This week on On Story, comedy-writer extraordinaire Stephen Merchant discusses co-creating the BBC’s original series, The Office, his work on Hello Ladies, and his new series The Outlaws, while speaking to crafting relatable characters and how he found comedy inspiration from drama.
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The brains of the operation
Very much so. As their paths diverge further he will- I think & hope- in the fullness of time get his recognition as the one who had more to bring to the table.
100% love hearing him converse
That's the word around town, but a group of people is more than the sum of individuals and I bet Ricky and Stephen would inspire each other and create stuff that they wouldn't on their own.
Stephen Merchant is an absolute gem 💎
I grew up on the mean streets of Bristol, and for a while was friends with Stephen. I can confirm that Hanham was riddled with underworld characters like Christopher Walken. When we weren’t skateboarding on the pavements or playing marbles in back gardens, we were trading quips with shady New Yorkers. This was my childhood growing up with Stephen in Hanham
I was actually initially going to post an xfm quote but this interview was really profound and engaging so I decided to show some restraint.....oh and have a good Christmas
You should have just went with the xfm quote
@@marksneddon😂
Fantastic interview. Could listen to him talk like this for hours.
I just finished watching The Outlaws. It's really well written and has a great cast. 10/10 for me. Thank you, Stephen!
Merchant is a VERY intelligent guy, and a good listen.
He's definitely NOT a moron!
I wouldn't paint a picture of that.
Karl, do you know what you look like?!
I'd put him in the distance
That's doin' him a favour@@blankpool
He’s done you again!
Were you a tall baby?
It’s the eyes
My god, he's deep.
Im glad Hello Ladies got a shout-out. It started off a bit flawed, and you could literally feel it being written - a lot of the jokes were a bit forced. I feel like Smerch *really* nailed the tone after the third episode, however, and the secodn half of the season was incredibly strong. I was looking forward to season two and still think of it as an unfair, premature cancellation.
I really enjoyed it, some of the awkward comedy was up there with The Office and Extras for me. It may not have been in that bracket overall, but there were regular flashes of Merchant at his best. I thought it worked better than Outlaws, which I didn't really get into. I re watched it recently and noticed SM said here he should have made Stuart less spiky, but to me that made it stand out as different than the majority of stuff on TV. The fact he could be really selfish fitted with how desperate and insecure he was, although he showed his decency as the show went on, and in the movie which was instead of the second series.
Like a bit of weird art
Great interview. I love Stephen. I wish him continued success.
As soon as I Heard his voice I was like wait that’s The guy who voices Wheatley from portal two
Same 😂
He actually got offered to voice for portal 1 also but Karl took the phone call didn’t pass the message on to him so he missed out
Eyes bulging with imagined riches
Stephens story telling is superb. His trip to Brazil was a classic!
@cJ-gg2hy 🤝agreed cj..it really is that good -never gets old.....brilliant....listening to a rerun most ntes....🤝 cya
Time to re-listen to the xfm shows!
You're never supposed to stop.
@@marshgrey350to me that’s up there with what are those things in gremlins called? umm
That drawing at the beginning with color coming at random spots was pure fucking nightmare fuel.
Stephen always says “We” and Ricky says “I”. It makes me sad 😩
Yeah. This partnership couldn't work because of Ricky's self centredness. It's sad because it's a waste.
indeed
Legend!
PRETTY GREAT INTERVIEW! ❤
MECHANT
Who are you call sad?!
At least my mum don't cut my hair
im in love wit him
What a genius
Top man from Bristol!
I wonder if he's got his 50p back
Steve Mitchell
Look at the gleam on that
Think how much money he could have built by now if he'd started that pension at 22. He'd be rolling in it.
He voiced wheatley.
wow, he really does look like that
Look like what?
wheatley as a human from portal 🤨🤨
You should read Blue Sky
Wheatley
wheatly my beloved
WHEATLEY
Eye sink you mean "Steven Mer-CHANT"
stephen is a bigger man than ricky. ricky can't even say stephens name anymore.
Lanky co writer
Hello Ladies was at times painful to watch... I almost think it would've worked out better if it were a British production and then came to America after its conclusion. I just think Americans cannot stay in that level of cringe while in UK you could get away with it, that's a big difference between the US Office and the British Office. But I think that character and show would've come along better in a second season.
lanky geek
A huge fan of hello ladies? Why is she lying to his lanky face?
Eyes bulging with imagined riches
Eyes bulging with imagined riches