Derry Girls (Channel 4)

redbuck

Another good episode, they even toned down Claire

jooksavage

My wife loves this show and I've watched most of the episodes with her. I get the nostalgia thing, that's fine, but overall, the show is total mess. It feels cheaply made and dashed off. Most of the episodes take too long setting up the premise and then rush towards a mushy, sentimental and always predictable ending. The characters are mostly one-dimensional ciphers: angry grandad, slutty friend, thick cousin, shrill nerd etc. The obnoxious nun character is just terrible. They should have been able to spin comedy gold with her but the writers decided they needed another snarky cynic in a cast full of snarky cynics. Such a waste.

The recycling of jokes from other shows is fairly shameless. Although I know it's kind of his thing, Kevin McAleer's character is a bit too close for comfort to Fr. Ted's Father Purcell character. There's a bit in the "wake" episode where they actually rip off another Ted joke ("I'll have to stop you there...") with Ardal O'Hanlon standing only feet away.

Overall though, the biggest problem with it is that it's sentimental muck passing itself off as something edgy because of all of the effin' and blinding.

All that said, it makes a lot of people happy and, for my wife' sake, I'm glad it's getting another series.

Sleepy

Thought that was the weakest episode of the series tbh though it did give Tommy Tiernan a bit more time to shine than usual.

I'm gonna say it. Most of the songs in Derry Girls don't fit. They are played for the sake of it and its jarring.

weemcd

weemcd wrote: »

One of, if not the worst shows on television.

Every scene over acted, every word over emphasised, it's shockingly poor. Especially some of the more seasoned actors.

Always go for the low hanging fruit, the lowest common denominator, ie. the most glaringly obvious joke available.

This could of had potential.

I agree. The writing is childish, mawkish, unfunny, which is a pity as the premise is really good. Also, the actors look about 10 years older than the characters should be.

alchemist33

redbuck wrote: »

Another good episode, they even toned down Claire

This was critical for me this week and it really worked

SoundsRight

Pretty sure they played 'Lfe is a Rollercoaster', which was released in 2000. The Clinton visit was '95.

And the flag joke, with the missing stars....weak.

lbc2019

jooksavage wrote: »

My wife loves this show and I've watched most of the episodes with her. I get the nostalgia thing, that's fine, but overall, the show is total mess. It feels cheaply made and dashed off. Most of the episodes take too long setting up the premise and then rush towards a mushy, sentimental and always predictable ending. The characters are mostly one-dimensional ciphers: angry grandad, slutty friend, thick cousin, shrill nerd etc. The obnoxious nun character is just terrible. They should have been able to spin comedy gold with her but the writers decided they needed another snarky cynic in a cast full of snarky cynics. Such a waste.

The recycling of jokes from other shows is fairly shameless. Although I know it's kind of his thing, Kevin McAleer's character is a bit too close for comfort to Fr. Ted's Father Purcell character. There's a bit in the "wake" episode where they actually rip off another Ted joke ("I'll have to stop you there...") with Ardal O'Hanlon standing only feet away.

Overall though, the biggest problem with it is that it's sentimental muck passing itself off as something edgy because of all of the effin' and blinding.

All that said, it makes a lot of people happy and, for my wife' sake, I'm glad it's getting another series.

How selfless of you!

IamtheWalrus

SoundsRight wrote: »

Pretty sure they played 'Lfe is a Rollercoaster', which was released in 2000. The Clinton visit was '95.

And the flag joke, with the missing stars....weak.

I think the wee shop owner is like Comic Book Guy.

scargill

wrong thread

Anteayer

They can't exactly go much beyond this season though as they'll have left secondary school.

Unless the all head off to QUB and we get to relive the last days of the 90s and early 00s in Belfast?

patmahe

I find it a good laugh, will lines from it end up being used in daily life like Fr Ted? Unlikely but who cares.

I think people are over-analysing, if it makes you laugh, great, if not pick up the remote and change the channel.

gmisk

Anteayer wrote: »

They can't exactly go much beyond this season though as they'll have left secondary school.

Unless the all head off to QUB and we get to relive the last days of the 90s and early 00s in Belfast?

Er I would totally watch that!
That was round about when I was at college in Belfast, I could imagine them all in a kip of a house in the holy lands, falling out of the Bot!


Only issue how would they crow bar the family into the show?

Tikki Wang Wang

patmahe wrote: »

I find it a good laugh, will lines from it end up being used in daily life like Fr Ted? Unlikely but who cares.

I think people are over-analysing, if it makes you laugh, great, if not pick up the remote and change the channel.

Fcuk-a-doodle-doo

castletownman

I thought it was poor ending, didn't even find it emotionally sentimental compared to last season's finale or the cease-fire last weekend (I genuinely got misty-eyed for both).

James' return was telegraphed a mile off, and why would they leave a pristine location in the crowd anyway?

I agree with an earlier post that the flag joke was weak enough too.

