Chris
Jane Asher
!!!
Posts: 244
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Post by Chris on Jun 26, 2008 7:35:55 GMT
All I remember about Next Of Kin was the profoundly depressing theme tune (Penelope Keith singing Tea For Two like someone who'd just been told their dog had died whilst trying to save their only child from drowning...who also died) and the fact that it all seemed to be an excuse for the writers to work out some of their problems with social workers, because every single episode seemed to feature Penelope Keith berating the family's inept case-officer (played by Barry from The Smoknig Room) Margot Leadbetter style about PC GONE MAD!
I caught a glimpse of Last Of The Summer Wine the other day. It featured Brian Conley doing comedy karate. About says it all really.
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Post by Steven on Jun 26, 2008 8:26:56 GMT
Does anyone else remember Land Of Hope And Gloria? I'm pretty sketchy on the details except that it was on ITV, had that bint from the Three Degrees in it and was utter, utter shite. I do! I remember there being a hilarious joke about Sheila Ferguson wanting some "jelly" on her toast and some English old maid exclaiming in a horrified voice that "jelly is what good little boys and girls get at parties!" Oh, how we laughed. And it had a naff theme song over the end credits with the stuffy Englishman and the brassy American arguing over which country was better ("We go back to William the Conqueror", "We go forwards into space" etc.) Again, as someone said upthread, I'm horrified that this is taking up valuable space in my memory, considering the number of birthdays and anniversaries I forget on a regular basis.
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emma
Jane Asher
Posts: 217
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Post by emma on Jun 26, 2008 9:10:10 GMT
All I remember about Next Of Kin was the profoundly depressing theme tune (Penelope Keith singing Tea For Two like someone who'd just been told their dog had died whilst trying to save their only child from drowning...who also died) and the fact that it all seemed to be an excuse for the writers to work out some of their problems with social workers, because every single episode seemed to feature Penelope Keith berating the family's inept case-officer (played by Barry from The Smoknig Room) Margot Leadbetter style about PC GONE MAD! I've been trying to remember what that was called for fucking ages! Another of my mum's favourites. If I remember correctly the daughter was indeed a sulky bitch-notwithstanding HER FUCKING PARENTS HAVE JUST DIED-and Penelope did nothing but sneer at her vegetarianism and tell her her mother was an idiot. And this is comedy.
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Post by Steven on Jun 26, 2008 9:15:31 GMT
Well, they didn't have The X Factor back then, so she probably couldn't think what else to do with them.
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 26, 2008 10:41:52 GMT
Yeah, I know its a bit of a controversial choice, but i find it just bawdy, dated (even when it first aired) and a bit low grade. My dad loves it, though.
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Dennis
Junior Member
Like Zorro.
Posts: 55
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Post by Dennis on Jun 26, 2008 10:43:04 GMT
'Allo 'Allo! - not a shitcom. It gives me the warm-and-fuzzies just thinking about it. True, I don't think I should ever actually watch it again, but a shitcom? No.
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Post by Nick on Jun 26, 2008 13:17:19 GMT
'Allo 'Allo is amazing, if only because it's obvious that the actors are enjoying themselves so much. I always remembered Steven Moffat's comprehensiveschoolcom Chalk as being much better than everyone always thought, since it's generally regarded as one of the worst sitcoms ever made, but since rediscovering the first episode on YouTube I'm not sure what to think. Except that (a) it really did get a lot better a couple of episodes in (but who ever believes people when they say this?), (b) I'm sure David Bamber wasn't that hammy in the rest of the episodes, (c) I'm sure Nicola Walker wasn't that annoying in the rest of the episodes, because she's usually brilliant, and (d) the theme tune at the beginning might actually be the best BBC sitcom theme tune EVER. Especially the bit with the choir. Sample dialogue (throughout both series): TEACHER 1: [Something about something happening in the school], what should I do? TEACHER 2: [Cliche about how lazy/apathetic/careless/indifferent/unimaginative/poor teachers are]. After all, you are a teacher! (Click here for awful pre-titles scene and amazing theme tune.)
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 26, 2008 19:48:58 GMT
To go for a less controversial shitcom, does anybody remember any of these "classics"
Sir Yellow- About a wimpy knight chasing busty wenches. I shit you not.
Up The Elephant & Round The Castle- Jim. Davidson. Vehicle. 'Nuff Said.
Selwyn- Bill Maynard vehicle.
Take A Letter Mr Jones- John Inman plays a male secretary.
Romany Jones- Gypsy Fun!
Come Back Mrs Noah- Mollie Sugden (minus pussy) goes to space
Don't Drink The Water- El Dorado with canned laughter.
My Husband & I- Makes My Family look like Green Wing.
Room Service- Fawlty Towers minus the charm.
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emma
Jane Asher
Posts: 217
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Post by emma on Jun 26, 2008 21:44:41 GMT
Ah, Chalk. I seem to remember childish giggles around the name Cockfoster?
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fused
Su Pollard
Posts: 405
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Post by fused on Jun 29, 2008 12:08:27 GMT
I remember liking So Haunt Me, but I must have been about seven when it was on. I also remember never laughing at it though. I probably just liked the idea of living in a house with a ghost.
Next Of Kin did indeed seem very depressing.
