HARDY BUCKS
Hardy Bucks follows the lives of four lazy but likable lads from Castletown, Co Mayo as they try and make enough money to make a fresh start in the 'big shmoke'- Galway. The bucks try their luck at the Mitzi Turbo Cup - an underground boy-racer event - which has come to Castletown. With the chance of netting €250 "in the claw", the boys may finally have the means of moving to Galway.
HARDY BUCKS EPISODE 1: The Mitzi Turbo Cup
"HARDY BUCKS" RTE STORYLAND PAGE AND VOTING HERE
FULL LIST OF "HARDY BUCKS" LINKS HERE:-
http://storygas.blogspot.com/2009/03/rte-storyland-contender-hardy-bucks.html
What do you think?
Sum it up in 3 words, or scores out of 10...
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10 comments:
absolute pants!
I'd ask for the money back if i were RTE...
I've watched a lot of the Hardy Bucks stuff and I think it's pretty funny, I think they're struggling here a little. For a start I think they should have introduced the characters and the theme a little better, it's comes across as a little random if you weren't already familiar with it and I guess the assumption is that many viewing Storyland won't have prior knowledge of the show. The other problem they are grappling with here is story, finding a hook to hang the episode on. They chose a fair day event but it seems clumsy and a bit all over the place.
I think the story they're trying to tell is - The adventures of some small town lads trying to scrape the cash together to head for the big smoke. - In this episode they attempt to win the necessary money by entering a racing competition in a visiting fair.....
I think this is what they're aiming for, they just don't tell it very well. It might be because this is the first time they've tried to apply a genuine narrative to their fly on the wall comedy style. They haven't got it right this time, it will be interesting to see how they approach episode 2 if they get through, will the learning curve be evident?
Unfortunately, we will have to watch another episode on Hardly Jokes; because they are the only group with any real support. There in lies the flaw with the voting system (which should have an additional panel to keep quality control) and the fact that RTE seem to have done very little to attract a real, independent audience from outside the support group of each entrant; begging the question are they running at loss, having actually attracted very low viewing figures compared with the money invested?
Hardy Bucks are appealing to their own support group, but I don't imagine anyone in the media is rushing to sign them up, that said, judging the current state of television drama, I might be very wrong.
They'd have been better off showing online re-runs of Bosco, it would have at least attracted a nostalgic audience and perhaps even lead to a few add-on sales.
Having heard about these boys on 2fm and iRadio, I visited their youtube and got to grips with their previous efforts in which they had more time to play with than the 7-mins allowed by RTÉ. I agree with Sarah that the application of an actual narrative arc has changed the style and pace of their fly-on-the-wall shtick but not to any detriment of their concept. I think that they just need more time to let the story unfold. The acting and lines are terrific and natural to the point that doesn't treat the viewer like a fool who has to have everything spelt out for them.
The no frill's portal into the boredom of rural Irish life is something that a lot of young people in Ireland can relate to and it doesn't matter if they spend ages introducing the cast because they are in effect all ancillary to the setting and location.
I can only commend Hardy Bucks for their Storyland attempt. The Mitzi Turbo Cup is DIY. It's rough and raw but in fairness, it's got enough in there to reward a second viewing and as for a hook, the laughs may just do it for them.
The comments about having a tightly regulated voting panel who deal with quality control reek of a disgruntled contestant. I was at the san francisco irish film festival two weeks ago where they were showing the hardy bucks on the same bill as saviours and give up yer aul sins. Even the american crowd was laughing. Just because these boys probably didn't attend film school and don't set up perfect "narrative arcs" doesn't take away from the fact that it's funny. more please!
From the beginning of the Storyland project I've reckoned the Hardy Bucks lads would deservedly do best out of all the participants - largely because they've done it the right way round, built an audience online who will stick with them through to (hopefully) a TV broadcast version. Nothing yet has changed my mind. Well done, Hardy Bucks - and, to all the anonymous snarky comment-leavers, enjoy your life in the service industries.
er... is that last message from anon spam, or a joke? I think it's spam - but its random enough to be a hilarious sidebar to this discussion. I'll delete it for now -- sorry if it's something I've just not 'got'.
People "working for the Hardy Bucks".
That's yer recession right there.
Anonymous: I've never met the Hardy Bucks lads but I have watched their stuff on YouTube and like what they do. If you want to resubmit the second part of your question with your real name attached to it, I'll come around to whichever branch of Supermacs currently provides you with an income and tell you what's what, personally.
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