James Corden, who played Smithy in the beloved comedy series Gavin and Stacey, has revealed that he feared the show was terrible after watching the first cut of the first episode. In a moment of panic, he called acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner for advice.
Panicked Call to Director
Corden recalled: “I remember the day I saw the first episode for the first time. It’s a really jarring moment when you watch something you’ve worked on because sometimes things are s***. I called Nicholas because he was the only person I knew who had directed anything.”
He continued: “I said, ‘I’m in a bit of a bad way, I need some advice… I’ve just watched the first cut of our show and I think it might be s*** and I don’t know what to do. The ending is OK and there’s another thing that’s OK’.”
Hytner's Reassuring Advice
Hytner responded with a perspective that Corden has held onto ever since: “Nicholas said, ‘If it’s the first time you’ve watched it and there are three things you like, there are probably 10 good things in it and that means there is one thing you like every three minutes, so I’m not saying it’s brilliant but I’m telling you it’s not shit.’ I’ll never forget it. I’ve held onto that all this time.”
Changes in Comedy Making
Despite the show's eventual success, Corden believes creating comedy today is tougher due to executive involvement. He said: “It feels like when we made Gavin & Stacey it was such a freeing time compared to making television today. I do look back on that time and the sheer freedom, there was such a freedom in making stuff then. It didn’t feel as competitive as it feels now.”
Enduring Success and a Disliked Episode
Gavin and Stacey went on to become one of the most popular comedies in TV history, winning multiple awards and achieving record-breaking ratings. However, Corden still dislikes one episode: the second instalment of the first series. He described it as “an awful episode of television. It’s shit. The only good thing is you meet Dawn and Pete. Everything else is terrible. We watch that now through our fingers. It’s a very bad half hour.”
