Amy Huberman. Finding Joy.

bobbyss

Cakes and Ale wrote:

Lasted maybe less than 5 minutes. About the same level of humour you'd get in a senior Scór Novelty Act from the 1980s. And the acting was at about the level of a junior Scór Novelty Act.

Well done. I lasted about 8 seconds. She was speaking like a 13 year old American.

Cakes and Ale

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Again, so what?
That isn't the criteria for something like this. The level of humour in Mrs Brown is awful, the level of acting in it makes this look like something from the RSC, yet it is a worldwide massive success.

It's flimsy sitcom comedy, try judging it on those terms and it was okay. Nothing exceptional, but a decent effort.

Ah I forgot about judging it on its own terms.

Comparing it then to the corpus of flimsy sitcom comedy, it succeeded in achieving the same lack of humour typical of such shows. However where it excelled was the lameness and cringe factor of trying to substitute OTT swearing and dog crap for jokes. It was also evident that Huberman was totally unsuited to this role - she doesn't seem to be able to create a character past herself. (I say this as someone who thought the courtroom/lawyer drama not too bad at all - because in this context she is believable).

FrancieBrady

Cakes and Ale wrote: »

Ah I forgot about judging it on its own terms.

Comparing it then to the corpus of flimsy sitcom comedy, it succeeded in achieving the same lack of humour typical of such shows. However where it excelled was the lameness and cringe factor of trying to substitute OTT swearing and dog crap for jokes. It was also evident that Huberman was totally unsuited to this role - she doesn't seem to be able to create a character past herself. (I say this as someone who thought the courtroom/lawyer drama not too bad at all - because in this context she is believable).

We are one episode in. Considering what a sitcom has to achieve in the first episode it didn't do to badly.
She has established a character that is nothing like any of the others I have seen her playing.
No idea where you are getting the idea that she is 'unable' to do it after one episode. Seems a tad curmudgeonly to me.

loyatemu

Did Aisling Bea co-write this? She is genuinely funny (which is presumably why she's making her living in the UK rather than on RTE).

Twenty Grand

loyatemu wrote: »

Did Aisling Bea co-write this? She is genuinely funny (which is presumably why she's making her living in the UK rather than on RTE).

Just like every other half successful Irish media personality (except Tommy Tiernan )

Duck Soup

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

This could have been the greatest comedy ever and the response here would be the same.

I think it’s ok so far and I just stumbled on it.

Are you sure you'e not watching the microwave?

FrancieBrady

Twenty Grand wrote: »

Just like every other half successful Irish media personality (except Tommy Tiernan )

Do you have any idea how many Irish people, who have had and are having good and productive careers in all aspects of television in Ireland and the UK and further afield?

What a wankish, begrudging based comment that is.

Twenty Grand

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Do you have any idea how many Irish people, who have had and are having good and productive careers in all aspects of television in Ireland and the UK and further afield?

What a wankish, begrudging based comment that is.

I'm sure many are. And many had to move to the UK.
Dara o Briain, Dylan Moran and Ed Byrne to name a few.

FrancieBrady

Twenty Grand wrote: »

I'm sure many are. And many had to move to the UK.
Dara o Briain, Dylan Moran and Ed Byrne to name a few.

So did many construction, IT and etc etc etc others. Plenty of talent among them.

But originally all you could begrudgingly think of was one comedian. I pity that level of self hate tbh

Twenty Grand

FrancieBrady wrote: »

So did many construction, IT and etc etc etc others. Plenty of talent among them.

But originally all you could begrudgingly think of was one comedian. I pity that level of self hate tbh

I can think of plenty of comedians, Jason byrne, Pj Gallagher and Andrew Maxwell, but none of the calibre of those mentioned above and none with an international appeal outside the Irish diaspora.

The Crowman

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Soupy Norman was excellent. Have the scriptwriters etc done anything since ?

Wasn't that the Apre Match team, or at least some of them?

greasy underpanse

George White wrote: »

Soupy Norman.
Though to be fair, they only did the dubbing.

Soupy Norman was the best thing they ever did and was 100 times funnier that finding joy

greasy underpanse

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Soupy Norman was excellent. Have the scriptwriters etc done anything since ?

