20 posts tagged “sitcom”

From YouTube, a tribute to Mrs Slocombe’s pussy, especially since Twitter has inexplicably blocked the hashtag (while happily letting in far coarser language). Enjoy this collection, and I am unanimous in that.

At one point, it seemed Keeley Hawes was getting cast in receptionist roles. There was The Avengers movie with Ralph Fiennes and Sean Connery; and this pre-Tipping the Velvet Channel Five comedy, Hotel!, which had nothing to do with Arthur Hailey. Watch out instead for the stunning Lysette Anthony (who would be in her mid-30s at this point, but wow), Pakistani actor Athar Malik, better known as Art Malik, playing a terrorist again (he was a Mujahadin warrior in The Living Daylights and the villain in True Lies), and Lee Majors as the President (who probably doesn’t need much of an introduction). Some good sight gags, much in the vein of the Zucker movies.

There were a few episodes of British sitcom The Detectives that I like and remember well. One of them saw Briggs (Robert Powell) and Louis (Jasper Carrott) go undercover in the Paradise Club, with Leslie Grantham and Leon Herbert reprising their roles from The Paradise Club drama. Inexplicably, there’s so little relating to The Paradise Club on YouTube—this clip from The Detectives is among the very few bits and pieces.

Disgracefully, I don’t think Last of the Summer Wine airs in New Zealand any more, at least not on terrestrial TV. (The last series aired here was the first one without Bill Owen, from memory.) Someone has uploaded some episodes on to YouTube which I had not seen before—it was lovely seeing it again. I knew Burt Kwouk from the early James Bond (Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice) and Pink Panther films had joined the cast but didn’t know Brian Murphy (Man about the House, George and Mildred) had.
   And for those who think the British have short TV series, this is the world’s longest running sitcom. The following is a 2007, 28th “season” episode. For the youngsters, Peter Sallis is the voice of Wallace in Wallace & Gromit and, in my mind, irreplaceable.
   Roy Clarke, who I believe has written all the episodes, has no end of ideas. They are as funny now as they were 10 and 20 years ago.

   I understand this is HM the Queen’s favourite TV show.

I love this sitcom. The first episode of Mind Your Language, including the London Weekend logo.
   I haven’t seen this rerun for years. I suspect the politically correct movement thinks we immigrants would be so offended and need the Man to defend us from humour.
   First, I don’t find it offensive, not even the Chinese character.
   Secondly, surely the butt of the jokes is English ignorance and intolerance, especially the highly strung Miss Courtenay? We’ve all been through these experiences.
   Thirdly, if I find something offensive, I will get on my own high horse about it. To think we need defending because we are somehow helpless is the greatest insult.
   Rant over. Enjoy!

I’m not a huge Friends fan—OK, I’m not a Friends fan at all—but I did see this at the time and thought Bruce Willis gave a wonderfully comedic performance. According to the video, Mr Willis won an Emmy for his guest role. To this day, I still occasionally say, ‘I, too, am a neat guy.’

My favourite episode of Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, starring Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer, who did his own stunts in the show. Trivium: the best Spencer impersonation I saw was done by Karl Urban, when we were kids at primary school.
   I began this post as I was looking for the police interrogation scene, in part three. The stunts and courtroom scene are classic—this episode has it all. The final courtroom quotation is priceless and I used to quote it at law school: ‘British justice must be done / Not only done, but seen. / And now I’ve seen it done to me, / I know how done I’ve been.’

I see British television is coming up with its share of bad ideas. After ruining New Zealand show Outrageous Fortune—a show so West Auckland it can’t even be set in another city, let alone another country—ITV will launch Law and Order UK with a 13-part series this winter. And it gets more worrying: there will be a remake of The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviezel in the Patrick McGoohan role. Sir Ian McKellen is Number Two.
   It is said that the Prisoner remake is the product of a fan, so I hope he will maintain a high standard for it.
   Just as Britons have little faith in American remakes, I have little faith in British ones. Here is what they thought Who’s the Boss? should be like, calling it The Upper Hand. Even the typeface family is the same (Goudy). Joe McGann is horribly miscast in the lead—his accent is not as working class as Tony Danza’s—though Bond girl Honor Blackman, formerly Pussy Galore, is perfect. Diana Weston was, once upon a time, in The Professionals. Ask Britons today and many do not remember the show except for die-hard fans. In New Zealand it only managed an afternoon slot while Who’s the Boss? got prime-time.

   Here is the original for comparison: Danza is more lively, with better timing. The direction is also better in the American original.
   There are just some shows the Americans do better, and some shows the Brits do better.

Best episode ever. Each time Fawlty Towers is repeated, I wait for this one episode. We keep talking about moose on this presidential campaign that it was only just natural. It has everything: the silly walk, the Germans, the talking moose and the fire drill.

This was one of my favourite scenes from the new comedy, The Jaquie Brown Diaries.
   Background: TV3 journalist Brown, playing a fictional version of herself, is known in the series as New Zealand’s top ‘lightweight journalist’, specializing in human-interest fare (not too far from the truth in her real-life role on Campbell Live). When she discovers a rival at the network, Serita Singh, who happens to be Fijian Indian, and after discovering that the ‘Nelson’ ratings (obviously a parody of Nielsen) have her polling poorly among minorities, Brown urges her producer to let her do an interview with visiting American rapper Bizzy Trickle. Her problem: she hates rap, and uses her rival’s notes, but is ill-prepared, despite trying to dress up as a rap fan. Trickle, meanwhile, thought he would do the interview with Singh, and is none too pleased at the change. Filmed at the Sky Tower.
   (Language warning: the n word is used once for comic effect.)