Anyone seen "The Catherine Tate Show"?

[The Borgified Corpse]

Technically, I suppose this thread belongs in GTV&M but I figured I'd start it here because who else outside the UK knows about this show besides "Doctor Who" fans?

Anyway, being inspired by "The Runaway Bride" as well as the Tate/Tennant Comic Relief sketch on Youtube, I decided to buy the 1st season of "The Catherine Tate Show" on DVD. It's a bit pricey for 6 half-hour episodes with no frills. But in some ways, it feels like a lot of bang for your buck simply because Tate is such a chameleon. You get a dozen different versions of her on one show. The sketches themselves are a bit uneven. Some of the characters are just one joke repeated in different ways over and over (like Bunty the oldest baton spinner or the super-excited married couple). But there are other flashes of pure genius here. I like the Enigmatic Detective, the clueless Information Desk woman, and the woman who tearfully tells her date that she can't sleep with him because she's not drunk enough to find him attractive. While the writing is spotty, Tate's acting and ability to transform into each of these characters is incredible. It makes me really look forward to Tate's stint as a full time companion on "Doctor Who." (I haven't seen that season yet. I'm waiting for the DVDs.)

Have any of the rest of you seen this show? What have you thought?

 

[StCoop]

Ohh, this isn't going to be pretty.

 

[Starkers]

I find some of Tate's comedy quite amusing, some annoying and some downright dull. Frankly I think she's a better actress than a comedien.

I do love her redhead shelter and her 1950's version of Life on Mars though.

 

[danjamesb]

I think her show's brilliant. The Geordie Georgie sketches from Series Three are my favourites.

 

[CDP]

The Grandma on the paul O'Grady show is the funniest 'have you been in my fackin flat???'

Geordie Georgie is berilliant too.

 

[wamdue]

yes some of it is quite good, like all sketch shows, it has its hits & its misses.

 

[OmahaStar]

I made it through the first episode of the first series, and can only thank the gods I Netflixed it instead of purchasing the dvd.

It was not even remotely amusing, nor did it even try to be. After watching that garbage, I finally understood all the uproar over her guest starring in the Bride movie. Who knew she could act?

 

[captcalhoun]

i've not seen S1. i only 'discovered' her on Comic Relief when she clashed with Simon Amstell as Lauren. I then watched S2 and 3.

Aga Saga Lady, Geordie Georgie, the Shocked Couple and Lauren are my favourites.

 

[WillsBabe]

I loved her show for the first couple of seasons and then I kinda lost interest. Like a lot of comediennes, she's a great actress. I always enjoyed watching her transformations. Only a couple of times in Who did I see shades of her comedy characters, particulalry in the Agatha Christie episode (title escapes me). I thought she used her comedy to great effect there. My favourite comedy characters (don't really know their names) are Grandma, the shocked couple and the redhead detective.

 

[roguephoenix]

thanks for making me aware of this. i put it on my netflix.

 

[DWF]

I saw some of it on BBCA and I thought it was a hilarious show and I loved the Comedy Relief special with her Lauren character and David Tennant.

Lauren: I ain't even bovveréd, though! Face? Bovveréd? Face? Bovveréd? My Liege, I be not bovveréd, forsooth. Bovveréd? Face? I ain't even bovveréd. Shakespeare? Sonnets? I ain't even bovveréd. Mr Logan: Look stop right there- Lauren: "My Mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun, Coral is far more red than her lips red, If Snow be white, why then her breasts are dun, If hair be wires, black wires grow on her head, I have seen roses damask'd red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks, And in some perfume is there more delight, Than in the breath from my mistress reeks, I love to hear her speak, Yet well I know That music has a far more pleasing sound, I grant I never saw a goddess go, My mistress when she walks treads on the ground, And yet by heaven I think my love as rare, As any she belied with false compare." [slaps table.] BITE ME, ALIEN BOY! [Mr Logan whips out Sonic Screwdriver, changing Lauren into a 5 inch Rose Tyler figure.] Mr Logan: That's better. [grins.] "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Lauren: [squeaking.] I still ain't bovvered!

 

[Jim Steele]

Biting tongue. Nnngh.

 

[wamdue]

^ that is a good sketch, same for the Tony Blair one

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^ that is a good sketch, same for the Tony Blair one

When I saw that, on the one hand I thought "Yeah, it's cool that we have a leader that's willing to take the piss out of himself." on the other I thought "Holy fuck, that must have been his attitude whenever he was doing something against the wishes of the majority of the country."

 

[Jim Steele]

"Holy fuck, that must have been his attitude whenever he was doing something against the wishes of the majority of the country."

To be fair, I'd rather a leader have the courage of his/her convictions, instead of pandering to the public.

Then again, if their convictions happen to include "I want to shell the shit out of brown people", it's probably a position worth reconsidering.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

"Holy fuck, that must have been his attitude whenever he was doing something against the wishes of the majority of the country."

To be fair, I'd rather a leader have the courage of his/her convictions, instead of pandering to the public.

Then again, if their convictions happen to include "I want to shell the shit out of brown people", it's probably a position worth reconsidering.

Yeah, a leader with convictions is a good thing, but principles, and a shred of sanity to go along with them would be nice. "I did what I thought was right." is all well and good, when it doesn't end with the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, and stick the country with a huge bill for the cost of the war.
I'm not saying he wasn't sane, but following through on an unpopular war, because you "Think it's the right thing to do." and believing god gave the go ahead, isn't quite right...

 

[wamdue]

yeah as a sketch its good, but it made me think he wa s bit to good, and how often have we seen some of that acting on TV.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

I don't know, but mostly I just can't laugh about her jokes. So I wouldn't buy any dvds of her sketches, no. But she was great on Doctor Who, even though I must admit I hated the idea of having her as a companion. Turns out, she wasn't half as annoyoing as know-it-all Martha.

 

[wamdue]

there are some sketch's in that show I just didnt get.

 

[WillsBabe]

Just caught the Daniel Craig sketch again. BondBoy69.