Peep Show Contest -- Win Season 1 on Region 1 DVD

Due to an odd set of bizarre gifting circumstances (see clip below to view a similar situation), I now have multiple copies of "Peep Show" Season 1 on Region 1 DVD.

So I thought I would give away the extras to any blog reader with sufficient interest in the show to merit the postage. I have three copies (yes, I know). So, in case more than three of you are game to check it out, I thought I'd make it interesting with a contest.

Answer this extraordinarily simple Britcom question and email your response to Resilient.Rabbit@gmail.com. And then I will mail the three DVDs to the individual readers I like best. (Just kidding -- first three right answers win. I promise).

Query: The stars of "Peep Show" -- David Mitchell and Robert Webb -- met through the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club. Name the year that club was founded and three other past members.


Told you it was easy. That's because I like you.

Love, Rabbit.

"Spaced" Region 1 DVD Release and Simon Pegg at Comicon

When did Comicon become the place to be if you are a comedy nerd who never reads comic books?

I haven't read a comic book since age 8, but I'm certainly dreaming that I could be there now. For starters, Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Jessica Hynes be will be on hand to discuss and screen episodes from the brilliant and charming 1999 series "Spaced". I adore that series and could watch it over and over again. The script is quick and clever and it manages to be a sweet, warm, timeless friendship story while also remaining a perfect period piece -- a memory of happier times for those of who came of age during the 90s. Above all, it does a wonderful job of exploring how difficult it is to find your creative voice in your youth and how tricky it is to sort out the feelings of love and devotion that seem to sneak up on you without warning when you spend time with someone who just "gets" you. It reminds me a bit of the original Office in its exploration of that latter theme (even though the Office explored it from the view of folks who happen to share an job space rather than individuals who are forced, by economic circumstances, to share a flat). As I think about it, it is an especially impressive feat when you consider how many other shows over time have done a horrifyingly corny job of exploring the "mismatched roomies thrown together in wacky circumstances" meme.

In happier news for those Yank Britcom fans who can't be in San Diego this weekend, "Spaced" was just released in Region 1 DVD! Yippee!! You'll have to buy it, of course, because it has new material that your old copy doesn't have including, as per Amazon, " . . . everything Spaced's fervent following would demand. Each episode is complemented by the original commentaries as well as newly-recorded gabfests that also feature American friends of the show, including Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt, Quentin Taratinto, Matt Stone, Diablo Cody, and Bill Hader. There are deleted scenes and outtakes, and, best of all, an hour-long 2007 Q&A with Wright and the cast, in which Pegg allows that, had there been a third series (and we can still dream), it would have provided viewers hoping that Tim and Daisy would ultimately get together with "a moment to make every hair of your body stand on end." You will see such a moment if you "skip to the end" of the essential near two-hour series retrospective." Oh, really? When can I see this?!?!?

But loyal fans should def hold on to your original Region 2 copy if you want to maintain your Nerd cred.

Note: Demand was apparently grossly underestimated by Amazon staff as they are already sold out and if you order today you'll have to wait a bit before they can send you a copy. But that only builds the sweet anticipation, doesn't it?

Back to Tim and Daisy dream land.

xoxo, Rabbit

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

If you grew up in the 70s and your parents were proud Angophiles with an anti-establishment sense of humor, then you need to come to my house for a cup of tea because you and I will become fast friends before the Earl Grey cools. I know this because I feel certain your parents let you stay up to watch Monty Python at age 9 and likely even let you study another BBC counterculture classic The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. This brilliant piece of Britcom, although lesser-known in the U.S., shaped more of my world view than I would ever care to admit and that's why I feel a need to promote it here, for those of you who haven't yet had the pleasure.

A three-season series launched in 1976, the first season tells the story of 46-year old Reginald Perrin, a senior sale executive with Sunshine Desserts, a company that sells and promotes flavored ices. A normal-enough man with a normal-enough life, Perrin slowly starts to lose his sanity in the face of continuing his solidly uneventful and mind-numbing suburban commuter routine. He rebels against normality -- almost unintentionally at first -- fantasizing quietly inside his own head about breaking free -- and then openly, in front of friends, colleagues and family. Unable to accept another day of inventing new ways to boast about flavored ice, he craves escape, but - like nearly everyone else in his circumstance - he just doesn't quite know how to manage it. He starts with a standard mid-life crisis agenda -- talking back to his boss unexpectedly and having an affair with his secretary -- but even that starts to feel sadly pedestrian. And so, in a fit of desperation, he fakes his own suicide -- leaving his clothes on an abandoned beach -- and starts a new life.



Soon, however, Perrin misses his wife Elizabeth and returns (under a false name, though his wife pretends not to recognize him) and remarries her. In the second series, he starts a new company, Grot, openly selling useless items at obscenely inflated prices. "So much rubbish is sold these days under false pretences", Perrin tells a customer, "that I decided to be honest about it." His goods include square footballs, round dice, silent records, and tins of melted snow -- and so it is, of course, a huge success. Horrified, Perrin makes numerous failed attempts to destroy Grot, and eventually just gives up again -- faking his own suicide once more, though this time accompanied by his wife.

