Who's in here?
At last!
The little-seen BBC3/BBC2 comedy Grass, starring Simon Day, is finally coming out on DVD. All eight episodes (plus exclusive audio commentary on two episodes by Simon and myself) available as part of this post-Fast Show box set from November 6, which also houses two series of Swiss Toni and Ralph & Ted. I wish it was available as a stand-alone DVD - and there are plans for such a release in the new year, I believe - but for now, at least it's out in the public domain, ripe for either reassessment, or just plain old assessment. Compensation for the frankly random way Grass was scheduled on BBC2 in 2003. Not the first time this has ever happened to a programme, of course, but that kind of treatment is usually reserved for US imports, or ratings failures, and Grass didn't even have chance to become a failure - it was on at different times every week on Saturday night, some might say a self-defeating tactic for a serial, which is what it was. (You might equally say that making a serial comedy is self-defeating, but Grass is in some ways the polar opposite to Not Going Out - no audience, no laughter, heavy on story development, lighter on gags and punchlines, and shot mostly on location in the beautiful Norfolk countryside.) Anyway, must get back to work, but I'm delighted it's finally coming out.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 2:18 PM
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17 Comments:
I thought US television networks owned the patent on "how to kill a show by arsing around with its scheduling"
Nah, BBC2 and Channel 4 have shown their capabilities in this area - circa 1997 and beyond see BBC2's treatment of Seinfeld and Larry Sanders and 4's treatment of NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street. Even Five seemingly fell out of favour with The Shield sticking it on at 11 p.m. on a Friday night.
I would just be grateful Grass is out on DVD, it's been six years and I'm still waiting for a North Square DVD.
Perhaps someone could concoct a "paths to 8 out of 10 Cats" box set including the second series of the mighty Fifteen Storeys High. How sad a thought is that? Which comedy slot on BBC2 effectively says "You won't like this" more: various-o'clock on a Saturday night or shouldn't-you-be-in-bed-o'clock on Sunday night?
I really enjoyed Grass but couldn't keep up with it because of the shuffling schedule :(
At least "Jumpers For Goalposts" isn't being bundled with it too.
I really enjoyed Grass but I couldn't eh... ehmm.... what were we talking about ?
It seems odd these days to hear someone to worry about when something is actually on. It just shows how much we Skyplussers get used to that magical double ended green arrow! We no longer care if it's moved from Monday to Sunday let alone from 8pm to 9pm it's just there when we switch on the television.
I thought US television networks owned the patent on "how to kill a show by arsing around with its scheduling"
BBC1 showed themselves to be world-class at that sort of thing with their treatment of Trevor's World Of Sport. Comedies are supposed to transfer from radio to telly; where the BBC went wrong is by forcing a television programme off to Radio 4 with the writer swearing never, ever to work for BBC1 again. A schoolboy error.
I’ve been looking forward to the DVD release of the excellent Grass ever since I saw it listed on Amazon months ago (curiously complete with a customer review). I did make DVD copies from the telly when it was broadcast but these are spoilt by the tedious but inevitable continuity announcements crashing in over the, no doubt, carefully chosen closing music of each episode (oh I wish there was a button you could press on digital TV to turn these profoundly irritating announcements off).
I will wait for the sole release however as I have no wish to be conned into buying DVDs I don’t want. I liked his Fast Show character but I never really got into the Swiss Tony sitcom and I don’t think Ted and Ralph will bear repeated viewing in the way Grass will. The curious packaging of the Fast Show spin-off DVDs is akin to the Beatles forcing you to buy Yellow Submarine AND the Magical Mystery Tour before you’re entitled to purchase Sgt Pepper. Great for die-hard fans but not for me. I never really viewed Grass as a Fast Show spin-off anyway: Grass had style, depth, humour and even darkness. Simon Day’s “someone’s sitting there mate” character really came to life and it's a great shame that there will be no more episodes. And, as previously discussed in these pages, it’s far, far superior to the 2-dimensional Green Green Grass.
"And, as previously discussed in these pages, it's far, far superior to the 2-dimensional Green Green Grass."
Indeed. For some reason GGS's current series was shot in high definition. Being shot on 50p video tapes from Aldi would be an unnecessary expense.
Fans of Green Green Grass may wish to read this, the last piece I wrote for the Guardian before the Berliner redesigned squeezed me out of the love-in.
I work as a comedy writer and so people occasionally ask me which shows I'd recommend. I always mention Grass. Now I'll tell them to buy it on DVD
Much appreciated, Anonymous. Hey, don't be anonymous!
!8/12/06 has been listed as the release date with amazon for the grass only dvd, although I think March 6th was the original date. Now you're mentioning the new year. ffs. I've had it on pre-order since January 06
Anonymous, I have contacted Grass's producer to establish exactly when the stand-alone DVD is coming out. I hope Amazon are right and that it's December. I'll post here as soon as I hear for sure.
Hi Andrew,
Just got the e-mail from amazon now 1.6.07 :( (I appreciate that this date might not even be realistic)
Anon, the producer said that the single DVD of Grass is reliant on sufficient interest in the box set. So we'll have to see if it turns up in enough stockings. This strikes me as self-defeating logic, but it's not up to me.
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