Oh holy shit.
First, I had no idea what this was, or why Netflix kept pushing what looked like a bog-standard BBC nature/civilization documentary by someone with the absurd name Philomena Cunk into my recommendations. Nor could I understand why something that looked so dull was trending.
I accidentally let it play, and within about ten minutes I was afraid I was going to laugh myself to death. Seriously, Philomena Cunk explaining the wheel as Sumerian civilization’s “killer app” nearly put me in hospital.
Show is absolute genius.
Tim_N
2851
Yeah it is well worth watching, she has her niche take on comedy tv shows and rides it (perhaps to death) over the 5 episodes. Each one had at least one laugh out loud moment for me.
This is my favorite short video of hers:
One thing I admire about many of the people that Philomena interviews is how much media training they’ve had that they gently put up with her. There’s a particular interviewee who’s specialty is philosophy of religion who somehow turns any of her nonsense into discussion points “Well, that’s actually an excellent question, you’ve brought up a very interesting dichotomy in how people think about [X]”.
Tim_N
2853
I wouldn’t say this is my favourite moment in the Cunk on Earth series, but this is on youtube and is a good laugh:
This one liner also got me:
Beautiful. “Because evolution can’t be seen, it’s hard to believe in, like electricity or skeletons.”
No idea why that’s so funny. But it is.
There are probably marital aids for that you can buy on-line.
“So the monkeys that didn’t turn into humans, they must be gutted” was what did it for me.
Also, I have no idea why, but whenever someone says “Bits” in a British accent, I’m wrecked.
I finished Cunk on Earth this weekend. It kept me mostly entertained enough in most of the episodes. Usually it got a nice big chortle out of me once in each episode. I think my loudest one was when she described the men who went to the moon as “Neil Armstrong, Alan Alda and a guy who wishes to remain anonymous”.
When interviewing an astronomer (AKA “science man”) re: time:
“You know when you store time in a clock… how do you get it back out again?” Start at the 2:54 mark.
The people interviewed are not in on the joke, right? It’s a miracle they don’t get up and leave.
Unfortunately they are in on it. They are briefed on the fact that Cunk is a joke character and that she’s going to ask dumb questions and say outrageous things. They aren’t told exactly what, but they are told to answer as seriously as possible.
According to the most reliable source of information there is (Youtube comments), the experts are told they are being interviewed for a comedy, but are asked to give straight answers and behave normally.
Thanks @Telefrog and @ArtVandelay (of Vandelay Industries).
If that’s the case, the crew must have to do a number of takes from all the corpsing* by the interviewees.
*this is the term for cracking up in comic acting circles, right?
Mrs Kub and I started watching the Turkish (dubbed, and the dubbing is a bit off) Midnight at the Pera Palace, and it has been fun through a couple of episodes, historical intrigue of a country and era not explored much, post WW I Turkish independence.
Thus far, the Decider is kind of spot on:
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Midnight at the Pera Palace is like Quantum Leap crossed with Murder, She Wrote, corny 1989 vibes and all.
Our Take: The opening 40-odd minutes of Pera Palace is chock-full of plot, moving like a pageturner as our ditzy protagonist fudges up our perceived reality, spinning off alt-universes with every step she takes…
… Our Call: STREAM IT. Midnight at the Pera Palace sets up a classic time-travel conundrum, a murder mystery and an opportunity for its protagonist to become more than just a lowly “content creator.” How can you resist?
Houngan
2865
You know, I kinda like that better. I’m no fan of cringe anything, and I hate watching normal people look foolish just because they are trying to be polite. I absolutely love Cunk and her humor but I can only take it in small doses, whatever brain chemical is required to deal with cringe, I have a substandard amount.
Tim_N
2866
An episode or clip at a time is indeed optimal. They are great though.
Haven’t seen that one yet, but I liked The Club an awful lot. Post WW2 rather than WW1, but exploring some of the same issues of Turkish nationalism and the backlash against ethnic Greeks, Jews, etc.
Houngan
2868
I do wonder with this new information if it might not be a lot better, I’m always cringing in sympathy with the “normal” in the scene, I know she’s doing a bit.
I found the reactions of “science man” or “science woman” became less interesting over time. I figured the interviewees were becoming more familiar with the series and had a better idea what sorts of questions were coming.
By the way, real “science man” and “science woman” have to deal politely with weirdo questions quite regularly - it just goes with the territory.
