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Gavin and Stacey - With Hindsight.


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Old 04-12-2016, 13:02
Dr Z
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Forgive me for starting a thread on such an old series, but I wondered if I am alone in my thoughts on this?
I only ever caught the odd episode of Gavin and Stacey in its day, and I recall finding it quite enjoyable but never watched it properly, So when I noticed it on Gold currently I decided to give it a watch.

To say that I am not a Corden fan is an understatement, but hey, he was just starting out and probably hadn't learned to be so far up his own backside at that point? I was sure I could handle it - Boy was I wrong

Now I don't know if its the knowledge what Corden is going to grow into, but I am finding the whole thing to be a self indulgent vehicle for his ego - Forget the whole "whacky loveable best mate" thing, Smithy is the main character, no other characters can so much as have a poo without Smithy being involved at some level. With Hindsight I think James Corden just wanted a show all about himself. but knew no one would watch it, so he had to write in a couple of likeable, good looking characters to legitimise the whole thing.

Am I right, or is my hatred of Corden blurring my vision?

.
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Old 04-12-2016, 13:11
Ollie_h19
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Smithy and Nessa are really the main characters, Gavin and Stacey were a little dull as people. The "straight men" if you will.

Don't forget Ruth Jones co-wrote it too, possibly reigning Corden in a bit along the way.
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Old 04-12-2016, 13:38
JVS
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I only watched G&S for the first time about 6 months ago and I thought all 3 series were great, although I wasn't so keen on the Christmas special. I had no prejudices at the time but, since watching Larry Lamb in I'm a Celeb, I have now. He turned out to be a right tosser and will probably spoil the show if I watched it again.
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Old 04-12-2016, 13:55
Trappedin80's
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I also can't bear James Corden, but Gavin & Stacey is an excellent show, in my opinion.

And I actively avoid everything else that James Corden is in or on.
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Old 04-12-2016, 14:25
Malliday
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Unquestionably one of the worst comedies to have ever been created.

How it was so successful is simply baffling.

As you say, Corden's self-indulgent grandstanding is grating.

Ruth Jones' character is just annoying, especially with that stupid manner of speaking she adopts.

Gavin and Stacey are both utterly wet, whiny and devoid of all humour.

Alison Steadman overacts. Larry Lamb just goes through the motions.

And Rob Brydon's "whacky" Uncle Bryn character soon becomes incredibly tedious. He's Welsh. We get it.

Name me a bunch of popular comedies and I'll tell you that I find 9 out of 10 of them funny in some fashion.

But this show? Its popularity is simply mind-boggling, because I find the humour to be practically non-existent.
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Old 04-12-2016, 14:49
Lyricalis
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Forgive me for starting a thread on such an old series, but I wondered if I am alone in my thoughts on this?
I only ever caught the odd episode of Gavin and Stacey in its day, and I recall finding it quite enjoyable but never watched it properly, So when I noticed it on Gold currently I decided to give it a watch.

To say that I am not a Corden fan is an understatement, but hey, he was just starting out and probably hadn't learned to be so far up his own backside at that point? I was sure I could handle it - Boy was I wrong

Now I don't know if its the knowledge what Corden is going to grow into, but I am finding the whole thing to be a self indulgent vehicle for his ego - Forget the whole "whacky loveable best mate" thing, Smithy is the main character, no other characters can so much as have a poo without Smithy being involved at some level. With Hindsight I think James Corden just wanted a show all about himself. but knew no one would watch it, so he had to write in a couple of likeable, good looking characters to legitimise the whole thing.

Am I right, or is my hatred of Corden blurring my vision?

.
He hadn't just started out with Gavin & Stacey. He'd been acting since the 1990's.

I think the show having a number of memorable characters already places it above many shows of its type. Having said that, it's certainly not high in my list of favourite sitcoms. It's not a show I'd watch again and again, not like Father Ted or Red Dwarf.

My mum liked it though, and there's very few sitcoms we could watch together and we'd both find entertaining. Most modern stuff she doesn't find funny at all.
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Old 04-12-2016, 15:23
BellaRosa
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Forgive me for starting a thread on such an old series, but I wondered if I am alone in my thoughts on this?
I only ever caught the odd episode of Gavin and Stacey in its day, and I recall finding it quite enjoyable but never watched it properly, So when I noticed it on Gold currently I decided to give it a watch.

To say that I am not a Corden fan is an understatement, but hey, he was just starting out and probably hadn't learned to be so far up his own backside at that point? I was sure I could handle it - Boy was I wrong

Now I don't know if its the knowledge what Corden is going to grow into, but I am finding the whole thing to be a self indulgent vehicle for his ego - Forget the whole "whacky loveable best mate" thing, Smithy is the main character, no other characters can so much as have a poo without Smithy being involved at some level. With Hindsight I think James Corden just wanted a show all about himself. but knew no one would watch it, so he had to write in a couple of likeable, good looking characters to legitimise the whole thing.

