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The entire "BBC Farm series" is worth watching: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_historic_farm_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_historic_farm_series R

by Syonyk 2y ago

The entire "BBC Farm series" is worth watching: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_historic_farm_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_historic_farm_series Ruth Goodman's shows are fun to watch, because regardless of what she's doing, how covered in grime she is, what era she's living and working in, she exudes such a sense of joy, and a general giddy, "I cannot believe that I get to do this as my job!" attitude. It's like watching the last couple seasons of Mythbusters. There's no doubt that they are having a grand time of it.

0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
Could you expand on the last point? Was there a change from the initial seasons? I have only casually watched the show, but everyone seemed to be having a great time, just doing weird engineering things with someone else footing the bill.
- Syonyk 2y ago
  The first couple seasons were Jamie and Adam, with a fairly minimal film crew, "doing stuff." Going to random stores to get things and talk to people, and generally having a good time doing it on a shoestring budget. The show largely focused on the process - how the rigs were built. What sort of small scale testing was done in the shop. The tools and processes they used to test this sort of stuff. The mid-seasons added the build team (Keri, Grant (RIP) and Tory), and started what was, in my opinion, an unwelcome turn to "mainline television." They started adding more myths, more animations to explain things, and a lot of "Here's what we're going to do after the commercial!" and "Now that we're back from the commercial, here's what we've done!" sort of repeated filler - to the point that there was some subreddit that made versions without the filler and repeated content. It was a lot more "Here's the myth, here's the test" sort of TV, and mostly ignored the process. The build team got along well enough for the first few seasons of it, but towards the later seasons with them, the tension and dislike between various people was obvious even on air. Kari and Tory couldn't stand each other, and the "pranks" on Tory went from "entertaining" to "genuinely mean." The last few seasons were back to Adam and Jamie, focusing on the build, except with a budget and name recognition that allowed them to do basically anything they wanted - and you could tell they were loving it. I know there's some contract drama and such behind the scenes as well, but the above is how it felt watching it. The last two seasons are easily my favorites, because they'd worked out how to do the show well, and they were able to test a lot of impressive-scale things that wouldn't have been an option earlier in the show.
  - gradus_ad 2y ago
    Huh? I did a quick search and everything I can find says the relationship among the 3 build team members was very close and positive, that they were all close friends. They went on to do a show together on Netflix. Maybe some of the later episodes give the impression that there were tensions but I don't see anything attesting to that.
    - Syonyk 2y ago
      I don't know. I watched the show, but wasn't by any means a superfan or something. In the last season or so of the build team, the dynamics had changed. Keri and Tory, who had gotten along fine before, seemed unable to keep their dislike of each other out of the show. It went from "Okay, that's a pretty funny prank" to "You are actively trying to hurt each other." At least as I recall it. I don't know, maybe they worked it out. But I do recall a season or so that was genuinely uncomfortable to watch, because of the dynamics between people on the show - and it was a distinct change from previous seasons.
      - voakbasda 2y ago
        Here’s another hypothesis: none of it was real, but rather manufactured drama in an attempt to drive up ratings. If those seasons were reformulated for mainstream, that would be the simplest explanation about how both things can be true.

by Syonyk 2y ago

0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago

Could you expand on the last point? Was there a change from the initial seasons? I have only casually watched the show, but everyone seemed to be having a great time, just doing weird engineering things with someone else footing the bill.

Syonyk 2y ago
The first couple seasons were Jamie and Adam, with a fairly minimal film crew, "doing stuff." Going to random stores to get things and talk to people, and generally having a good time doing it on a shoestring budget. The show largely focused on the process - how the rigs were built. What sort of small scale testing was done in the shop. The tools and processes they used to test this sort of stuff. The mid-seasons added the build team (Keri, Grant (RIP) and Tory), and started what was, in my opinion, an unwelcome turn to "mainline television." They started adding more myths, more animations to explain things, and a lot of "Here's what we're going to do after the commercial!" and "Now that we're back from the commercial, here's what we've done!" sort of repeated filler - to the point that there was some subreddit that made versions without the filler and repeated content. It was a lot more "Here's the myth, here's the test" sort of TV, and mostly ignored the process. The build team got along well enough for the first few seasons of it, but towards the later seasons with them, the tension and dislike between various people was obvious even on air. Kari and Tory couldn't stand each other, and the "pranks" on Tory went from "entertaining" to "genuinely mean." The last few seasons were back to Adam and Jamie, focusing on the build, except with a budget and name recognition that allowed them to do basically anything they wanted - and you could tell they were loving it. I know there's some contract drama and such behind the scenes as well, but the above is how it felt watching it. The last two seasons are easily my favorites, because they'd worked out how to do the show well, and they were able to test a lot of impressive-scale things that wouldn't have been an option earlier in the show.
- gradus_ad 2y ago
  Huh? I did a quick search and everything I can find says the relationship among the 3 build team members was very close and positive, that they were all close friends. They went on to do a show together on Netflix. Maybe some of the later episodes give the impression that there were tensions but I don't see anything attesting to that.
  - Syonyk 2y ago
    I don't know. I watched the show, but wasn't by any means a superfan or something. In the last season or so of the build team, the dynamics had changed. Keri and Tory, who had gotten along fine before, seemed unable to keep their dislike of each other out of the show. It went from "Okay, that's a pretty funny prank" to "You are actively trying to hurt each other." At least as I recall it. I don't know, maybe they worked it out. But I do recall a season or so that was genuinely uncomfortable to watch, because of the dynamics between people on the show - and it was a distinct change from previous seasons.
    - voakbasda 2y ago
      Here’s another hypothesis: none of it was real, but rather manufactured drama in an attempt to drive up ratings. If those seasons were reformulated for mainstream, that would be the simplest explanation about how both things can be true.