Britcom Joking Apart Coming to DVD Thanks to Fan

A scene from Joking Apart From across the pond comes news of the early 90s britcom “Joking Apart” coming to DVD thanks to a fan’s efforts (and money). Created by Steven Moffat, prior to his success with Coupling, the show darkly plays with the divorce of a stand-up comedian and his wife (with one of the issues being, according to a fan website, that his constant attempts at humor have become grating).

Craig Robins, the fan who put up the money for the DVD rights, is apparently a TV editor himself, so the whole package will still be well-presented. Not that a fan outisde of the profession couldn’t put together something equally as well, considering the tools that are available now.

As I’ve never seen Joking Apart, I can’t attest to its quality. But any premise which sounds less than wacky sounds intriguing enough for me to give a go. My theory: if it’s not obvious where the humor is going to come from, the surprise of the jokes will land that much harder. I’ll definitely scour the web to see if I can find a clip or two (or episode) to test it.

I imagined that this would happen eventually, but always expected it would be for a cult sci-fi show first before a comedy. Inspired by this, perhaps a well-to-do fan might want to buy up the rights for making DVDs of The State, The Dana Carvey Show or perhaps seasons 2 and 3 of the Upright Citizens Brigade. Here’s hoping.

Posted by Todd Jackson at 11:49 PM | Send to Friend
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Comments

1 Posted by Peter Nyrén on 06/04 at 12:02 PM

“Joking Apart! is an excellent sitcom. Not as contrived as some of Coupling can be, but with Stephen Moffats unique story sense. Sometimes the situations in the plot are almost as funny and credibel as some of the best Fawlty Towers.
I’ll be sure to buy a copy.
Peter

2 Posted by Jac on 06/09 at 04:54 AM

One small point: it’s not about a stand-up comedian, it’s about a comedy writer whose inner turmoil is played out as a stand-up routine for narrative purposes - it’s all taking place in his head really (it’s very clear if you watch the first episode in the series, or the interviews included on the new DVD).

3 Posted by Todd Jackson on 06/13 at 02:45 PM

Peter - I’ve never seen the show, but anything that inspires the devotion of a fan to make a DVD has me interested. I was never a huge Coupling fan to (but to be fair, I think I’ve tried it maybe twice), but I hope it reaches across the pond here. I’m very interested to see what inspired such loyalty.

Jac - Thanks for the correction. The inner thoughts played as stand-up routines is a pretty great metaphor. I take it from your post that you’ve seen the new DVDs too… hope they’ve measured up to expectations.