Am I right, or is my hatred of Corden blurring my vision?

.

I first watched him in Fat Friends in the 80/90's and he was excellent in that and knew he would go a long way.

I don't get the hate for him as he has done so well in his life.. maybe that is why or how can a fat person do as well as he has. That's the impression I get anyway.

I admit I do not like the ad he is in only because he does not give himself enough time to stop if the light do change to red.
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:02
Miss XYZ
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I first watched him in Fat Friends in the 80/90's and he was excellent in that and knew he would go a long way.

I don't get the hate for him as he has done so well in his life.. maybe that is why or how can a fat person do as well as he has. That's the impression I get anyway.

I admit I do not like the ad he is in only because he does not give himself enough time to stop if the light do change to red.
Did you do that in a time machine - Fat Friends didn't air until late 2000!

I love Gavin & Stacey, though I've never liked Smithy, and if I watched it again now I'd probably like him even less due to my dislike of James Corden. So it's not just you, OP!
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:04
Lou Kelly
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I'm not a Corden fan by any means but Gavin & Stacey is an amazing comedy series with lots of underrated comedy moments. It will certainly be ranked high in the future when the inevitable "Best Sitcoms of the 21st Century" countdown shows start to compile their lists.
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:18
G3rol
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I'm not a Corden fan by any means but Gavin & Stacey is an amazing comedy series with lots of underrated comedy moments. It will certainly be ranked high in the future when the inevitable "Best Sitcoms of the 21st Century" countdown shows start to compile their lists.
I only watched it this year and must admit I loved it. Nessa was sheer brilliance. And naming the families West, Shipman & Sutcliffe tickled me
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:30
little-monster
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It's a great show but the main flaw is that imo, the title characters are the weakest characters and as the show developed, i couldn't care less about them. I was more interested in both of the characters friends and family. But because Corden and Jones both wrote the show and starred in it, there is a slight bit of self indulgence in their writing as they were guilty of making sure they had the best material to act from in their characters. You shouldn't always leave the best jokes for yourself, especially in a ensemble.

The character of Nessa is up there as one of my all time fav characters from a british sitcom. Where as James Corden was essentially playing himself, it was Ruth who molded a character a million miles away from herself.
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Old 04-12-2016, 19:04
FM Lover
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The very first episode of G&S that I saw was on Christmas Day way back when they showed the Bank Holiday at the beach episode which, by then was almost the end of the third series.

I then caught up with series 1&2&3 and the Christmas show and loved every one of them.

By no means am I a fan of Corden but I thought as a comedy, it's up there with some of the best.
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Old 04-12-2016, 21:18
Loz_Fraggle
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I love it, although haven't seen it for a while. I like how it's very true to life in one way, and then very out there in another sense. Like Nessa having so many famous friends and connections, there's people out there who aren't famous, but the have a friend who is famous, like a childhood friend who's made it big, yet in Gavin and Stacey, it's extending it to Nessa having many famous friends.

I love the in-jokes, like about Gavin's group of friends, and their nicknames, Stacey being engaged five times (You couldn't find a nicer bloke than Achmed). Also how Bryn is just accepted by everyone and his peculiarity isn't questioned, and how Smithy was almost adopted (not in any formal sense) by the Shipmans and just slots into the family.
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Old 04-12-2016, 21:25
Lou Kelly
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"You're eating ham, Pam....."

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Old 04-12-2016, 21:29
iaindb
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Forgive me for starting a thread on such an old series, but I wondered if I am alone in my thoughts on this?
I only ever caught the odd episode of Gavin and Stacey in its day, and I recall finding it quite enjoyable but never watched it properly, So when I noticed it on Gold currently I decided to give it a watch.

To say that I am not a Corden fan is an understatement, but hey, he was just starting out and probably hadn't learned to be so far up his own backside at that point? I was sure I could handle it - Boy was I wrong

Now I don't know if its the knowledge what Corden is going to grow into, but I am finding the whole thing to be a self indulgent vehicle for his ego - Forget the whole "whacky loveable best mate" thing, Smithy is the main character, no other characters can so much as have a poo without Smithy being involved at some level. With Hindsight I think James Corden just wanted a show all about himself. but knew no one would watch it, so he had to write in a couple of likeable, good looking characters to legitimise the whole thing.

Am I right, or is my hatred of Corden blurring my vision?

.
Your hatred of Corden is blurring your vision.
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Old 04-12-2016, 21:32
iaindb
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Unquestionably one of the worst comedies to have ever been created.

How it was so successful is simply baffling.

As you say, Corden's self-indulgent grandstanding is grating.

