posted
Here's something for all 80s-loving Rewinders out there that I know you probably haven't heard about, but, trust me on this, after you see it, you will rave about it too.
From wikipedia:
"Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a British comedy show made for Channel 4 by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. Following on from Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, which won the 2001 Perrier Awards, the show revolves around fictional horror author Garth Marenghi (played by Holness) and his publisher Dean Learner (played by Ayoade).
Darkplace is presented as a lost classic: a television series produced in the 1980s, though never broadcast at the time. The presentation features commentary from many of the 'original' cast, where characters such as 'Marenghi' and 'Learner' reflect on making the show. Darkplace parodies numerous aspects of '80s low-budget television, including fashion, special effects and music, as well as the widespread practice of including commentary tracks on DVD releases of old films and television shows.
Darkplace was broadcast in a late-night timeslot, with very little advertising, and met with poor viewing figures. The show nonetheless built up a significant internet following, leading Channel 4 to swiftly repeat the series and produce a DVD release. It was also reported that Channel 4's Film Four had asked Holness and Ayoade to write a script for a movie version of their programme.
The show was later broadcast in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel and Adult Swim."
It's on DVD--but not in the U.S. You can find episodes on YouTube. Don't wait. Go right now and watch. I can't even really spoil it for you because you have to see it to believe it. It is one of the funniest things you will ever see. I've seen each of the six--only six, sigh--episodes several times, and I laugh every time. And it is so much sport to try to find the deliberate mistakes inserted to make it look like bad 80's television, for example, post-looped dialogue, continunity errors, clocks that move backward in time, revolvers that fire seven times, etc. Holness and Ayoade are geniuses. (You really need to witness the zenith of this "bad 80's TV" concept: Ayoade's bad acting playing a producer-turned-actor playing a hosptial administrator. This guy literally cannot do two things at once. It's an amazingly inventive performance.)
Enjoy, and remember who told you about this show.
[ 27. January 2011, 14:40: Message edited by: Crash ]
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
my husband introduced me to the show....he mentioned it being on adult swim but he had the episodes on a jump drive, a few years back. i only saw a couple of them, and barely remember it, but i remember that it was funny.
Posts: 4807 | Registered: Oct 2002 | Site Updates: 39
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posted
Nobody watched this when it aired. I remember talking to people about it and they were clueless. 'Netherhead' was a great and really memorable stand up routine, so I was excited when they made the show. A little birdie once told me it cost £2.4 million to make.
My favourite is 'Scotch Mist'.
Posts: 3383 | From: England | Registered: May 2003 | Site Updates: 21
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posted
Scoth Mist is a very, very funny, episode, Logan 5. I tell people about this show now and direct them to where they can see it on line, and they just look at me like I'm crazy. Try as I might, I can't convert anyone to this insanity. Have you seen "Man to Man with Dean Learner"? Holness and Ayoade are seriously deranged, perhaps the funniest guys alive, along with Matt Berry. (His "Snuff Box" is nuts too. I love it.) I don't think I've ever laughed so hard as when Ayoade interviewed Holness playing the Formula One driver with the unfortunate last name. Or Holness as the recently deceased star of the brilliant take off of what is clearly a Peter Walker Soho slasher film... :-)
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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