucy's never-say-die attitude, Lee's mother-in-law's potty mouth, and Tim Vine's camp run...what more could you want?
Oh, NO, not Miranda Hart: the black hole of comedy. Lovely person; very poor comedy actress.
It was definitely overkill. Think the montage was basically to make it up to 45 minutes. Could easily have been done in a half hour.
The idea that Lucy would just agree to marry him seemed far fetched to me. I know they've lived together for years, but wouldn't you want to see what someone was like in a relationship first? It's an entirely different thing.
Not having Hugh Dennis' character acknowledged at the wedding was bollocks, particularly seen as how he's the reason they got together anyway.
Yeah, I actually thought the woman from the first series was more to my tastes, at least as far as being attractive goes. I watch it mostly for Lee and because, while no masterpiece of comedy, it has a few good lines here and there. It's funny, I think Lee's good in this and superb on Would I Lie To You, yet I watched one of his stand-up DVDs and just thought he was shockingly bad.
Yay! Someone agrees with me that Lucy's sudden (to me) about-turn was surprising! As I said earlier, a few ''moments" in earlier episodes does not indicate you're madly in love and would suddenly, randomly agree to marry your lodger! Hugh Dennis' absence in this episode was ridiculous - but they've done the same with Tim the last 2 series. One mention, then it's like he disappeared off the face of the earth!
I liked the character of Kate better than Lucy, even though they did overdo the "California-hippy-vegan-yoga" thing. It would also have become tiresome if that character had stayed, given her history with Tim.
Hugh Dennis did basically explain he made up his "cousin" to put pressure on Lee to make a move on Lucy because he was getting sick of hearing him pining and being forced to pal around with Lee because his wife was friends with Lucy, forcing Hugh's character to tolerate him civilly under duress, so he got his "revenge" by revealing Lee had fell into his trap of a long term stressful and demanding marriage like the one he's been in for years. If his wife wasn't there, he had no reason to be either.
^^ I just presumed they'd both have been guests as they were neighbours and friends and given some of the other guests (Lees' daughter that never was, scary upstairs neighbour, battle of the band bloke, lost old lady)...unless as I said before this montage was some kind of 'dream' sequence to show us how they fell in love (failed on that score for me but hey ho).
I never really watched it for the "will they, won't they" storylines. More as an ensemble piece of comedians bouncing jokes off each other. The Lee/Tim relationship was the best thing. I think that's why I preferred Kate to Lucy as Kate & Lee would never have got together with Tim being Lees' best mate, Lee wouldn't have gone there. However, it wouldn't have run as long as Kate insulting Tim every few minutes and Tims' protestation of "She was 23!" were wearing thin already by the end of series 1.
^^ I just presumed they'd both have been guests as they were neighbours and friends and given some of the other guests (Lees' daughter that never was, scary upstairs neighbour, battle of the band bloke, lost old lady)...unless as I said before this montage was some kind of 'dream' sequence to show us how they fell in love (failed on that score for me but hey ho).
I never really watched it for the "will they, won't they" storylines. More as an ensemble piece of comedians bouncing jokes off each other. The Lee/Tim relationship was the best thing. I think that's why I preferred Kate to Lucy as Kate & Lee would never have got together with Tim being Lees' best mate, Lee wouldn't have gone there. However, it wouldn't have run as long as Kate insulting Tim every few minutes and Tims' protestation of "She was 23!" were wearing thin already by the end of series 1.
I assumed Lucy gave up her aspirations of a fancier life and job by committing to Lee at the end of the previous episode, which would have served as fair reason to sever their friendship since Lucy no longer wanted the same things and Hugh's character basically set Lee up in a way so he wouldn't have to hang around with him since he was a decent enough bloke pining for Lucy, just not the kind of class of people he and his wife normally associated with. Also with Lucy's parents in their roles and Bobby Ball in the feckless best man role and Tim as the returning best friend, Hugh and his wife's character would have been somewhat surplus to requirements story wise.
Fair enough. I did think they'd attend the wedding at least though - if only for Hugh's character to make sure his plan worked!
If they do another series it'll be interesting to see if they stay living in the flat or move out of London and if Tim's return is for good. If they did and it was, be interesting to see who Lee would confide in - can't exactly complain about your spouse to their sibling!
By having a trailer for it? Or by having the continuity announcer say 'tune in for a special outtakes compilation on December 27th' after the last new episode aired? Come on, really?
By having a trailer for it? Or by having the continuity announcer say 'tune in for a special outtakes compilation on December 27th' after the last new episode aired? Come on, really?
I think they did briefly at the end of the last episode but it was one of those /cut the screen in half, promote what's on next and after that as well pop bits with a voice over where they tell you too much in the space of 10 seconds.
