Oh, My God, You're Thinking Very Deviously.

[rionaleonhart]

I'm not sure The Bubble, in which three guests are locked away from the world for several days and then presented with news stories that may or may not have genuinely occurred in their absence, would work were anyone other than David Mitchell presenting it. The guests are essentially talking about things about which they know nothing, which naturally imposes limitations on their discussions, but I sort of wanted to marry David Mitchell when it began and I desperately wanted to marry David Mitchell when it ended, so I certainly enjoyed it. (Of course, the guests' inability to talk at length on any one subject means that the host has to get involved a lot, which I selfishly appreciate.)

Also, Reginald D Hunter is very funny and Victoria Coren seems a pretty cool chapess, and their interactions were great ('I learnt how to play snooker!' 'No, you didn't'). One thing about the format that definitely works: as the panellists have been shut up together, they've had the opportunity to develop a relationship before being brought onto the show.

(FIC I WANT FOR NO GOOD REASON: Mitchell/Coren/Brooker. Oh, I don't know. They would make a delightfully intelligent and ranty threesome.)

The start was a bit uncertain, but I was laughing a lot by the end of the episode, and I'm looking forward very much to the next one! (If anyone missed it and wants to give it a look: it is on the iPlayer if you're in the UK and on YouTube (1, 2, 3) if you aren't.)

Here are some suggestions to improve the show:

- I wasn't sure about the question on the assassins. If The Bubble is going to bring in topics like murder, I think the circumstances should be particularly bizarre. I don't think murder is an invalid topic for humour, but I didn't think there was enough scope for humour in that particular story to justify its inclusion.
- At some point, one of the fake stories should be a tabloid going 'WE PEEKED THROUGH THE WINDOW OF THE BUBBLE AND WE THOUGHT IT LOOKED LIKE THE PANELLISTS WERE GETTING AWFULLY FRIENDLY', just for the guests' reactions.
- Charlie Brooker should definitely be on the panel at some point. I am obviously suggesting this purely because it would be interesting to see how a news critic judges whether stories are true or false and for no ulterior motives at all.
- On the week on which Charlie Brooker is on the show, one of the news stories (probably one of the fake ones, although I suppose one can't be certain) should be about a zombie outbreak during the guests' incarceration. I don't care if it's too implausible; it would be brilliant.
- In the same week, one of the guests should be a clone of David Mitchell.


Here are some completely unrelated videos:

Hooray, the 'My Shiny Teeth and Me' video from Fairly Odd Parents has turned up on YouTube! I love this stupid song. 'Why should I talk to you when I've got thirty-two?'

Also, Genevieve Cortese adorably informs us that she does not have Twitter. I cannot fathom the rudeness I've seen in some parts of the Supernatural fandom, because I have seen no indications that she is anything other than perfectly sweet. Awww.

Comments

[sunlightdances.livejournal.com]

I just came here to tell you about this show, but you already know! Hurrah. Also, Reg/David, y/y?

[rionaleonhart]

An intriguing concept! I did very much enjoy Hunter's perpetual Mitchell-mocking.

[perrie.livejournal.com]

Reg D. Hunter is genuinely the nicest guy - I worked with him at the Festival one year and he was so lovely! It always makes me happy to see him on the TV. (:

[rionaleonhart]

I know very little about him, but he's made me laugh extremely hard the couple of times I've seen him on panel shows.

(Failed to mention that your working with him is pretty awesome! It is pretty awesome.)

[perrie.livejournal.com]

He's been around on the Festival circuit for a while, and while we had some utter douchebags (coughStewartLeecough) do slots, Reg came in and always made us smile, and he gave us little mix CD presents at the end of the run which was awesome. Plus, I think he's mostly a bit drunk - I had to get him vodka tonics with extra lemon in before every show, hahaha.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Oh, that Hunter guy was awesome on Have I Got News For You when James May was on, they started discussing scientific experiments they had both done, it was adorable.

YAY FOR YOUTUBE LINKS!

I also want an episode where they lock in Team Top Gear. It would be HILARIOUS.

[rionaleonhart]

Oh, my goodness, a Team Top Gear episode of The Bubble would be amazing. Are you listening, BBC?

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Obviously it would be such a hit they'd have other episodes themed around people who already know each other beforehand. There would be a Doctor Who one where they lock in David Tennant, Catherine Tate and John Barrowman! ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.

Also, as a foreigner, I don't know which news reports are real either, so I get to play along!

[rionaleonhart]

If you're interested in Hunter, by the way, have you seen him claiming that his middle name is 'Delicious' on Would I Lie to You? (Goodness knows how one punctuates a question that ends with a title ending in a question mark.) It is hilarious.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

He has the best straight/serious face EVER :D.

