I am going to continue to pretend I have regular readers. I
mean I do; it is my housemate and a couple of friends, maybe an aunt if the
photo is intriguing. So my regular readers will know that I consider the
pairing of Tennant and Sheen for ‘Good Omens’ to be one of the best in recent
TV history. Is it their individual flair and sexiness? Is it their chemistry
and further combined sexiness? I cannot stress the word sexiness enough! Any
project with these two names attached is a project I would binge in a single
night. As I did.
Staged was a good opportunity; everyone is in lockdown and
slowly losing their mind. The show practically wrote itself. The premise of the
show is that the actors were meant to do a play together, which is put on hold
because of the pandemic. The director suggests continuing rehearsals via Zoom
to get a leg up on everyone else in West End. A good idea, almost devious, with
poor execution. Tennant and Sheen, playing themselves, reluctantly agree, but
there are numerous obstacles to their rehearsal, ranging from well-kept casting
secrets to recycling mishaps. Their loving encounters turn to childish feuds
and all of it is paired up with fun, witty (s)wordplay. They both end up
insulting each others’ hair; a disgrace, considering they both have beautiful
hair.
It is a simple and quick mockumentary; six episodes of 15
minutes each. Fifteen relatable minutes, as Zoom has taken over our lives and significantly
limited our patience. The main differences with my Zoom meetings were the video
and sound quality; this was not your standard Zoom recording, courtesy of the
BBC, and the writers behind the episodes. I assume my Zoom meetings would also be
much more enjoyable if they were scripted, regardless of image resolution. A
suggestion for my next supervision, maybe. The fifteen minute episodes were
wonderful. I assume it is best to watch one every night to end your day with
joyous banter from two members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, but I for one
watched the whole thing 12-4am. The running gags are hilarious and I have
featured one in this post, which may go unnoticed but it will surely make me
happy when I proof read. I do proof read even though it may not seem like it.
What I re-realised with ‘Staged’ is how refreshing it is that
British comedies are adapting to our current ‘less is more’ attention span. I have
mentioned it before that I do get worried when I can’t get through a two minute
YouTube clip without checking the run time and almost force myself to stick
through longer, boring clips. And I grew up thinking a 20 minute run time was
as short as it could get; I can’t imagine how the vine generation feels. It
makes sense that series would adjust, in fact, it was long overdue. ‘State of
the Union’ also did this brilliantly, showing us a couple meeting up roughly
ten minutes before their marriage counselling to have a drink and gossip. I
guess it helps that they’ve got lovable comedy leads, like Chris O’Dowd,
available. There is even a new platform on the rise, having paid attention to,
well our lack of attention. Quibi is taking this idea further and will make a
platform strictly for 10 minute series and it is widely thought that this will
bring down Netflix. I can definitely see how it would work for comedy and how
many talented writers currently working on sketch shows could get involved. Drama
might be a bit more tricky, but if I got depressed withing ten minutes of
Pixars’ ‘Up’, I am sure I can feel all sorts of things duing a Quibi drama. Again,
on the one hand I do worry that we will all end up with ADHD, but on the other
hand, why not embrace this fast-paced entertainment we yearn for? And in turn,
why not bring down Netflix?
It was very fun and a good reminder that I was in love with
David Tennant for most of high school. Only to watch ‘Good Omens’ and also fall
in love with Michael Sheen. It seems that middle-aged Britons who have played
Hamlet are my type. I am going to die alone. I am thankful for this limited
series, because it gave me a great amount of giggles and was there for me when
Frasier wasn’t. I grossly underestimated how many seasons of Seattle’s finest I
should have taken with me on holiday and Staged came to the rescue. Sheen and
Tennant do meta in a lovely, British, self-deprecating manner. Best kind.
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