I was pretty meh about the first two. It seems pretty obvious that Karl likes things nice and slow and quiet and familiar. I was not surprised when he liked being buried alive more than anything else in Russia. Ricky and Steven being mean to him just to be mean isn’t has funny as Ricky and Steven think it is.
But then we got to Thailand and Australia and I laughed and laughed. Karl is such a pretty girl even with his facial hair. And it’s lovely to hear that he wouldn’t leave his girlfriend of 17 years if it turns out she’s a bloke. And how he didn’t want to meet one of those snarky dolphins. The ones that can cure everything.
The look on his face in certain situations is what always gets me laughing. When he’s admiring himself in drag in the mirror, you can almost hear his thought process as his mind soaks in the gender-bending.
The other look that got me was when he was all decked out in the SCUBA gear and obviously feeling quite ill. He had that look of quiet desperation where it looked like he was trying with all his might to not vomit in that full face mask, which would have had disgusting, but hilarious results.
I’m just finishing up the first season. Perhaps this had been discussed before, but why does he continue to go on these trips? 90% of the time he seems to be completely miserable. Is it for the money?
See that’s the thing. I think it would have been just as funny if he’d gone with the dolphins. There was no need to scare the crap out of him like that. Like when he went to MonkeyLand. He was so happy to be doing what he wanted-- visiting the cool monkeys-- and then they were like pigeons on steriods, wrestling the food from his hand. He was so disappointed and had that same sad sack look on his face and there was no need for Rick and Steven to torture him.
He said (during some interview I read during the first series) that he does it because he wants to do it and people who say “Aw, that poor mistreated guy” need to shut up because they’re essentially saying he’s a child unable to make his own decisions rather than an adult.
He then said that if everyone who acted all bent about it paid him more than he was getting paid by the show, he wouldn’t need to go do it
I’ve been watching now and then, and did see the most recent one with Australia/Thailand. Similarly, I was pleasantly surprised at his reactions to the “ladyboys” and his own drag makeup - though I hate to think how much shaving/coverage makeup he’d need to deal with his facial hair. (I’ve started watching RuPaul’s “Drag Race” recently where this is an important consideration.)
And yeah, I suspect that the dolphin dive would have turned out somehow not quite up to what he’d imagined… though seeing that shark was great!
The more I watch, the more I’m convinced he’s in on the whole thing, or at least puts on a dumb persona for the camera. Especially when they asked him “Which monkey is Rick?” and he replied “That one in the corner, playing with himself.”
There’s a zombie thread that’s been resurrected, and it appears that he’s not quite the dumb bloke that he pretends to be. But I don’t care, I’m suspending disbelief and taking the show at face value, and trying to avoid overthinking it.
Sometimes I think “oh, come on, he’ll never do that” . . . and then, of course, he does. Like the drag and the wrestling and being buried alive. And it’s the first time I’ve heard a Brit use the word “bollocks” literally.
We really love it - have watched all of season one and season two, so far. My SO actually thinks Karl is the smart one and he does sometimes say something brilliant but that’s really only about 5% of the time.
I am really looking forward to the Alaska one. The Australia/Thailand was hilarious as was the Transiberian trip (poor Karl- did he really think he’d get first class all the way?).
I just watched the Desert Island one on DVR last night, I’m a bit behind schedule, and it was pretty good. Some parts were a little slow, but there were definitely highlights. He was legitimately petrified when he was standing there about to bungee jump. I was a little surprised that he backed out and I half expected the guys to shove him off, but watching him try and fail to muster his courage was pretty good TV.
I was a bit surprised how skittish he was about putting on the grass skirt thing. I fully expected him to make his silly comments about it but then to eventually cave and be hilarious. He ended up totally half-assing it. I didn’t see enough of the original series to know if this is common or if Karl is wising up some (or negotiated more power to say no).
I watched the Transsiberian Railroad episode when it aired last week and found it similar. I was bummed that he bailed on the vomit comet. Seeing him in zero G getting nauseous could have been priceless, but no such luck. That said, his commentary on the train ride was often brilliant. His bit about it not being the “greatest” but instead the “longest” was comically spot on and actually had a pretty good point. The part when he ended up on a shelf in 3rd class was hilarious. I got the impression that he was totally playing up the part when he called Warwick Davis but it got to be pretty entertaining nonetheless, especially when Davis got fed up with him.
I’ve go the new one on my DVR and I’m looking forward to watching it when I get home tonight.
He pretty much admitted it in an interview. Gervais was saying something to the effect that people criticize him for being mean to Pilkington, but he noted that no one is forcing him to do it. And then he says something like, “It’s 'cause I’ve made him a million pounds.” And Karl says nothing in response, basically copping to it. Those of us who have been listening to Karl for years know he’s a bit of a miser. He likes hoarding his money and he’s loathe to spend it, especially on gifts.
I think one of his funniest lines is right at the beginning of the series. He says something like “But what if I acquire a taste for toads? There aren’t any toad shops at home!”
