#no joke for james | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mean-scarlet-deceiver · 2 years

Note

No Joke for James for the episode asks?

This one has always been an anti-favorite of mine tbh.

Oy! Don't judge me >:-|

It starts off strong enough, though part of the problem is that it's two stories smushed into one episode (literally—two stories from the mags).

Given how short and underdeveloped most of the mag stories are, you'd think this would be a good idea when adapting them. It's not, though, and this episode is a great testament as to why. It's precisely because they're so short and underdeveloped that the TV adaptations—especially in the 5-minute Classic Era!—should have taken their time, padded them out a little. Most of the mag plots have rather interesting ideas. They're just told too baldly, and there's no commitment to building the atmosphere. That's exactly the sort of thing Allcroft and Mitton were great at rectifying and I'm at a loss as to why they did not do it in these cases.

Anyway, getting down to brass tacks. The ep starts off strong—James doing his peacock thing, Gordon all-too-easily stomping on his worst insecurities, and James pinching his express in order to show him up. This meets the dual prereqs of being the perfect way to develop their characters while also supplying a cracking plot.

As I've said more than once, I'm not wild about Thomas having fallen for James's lies twice in one season (or about Thomas apparently having nothing better to do than to be shunting trains out of Tidmouth twice in one season). But if it had just been this one time, I wouldn't be so bothered. Thomas shows skepticism here (his driver overrides him) so it's in-character. What's not in character is then several stories later again taking James's bait, this time with no resistance at all, but I can't hold that against this story, so fine.

So everything's pretty much okay until after James is caught out and sent to "stay in your shed until you are wanted!" (Classic sort of line, of course. Fine. Good good.) This blatant defiance seems like it should indeed be a pretty big deal, but evidently... he's grounded until? like? the next morning?

But if that were all, I'd just be nitpicking. It's not, though. The scene where Gordon and Henry are razing James in the sheds is surprisingly cringey. I can't even bring myself to type what passes for Henry's "roast." It's even worse than the notorious time Awdry, who had yet to discover the art, had the engines "tease" Thomas by saying "Look! There's Thomas, who wanted to pull a train, but forgot about the coaches!" Awdry had the excuse of it being, like, the fifth story he'd ever written in his life. He was a newb when he wrote that. But this is season 3 of a hit TV series run by seasoned professionals?? Help??? We need zingers here, guys. REAL zingers. (This seems like an ongoing problem with the magazine stories. Did they ever have a good roast? Where is the "You're too fat; you need exercise"? The "I only wish I'd thought of those names myself. If the dome fits—!"?? The "You're the only danger on the rails, Thomas"??? This series lives and dies by good roasts. Actually, that's the best pro-Enterprising Engines argument—there are zingers, which I confess Duke the Lost Engine sorely lacks.)

Right. I know I sound kvetchy, but it only gets worse from here. The second "half" is so stupid. James is let out and put on his least favourite work, which he turns a wheel to gamely in an effort to redeem himself. Fine. But there are a couple of problems.

One: Thomas forgives him sooooo easily. (Where is "Here are your trucks, James! Have you got some bootlaces?") Where's the schadenfreude, Thom? Where's your backbone?

Two: James continues to redeem himself soooooo easily. In the most blatant, convenient, lazy deus ex machina... an inspector appears, and needs a ride to get to STH. James gives him said ride and every authority figure in sight fawns over him.

What the actual hell am I watching?

That the inspector is the Jeremiah Jobling figurine is pretty funny, but it doesn't redeem that this whole "plotline" is lazy and STH's approval at the end is earned way too easily.

Like, I like that Brenner (who I often ride pretty hard) is trying to go for the classic early-RWS vibe with James, the one where he flies too high, gets shot down, and claws his way back up again—reactive and fragile but determined and triumphant. He's often said James is his favorite and his magazine stories as well as his later CGI-era seasons bear this out. He gets James on a much deeper level than most writers.

But the pacing here sucks. (Which might not be Brenner's fault—again, he wasn't involved with the show at this point, unless you count his uncredited stories being adapted.) It's important to let James really splash around in the slough of despond for a bit; this zipped by too fast. And then, his triumph has to be a triumph—not just "yyyyoooo, mr hatt! i did my actual, assigned jobs competently for one (1) day. bitch!"

