Comments on: Brass Eye Available on Google Video

Brass Eye Available on Google Video

jonson — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 14:57:01 -0800

Brass Eye is a hilarious & much missed British parody of "issue" news programs such as 60 Minutes in the U.S. It ran for one year, in 1997 (minus the 2001 special), and only six episodes were produced. Thanks to the miracle of the internets, all six (Animals, Drugs, Science, Sex, Crime & Moral Decline) are available in their entirety via Google Video. If you're unfamiliar with the series, trust me, it's not to be missed. Previous mentions on Metafilter. Discovered Via the good mr hodgman's blog.

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:00:14 -0800

you can view the seventh here

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:02:07 -0800

Hmm... is Google stearing clear of the Paedo Panic one?

By: Falconetti

Falconetti — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:02:13 -0800

The Pedophilia special was the best one. What is Chris Morris up to now?

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:02:57 -0800

(It is, by far, the funniest and the most Wrong of the lot)

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:04:03 -0800

Falconetti - bit parts in that sitcom that Boing Boing is always pluging. I hope he has something else in the works, otherwise it's a bit of a sad end.

By: Falconetti

Falconetti — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:08:43 -0800

Oh yeah, The IT Crowd. I forgot he was in that. It really is a waste of his talent.

By: you

you — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:11:35 -0800

Morris to tackle suicide bombers Also, cookd and bombd has bootlegs of some of the old radio shows. Yay.

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:13:49 -0800

Oh, he's fun in The IT Crowd. If you want to talk about a waste of his talent, let's talk about most of Nathan Barley.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:25:13 -0800

If you can track down is previous series The Day Today, it's just as good (parody of nightly news similar to Brass Eye's take on a magazine program.) The grandfather of Brass Eye is the radio "news program" On the Hour which is also brilliant and has got me through some long hours in the car. My favorite of the Brass Eye episodes is "Drugs." Specifically the parts where he taunts actual drug dealers and gets unwitting celebrities to make PSAs for Cake, the fictional totally synthetic and therefore "made up" drug. You might start with that one if you're not familiar with the series. The pedophilia special is very, very good. However, it has a different feel to the original six-- it's more vicious. It works well, but not in the same way.

By: lslelel

lslelel — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:35:07 -0800

Is anyone else really surprised that Morris's name has never come up in an interview with either Daily Show or Colbert report people?I love both, and thought the lack of awareness stateside was a little odd.. Those opening non-sequiturs in The Colbert Report are straight out of On the Hour...

By: churl

churl — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:35:28 -0800

I second the recommendation of "The Day Today" as an equally-hilarious Chris Morris program. Where "Brass Eye" was more of a send-up of the news-special format (a la 20/20 or Dateline), "The Day Today" was aimed more at the daily news style. Both hilarious. Interesting that Chris Morris' work bears resemblances to both The Daily Show and Da Ali G Show, but I've never seen him credited as a specific inspiration for either.

By: John Shaft

John Shaft — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:39:55 -0800

"He also told the students he was working on a second series of Channel 4 comedy Nathan Barley." Does anyone really feel the need for this? Anyone? Anyone?

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:40:17 -0800

Oh I get the jokes eheheh ..I am so intelligent :) ehehe ..but it is a lot more better than looking at celebs and daydreaming about being them, rich'n'powerful...then go into massive denial and start buying Nike cause a 2 meters talls idiot tries hard to look normal, while he is the exception...and so one tries so hard to look like a normal exception. Anyway shock'n'awe, shock'n'awe.

By: Ohdemah

Ohdemah — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:45:21 -0800

Awesome. I forgot about Noel Edmunds referring to a part of the human brain "Shatner's Bassoon". Thank you.

By: Acetylene

Acetylene — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:45:58 -0800

The Paedogeddon episode is also available on Google Video (and I agree that it's the best of the lot).

By: Ohdemah

Ohdemah — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:47:40 -0800

as "Shatner's Bassoon" . I need me another slice of cake.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:57:33 -0800

I'm talking Nonce Sense. Phil Collins you truly are an abominable cunt.

