"Stath Lets Flats" is the British American Office.

I'd forgotten they'd made this!

 

 It was love at first sight between me and Stath Lets Flats, but it's only after my latest accidental binge of both series (having sat down to watch one episode) that I realise just how highly I rate it, and also possibly why: Quite early on in the American version of The Office, the show reaches a point where it understands its characters well enough to trust them with absurdity; the cast's performative muscle memory is strong enough to ground anything written for them. And Stath Lets Flats operates on that level of confidence from Episode One, possibly because – as he explains in this great interview with Rachael Healy – Jamie Demetriou has known so many of its cast for so long. His show is the opposite of "actor-proof"; it's a clown show composed of details, and every detail makes me laugh out loud.

 

 See above.

 

 The similarities extend beyond tone, however. To quote the interview: "Emotional behaviour juxtaposed with masculine bravado, done well, is a treat." Like The Office's Michael Scott (and unlike David Brent), Stath Charalambos is an idealist possessed by a mutant variant of kindness – an incapacitating, all-or-nothing desire not just to be loved, but to be allowed to love, which manifests itself most commonly in acts of unchecked selfishness. Also like The Office's Pam, Sophie Charalambos is a healthier, self-checking, but similarly yearning heart, the show's secret focus, and the real reason we care as much about these people as we do. Originally, I had thought that the last episode broadcast – not counting this bonus lockdown cracker posted above – was the perfect ending, but having rewatched it all, I now want two hundred more, and I'm very glad there's going to be a Series 3. 

 Here's Natasha Demetriou providing excellent company on Adam Buxton's podcast...

 Here's a brilliant interview with Kiell Smith-Bynoe... "I'd like to work in America, not crazy about living there. Tricky, because it seems like a great shout for black actors, not so much for black people. Tricky, mainly because I am both..."

 And here's more Katy Wix...

 

"Toast Can't Never Be Bread Again"

  I'm very glad I've continued bingeing Netflix's Orange Is The New Black, which having lost its way a little in season 3, has not only found it again in season 4, but absolutely Gone There. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't watched, so there's only so much I can write, but for something made under Obama, the series is proving a blistering accompaniment to MAGA – and 2020 in particular. I also wasn't prepared for how much the season 4 finale would make me pine for 2009. This isn't a spoiler, because it's a flashback. All of Litchfields' inmates' flashbacks suggest a seemingly limitless budget – every backstory builds a new world – and Poussey Washington's last night in New York is such a specific and unembarrassed celebration of the goodness of people without proper jobs, and of the places they make, and of the accompanying greatness of the city they play in (those aren't even real monks) that it seems to yawp "Fuck viability!" as if they'd made it this week.

 

   I'd felt that city slipping away here ever since the closure of the Shunt Lounge. As I may have mentioned. We lost so many places to play around in in 2010. And I had been thinking about changing the blog's wallpaper too – those hangers have been up for decade – but now I've decided they'll stay because, as this episode's reminded me, it's good to be reminded.

 

Fancy Party and 4 Oz. of Furlough

 Sorry this is only going up now, but I was catching up with my fellow Ripper Walkers last night, in the actual flesh in an actual pub, and it turned into a tiny, tiny stag do. Yes, we all got married! Not really. Neil noted it felt a bit like being in a pub on the telly; busy enough to fill the seats, but no busier, and we all looked like background artists.

 I remember most of what happened. I think of Ben - author of our Walks, and founder of the Ghost Bus Tours - very much as one of the keepers of London. He always knows what to point out on a ramble, like the Duke of Wellington's replica noses poking out of the concrete on Great Windmill Street. Oh god I've just remembered the toilets. They were magical, they lit up, where were they?

  Here's something else I remembered, and it contains spoilers: I've been using the last week to start reading again, watching less television as a result, binge-watching less, switching more between shows. I put on an episode of Parks and Recreation, series three, episode nine, this one:

 And here's the spoiler, it turns out that the party April and Andy are throwing is actually a surprise wedding, and they get married. I then put on an episode of Orange Is The New Black, series two, episode nine, it was this one, literally the very next thing I watched on television:

  In which Piper gets furlough from prison to attend her grandmother's funeral and, here's the spoiler, at the service her brother throws a surprise wedding, and he and his girlfriend get marrried. I have nothing to say about this coincidence, except that I wish I'd been able to share it. I don't mean share it on the blog, because as you can see I have nothing to say about it. It wasn't even interesting enough a coincidence to share with Neil and Ben. I just noticed it would have been nice to share the oddness as it happened.

Goodye, Diana Rigg. You kicked arse.

Clean Shirt

"@slepkane has requested pictures of Don Draper illustrated with Mark from Peep Show quotes. Please encourage this."
I have my reasons.
Huge thanks to @Bright0nKath, @untiltheygo, and in particular to @MrJamesBachman, who did nearly all of these and came up with the hashtag #MadMenWithVen.
(And apologies, obviously, to Jez.)
 

Peepshow starts ending this Wednesday. You probably know that.
Mad Men - with its roads not taken, era-defining attention to detail, existential angst, heart-breaking sex addiction, trouser-wetting, office-shitting, lawnmower injuries, revenge vomit and aging child cast - was very definitely the American it.
But that ended.
And now Peepshow - which did it all first - is ending.
Or returning, depending on your POV.
I hope Jez gets that Honda account.

"There are a lot of television rules about story-telling that I didn't believe in... 

like, that you can't tell an internal story."

 Matthew Weiner