Ruth Jones' character is just annoying, especially with that stupid manner of speaking she adopts.

Gavin and Stacey are both utterly wet, whiny and devoid of all humour.

Alison Steadman overacts. Larry Lamb just goes through the motions.

And Rob Brydon's "whacky" Uncle Bryn character soon becomes incredibly tedious. He's Welsh. We get it.

Name me a bunch of popular comedies and I'll tell you that I find 9 out of 10 of them funny in some fashion.

But this show? Its popularity is simply mind-boggling, because I find the humour to be practically non-existent.
BIB - I'm finding that very hard to believe.

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Old 04-12-2016, 21:38
harrypalmer
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Watched the the first series and a few odd episodes, but what became annoying was the concept of it being a 'nation's favourite' and the endless bloody hyping of it. It wasn't as great as all that.

I don't mind Corden. His two series of The Wrong Mans was great.
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Old 04-12-2016, 21:46
hr100
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I love it. All my family love it.

I still quote or refer to parts of it most weeks, such as the takeaway scene.
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Old 04-12-2016, 21:54
Loz_Fraggle
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I love it. All my family love it.

I still quote or refer to parts of it most weeks, such as the takeaway scene.
The takeaway scene is one of my favourites, also the bit where Mick finds a body, and it's so hyped by everyone, only find his appearance is cut down to a few minutes. It always reminds me of when my dad was on TV, everyone was looking forward to it, and in the end, they cut his bit down to some background shots.
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Old 04-12-2016, 23:28
Groundhogal
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Watched the the first series and a few odd episodes, but what became annoying was the concept of it being a 'nation's favourite' and the endless bloody hyping of it. It wasn't as great as all that.

I don't mind Corden. His two series of The Wrong Mans was great.
That killed it for me. It came on BBC3 around the same time as the brilliant Pulling but one got overhyped to death while the other got ignored.
Looking back, although I enjoyed it sometimes, there wasn't one single character, that at I didn't find annoying at one time or another. Nessa could occasionally be hilarious but most of the time, she was pretty horrific. I'm sure if someone else had been writing it, more of them would've told her to STFU.
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Old 04-12-2016, 23:33
Blondie X
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I discovered it by accident as James and Matt were on Soccer AM talking about the show starting on BBC3 the following night.
The clips looked decent but what swung it is that one of my mates lives in billericay and I know the area well.
I preferred it when it was a low key show onBBC3 as I think the hype was a bit OTT but it was s very good show.
I loved the wedding episode as ive been to ones exactly like that
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Old 04-12-2016, 23:47
JVS
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I don't know why James Corden is disliked so much, he seems pretty talented to me. Carpool Karaoke has broken YouTube records (obviously Adele is the best) and who can forget Smiffy at The Sports Personality of the Year;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvKUtHlDK8&t=627s from 6,30.
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Old 05-12-2016, 09:23
yosebite
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I don't know why James Corden is disliked so much, he seems pretty talented to me. Carpool Karaoke has broken YouTube records (obviously Adele is the best) and who can forget Smiffy at The Sports Personality of the Year;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvKUtHlDK8&t=627s from 6,30.
Yes, Frank Bruno's mental health issues must have been vastly improved by being mocked as nothing more than a catchphrase. Strangely, he seemed to be squirming in his seat, as did Amir Khan.

As you say, I don't know why Corden is so disliked or why anyone should not find fat ranting Essex boy characters hilarious
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Old 05-12-2016, 16:38
Baz_James
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I don't know why James Corden is disliked so much, he seems pretty talented to me. Carpool Karaoke has broken YouTube records (obviously Adele is the best) and who can forget Smiffy at The Sports Personality of the Year;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvKUtHlDK8&t=627s from 6,30.
All part of the pathetic need to drag people down which the UK so suffers from. The man has an OBE and a Best Actor Tony but there are still idiots saying he's talentless over here.
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Old 05-12-2016, 16:43
Twin_Two
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Unquestionably one of the worst comedies to have ever been created.

How it was so successful is simply baffling.

As you say, Corden's self-indulgent grandstanding is grating.

Ruth Jones' character is just annoying, especially with that stupid manner of speaking she adopts.

Gavin and Stacey are both utterly wet, whiny and devoid of all humour.

Alison Steadman overacts. Larry Lamb just goes through the motions.

And Rob Brydon's "whacky" Uncle Bryn character soon becomes incredibly tedious. He's Welsh. We get it.

Name me a bunch of popular comedies and I'll tell you that I find 9 out of 10 of them funny in some fashion.

But this show? Its popularity is simply mind-boggling, because I find the humour to be practically non-existent.
I agree with you 100%.

G&S is utter drivel and I have no idea how anyone would want to suffer a whole episode.

It is beyond rubbish.
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