Enjoyed the bloopers show, and then watched the repeat of the final episode again that followed...
It was great to see Tim back, and some of the previous guests in the flashbacks. Surprised that Hugh and wife were not even referenced following his involvement in tricking Lee into admitting his feelings for Lucy - even if just to say they were away at that time. Last weeks episode, where Hugh and Lee were together for most of it, was one of the best since Tim left - with Lee having someone to bounce off other than Lucy.
I'd love to see occasional Xmas specials in the future, but it did look decidedly final!
I really liked the Christmas special (although it wasn't set at Christmas, was it?). It wasn't what I expected but good nonetheless. I thought Lee and Lucy would have one final, almighty row calling the wedding into question although we did have a type of "will they, won't they?" when Bobby Ball and Lee ended up in prison (their montage of Lee's stag do was funny).
The rest of the episode was unusual but there's no better time to be play around with the formula than in a finale. I didn't even consider the possibility of it being a dream of Lee's but I'm glad it wasn't. I liked the flashbacks and was surprised by how many of the actors/actresses they managed to get back. The only person I thought would make a cameo is Tim and even that was more in hope, than expectation. I vastly prefer Lucy to Kate but it would have been nice for NGO geeks to see the former make an appearance. I think it would have been mutually beneficial for Miranda to appear too, considering she has her own finale/s this Christmas.
I hope we have to wait until at least 2016 for a special or new series. This series as a whole hasn't been great, nor was last year's. Now that the series has been given an acceptable conclusion to most fans, Lee Mack and co could and should take their time before penning any further episodes. If further episodes do materialise, I want to see Lee and Lucy together. If that set-up sucks, then people can just pretend it never happened and continue to refer to this Christmas' episode as the end.
The show has lost its way a bit over the last two seasons but its always remained very watchable and the introduction of Hugh Dennis helped breath a little new life into it and I thought he and Lee bounced off each other pretty well.
Sally Bretton is actually a poor actress in my opinion but she gets by on her looks and the fact she is carried by Lee Mack.
The Christmas episode did seem to effectively wrap things up and its been suggested by Mack that this would be the final series, in a show named Not Going Out it would seem pretty apt that the long will they or wont they saga between Lee and Lucy concluded with them finally getting together and getting hitched. The Xmas episode wasn't the best I've seen by a long way but it was handled well with the flashbacks and the cameo of Tim Vine, would have been nice to see further cameos from Kate and Miranda Hart if only as guests at the wedding, was also a bit strange and disappointing that Hugh Dennis' character and his missus were absent from the episode.
I've enjoyed this show a lot and while the magic has faded since the early series' its managed to keep me interested and always raise a good few laughs, its definitely run its course though so if they want to keep going I would hope they just run Christmas specials featuring Lee and Lucy as a couple and maybe do the rumoured live show tour. Considering the show was originally axed after season 3 but then re-commissioned due to protests from viewers and high dvd sales its done very well to last through seven seasons.
I think a lot of us had noticed they were a couple in all but name for a while now. You can see my point from the first episode of the season. It has also been a running theme that they have liked each other throughout all seasons.
It does look like the end. A word for Sally Bretton who never seems to get mentioned. She may play 'the straight man' but surely is far more than that. Would you watch it if she wasn't so attractive?
So by "far more than that" you mean how attractive she looks? Being a good straight man is a skilled job, especially as she has to bring some empathy to it (and she does get a few good lines herself). I'm not a fan of outtakes, but seeing them does show the repeated takes each scene gets, and I admire actors more for being able to deliver a performance time after time.
Comments
I think I remember reading that his version of ELR was cancelled after the pilot was filmed.
They can still make him a bit of a general cynic but in other situations. Will they do it though? Probably best to spend some time thinking of good storylines/plots if they do.
It was definitely overkill. Think the montage was basically to make it up to 45 minutes. Could easily have been done in a half hour.
The idea that Lucy would just agree to marry him seemed far fetched to me. I know they've lived together for years, but wouldn't you want to see what someone was like in a relationship first? It's an entirely different thing.
Not having Hugh Dennis' character acknowledged at the wedding was bollocks, particularly seen as how he's the reason they got together anyway.
Yeah, I actually thought the woman from the first series was more to my tastes, at least as far as being attractive goes. I watch it mostly for Lee and because, while no masterpiece of comedy, it has a few good lines here and there. It's funny, I think Lee's good in this and superb on Would I Lie To You, yet I watched one of his stand-up DVDs and just thought he was shockingly bad.
And so? The reveal and the braces were lovely. Tommy can't help what he looks like. (although as they are both born again Christians it was an apt part - and as it was Christianity that brought the two of them back together it was a nice touch - and that is from 'religion: tosh' person.