The plot sounds simple enough in its 70's-style morality, but the series was really brought to life by the very tight writing and the performance of an impressive cast -- most especially its leader, Leonard Rossiter, who played Perrin. Rossiter was a natural at portraying the stereotypical English suburbanite; yet also managed to keep that subversive twinkle in his eye as Perrin grew odder and odder.

Personally, my favorite aspect of the show was always the catch phrases. Catch phrases have a terribly bad name in today's comedy; but in Perrin they were used properly -- as a simple device for illustrating the painfully repetitive nature of Perrin's day. Like passive worker bees, Perrin's office colleagues literally used the exact same words to respond to every situation presented to them. For example, two junior "yes men" sale colleagues at Sunshine Desserts, bumblers who quivered in the face of authority, were rarely ever permitted to say anything other than "Great!" and "Super!" respectively, no matter what they were asked. It sounds extreme, but it truly works well -- even today, it reminds me of too many folks that I've worked with in offices through the years. It's an odd little trick that really holds up. Similarly, the boss at Sunshine Desserts, CJ, could never start a sentence without the tired phrase "I didn't get where I am today by . . . " blah blah blah. And even to a 9-year old, it quickly became apparent why Perrin needed to get away. Of all these, the one I always enjoyed most, however, came from Perrin's ne'er-do-well hippy son-in-law, who never quite managed to get a grip on anything. His phrase, as befitted his life, was "bit of a cock up on the XX front." As in, when asked about his new job, "Well, bit of a cock up on the employment front." Where's the food? "Afraid there's been a bit of a cock up on the catering front." Poor Perrin's life never changed; yet, somehow, for the viewer, it never got old. (BTW, you can't imagine the constant temptation, as a grade-schooler, to sidle up to my teachers and announce "Ah, yes, bit of a cock up on the ol' homework front today." Real missed opportunity there.)

There are times, certainly, when the series feels dated -- not just in fashion and setting, but also in its 1970s style of rebellion. I still feel, though, upon a recent reviewing, that there is a timeless quality about Perrin. For as one older review that I found of the show mused: "As long as there is industry, capitalism and a human longing for a life less ordinary, there will always be a Reggie Perrin sentiment present in the world."

The series was based largely off the the 1975 novel "The Death of Reginald Perrin" by David Nobbs. Nobbs was an established comedy writer in Britain in the early 70s. He was a writer for The Two Ronnies when the BBC invited him to submit an idea for a play about social problems in contemporary society. The synopsis he submitted concerned a man slowly going mad from his daily routine and it was rejected as unsuitable. Thankfully, Nobbs he held it and converted it into the Perrin novel.



Sadly, there aren't a great number of clips available online from the original series to show you, though there is this fun show post-show analysis / retrospective:



and this quick couple of bits from a similar retrospective, intro by Ronnie Barker:



Thankfully, you can still buy the entire series from Amazon UK (for the time being), though you will need to have a multi-region DVD player to see them. If you ever get the chance, do see it. And then stop by my house for tea and flavored ices.

Infatuated? Like, Totally -- So What's Next for Dylan Moran?

If you are tall, Irish and extremely funny, then chances are good that I've already fallen in love with you three or four times over and, at this point, you're just wishing I would lose your phone number so that you could avoid all the hassle and paperwork involved with getting a restraining order (that can take weeks -- who has the time?) And that pattern probably best explains the reason for my ongoing infatuation with comedy's most delicious mophead, Dylan Moran.



If you're an American and already know Moran, that's probably because you were lucky enough to catch one or more seasons of Black Books on BBC America. Created, written and developed for Channel 4 by Moran, it chronicles the struggles of crumedgeonly drunken bookstore owner Bernard Black.

Bernard is a throughly unlikeable inebriate, but Moran relates him to the overwhelmed-by-the-modern-world bookworm inside many of us who just wants to be left alone. With his two long-suffering friends -- equally unmotivated shop owner Fran and painfully underconfident Manny, (played with equal strength by Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig) -- they seek refuge in the bookstore and hope that the rest of London will just let them be; but it never does. Customers continue to drop in with the unreasonable expectation that they may browse or purchase volumes without being heckled. If that wasn't annoyance enough, soon a bright and cheery chain bookstore (with crass corporate customer service provided by a steely Simon Pegg) moves in next door -- and then the customers *stop* coming. As with all of comedy's greatest characters, it seems that there is no way for poor Bernard to win. The only hope for all three characters is to tolerate each others eccentricities long enough to form a family-style bond and barrier against the outside world.



"Black Books" was well-loved by fans in the UK and abroad -- and even the critics chimed in approvingly -- it won a BAFTA in 2002 for best sitcom. All of the episodes are gems, but I'm especially fond of "Elephants and Hens" (in which Bernard and Manny write a children's book); and the final episode, "Party", in which Bernard tries to explain why he has been so grumpy and misanthropic all these years. Frankly, though, I recommend that you buy all of them.



