Over in the UK, Alan Partridge is a bit of a comedy legend. He’s been on TV (off and on) for about 20 years, and has provided some of the best TV comedy moments of all time. He’s just had his first movie come out, and the early reviews are pretty strong, but I’ve not seen any mention of it on American websites.
Steve Coogan, who plays Partridge, has been in a handful of Hollywood movies and the creator/writer Armando Iannucci seems to be having a bit of success with Veep at the mo, but it seems that Partridge has never made it across the atlantic.
Has anyone ever seen it, or is it too colloquial for export?
I’m American. I’ve seen a few of his shows. Nobody I know would recognize the name. Personally, I thought his stuff falls into the “mildly amusing” category. I’m not a huge fan.
Yeah, he’s not really known in the States, but I’m familiar with his work and I find it amusing enough that if I trip across a show of his (pretty much exclusively online), I’ll watch it.
Its weird, you’d think seeing as characters like Basil Fawlty and David Brent did so well in the states, someone would have tried to bring Alan over, even in bad remake form.
For my money, the conclusion to this episode (the Dante Fires presentation) is one of the funniest things ever on British tv…
I know who Steve Coogan is (I think Tropic Thunder would be his most prominent US role) and have heard of the character, but don’t know anything about it.
I don’t know if the lack of export suggests that he’s not related to, but as I understand it is several years old, and less likely to get Downton-level support on PBS/BBC America, etc. I do see a film is coming, though.
I think BBC America broadcast some of his show at one point, because I know I’ve seen some episodes. (Or perhaps I was seeing it via Netflix DVDs.) And in addition to Tropic Thunder, he was also in Hamlet 2.
I’m an American, and I’ve seen Steve Coogan in several movies and I like his work. I’m also a big fan of several British TV comedies (Spaced, Black Books, Peep Show, IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh, Green Wing).
A few years ago I got a few DVDs of one of the Alan Partridge shows from Netflix. I watched a few of the episodes, but it didn’t grab me. This was a few years ago, so I don’t remember in detail, but I remember laughing some, but it didn’t grab me and make me want to watch more like other shows have. Maybe if I had kept watching it would grow on me, but there was enough other stuff I wanted to watch that I didn’t keep with it. I do remember thinking that it wasn’t bad, just it wasn’t for me. I do think I remember a few references that I didn’t get that maybe the average British person would and that would also make a difference. I know a lot about British pop culture, but any references to any radio stuff pretty much goes right past me.
Partridge works best if you’ve seen his career from the early days, from sports reporter, to prime-time chat show host (where he accidentally killed a guest live on air), to Radio Norfolk’s prestigious pre-dawn show, to his current berth at North Norfolk Digital.
Just reading a vanity fair article on the subject, which claims he gets most of his roles in Hollywood because most US comics are massive fans and desperate to work with him…
It’s similar in Australia; I’d guess he’s virtually unknown here. As far as I know, his shows just aren’t shown which is odd since we get plenty of other British shows (although I’m still waiting patiently for the second series of Psychoville).
I’ve only seen him in Mid Morning Matters and it was amusing but this is the feeling I had - that I was missing too much of the backstory.
I saw 24 Hour Party People and recognize the face vaguely from other stuff, but I don’t know this guy otherwise. I’m a bit of an Anglophile, but if it’s not on Netflix or BBC America, I haven’t been exposed to it.
I love Partridge. I am a Steve Coogan fan, I even have his standup with Paul Calf and the other characters. I loved Saxondale, and I have the AP series on DVD.
Favorite AP segment: the Gary Numan bass solo right before the Inland Revenue visits.
I caught The Places of My Life and Open Books - I hadn’t seen Robert Popper since Look About You, so that was nice to see him - brilliant. I don’t see AP as something that Americans would be in to, as it’s not really been on American TV. You’d have to know about AP to find him. Coogan has a lot of minor comic relief roles in American films, but I think most Americans know him from those small roles.
In fairness, I lived in England as a kid and teenager, so I’m pretty attentive to British comedy. Plus I spent some of my youth in Suffolk, so I appreciated seeing AP in Thetford Forest.
I think Coogan is funny but I haven’t watched the Alan Partridge stuff. I think I’ve seen some short clips on YouTube. I thought The Trip was really funny.
