Coincidences

Coincidences are pretty common in real life. I noticed them mostly in travel. I really don't travel that much and live in Florida. Average twice a year. In my only trip to Italy I ran into a friend (who also lives in Florida) in Rome. On a trip to NYC I ran into a friend on a crowded street. Went to a very remote island in the Bahamas and met an acquaintance on the dock. Two friends of mine "bumped" into each other in Kenya years ago and still talk about the bizarre experience. There is a woman in Texas that has won a lottery (>$1M) four times.

A situation comedy takes advantage of those uncomfortable coincidences that occur in daily life. Peep Show is fiction. Real life coincidences are much more bizarre.




He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

Have you ever seen Seinfeld?

In the behind the scenes comments on the DVD series, it is mentioned that there was a conscious effort to have these coincidental clashes between characters on almost every episode as a comedic device.

I like the way it works on Peep show, too. Doesn't bother me at all.

I like the way it's done. It teaches these guys that they can't always act like that or else it will bite them in the butt. The show itself is very karmatic. Plus let's face it, the more often you go out, the more likely you are to get into trouble.

"the day I tried to live, I learned that I was alive"

To be honest, I've kind of changed my opinion on this matter.

While I do still feel that some of the coincidences I listed should have been left out, the existence of others has led to classic moments. For example, when a customer asks Mark "Can we get some menus?" and he replies "No" and when Johnson asks "Mark, are you...working here?" - these are funny moments that are borne out of coincidences.

Another, albeit slightly different, example involves the book group. Zahra has already revealed that Ben doesn't like to read and the book group can't take place at their place because Ben is holding his poker game. Despite this, Ben appears and gives his spiel about "Wuthering Heights". His presence is never explained, which could lead me to criticise the writing. However, that particular scene is one of my favourites in the entire show. So if you need to throw in a coincidence here and there or have a mild inconsistency - then do it. The result, in Peep Show anyway, is often hilarious.

Sophie came down to see Barney, Barney was with Jez, Mark took Dobie to see Jez play.

The Mexican restaurant always annoyed me on rewatches. Too big of a stretch but without it you wouldn't have Johnson ordering the pitchers of Bud and telling Mark to waz off. And that shït was hilarious.

Regardless of Peep Show's uniqueness, it is still more or less a Situation Comedy.

Characters have to be placed into situations for it all to work.

Call them coincidences or situations they must be crafted by the writers and are required to make the show work.

Do you think anything like this show could happen organically?






"Nobody wants to admit they ate nine cans of ravioli."

Almost all of the events in Peep Show take place in Croyden which isn't that big, it only has a population of about 50 000. The coincidences aren't that unbelievable.

Use of coincidence is the life blood of fiction/drama. Think novels by Dickens, any episode of Seinfeld and, well, many really great stories (The Gift of the Magi). A friend once said they'd stopped watching LA Law because they couldn't believe one firm would get so many interesting and unusual cases. True, but that's how fiction works -- it's meant to divert us while real life plods on with only occasional bursts of really interesting stuff. BTW, Peep Show is awesome (if a bit rough at times).