Wodehouse TV/film adaptations?

[speakeasying.livejournal.com]

I just finished episode four of last year's Blandings TV series, and I was wondering if anyone else has watched it, and if so, what they thought? The more I see, the more I enjoy it, but it doesn't really live up to what I want from Wodehouse on screen. I'm used to, idk, tighter scripts? Tighter overall production? This feels somewhat sloppy. But it's still quite fun, and it's only three hours overall, so I don't regret the time expended in watching it at all.

I also got my hands on the 2004 Piccadilly Jim, and holy crap, did anyone else watch that film, because it was awful. The more I watched the more it was like being bludgeoned in the head with a two-by-four very, very slowly. Are any of the previous adaptations any better, or should I steer clear of them, too?

Comments

[who_la_hoop]

I really enjoyed Blandings! I didn't think it was entirely accurate in terms of characterisation, but if you took it for what it was - inspired by Wodehouse, and a bit of silly fun - it was a good watch. I hope they'll make some more.

[speakeasying.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely hoping they make more, too. Having finished it, I feel like it built on itself well? Matching the books didn't matter as much when it was so clearly consistent within its own borders. And they're making a second season of Vicious, which was fun but honestly not very good, so I'll be somewhat miffed if I don't get more Blandings. 8'D

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I never even heard of either of these!

[speakeasying.livejournal.com]

I would advise staying away from the recent Piccadilly Jim, I had to pause it so many times and eventually I just turned it off and walked away. I miiiiiight try obtaining one of the earlier ones and seeing if it's any good, if there are DVDs available. But Blandings is probably worth the watch as long as you're not expecting high art?

[haikitteh.livejournal.com]

I wanted to watch Blandings but haven't read any of the books besides Something Fresh, so I haven't sought it out yet.

Except for the Fry & Laurie version of Jeeves & Wooster, I haven't seen any Wodehouse adaptations.

[speakeasying.livejournal.com]

I haven't yet finished a Blandings novel -- I find I rarely finish anything these days, I try reading 10293412 things at once and then get distracted from all of them -- and I haven't tried that many, but I think who_la_hoop is right about the characterisation. I'm not sure it's necessary to have an intimate knowledge of the novels; the show has a completely different feel than Jeeves and Wooster, it's not trying to be a super accurate adaptation, probably in part because none of the episodes are long enough for that.

TL;DR you should watch it if only so I have someone to talk about it with, and then you should tell me what you think.

I've only ever watched Jeeves and Wooster and Blandings all the way through, but I've seen bits of Wodehouse Playhouse and Heavy Weather (I don't have the attention span for visual media, either 8D). The quality of Wodehouse adaptations seems a lot like the quality of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, they're kind of all over the place.

[helenajust.livejournal.com]

Not sure if you're referring only to Blandings, especially since your atavar shows Stephen Fry. At the risk of stating the obvious, by far the best version of Wodehouse which I've ever seen are the Jeeves and Wooster series starring Stephen Fry and High Laurie. Just superb in every way.

[speakeasying.livejournal.com]

I was, I only used the Jeeves-in-drag icon because the only Wodehouse icons I have are J&W, and Jeeves in drag trumps anything else I could ever have used anyway. But yes! I watched the show with my parents before I even knew there were books -- my parents are depressingly uninterested in ever reading any Wodehouse, they have no taste in literature -- that's a lie, they've just become lazy about reading fiction when they can watch it instead -- and it was so excellent that I had to look up the books, and then I realised the series wasn't just good, it was an excellent adaptation. The books were everything about the series I'd wanted to see but couldn't because it was on screen, and the show was a perfect indicator of what I was going to get once I started reading, which is somewhat unusual.

[schreckschraube.livejournal.com]

What's so great about Wodehouse are the verbal descriptions from the narrator (which you don't get in a film), the dialogues (which have to be shortened hugely for films, otherwise it would get boring because nothing really HAPPENS at that time), and the funny stories. Well, in a film you get funny stories and about 1/3 or 1/4 of the original dialogue - it's hard to stay anywhere near the real thing if you're trying to adapt any novels or short stories by Wodehouse into a different medium.

Even the Fry and Laurie series often makes me whine "nooo, how could you cut out THAT part of the dialogue, it was the best!" Wodehouse is just the wrong guy for tight scripts, I guess. The tighter you get, the more un-true you get to the original.