Garlic Mushroom Walter but it never took off

brian_t

Steve F wrote: »

The show had a total reach of 604,000 people over the course of the episode, which takes into account viewers who watched at least a minute of the programme.

LOL

That is an Industry standard. Nothing to do with RTE, it's the same in the UK.

ligerdub

greasy underpanse wrote:

Soupy Norman was the best thing they ever did and was 100 times funnier that finding joy

"Finding Joy" doesn't have to be funny, even if they bill it as such. That's the beauty of the comedy department in RTE. It'll quickly be re-branded as a "drama comedy" if the laughs fail to hit their mark, despite the obvious slapstick and caricature nature of some of the characters. It's exactly what they did with Can't Cope, Won't Cope.

FrancieBrady

Twenty Grand wrote: »

I can think of plenty of comedians, Jason byrne, Pj Gallagher and Andrew Maxwell, but none of the calibre of those mentioned above and none with an international appeal outside the Irish diaspora.

Why do you think you have to have 'international appeal' to have a good and worthwhile career?

I'm sure Gallagher and Byrne etc are self aware enough to know that their acts will have limited appeal outside of a given audience.

ted1

Twenty Grand wrote: »

I can think of plenty of comedians, Jason byrne, Pj Gallagher and Andrew Maxwell, but none of the calibre of those mentioned above and none with an international appeal outside the Irish diaspora.

Graham Norton ?

Gonad

People who give hate after one episode would do well then remember Victor Lewis-Smith‘s review of The Office when it first aired

tintin67

Steve F wrote: »

The show had a total reach of 604,000 people over the course of the episode, which takes into account viewers who watched at least a minute of the programme.

LOL

If the show had an average 378,000 viewers but 604,000 watched at least one minute it would suggest an awful lot of viewers didn't like what they saw and swiftly switched over to something else. Saw the first few minutes - I think the first two words were "f**k off", which obviously a lot of viewers then did. Seems to be one of these modern RTE things full of middle class women swearing, shagging and desperately trying to be 'edgy'. I assume somebody had an orgasm at some stage.

Cork Boy 53

Gonad wrote: »

People who give hate after one episode would do well then remember Victor Lewis-Smith‘s review of The Office when it first aired

If I`m not mistaken, Fawlty Towers also received plenty of criticism after the first episode aired back in 1975, but at least that was completely un-PC by today`s standards even if genuinely very funny.

Silentcorner

tintin67 wrote: »

If the show had an average 378,000 viewers but 604,000 watched at least one minute it would suggest an awful lot of viewers didn't like what they saw and swiftly switched over to something else. Saw the first few minutes - I think the first two words were "f**k off", which obviously a lot of viewers then did. Seems to be one of these modern RTE things full of middle class women swearing, shagging and desperately trying to be 'edgy'. I assume somebody had an orgasm at some stage.

I watched all of it...with my jaw slightly open...it was car crash...it started with f##k off, then had a **** on the bed, then a fart in a lift...and an old lady with a porn addiction who has no problem sharing her addiction with a tv camera in her face....you can actually see the moronic conversations and thought process the girls were having when they were writing this rubbish...

On RTE 2 last night, the more talented Sharon Horgan's, who is definitely the most talented female comedy writer in the country, new comedy series started, it included a bunch of middle class women shagging and desperately trying to be edgy...it was the poorer cousin to her first series Pulling, which was about a bunch of middle class women shagging and trying desperately trying to be edgy which was very enjoyable...at the time...ten years ago.

Gonad

Gonad wrote: »

People who give hate after one episode would do well then remember Victor Lewis-Smith‘s review of The Office when it first aired

lol this aint the office...

thebaz

I know many talented writers , who are never given a chance , much more talented than Amy - yet she gets a free pass on the media and from RTE , no doubt on top dollar , for producing stock uncreative rubbish - glad our mandatory TV license is being put to such great use , to keep up with her lifestyle. She seams a nice person , but cause shes married to an ex rugby superstar , should she get such advantage over her other lesser known but much more talented peers ?

siblers

NIMAN wrote: »

Ray D'Arcy loved it too. He told Amy when he had her on yesterday.

Do you think they'd ever be a radio host who'd have the balls to say to someone on plugging their new show "you know I don't really like it, didn't find it funny". It would be great to see, but expecting someone on Rte to criticise some other Rte product is simply not going to happen.