[anazri.livejournal.com]

A TG one would be beautiful, but can you really see those three living together for four days and coming out unscathed and without having set something on fire?

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Considering how their caravan holiday went, no ;). But I still want to find out.

[anewcitylife.livejournal.com]

FIC I WANT FOR NO GOOD REASON: Mitchell/Coren/Brooker. Oh, I don't know. They would make a delightfully intelligent and ranty threesome.

I think this is a wonderful reason.

Also I shall go and watch this right now. Hooray!

[rionaleonhart]

You're right, actually; there are probably worse justifications.

I hope you enjoy it!

[anewcitylife.livejournal.com]

I think this show needs to be retitled 'The Abuse David Mitchell Half Hour'. It's pretty entertaining though.

[rionaleonhart]

I sort of love it when David Mitchell is abused. Is that wrong of me? He is just so good at being put-upon.

[anewcitylife.livejournal.com]

If there was really a TV show called 'The Abuse David Mitchell Half Hour' I would actually watch it religiously, so you're not alone. It isn't even because I don't like him or anything, because I really, really do, I just... really like seeing him abused.

(I also really liked it when he ranted at Michael McIntyre on Would I Lie To You? - possibly because it was nice to see him bitching out someone lower on the comedy pecking order than him? I don't know. I'm trying not to question myself too much.)

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

David Mitchell is in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/20/david-mitchell-family-values) today talking about his family background briefly. He just comes across as so nice (here and elsewhere); I can't remember ever coming across any media involving him that's made me dislike him/

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you for that link! He really does seem lovely.

[sunlightdances.livejournal.com]

Aw, that bit about children is adorable!

[inappropriately.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this!

[inappropriately.livejournal.com]

I remember reading a BBC mailout asking me if I wanted tickets to see the show and I rejected it because I didn't really like the concept.

After watching it just now, however, I have to say that it is actually brilliant. Or will become brilliant, once they really get the ball rolling.

[rionaleonhart]

I'm very much looking forward to more, because I'm loving it already and, as you say, the ball isn't quite rolling yet, so it may well become even better. Hooray!

[darkest-alchemy.livejournal.com]

Genevieve is quite adorable. (You know, I didn't much like her Ruby before but on rewatching some season 4 episodes, despite the dodgy acting sometimes, she's grown on me a lot. Although a big part of the reason I didn't like her Ruby anyway was because I thought they wasted the character so now if I actually like her more too, that's probably not a good thing).
I read somewhere the other day someone saying about how the SPN fandom has about the worst reputation of all fandoms, both for writing completely depraved fic and character/actor bashing. It's nice to know a few nutjobs have managed to taint all of us like that. :-/

[rionaleonhart]

It took me a few episodes to come around to Cortese's Ruby, but I've come to adore her. You're right, though; the writers could probably have done more with the character.

The Supernatural fandom does have a fairly appalling reputation, from what I've seen. The vast majority of the fandom is perfectly lovely and sane, but the dark corners become very dark indeed (spn_gossip is one of the most disturbing communities I've ever had the misfortune to stumble across). It's such a shame that people extrapolate from those places that everyone in the fandom is insane.

[darkest-alchemy.livejournal.com]

Heh, your icon-Ruby looks suitably unamused.
(yesterday I saw someone on TV who looked exactly like Katie Cassidy; I don't know what that was in now. I do miss her Ruby though. I think maybe replacing her was also a part of why I didn't like new-Ruby initially)

Hmm, well I lasted about 30 seconds reading some of the comments there before I had to close the window in disgust.

[rionaleonhart]

Victoria Coren is a professional poker player, apparently. The only other things in which I've seen her are an episode of You Have Been Watching and an episode of Screenwipe, in what is probably the most bizarre opening to an episode of anything I have ever seen (watch the first two minutes and ten seconds). She seems intelligent and witty, so thumbs up!

Cortese seems so adorably awkward! And she was terribly lovely when I spoke to her at Asylum last year. It makes me very sad when parts of the fandom bash her for no reason.

[yumiboo.livejournal.com]

... having watched The Bubble, I now need to find out if David really doesn't like musicals. In which case, Brooker/Mitchell seems all the more likely in real life I think I might be getting a tad obsessed with this pairing now, darn you woman. Overall, though, I enjoyed it thoroughly, most because of David Mitchell.