I can't remember the title, but there was one with Richard Wilson and Stephanie Cole as a retired couple. One of their sons was played by Paul Chequer, and I remember quite fancying him, which is very strange as I never fancied him when he was in As If.
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 29, 2008 15:44:01 GMT
What was the one about little garden gnomes who could talk to each other?
Oh and on the themes of ghosts, did anyone else love Christopher "Qualifications: General campery" Biggins Rentaghost. Although if my memory serves me, the ghosts were hardly ever rented, and never for sexual purposes.
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Post by al on Jun 29, 2008 16:07:21 GMT
Does anyone remember Dressing For Breakfast (mid-Nineties, Channel 4, two women being thirtysomething)? I had memories of it being ace, but found it recently on 4OD and it was almost unwatchable.
Also, do we reckon California Dreams is suitable for addressing in this thread, or is it a bit too half-term?
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Post by pauliepoos on Jun 29, 2008 16:20:15 GMT
Does anyone remember Dressing For Breakfast (mid-Nineties, Channel 4, two women being thirtysomething)? I had memories of it being ace, but found it recently on 4OD and it was almost unwatchable. I remember it, and enjoyed it at the time. I always thought Sophia Myles looked like Beatie Edney, but the last time I saw Beatie talking about Helena Bonham Carter on the Biography channel she was looking like Mollie Sugden. She played Joan Sims in Michael Sheen's Kenneth Williams thing according to IMDB.
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fused
Su Pollard
Posts: 405
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Post by fused on Jun 29, 2008 17:34:40 GMT
Looking on IMDB, the Richard Wilson/Stephanie Cole/Paul Chequer sitcom I was talking about was called Life As We Know It. Strangely enough on the IMDB page 'Dexter' the dog which played the family pet is the one listed first in the cast list.
Which reminds of another sitcom I can't remember the name of. It was mainly about a couple, but it involved a dog "speaking" via a voice over when it was taken for a walk and every week the last thing it would say was "Bugger."
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Post by Intoxicated In Cockermouth on Jun 29, 2008 17:53:58 GMT
How could we all forget Denise Van Outen vehicle (not just Lee Mead), Babes In The Wood. Named, appropriately, after a grisly child murder. But then again, The Yorkshire Rupper Laugh Menagery had me in stitches. Literally.
Back to Babes In The Wood, was the arse from the Daz adverts in there too. In fact, what was the plot of Babes In The Wood.
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Post by Steven on Jun 29, 2008 21:57:07 GMT
Three single women with very different personalities (Samantha Janus was the stuck-up one, Denise Van Outen was the common one, and Natalie Walter was the thick one) share a flat in St John's Wood. Hilarity fails to ensue.
And talking about this has just reminded me of Davina McCall and poor, poor Ed Byrne in Sam's Game. Yikes.
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Post by longsnakemoan on Jul 20, 2008 18:48:58 GMT
How could we all forget Denise Van Outen vehicle (not just Lee Mead), Babes In The Wood. Named, appropriately, after a grisly child murder. But then again, The Yorkshire Rupper Laugh Menagery had me in stitches. Literally. Back to Babes In The Wood, was the arse from the Daz adverts in there too. In fact, what was the plot of Babes In The Wood. Christ, I remember that. It was Denise Van Outen post Big Breakfast trying (and failing) to launch a serious acting career.
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Post by Nick on Jul 20, 2008 19:38:17 GMT
Which reminds of another sitcom I can't remember the name of. It was mainly about a couple, but it involved a dog "speaking" via a voice over when it was taken for a walk and every week the last thing it would say was "Bugger." It wasn't Conjugal Rites on ITV, was it? With Gwen Taylor? As half a middle-aged couple with grown-up kids who were slowly growing apart? In a contemplative, 'bittersweet sitcom' (ugh) sort of way? I remember the thing with the dog, and I remember this programme, vaguely, and I don't know why I think they might be the same thing, but I do. Conjugal Rites is another one of those shitcoms that I remember having a theme tune that was much better than the rest of the programme. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-Conjugal Riiiiiiiiites. You see?
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Post by Bungle on Jul 20, 2008 21:04:56 GMT
If you want sitcom hell, buy this. I did, last Christmas: www.culttv.net/index.php?cm_id=917&cm_type=articleEvery single one is shit. Yes, even Watching! It ruined memories of that series completely. When I tell you that On the Buses is the best of the lot, well... That's My Boy even manages to do 'the boss is coming round for (Christmas!) dinner'. Seriously.
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fused
Su Pollard
Posts: 405
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Post by fused on Jul 21, 2008 11:10:44 GMT
It wasn't Conjugal Rites on ITV, was it? With Gwen Taylor? As half a middle-aged couple with grown-up kids who were slowly growing apart? In a contemplative, 'bittersweet sitcom' (ugh) sort of way? I remember the thing with the dog, and I remember this programme, vaguely, and I don't know why I think they might be the same thing, but I do. Conjugal Rites is another one of those shitcoms that I remember having a theme tune that was much better than the rest of the programme. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-Conjugal Riiiiiiiiites. You see? After checking IMDB again, I think it was, as the name of Gwen Taylor's character was Gen which jogged my memory a bit- I think her character once hoovered her husband's underpants up and a whole plotline was devoted to their duvet.
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