half way through second series: lost the magic, methinks

I think the first series was better than the second. I don't think the second was awful, but I certainly think they were beginning to run out of ideas.

The Coppers, for example, went from slightly lazy to flat out criminals. In the first series, they were more believable as two guys who might sneak in to have a few pints now and then. Towards the end of the second series they began robbing people and started dealing drugs. It got a bit silly.

Saying that, I do feel Series 2 was still quite strong. If the first series was excellent, the second series was very good with the odd flaw.

In a way, I'm glad it ended when it did. They are still making new episodes of The Royle Family. And it hasn't been funny in about 10 years. I'd rather see 12 episodes of Early Doors that were funny than 24 episodes which included 12 rubbish ones.