My favourite line of the episode and perhaps of the whole season was Tommy Tiernan's reaction to hearing uncle Colm had met JFK:

"He met Colm? Christ he really didn't have much luck in life".

The music is good, but I honestly feel so many critics etc make such references to it to mask the lack of quality of the jokes overall. And as another poster said, they don't exactly fit well. The only times the songs were evocative of the atmosphere on screen was when Cranberries "All my Life" played out the end of season 1, and "Zombie" played out the end of the ceasefire scene.

How many people can honestly remember the soundtracks to any contemporary comedy shows?

Anteayer

To be fair, it's a good comedy show. It's innovative and it shows off a side of Northern Ireland in that era that's more than the grim news footage of the end of the Troubles or the painfully complicated negotiations that bought that peace process together.

I don't think the intention was to develop the characters into something deeper than they are. They're teenagers and pretty superficial ones at that. That's kind of the point, at last I'd have thought anyway.

Most of the characters are strong, very memorable and well acted and it's genuinely very watchable.

JP Liz V1

I want the dvd boxsets and soundtrack

lbc2019

SoundsRight wrote: »

Pretty sure they played 'Lfe is a Rollercoaster', which was released in 2000. The Clinton visit was '95.

And the flag joke, with the missing stars....weak.

It was Picture of You- Rollercoaster was not played

lbc2019

https://open.spotify.com/user/1181646670/playlist/6xPhOPIiMX5BP6GggzFpna?si=vMIH-vi-SMKg32Y4zIdOeQ

All the songs on one playlist

JP Liz V1

SoundsRight wrote: »

Pretty sure they played 'Lfe is a Rollercoaster', which was released in 2000. The Clinton visit was '95.

And the flag joke, with the missing stars....weak.

I thought it was a Boyzone song played not Ronan Keating (solo)

Welsh Megaman

It was ‘Picture Of You’, which wasn’t released until July 1997.

This has completely ruined my ‘Derry Girls’ viewing experience.




Except for Kevin McAleer

Cartel Mike

I think its around about now that Ch4 are realising that is ain't and is never gonna be the inbetweeners. This is the 2nd episiode i've seen in this series ... I found the nun funny , i see kevin macateer is in it now and he will always have his moments but overall it just isn't funny ..sorry.
I think the rason the nun and kevin can get a few laughs is cause they're not been asked to ham it up to the roof like everyone else is...they be way too much ham here!

JohnFalstaff

Cartel Mike wrote: »

I think its around about now that Ch4 are realising that is ain't and is never gonna be the inbetweeners. This is the 2nd episiode i've seen in this series ... I found the nun funny , i see kevin macateer is in it now and he will always have his moments but overall it just isn't funny ..sorry.
I think the rason the nun and kevin can get a few laughs is cause they're not been asked to ham it up to the roof like everyone else is...they be way too much ham here!

Viewing figures for Derry Girls S1 & S2 are ahead of the numbers The Inbetweeners achieved for their respective first two seasons. Considering how fragmented TV audiences have become since The Inbetweeners debuted, I'd say C4 are delighted. A third season of Derry Girls has already been greenlit.

Cherry Blossom

Anteayer wrote: »

They can't exactly go much beyond this season though as they'll have left secondary school.

Unless the all head off to QUB and we get to relive the last days of the 90s and early 00s in Belfast?

There's both a third level technical college and a University in Derry, I went to both.

Avatar MIA

Cherry Blossom wrote: »

There's both a third level technical college and a University in Derry, I went to both.

Doesn't need to be set in an educational environment. Could be set in Fruit of the Loom factory for example. Sr Michael could suffer a lapse of faith and jump ship to be a shift supervisor.

miamee

I really enjoyed the first half of the last episode, I got a few laughs out of the lads in the car driving round Burt but the second half seemed to fly by. I got a bit teary eyed at the end but we'll put that down to hormones

Cosmo Kramer

Anteayer wrote: »

They can't exactly go much beyond this season though as they'll have left secondary school.

Unless the all head off to QUB and we get to relive the last days of the 90s and early 00s in Belfast?

During the wedding episode they were described by the mother as 16 year old girls so there's no reason why they would have to have left school for season three.

JP Liz V1

Cartel Mike wrote: »

I think its around about now that Ch4 are realising that is ain't and is never gonna be the inbetweeners. This is the 2nd episiode i've seen in this series ... I found the nun funny , i see kevin macateer is in it now and he will always have his moments but overall it just isn't funny ..sorry.
I think the rason the nun and kevin can get a few laughs is cause they're not been asked to ham it up to the roof like everyone else is...they be way too much ham here!

I think it is a wee bit better than that

yerwanthere123

weemcd wrote: »

One of, if not the worst shows on television.

Every scene over acted, every word over emphasised, it's shockingly poor. Especially some of the more seasoned actors.

Always go for the low hanging fruit, the lowest common denominator, ie. the most glaringly obvious joke available.

This could of had potential.

Dank Janniels

Could of had.

Sweet and gentle jesus!!