Especially when Irelands Posh n Becks are involved.

To be fair, no host on any chat show would pan their guest's work.

Graham Norton has never panned the film etc that his guest is on promoting. Graham has had some awful ****e being promoted on his showand if he has seen it, he will always give it some sort of praise.

Same with Johnathon Ross, Conan etc. Someone won't go on your show if their work is going to get slated by the host

nc6000

Just watched the first episode there and thought it was OK.

JeffKenna

siblers wrote: »

Same with Johnathon Ross, Conan etc. Someone won't go on your show if their work is going to get slated by the host

Ross will always say his kids or wife loved it to get around the fact he probably hated it.

FreudianSlippers

thebaz wrote: »

I know many talented writers , who are never given a chance , much more talented than Amy - yet she gets a free pass on the media and from RTE , no doubt on top dollar ,

Aside from the merits of the show itself which, by all accounts isn't good, this is not how TV gets made - particularly in Ireland. RTÉ didn't commission this show, it was made by Treasure Entertainment; RTÉ simply purchased the broadcast rights in Ireland.

Elmo

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

Aside from the merits of the show itself which, by all accounts isn't good, this is not how TV gets made - particularly in Ireland. RTÉ didn't commission this show, it was made by Treasure Entertainment; RTÉ simply purchased the broadcast rights in Ireland.

Treasure Entertainment might be the distributor but it was commissioned by RTÉ and received funding from the Sound and Vision from the BAI.

RTÉ spend about 10million on TV Drama outside Fair City and Short and Feature Film. Other sources for production comes from Section 471 and the BAI via the Licence Fee. And many more, not sure how much RTÉ would have actually spent on the production.

CatFromHue

nc6000 wrote: »

Just watched the first episode there and thought it was OK.

The TV guy on Moncreiff spoke well of it, and they've no problems giving out about any RTE show.

Dave147

retro:electro wrote:

She’s trying too hard to be like Jane from The IT Crowd, and failing.

Do you mean Jen?

FreudianSlippers

Elmo wrote: »

Treasure Entertainment might be the distributor but it was commissioned by RTÉ and received funding from the Sound and Vision from the BAI.

They're the producer company, it even identifies them as such on the BAI awards publication.

There is zero evidence RTÉ commissioned the show.

RTÉ spend about 10million on TV Drama outside Fair City and Short and Feature Film.

Yes.

Other sources for production comes from Section 471

Section 481.

and the BAI via the Licence Fee.

Yes, but not sure how this is contrary to the point I'm making.

And many more, not sure how much RTÉ would have actually spent on the production.

Exactly my point. Probably very little when you consider all the other sources of funding it obtained.

Elmo

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

There is zero evidence RTÉ commissioned the show.

I would assume that RTÉ have to commission the show before it goes to the BAI. There are too few Irish Drama's to suggest that RTÉ aren't the main production company, unless RTÉ only spend 5million on Drama outside Fair City!

ZeroThreat

siblers wrote: »

To be fair, no host on any chat show would pan their guest's work.

Graham Norton has never panned the film etc that his guest is on promoting. Graham has had some awful ****e being promoted on his showand if he has seen it, he will always give it some sort of praise.

Same with Johnathon Ross, Conan etc. Someone won't go on your show if their work is going to get slated by the host

When you've had Tom (Thumb) Cruise on your show a number of times, you have to have an ability to praise complete hollywood 24-carat s***e that he's been churning out over the years.

FreudianSlippers

Elmo wrote: »

I would assume that RTÉ have to commission the show before it goes to the BAI. There are too few Irish Drama's to suggest that RTÉ aren't the main production company, unless RTÉ only spend 5million on Drama outside Fair City!

RTÉ are not acting as a production company here - in fact they're prohibited from doing so if you want section 481 tax credit.

BAI only require confirmation that a broadcaster in the state has purchased the licence to broadcast the programme, which is what RTÉ did in this case.

I think you're a little confused as well about the idea of "commissioning"; I don't think it means what you seem to be suggesting it does.

Mocha Joe

ZeroThreat wrote: »

When you've had Tom (Thumb) Cruise on your show a number of times, you have to have an ability to praise complete hollywood 24-carat s***e that he's been churning out over the years.