And in other news, I had 'my shiny teeth and me' as my ringtone throughout college. I was the coolest person in college, according to some, which just goes to show the standards of 'coolness' in some places. i wish i still had it as my ringtone now

[rionaleonhart]

Well, David Mitchell doesn't even particularly like music, so I'll be surprised if he's a fan of musicals. Victory. I have no idea why I find this pairing so delightful, but it makes me terribly happy.

That is a spectacular ringtone. I'm sure you made the days of all in the vicinity when your phone rang.

[sashwizzled.livejournal.com]

The Bubble seems like the kind of show that will be fantastic on weeks where hilarious people are involved (as in, mostly thanks to Reginald D Hunter, it worked this week), but I will still watch purely thanks to David Mitchell on weeks where there are not.

[rionaleonhart]

That's the impression I got, really: it could either work or not work at all, depending on who's on it, and the fact that David Mitchell is on it every week gives it a bit of a head start in that regard.

[geekgirlofdoom.livejournal.com]

A++ on "My Shiny Teeth And Me."

(I am in need of a nap. That's as coherent as I'm going to get. But I love it enough I thought I should say something.)

[rionaleonhart]

I can't help dancing in my chair whenever I hear it. It is the perfect combination of catchy and absurd.

[twitchbell.livejournal.com]

David was so endearing in 'The Bubble' that I wanted to pick him up and take him home. It was like going to an RSPCA centre and seeing an adorably self-deprecating little kitten looking up at you and just knowing he belongs with you forever ... Er, I'm going to stop now because I'm not actually sure how kittens can look self-deprecating. Mine have never managed it. Harry the kitten (all right, teenage cat) has two basic expressions: a) smug and b) feed me or I'll bite your legs off. Geordi (the Old One) manages three: a) happy b) anxious and c) OH SHIT THE WORLD IS FULL OF SCARY THINGS LIKE PLASTIC BAGS AND PEOPLE AND STUFF AND I MUST RUN AWAY AND HIDE BEFORE THEY GET ME.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I don't think kittens get self-deprecating. The one I had tended to go for either Adorableness (especially when begging for food, but also, rather oddly, when trying to suckle at my elbow), and KILL!

I liked KILL! because she used it on cockroaches, although she also tended to use it going after The Mysterious Blanket Monsters That Emerged When She Slept On My Legs - aka my feet. She also fought my plush Cthulu and successfully knocked him off the bed.

[twitchbell.livejournal.com]

Harry manages to combine 'adorable' and 'KILL' a lot of the time - there's a reason he's named after Harry Saxon. :)

Hah! Your kitten: 1 Cthulu: Nil Kittens rule!

[rionaleonhart]

I'm not sure how a kitten can look self-deprecating either, but I have no doubt that a self-deprecating kitten would resemble David Mitchell very strongly, so your comparison is excellent. How does he manage to be so cute?

(That's Harry in your icon, isn't it? He's adorable!)

[twitchbell.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's Harry. This con is also Harry, only in less adorable mode. Now I want to cuddle your David Mitchell icon. *hearts*

[hold-onhope.livejournal.com]

I love Genevieve. ♥ She is so adorable. Have you seen her and Jared's engagement pics? They are only floating about the internet because of the nutjobs at spn_gossip (which is a community that makes me run screaming in the other direction), but they're still effing adorable.

[rionaleonhart]

I don't think I've seen the pictures. Ooh, actually, a secret was posted at fandomsecrets a couple of weeks ago with a ridiculously adorable picture of Jared and Genevieve: over here. The text is a bit mad, alas, but I am so charmed by the picture that I can barely focus on it.

[hold-onhope.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's from the shoot! Adorable. There's one where he's kissing her cheek and she's just smiling sweetly at the camera, and it is so utterly cute that I literally squee when I see it. D'awww.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

- On the week on which Charlie Brooker is on the show, one of the news stories (probably one of the fake ones, although I suppose one can't be certain) should be about a zombie outbreak during the guests' incarceration. I don't care if it's too implausible; it would be brilliant.
- In the same week, one of the guests should be a clone of David Mitchell.

Can I just put you in charge of the universe for a few years? I mean the inevitable zombie outbreak would be a bit alarming, but the bit where it turned out, rather implausibly, that no one died, would make up for it. And I'm sure we'd all enjoy waking up with surprise Pokemon.

[rionaleonhart]

I imagine putting me in any position of authority would be extremely unwise, but go ahead, if you must.

[sumofparts.livejournal.com]

Here via various links and because of David Mitchell. Just wanted to say thanks for pointing to The Bubble!

[rionaleonhart]

No problem! I'm always happy to spread the Mitchell love. In case you haven't seen it, the second episode is up now as well: one, two, three.