Quote from: TheSun.co.ukFED up with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant hogging the post-Office limelight?

Then you'll be glad that Mackenzie Crook, who played gormless Gareth, is returning to the small screen too.

The lanky actor, 36, is making a Men Behaving Badly-style sitcom for the Beeb with Iain Lee, former 11 O'Clock Show star.

Iain, 34, told TV Biz: "Me and Mackenzie live together and crazy things happen, like Rod Stewart sending us an electrified box with 75 quid in it. We try to break into it but keep getting shocks."

It is written by Bob Mortimer and filming starts soon.

The Sun's shoddy journalism aside, any comments on this? From Lee's quote it sounds quite surreal, but that's Bob Mortimer for you I suppose. Could be good. I hope so anyway.

Iain Lee and Mackenzie Crook were supposed to be writing a sitcom together a few years ago called Fruits of the Forest, about two gay footballers who played for Nottingham Forest. They came up with amusing versions of the names of legendary Forest players, such as changing Ian Bowyer to Ian Bumyer (I'm not making this up, Lee said it in an interview with Hawksbee and Jacobs on Talksport).

I remember this as I'm a Forest fan, and I'm really glad nothing seems to have come of it. Not because I'm in any way homophobic, but because it's such a terrible, terrible idea which so obviously started with the title and worked backwards. I seem to remember Forest vetoed the idea anyway, which probably was for homophobic reasons (despite us having had one of the few confirmed gay footballers playing for us in Justin Fashanu), so they were changing it to being about two football fans who were in love with a Forest player. This forced rewriting of their lovingly crafted scripts was probably the death knell for the project. Which, as any Forest fan will tell you, is a blessed relief, as the last thing we need in our current plight is more embarrassment being heaped on us in the form of a God-awful sitcom.

As for the new sitcom, I'll reserve judgement until I've seen it. I just hope Bob Mortimer isn't about to further damage my affection for him in this post-Tittybangbang world.

Quote from: koeman on March 18, 2008, 09:31:11 PM
Iain Lee and Mackenzie Crook were supposed to be writing a sitcom together a few years ago called Fruits of the Forest, about two gay footballers who played for Nottingham Forest. They came up with amusing versions of the names of legendary Forest players, such as changing Ian Bowyer to Ian Bumyer (I'm not making this up, Lee said it in an interview with Hawksbee and Jacobs on Talksport).

that sounds like an irony free Lee and Herring Channel 5 Program "idea" from TMWRNJ if 'tis true.

It is true. I'll dig out the tape of the interview at some point and find out what the other players they came up with were called. Let's just say the example I gave was the most memorable one, so Christ knows what the others are like.

it just shows you what works of comedy genius can be produced while shopping for yoghurt.

why can't it be vic and bob opening an electrified box? Catterick was a lifetime ago (for a 5 y.o. child)

Anything Iain Lee is involved with always brings on in me that unpleasant feeling of embarrassment for someone making a total cock of themselves. I find him nigh on impossible to watch or listen to for that reason.

I mean, "

QuoteIan Bumyer

", and knowing he said that in an interview presumably not in a self-deprecating 'what a shit idea' way. I'm imagining the strained-smiled interviewer response, the one you used to see on RI:SE from his guests pretty much every day.

And bear in mind that the interviewer was Paul Hawksbee, a man with more wit in one finger nail than Lee has in his entire lanky body, and you should get some indication of how uncomfortable a listen it was. Especially for a Forest fan. I've got to stop posting about this, it's depressing me all over again.

I think this is going to work, it sounds utterly shit but it won't be

Trust Me

i doubt this will be anything but average to be honest.

Dontcha think that Lee might've been pissing about with the "Fruits of the Forest" idea? A possibility, no?

If you type Fruits Of The Forest and Iain Lee into google (check out my research skills.... google.co.uk is quite a good website if anyone fancies checking it out) the top two results are Iain Lee and Mackenzie Crook both stating independently in interviews that they are working on this project.
This could all be some 'hilarious' private joke.
I too am a hapless Tricky Tree supporter.

Shit - only the other day I was telling a friend that Lee would never rise above the level of talk radio host ever again.

Quote from: Uncle TechTip on March 19, 2008, 12:25:30 PM
Dontcha think that Lee might've been pissing about with the "Fruits of the Forest" idea? A possibility, no?

He definitely wasn't messing about, it had got at least to the stage where Forest had been approached about it because they definitely threw a spanner in the works. Unless approaching Forest was all part of the jape, I suppose.

jaydee81, you have my sympathy.

Other than Catterick, has Mortimer had sitcom experience re: writing?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I think Iain Lee is a genius on the radio. The new Tommy Boyd <ducks>

The 11 o'clock show was apalling, but he did that extreme Russia thing on bravo which was actually quite funny. Even if the clips were the real funny elements he didnt completely ruin it with his crap gags.

Quote from: Ignatius_S on March 19, 2008, 01:54:52 PM
Other than Catterick, has Mortimer had sitcom experience re: writing?

Was he involved with Swiss Toni? He certainly had a hand in the original sketches.

McKenzie Lee is the name of an absolutely filthy UK porn actress.