Out of A-Listers, Tom Cruise has kept his standards higher than almost anyone. Tom Hanks, De Niro, Will Smith are all regulars on the show and have made rubbish for years.

Finding Joy is astonishingly unfunny. Poorly written and poorly acted. But no worse than all other RTE comedies. Bridget and Eamon, Damo and Ivor etc

gmisk

Mocha Joe wrote: »

Out of A-Listers, Tom Cruise has kept his standards higher than almost anyone. Tom Hanks, De Niro, Will Smith are all regulars on the show and have made rubbish for years.

I honestly wouldnt put him with the other two.
He has a knack for picking good material in general (bar the dan brown rubbish), a lot of them maybe solid rather than spectacular but still.
In recent years Bridge of spies, Saving mr banks, Sully and the post were all decent at least.

ZeroThreat

Mocha Joe wrote: »

Out of A-Listers, Tom Cruise has kept his standards higher than almost anyone. Tom Hanks, De Niro, Will Smith are all regulars on the show and have made rubbish for years.

Finding Joy is astonishingly unfunny. Poorly written and poorly acted. But no worse than all other RTE comedies. Bridget and Eamon, Damo and Ivor etc

Amy Huberman in acting terms is like the Irish female version of what Hugh Grant was throughout the 90s - ie. only capable of playing more or less the same character no matter what it was they were starring in.

Btw.. Is BOD going to get a cameo at some point?

Cork Boy 53

ZeroThreat wrote: »

Amy Huberman in acting terms is like the Irish female version of what Hugh Grant was throughout the 90s - ie. only capable of playing more or less the same character no matter what it was they were starring in.

Btw.. Is BOD going to get a cameo at some point?

Apparently he already did in the first episode but blink and you would have missed it.

Del.Monte

I've just watched the first episode and nearly switched it off at once but gave it a chance and stayed to the end. Curate's egg stuff but I'll probably give it another try. I still like Amy and fail to understand why she seems to arouse such dislike on various thread on Boards.

siblers

Del.Monte wrote: »

I've just watched the first episode and nearly switched it off at once but gave it a chance and stayed to the end. Curate's egg stuff but I'll probably give it another try. I still like Amy and fail to understand why she seems to arouse such dislike on various thread on Boards.

She's a likeable person but the shows she does are pretty awful, she keeps getting opportunity after opportunity despite not producing anything of any quality, the media never seem to criticise her work, she seems to have been given a free ride by both RTE and the Irish media

FreudianSlippers

I'm not defending the show, I think it's pretty poor - but I'd rather have RTÉ airing this than reruns of Friends, British soaps or (my personal gripe) US shows a year after they have aired and particularly ones that have already been cancelled.

The more we support the indigenous television industry, the better the quality will eventually become.

ligerdub

FreudianSlippers wrote:

The more we support the indigenous television industry, the better the quality will eventually become.

Where is the evidence of that?

There is no incentive for anyone to create anything of quality when the same people are pretty much guaranteed special status by the powers that be. If anything there's a disincentive for anyone outside of the RTE luvvies to even try as their chances are slim.

Elmo

ligerdub wrote: »

Where is the evidence of that?

There is no incentive for anyone to create anything of quality when the same people are pretty much guaranteed special status by the powers that be. If anything there's a disincentive for anyone outside of the RTE luvvies to even try as their chances are slim.

Failure of outgoing head of drama, and the resturcture of drama isn't going to help. There are two things happening 1. Luvvies getting jobs 2. Making sure you can sell the "product" abroad.

It's unlikely that many of the Drama/Comedies of the early to mid 2000s would get past an RTÉ commissioning editor now.

walshb

Ep 2...................still sh1t

Gwynplaine

2 reasons why I'm watching it.
First, there's nothing else on til presidential debate.
Second, I want to see how bad it can get.

How does a blogger, or whatever she is live in a house like that? Plus Brady angry ham.

Muscles Schultz

Huberman seems to have very small baps

Silentcorner

Comedy TV is dead...it's been killed off...by Amy Humourman...and we didn't even see it coming!

Hannibal_Smith

I like it

appledrop

I love Amy but this programme is a heap of s##t. Couldn't even finish first episode. Sharon Hogans programme on rte2 is much better.

AndrewJRenko

I saw most of it tonight. I didn't laugh or smile once, though I guess I'm not in their target gender or target age demographic.