By: Smegoid

Smegoid — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:00:48 -0800

What's with the Barley bashing? Thought it was a mostly brilliant send up of the early 00s urban new media twats of which I was, not entirely ashamedly, one. As for Chris Morris, I've always been way too fond of his darkly morbid Jam series. Isn't always magic, but when it does work... hide the children! Symptomless coma And the true cost of a decent house Finally, his short film My wrongs, was very much worth the inexpensive dvd cost. Also, I can't remember where I read this, but there's this great anecdote of Morris working as crew on some tv news channel and knowing he was soon going to be fired, he rented some tanks of helium, opened up the valves and left them running during a live newscast. You can imaging what evenutally happened to the newscasters voices.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:02:33 -0800

I liked Nathan Barley. It wasn't Morris at his best, but it was still better than everything else on on a Friday night. He always reminded me of Metafilter's Alex Reynolds, for some reason.

By: Olli

Olli — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:11:06 -0800

What, no Jam?

By: unregistered_animagus

unregistered_animagus — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:41:44 -0800

Thanks, jonson! This reminds me (fondly) of the magnificent Look Around You!. I think someone's mentioned it around these parts. Let's see...ah, yes! Thanks, jonson!

By: gdav

gdav — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:06:07 -0800

*rifles through DVD collection* If you want to buy the DVDS then google for: BBCDVD1218 - for The Day Today VCD0266 - for Jam C4DVD1008 - for Nathan Barley VCD0217 - for Brass Eye WF001DVD - for My Wrongs For all the Audio stuff, chilled.cream.org remains the source of choice. The tapes of On the Hour were horribly butchered after a copyright dispute. There was a Blue Jam CD but I don't have it. see also: FHED1914 - for the Aramando Iannucci Shows (Armando was the other key figure in On the Hour/The Day Today, and more recently wrote The Thick of It, the bloodcurdlingly accurate satire on spin doctoring under Blair). Someone else might like to add all the Alan Partridge stuff. Also, has anyone else got any sources at all for the Saturday Night Armistice/ Friday Night Armistice?

By: redteam

redteam — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:15:07 -0800

Yeah! Where the Jam at? I've been looking for that episode with "the Gush" EVERYWHERE.

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:36:09 -0800

Also, has anyone else got any sources at all for the Saturday Night Armistice/ Friday Night Armistice? They've popped up on UKnova a few times.

By: lumpenprole

lumpenprole — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:25:29 -0800

God, I worship Chris Morris. Brasseye is one of the funniest things I've ever watched hands down. And yes, when someone offers me something they call "Joss Eklund's Spunky Backpack", tell them I value my "Shatner's Basson" and will not succumb to "Czech Neck".

By: gdav

gdav — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:28:58 -0800

Their "Six months since 9/11" print special in the Observer reserved its real venom for Martin Amis and Gilbert and George: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:42:32 -0800

Funny, I would have expected Blue Jam to be on Bleep, but it's not there.

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:46:17 -0800

The Gusher can be found here, on the Porn track. The preview pauses as an incentment to buying the track, but you hsould be able to listen to it.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 19:49:47 -0800

And yes, when someone offers me something they call "Joss Eklund's Spunky Backpack", tell them I value my "Shatner's Basson" and will not succumb to "Czech Neck". But have you got any Clarky Cat? Because I'm fairly certain that you're the Boz Boz, and you at least can score me some yellow binteens.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:28:51 -0800

I get a contact high every time I listen to my Blue Jam tracks.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:13:51 -0800

Chris Morris is one of my heroes. Hell, I even liked Nathan Barley. Especially that last episode.

By: davehat

davehat — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:40:58 -0800

Smegoid: The lowdown on the helium + newscaster story. Although you won't be able to track them all down, he famously used to blag his way into daytime TV audiences and masquerade as an expert. Here's his (needless to say) "legendary" appearance on The Time, The Place as a "sexpert".