There is clearly a callback here to James's redemption after the bootlace story, but back then he notably had to do excellent work for a while until he got his day in the sun.

Anyway, yeah. Season 1 did James's emotional life so well that nothing else will ever touch it, I guess.

And STH's final line always made me cringe. Even as a little kid, I could tell it was already cliche.

But. All this said. The episode is not without its merits. In particular, the relationship between James and his driver here is wonderful. Bonus for the relationship between Thomas and his driver, and Gordon and his driver. It was a good episode for the driver relationship, I guess.

Also, even my cold, cold heart isn't immune to the bit with James "bustling about [at the harbour] all day."

The writing may suck, but despite how poorly he is set up by the episode James is still shines in this one, undeniably lovable.

There are few stories or episodes ever that have nailed his character and also let we the reader/viewer just love on him so much. So, despite the editor in me wanting to cry and have a strong drink, I do understand why it's way more popular among fans than it deserves strictly on its technical merits. I just wish that, at minimum, they'd let this be a duology instead of frankensteining the two stories into one rush job.

(And that someone had fixed that dialogue at the end! Geez!)

Let's end on a delightful lil find I made on the TTTE Wiki gallery:

... classic James.

#chatter #ttte #this is ttte #ttte episode talk #ttte season 3 #no joke for james #ttte james #ttte gordon #ttte thomas #the fat controller #andrew brenner #n.w.r. drivers still angels thank you for asking #1+5 #tfc+5

17 notes · View notes

thelooniemoonie · 6 months

Text

Hbomberguy right before obliterating James Somerton's career:

#the moon speaks #hbomberguy #james somerton #i hope no one made this joke yet i just got out of the shower visualizing it

27K notes · View notes

culverton · 3 months

Text

average friendship

#astonishing how many 'we're fucking' jokes can you fit into 10 seconds #house md #hilson #james wilson #greg house

12K notes · View notes

addsalwayssick · 3 months

Text

Remus opened his letter, surprised when it appeared to be a howler. The last time he’d heard one was the day before Sirius got disowned back in 5th year.

He was in the dining hall for breakfast, sitting at the staff table. He watched as Harry and Hermione plotted, looking anxious. He blew it off, as it seemed Harry was always weary.

“A howler,” Snape sneered from beside him.

“Astute observation, Severus.” Remus told him, nodding at him.

Remus disregarded Snape, and focused on the howler. There was no name on it, so it was possible it was from a student playing a prank. In good nature, for the prankingnostalgia, Remus opened it.

There was silence for a moment before a loud, booming voice started to yell. “DARLINGGGGG, GUESS WHOS BACK FROM JAIL” And it was his Sirius Black. And he knew they would find each other again.

#remus lupin #sirius black #james potter #sirius #jegulus #sirius x lupin #wolfstar #regulus and evan and barty #sirius and regulus #remus and regulus #DARLINNG #IM BACK FROM JAIL #and yeah #addie writes #i’m so sorry #this is a joke #i promise

5K notes · View notes

houseswife · 19 days

Text

gregory house “try not to make every interaction with wilson into a gay sex joke” challenge: impossible

#listen. as someone who has both experienced close personal friendships and a homoerotic relationship with underlying romantic feelings #you’re only willing to make ‘we should fuck’ jokes to a certain extent before it underlies genuine attraction #house md #greg house #gregory house #hatecrimes md #hilson #james wilson #house/wilson #house

1K notes · View notes

rosemarilee · 7 months

Text

Regulus and Harry first meet

Regulus: *has never had a conversation with a child before* so…

Harry: you’re short

Regulus: no you’re short

Harry: I’m a kid I’m supposed to be short

Regulus: I’m an adult I can be whatever the fuck I want to be

Harry: so you chose to be short

Regulus: I’m fucking your dad

Harry: I don’t know what that means

#your dad #marauders #harry potter #james loves regulus #jegulus #james potter #regulus black #slytherin skittles #regulus being regulus #regulus loves james #jegulus incorrect quotes #short jokes #regulus and harry #jegulus raising harry

5K notes · View notes

gaytricorder · 3 months

Text

#spirk #star trek #james t kirk #spock #gay men #it’s all jokes #but im so fr

2K notes · View notes

daddiesdrarryy · 2 months

Text

Remus: So you and Pads’s brother are just sleeping together now?

