New sitcom. From Ben Elton. Set in Elizabethan times and about Shakespeare.
Sign me up.
Honest, it’s pretty funny. Not Blackadder II funny, but I really am enjoying it. Helps that I really like David Mitchell, who is the lead.
Anyone else watching?
Looks awesome. Hope it shows up on Hulu.
I’ve found it extremely disappointing.
I didn’t find it funny at all. Very disappointing. But I did just have a dream about it, so it’s obviously stuck in my mind!
When/where is it airing?
Would like to; US viewer here so I don’t think there’s currently a way to obtain it for our viewing purposes.
It’s OK. It’s David Mitchell in the Blackadder series that wasn’t good enough to make it to air first time round. It’s really old-school, and the performances are very broad, but if you look back at Blackadder II, they were even worse. Almost like a pantomime at times. I don’t think 80’s Blackadder has aged well.
I agree with both assertions. The most jarring thing to me about Upstart Crow is the laugh track. I haven’t watched a comedy series with a laugh track for ages. It’s funny to see Yara Greyjoy as an enthusiastic serving wench – she’s got quite good comic timing.
I recently tried to rewatch some early Blackadder and got through about two episodes.
I’m a huge Blackadder and Shakespeare fan, and I liked the trailers I’ve seen for this. Mitchell’s delivery continues to amuse me just as much as anywhere else I’ve seen him. I’ll see when we might get this here.
Here I was hoping it was a spinoff from MST3K.
I asked David Mitchell if they are having another season and he responded to me personally! Second time he and I have interacted. Neat.
I liked this more than I thought I would. The writing was really funny, and I’m not even a Shakespeare wonk so I’m sure I missed stuff. I’m a big fan of Mitchell but my interest has waned some, but I still found him enjoyable.
Glad to see there will be more!
Not particularly funny Blackadder-lite, and David Mitchell’s Shakespeare isn’t strongly written or played enough to carry it.
I think it’s a little bit unfair to compare it to Blackadder but totally inevitable. I found it a bit tough to get into at first but, much like Shakespeare ironically, it really did grow on me. I love how they make fun of the way Shakespeare’s plays and his reputation itself are looked back upon by modern academics. And once I realised that (I think) every episode is about a different play and how this comic version of Shakespeare has written it, I started to really enjoy it more. Plus it’s really quite clever, and Mitchell does bring a good amount of subtlety to the character.
There are flaws but it’s still S1 - it will get better.
We’re liking it.
It probably is being run down as inferior to Blackadder. Given Elton’s wildly variable standard of late, that isn’t too surprising. He has had a an awful track record.
There is the obvious mismatch with Blackadder that that kept the 20th century references very sparing, while Upstart Crow is amusing utterly flagrant.
I’d seen Season 1 on Seeso, but since that streaming service is going under, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to see Season 2.
Isn’t there a user on this board called DaveMitch? Do you reckon it’s him? He probably replied because he knows it’s you.
I have no idea. I think he just checks his twitter pretty often.
Because he knows it’s me? We don’t know each other. He just wrote me back as a total stranger.
I don’t think you’ve understood my joke, but never mind.