By: A Thousand Baited Hooks

A Thousand Baited Hooks — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 01:21:03 -0800

He is a genius. The Brass Eye DVD is one of my favourite, most treasured possessions. I wonder if Chris Morris could exist outside the UK? I doubt it, sadly. Note especially the lack of a laugh track on Brass Eye. The Chaser, the Colbert Report, the Daily Show etc are nothing, nothing in comparison. Imagine the robo-wrong-cock appearing on TV anywhere else in the world... there would be chaos.

By: StuMiller

StuMiller — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 01:45:27 -0800

You can listen to the nastiness of Blue Jam here. Not for the faint hearted.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 02:25:12 -0800

Channel 4 deserves some of the credit as well, they took a lot of flak over the paedophilia one but repeated it anyway. Very few broadcasters would have been prepared to show it in the first place.

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 04:43:49 -0800

Since they're pretty much the only slice of Morris unmentioned here - the Richard Geefe columns in The Observer (a diary of a nitwit columnist in the run up to his suicide - probably funnier at the time, when every single newspaper seemed to have at least one columnist writing about dying of cancer.) Pedantry corner: lumpenprole writes 'And yes, when someone offers me something they call "Joss Eklund's Spunky Backpack", tell them I value my "Shatner's Basson" and will not succumb to "Czech Neck".' Joss Ackland, not Eklund! Mayor Curley writes 'But have you got any Clarky Cat? Because I'm fairly certain that you're the Boz Boz, and you at least can score me some yellow binteens.' Bentines, not binteens!

By: ClanvidHorse

ClanvidHorse — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 04:58:56 -0800

My favourite line was in relation to a paedo identified as following children through selling potatoes ("The perfect cover for a paedo") on the Paedogeddon special, "But after a nonce bashing in prison, Otterin now lies quadraspazzed on a life glug"

By: ClanvidHorse

ClanvidHorse — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:03:28 -0800

Also, Morris is allegedly working on a new Brass Eye special about Al Qaeda and suicide bombers.

By: davehat

davehat — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:08:50 -0800

What the... Hmm, that last link in my previous comment should have been: The Time, The Place.

By: dydecker

dydecker — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 06:26:46 -0800

am I the only person who doesn't find this funny? It's kinda like lame Monty Python.

By: jonson

jonson — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:42:26 -0800

Not at all, you're just the only person in a thread about how funny it is who doesn't find it funny. You should have been here last week, during the thread about how this show isn't funny, you would have had TONS to talk about with those guys.

By: ClanvidHorse

ClanvidHorse — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:15:46 -0800

dydecker, I am struggling to think what relation Chris Morris has to Monty Python at all other than that they are both English. And I think you probably are the only person (apart from Noel Edmonds) who doesn't find it funny.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:48:19 -0800

Link

By: davehat

davehat — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:01:55 -0800

dydecker: am I the only person who doesn't find this funny? No. John McCririck doesn't find Chris Morris funny either. Then again, he's a legendary twat.

By: algreer

algreer — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:21:53 -0800

Wow, quality post and quality thread. Currently feeling wonderfully uncomfortable watching some jam. Top marks to all the links...

By: A Thousand Baited Hooks

A Thousand Baited Hooks — Tue, 01 May 2007 02:59:31 -0800

Also, Morris is allegedly working on a new Brass Eye special about Al Qaeda and suicide bombers. Please Allah let this be true. Also, is that a brief remix of the Area 5 music from Rez at the start of Davehat's second video?? If Morris turned out to be a fan of Rez that would somehow make the world a little more complete.

By: greytape

greytape — Tue, 01 May 2007 03:58:37 -0800

No one seems to have mentioned what I consider some of Morris' finest work, the interviews he did with Peter Cook's character Sir. Arthur Streeb-Greebling. Search for Why Bother? on Amazon. They're so dense with funny you can listen again and again.

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Tue, 01 May 2007 05:26:56 -0800

The Day Today is also on Google Video, which I think is funnier.