James: Yeah, and I’m not great at casual relationships. I don’t want to scare Reggie off

Remus: Then just give him some space, all right? Don’t Floo, don't write him letters, don’t call

James: That’s crazy, Moony. What if I see a sunset that reminds me of him?

Remus: …

Remus: When do you see him next?

James: We’re having dinner tonight

Remus: Okay, put a rubber band around your wrist, and any time you start planning your wedding or naming your children, I want you to stab yourself in the hand with a fork

James: What’s the rubber band for?

Remus: To slow the bleeding

1K notes · View notes

mon-mi · 4 months

Text

ah yes me my boyfriend and james potter

#hp #sirius black #james potter #remus lupin #remus x sirius #wolfstar #marauders #fanart #hp fanart #monmiart #sirius #sketch #shitpost #this is a joke

2K notes · View notes

dontfrickindoxme · 11 days

Text

Tessa

#murder drones #murder drones tessa #tessa james elliot #murder drones cyn #serial designation j #I was gonna wait til I had a couple pages worth of sketches to post but #I’m slow so w/e #I’m such a joke I made myself sad sketching these… she’s just a baby #that’s just an infant daughter. poor tessa

1K notes · View notes

madame-helen · 4 months

Text

#meme #memes #shitpost #shitposting #humor #funny #lol #satire #funny memes #funny humor #funny meme #comedy #james bond #irony #joke #parody

2K notes · View notes

howlerbat · 6 months

Text

Persuasion Check of all time

#I know I made this joke like 5 times but it’s still funny to me sorry #black sails #james flint #hal gates #captain flint #baldur's gate 3 #the most critical fail of the show mayhaps I will never stop bullying flint about it

3K notes · View notes

apoetsworld · 3 months

Text

Reg *trying to make conversation*: So..what's your favorite star?

James *who's been waiting for this moment his entire life*: MY FAVORITE STAR-

Reg: Don't. You. Say. It.

James *about to burst with excitement*: BUT-

Reg: No.

James *deflating*: ITS-

Reg: NO.

James: Yo-

Reg *smacking upside the head with the nearest pillow*: I SAID NO

#reg hates this joke #along with sirius #theyve both heard it about a thousand times before #starchaser #james potter #jegulus #regulus black #incorrect marauders quotes

1K notes · View notes

houseswife · 5 months

Text

people who aren’t in the house md fandom assume that the batshit craziness of these plotlines starts and ends with the old man yaoi and the malpractice. you all think you understand? [grabs you by the face] listen to me closely. these patients specifically seek out house because he’s known as the capital-G God of diagnostics. on MULTIPLE occasions someone has come in with seizures, coughing up blood, in multi-system organ failure and the team is like “it says here in the chart that you’ve had sex before?… yeah so we have concluded that ur allergic to cum :/ sorry.” and then are genuinely shocked when their treatment of “no more taking big fat loads from peanis” doesn’t reverse sepsis. this is a medical drama. about medical mysteries

#like I know we joke about medicine drug and mouse bites but that’s literally how every episode goes. 5 incorrect diagnoses #and they’re all like ‘you stepped on a rare type of amoeba 22 years ago and it’s having a delayed reaction. we have no evidence but you are #sneezing and that’s one of the symptoms. the treatment? Lobotomy.’#PEAK TELEVISION!#house md #greg house #gregory house #dr house #[h]ouse #eric foreman #allison cameron #robert chase #chris taub #remy thirteen hadley #james wilson #lawrence kutner

2K notes · View notes

retrogamingblog2 · 6 months

Text

2K notes · View notes

starlightseraph · 5 months

Text

house md so wonderful and brilliant because it is simultaneously the heaviest, darkest, most serious show about love and loss and how trauma shapes people and the most unhinged thing you'll ever experience.

#and very gay #like seriously.#it’s actually beautiful and profound in so many ways #but that part is often drowned out by the insanity #just like how all the characters in the show are incredibly repressed and use slur-jokes to deflect #house md #hilson #hate crimes md #hugh laurie #rsl #robert sean leonard #gregory house #james wilson #and yes this post is an almost verbatim quote from something i posted earlier today #but i thought it deserved its own post #starlightseraph’s brainrot

1K notes · View notes