It was a 'best of montage' which was lovely.
Seemed like half an hour to me.
And there's the rub...it is/was a daft show and if this is the last episode I'll be happy. The flashbacks were great and the story had Lee's naivety, his dad's wrecklessness, his father-in-law's love for his daughter, Daisy's flakiness, Lucy's never-say-die attitude, Lee's mother-in-law's potty mouth, and Tim Vine's camp run...what more could you want?
Oh, NO, not Miranda Hart: the black hole of comedy. Lovely person; very poor comedy actress.
Yay! Someone agrees with me that Lucy's sudden (to me) about-turn was surprising! As I said earlier, a few ''moments" in earlier episodes does not indicate you're madly in love and would suddenly, randomly agree to marry your lodger! Hugh Dennis' absence in this episode was ridiculous - but they've done the same with Tim the last 2 series. One mention, then it's like he disappeared off the face of the earth!
I liked the character of Kate better than Lucy, even though they did overdo the "California-hippy-vegan-yoga" thing. It would also have become tiresome if that character had stayed, given her history with Tim.
I never really watched it for the "will they, won't they" storylines. More as an ensemble piece of comedians bouncing jokes off each other. The Lee/Tim relationship was the best thing. I think that's why I preferred Kate to Lucy as Kate & Lee would never have got together with Tim being Lees' best mate, Lee wouldn't have gone there. However, it wouldn't have run as long as Kate insulting Tim every few minutes and Tims' protestation of "She was 23!" were wearing thin already by the end of series 1.
If they do another series it'll be interesting to see if they stay living in the flat or move out of London and if Tim's return is for good. If they did and it was, be interesting to see who Lee would confide in - can't exactly complain about your spouse to their sibling!
I'd hope so, the comedy reel of a sitcom should be... now if they were outtakes from Prime Suspect, the bar would probably be much lower.
How do you think they could 'have told us'?
It would have been in all the listings, I certainly saw it and recorded.
By having a trailer for it? Or by having the continuity announcer say 'tune in for a special outtakes compilation on December 27th' after the last new episode aired? Come on, really?
I think they did briefly at the end of the last episode but it was one of those /cut the screen in half, promote what's on next and after that as well pop bits with a voice over where they tell you too much in the space of 10 seconds.
It was great to see Tim back, and some of the previous guests in the flashbacks. Surprised that Hugh and wife were not even referenced following his involvement in tricking Lee into admitting his feelings for Lucy - even if just to say they were away at that time. Last weeks episode, where Hugh and Lee were together for most of it, was one of the best since Tim left - with Lee having someone to bounce off other than Lucy.
I'd love to see occasional Xmas specials in the future, but it did look decidedly final!
The rest of the episode was unusual but there's no better time to be play around with the formula than in a finale. I didn't even consider the possibility of it being a dream of Lee's but I'm glad it wasn't. I liked the flashbacks and was surprised by how many of the actors/actresses they managed to get back. The only person I thought would make a cameo is Tim and even that was more in hope, than expectation. I vastly prefer Lucy to Kate but it would have been nice for NGO geeks to see the former make an appearance. I think it would have been mutually beneficial for Miranda to appear too, considering she has her own finale/s this Christmas.
I hope we have to wait until at least 2016 for a special or new series. This series as a whole hasn't been great, nor was last year's. Now that the series has been given an acceptable conclusion to most fans, Lee Mack and co could and should take their time before penning any further episodes. If further episodes do materialise, I want to see Lee and Lucy together. If that set-up sucks, then people can just pretend it never happened and continue to refer to this Christmas' episode as the end.
Sally Bretton is actually a poor actress in my opinion but she gets by on her looks and the fact she is carried by Lee Mack.
The Christmas episode did seem to effectively wrap things up and its been suggested by Mack that this would be the final series, in a show named Not Going Out it would seem pretty apt that the long will they or wont they saga between Lee and Lucy concluded with them finally getting together and getting hitched. The Xmas episode wasn't the best I've seen by a long way but it was handled well with the flashbacks and the cameo of Tim Vine, would have been nice to see further cameos from Kate and Miranda Hart if only as guests at the wedding, was also a bit strange and disappointing that Hugh Dennis' character and his missus were absent from the episode.
I've enjoyed this show a lot and while the magic has faded since the early series' its managed to keep me interested and always raise a good few laughs, its definitely run its course though so if they want to keep going I would hope they just run Christmas specials featuring Lee and Lucy as a couple and maybe do the rumoured live show tour. Considering the show was originally axed after season 3 but then re-commissioned due to protests from viewers and high dvd sales its done very well to last through seven seasons.
It wasn't an out of the blue moment for me.
Series link picked it up fine, one of the advantages of not watching live.