To date, Dylan has been fairly cautious about maintaining creative control over his work and that has definitely been to his benefit. Much of what he appeared in has been of his own design (although in 1998, prior "Black Books", he did star in another charming but less popular series called "How Do You Want Me?" which was written by Simon Nye, who also wrote "Men Behaving Badly.") The rare movies he has done have been ones written and led by friends with equal talent. For example, he has worked with Simon Pegg (including his key role in "Shaun of the Dead" and his heroic effort as Pegg's friend and trainer Gordon in the most recent [but not quite as funny] "Run, Fat Boy Run"). He also held a great double role in "Tristam Shandy -- a Cock and Bull Story" as Dr. Slop -- the "modern physician" who delivers the lead character. (A key premise of the original novel being that the narrator continually tries to tell the story of his own birth but is constantly distracted by other story threads). He pairs that role, as do all of the actors, with interspersed scenes where he appears as himself -- an actor in the film. (For fuller background on the post-modern nature of the film, see The Resilient Rabbit: Knowing Me, Knowing You) This is best near the end when all of the actors view a screening of the final product and Moran is chatting with Gillian Anderson about why all of her best scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. (Have I mentioned before you that you really must see this film? Seriously. It's an overlooked gem. But once again I digress).

Dylan rarely grants interviews -- he doesn't seem comfortable around reporters (a point that was played up for humorous effect during a short that precedes the opening of his "Monster" stand up DVD). And even when he does talk, he is reticent on the subjects of himself, his family, his history and the creative process. So much of all that remains a bit of mystery, which probably adds to the charm.

Moran is only 37, but the bounce back question still comes to mind for me. "Black Books" wrapped back in 2001 and I've been ever-so-curious to see what he comes up with next. He is apparently still doing stand up in the UK -- check out dates for his "What It Is" tour here -- and if his two performance DVDs, Monster and Like, Totally, are representative, then he is definitely worth checking out on stage. Moran started out in stand up and even won with Perrier award at Edinburgh before he began work in television, so he definitely knows how to work an audience. And though the "Monster" DVD still shows him performing his signature glass of red wine in hand, he says that he has grown bored of the prop -- and of performing while plastered generally -- so I would be even more intrigued to see what his stand up looks like now.

Here's hoping that this Rabbit -- and the rest of his infatuated American audience -- will be lucky enough to find out more soon.

Crooooooooooow!

If you came of age during the carefree days of the early 90s, then you owe many happy Saturday morning memories to Joel Hodgson. Back when your hangovers were still rather manageable -- before Bill Clinton proved what an ass he could be -- before Comedy Central was a powerhouse with multiple hit shows -- and back when your "friends" still passed out on your couch every Friday night -- Joel provided a reliable source of snarky charm with his masterpiece, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K).

Joel began his career as an easygoing, midwestern comic and (ahem) magician. Sporting the same sleepy, innocent-eyed manner we later grew to love, in 1982 he moved to LA and had some promising success with appearances on Letterman and SNL -- as well as his own HBO special. By 1984, however, he was already fed up with the Hollywood scene and the lack of fun, originality and spontaneity in the roles he was offered -- so he moved back to Minneapolis. He continued to perform stand-up and also took up sculpture and toy design -- building robots for fun in his spare time.



In 1988, Joel built Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo and Crow! and MST3K was born. No one had ever seen anything like it before -- sitting in front of the screen and making fun of bad movies? Joel has admitted, in later interviews, that many viewers didn't get the joke at first. It certainly caught on quickly, however, and essentially spawned its own unique form of interactive humor. The show also owns a small piece of funny history because was one of the first shows ever picked up by the Comedy Channel (early name for what became Comedy Central). The show quickly grew in popularity; but Joel left the lead role in 1993, when it he gave the reins over to his successor, Mike Nelson.

Hodgson later admitted that he only left MST3k because of creative differences with his co-producer and that he missed the show greatly. Finally, in October 2007, he launched a successor effort -- Cinematic Titanic -- which he operates with fellow MST3K alums Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl. And this weekend, their happily reunited team will be performing at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater as part of the LA Film Fest. Myself and my friend tribe will be there to pay tribute to the man, the show, the genre and the memories.



As Joel turns 48 this year, what is his answer to the comeback question? I am hesitant to comment before seeing the show; but if the website is any guide, the answer is: simply keep doing what he does best. And that makes sense to me. There is no need to update this act. He is the master of his own subgenre -- making fun of bad movies was funny then; and why wouldn't it still be now? If you were KISS, would you undertake a reunion tour without makeup -- or without playing "Detroit Rock City"? Exactly.

FYI: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that his successor, Mike Nelson, also has a movie commentary site that sports a whole library of clever audio overtracks for old and current films -- you can find them at Rifftrax, and it is well worth a visit.

See you at the Ford!

xoxo, Rabbit