And Ian Crook played for Norwich. Coincidence?

<sub>I was previously unaware of McKenzie Lee's work. I am no longer unaware. Cheers Gulftastic!

EDIT: Hang on, she used to be a cheerleader for Leicester City. That almost makes me not want to wank over her</sub>

Quote from: Backstage With Slowdive on March 19, 2008, 04:06:26 PM
Was he involved with Swiss Toni? He certainly had a hand in the original sketches.

I had completely forgotten that he co-created that character - had a quick search and it looks like he wasn't involved in the series.

He co-wrote The Weekenders with Reeves, which I guess counts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5zOGUqe4zo

Quite a few years back, C4 did a sitcom weekend and Mortimer was involved in two standalone, extended sketches - I'm Bland, But My Friends Are Zany and My Gay Dads parodying Seinfield and My Two Dads respectively. He appeared as a Kramer-type character and I think co-wrote both - not strictly relevant but...

Did I read the other day that Mortimer was writing a sitcom for someone about Superheroes? Or maybe that was just a dream.

Apparently begun his stand-up career with Lee... didn't know that.

I thought My Gay Dads was done by Matt Lucas? Or did he just appear in it?

I thought those extended sketches spoofing US sitcoms were part of that Reeves & Mortimers night of telly hell that included Slade at Xmas, with Charlie Higson as Simon Le Bloody Bon.

Didn't it also have 'Only Jerks & Horses' in it?

Quote from: Gulftastic on March 20, 2008, 12:22:59 PM
I thought those extended sketches spoofing US sitcoms were part of that Reeves & Mortimers night of telly hell that included Slade at Xmas, with Charlie Higson as Simon Le Bloody Bon.

That's a fascinating mangled misremembering of at least three different TV evenings! There was Xmas with R&M, which did indeed have that Slade special, then there was TV Hell with Angus Deayton and Paul Merton, and then there was the Paramount Comedy thing (never seen on terrestrial TV) which featured Only Jerks & Norses and the Seinfeld pisstake and so on.

No, the sitcom spooves were aired as part of a C4 theme night in 1997, way back when. They were originally broadcast on Paramount as part of 'Mash & Peas Do The USA'.

Quote from: Godzilla Bankrolls on March 20, 2008, 12:35:33 PM
No, the sitcom spooves were aimed as part of C4's Sitcom Weekend, way back when. They were repeated by Paramount, who I assumed had a hand in producing them.

I thought it was the other way around? As an R&M obsessive at the time, I remember being really annoyed that I didn't have satellite to see their first airing. Could be a false memory I suppose.

BTW 'spooves'? Tchah.

Quote from: Backstage With Slowdive on March 20, 2008, 11:59:30 AM
I thought My Gay Dads was done by Matt Lucas? Or did he just appear in it?

Matt Lucas was one of the three gay dads – and I think he was in the Seinfield one as well. I'm pretty sure he did co-write, but it was a long time ago


Spotted at http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/features/c4/comedy4.htm - by a certain TJ Worthington

QuoteThe best of these, however, were the astutely observed parodies of American comedy produced by Matt Lucas and David Walliams for Sitcom Weekend - I'm Bland ... Yet My Friends Are Krazy!, My Gay Dads, A Puppet Lives in my House and most memorably Only Jerks and Horses, the pilot for a hideously reworked American adaptation of Only Fools and Horses featuring a hugely successful Del Boy ("good jubbly!") and a severely misplaced Rodney played by "Nicholas Lyndhurst".

Quote from: Godzilla Bankrolls on March 20, 2008, 12:35:33 PM
No, the sitcom spooves were aimed as part of C4's Sitcom Weekend, way back when. They were repeated by Paramount, who I assumed had a hand in producing them.

Thanks – didn't know about Paramount repeating them.

Um, I've revised my post due to fucking up.

Blimey! Thanks for putting me right. I was drunk a lot in the 90's.

Whereas, I just watched TV...

I know a said 'quite a few years back' but the fact it was 1997, makes me feel old... anyhoo...

Any thoughts about whether the star (and Lee) will be any good in this?

My exposure to Lee has, mercifully, been brief – but my instinct says he's not going to be good.

As for Crook, other than The Office and Pirates, the only thing I've really seen him in was that sketch show with Punt and/or Dennis and always thought he's been pretty good. There was Monkey Trousers and Popetown (Mortimer connections both) that I also experienced but I won't hold that against him. For some reason, I was chatting about him the other night and my girlfriend said she had seen him do stand-up with gym teacher stand-up and said he was scarily believable/creepily good.

Quote from: Ignatius_S on March 20, 2008, 01:43:36 PM
my girlfriend said she had seen him do stand-up with gym teacher stand-up and said he was scarily believable/creepily good.

He was on quite a roll with that character a few years back - made the cover of Time Out, there was talk of a TV pilot. What happened? Did his film career just take off and he put it on hold? Also, did anyone see the Raymond and Mr Timkins Revue? That was him, wasn't it?

I think Crook has a small amount of talent, but Iain Lee should never have been more than a regional newscaster, broadcasting no nearer than 70 miles outside Greater London. Any closer would be too good for him.