Old School Comedy Yes Or No

[jon1959]

A 2004 'Top 50' of UK television comedies based on a BBC poll (so skewed). Probably Radio Times subscribers:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/top/

A strange mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.

[the other bob wilson]

it is interesting how some comedy ages better than others though.
Tommy Cooper was one I never found remotely funny, painfully unfunny- you couldn't have paid me to watch him when I was a teenager, yet I really liked the earlier work of someone like Harry Hill who I can imagine being just as unfunny to someone else if they weren't feeling it.

I can’t imagine anyone thinking Eric Morecambe was not funny, but I get that some would feel like you do about Tommy Cooper.

[the other bob wilson]

A 2004 'Top 50' of UK television comedies based on a BBC poll (so skewed). Probably Radio Times subscribers:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/top/

A strange mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.

I see what you mean. One thing that jumps out at me from that list is that I think you have to go to number 27 before you find something that was on ITV and it’s the only one out of the fifty that was.

[jon1959]

I normally don't like slapstick - but The Plank (1967) is a work of genius.

Norman Wisdom was big in Albania.

[bobh]

I normally don't like slapstick - but The Plank (1967) is a work of genius.

Norman Wisdom was big in Albania.

Along the same lines as The Plank, but not quite as good, was A home of Your Own, set on a building site

[Rjk]

I normally don't like slapstick - but The Plank (1967) is a work of genius.

Norman Wisdom was big in Albania.

I guess like any form of comedy there are good examples and bad ones, the bast slapstick can be as cleverly set up and well executed as any word play or bon mot. But the laziest setups or poorly executed examples of slapstick are just afwful aren't they?

I still enjoy this charlie chaplin scene from 92 years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9NfXIXzgnA

The original Mr Bean episodes are mostly physical comedy too but really well written with usually a big payoff at the end that has been thought about. Yes they've been done to death, but there's a reason they're so popular

[Rjk]

I remember enjoying "game on" as a teenager and it was pretty popular amongst my friends - stumbled across an episode on some random channel recently and gave it a watch and my god it was awful - really depressing, not at all funny, a thoroughly miserable experience

[Wales-Bales]

Rising Damp ......Great comedy actors , superb scripts

My favourite episode, but he would probably be cancelled today!

[bobh]

Rising Damp, Love thy Neoghbour, Mind Your Language - racist as hell!

[Mr Soul '68]

Les Dawson .....bit dated but a talented guy

Dick Emery .....cross dressing superstar

One Foot In The Grave ......absolute crap

Rising Damp ......Great comedy actors , superb scripts

Only Fools And Horses .....never thought much of that

Keeping Up Appearances .....shoot anyone involved in that nonsense

Bread ......unfunny scouse cobblers

Porridge ......top stuff

Two Ronnie's........could drag on but had their moments , mastermind and hardware shop being the best

Man About The House ......rubbish but Paula Wilcox was worth watching

Til Death Us Do Part -Awesome

Steptoe & Son - Awesome

[splott parker]

Not quite old school but The League of Gentlemen was darkly hilarious.

[Rjk]

Not quite old school but The League of Gentlemen was darkly hilarious.

yeah, could be a bit hit and miss, but at its best it was incredible

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Rising Damp, Love thy Neoghbour, Mind Your Language - racist as hell!

Rising Damp showed the stupidity of Rigsbys ignorance but the other two were shocking

[BLUETIT]

I normally don't like slapstick - but The Plank (1967) is a work of genius.

Norman Wisdom was big in Albania.

It was post 10

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=th...id:aUbcaE44cSw

[BLUETIT]

It was post 10

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=th...id:aUbcaE44cSw

My bad, just noticed this is a later version, here’s the original

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...id:kKJcR24njrs

[jon1959]

My bad, just noticed this is a later version, here’s the original

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...id:kKJcR24njrs

[chrisp_1927]

I remember enjoying "game on" as a teenager and it was pretty popular amongst my friends - stumbled across an episode on some random channel recently and gave it a watch and my god it was awful - really depressing, not at all funny, a thoroughly miserable experience

Maybe the enjoyment was purely down to Samantha Janus ! She was pretty tasty back then

[79blue]

Keeping Up Appearances .....shoot anyone involved in that nonsense

You are throwing out the baby with the bathwater with your opinion of Keeping Up Appearances.

Forget about the stupid plots and its middle class appearance of most of the characters. Just sit back and watch a master class in comedic character acting from Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket. There are not many who can carry it with that level of comedic skill. Check out her monologues as Kitty on Vitoria Wood and the ones she did for Alan Bennett, you can see that coming through when she does the one sided telephones calls.

[79blue]

Bob Monkhouse .......naff off and pack your bags

You are judging Bob Monkhouse on his game show period, which was a smarmy persona, but it was the role he played. Don’t judge a book by the cover.

He spent the first 20 years as a performer and scriptwriter, writing for all the big names at the time. He used to write for Bob Hope on his British tours.

Throughout his career he wrote down every single joke he wrote or came across in an indexed archive. That enabled him to find a joke for any occasion when scriptwriting.

He also had one of the biggest archives of film TV and radio shows in the country which was handed over to the BFI. It contained many shows on TV and radio that had been thought lost. It was from this archive that Lenny Henry’s first appearance from Opportunity Knocks, was found after being considered lost for ever.

Not long before his death he did a stand-up show in 2003 for which he invited all the top comedy talent in this county to attend, with many wondering why they invited. By the end of the show everyone who attended were dumbstruck by the quality of his comedy, his career and the all the gods of comedy he worked with during it. It takes real guts to do that.

I felt like you about him until a watched a documentary about him 10 years after his death, which covered what I had written above and much more.

[Wash DC Blue]

You are judging Bob Monkhouse on his game show period, which was a smarmy persona, but it was the role he played. Don’t judge a book by the cover.

He spent the first 20 years as a performer and scriptwriter, writing for all the big names at the time. He used to write for Bob Hope on his British tours.

Throughout his career he wrote down every single joke he wrote or came across in an indexed archive. That enabled him to find a joke for any occasion when scriptwriting.

He also had one of the biggest archives of film TV and radio shows in the country which was handed over to the BFI. It contained many shows on TV and radio that had been thought lost. It was from this archive that Lenny Henry’s first appearance from Opportunity Knocks, was found after being considered lost for ever.

Not long before his death he did a stand-up show in 2003 for which he invited all the top comedy talent in this county to attend, with many wondering why they invited. By the end of the show everyone who attended were dumbstruck by the quality of his comedy, his career and the all the gods of comedy he worked with during it. It takes real guts to do that.

I felt like you about him until a watched a documentary about him 10 years after his death, which covered what I had written above and much more.

That’s a great post.

[The Bloop]

You are judging Bob Monkhouse on his game show period, which was a smarmy persona, but it was the role he played. Don’t judge a book by the cover.

He spent the first 20 years as a performer and scriptwriter, writing for all the big names at the time. He used to write for Bob Hope on his British tours.

Throughout his career he wrote down every single joke he wrote or came across in an indexed archive. That enabled him to find a joke for any occasion when scriptwriting.

He also had one of the biggest archives of film TV and radio shows in the country which was handed over to the BFI. It contained many shows on TV and radio that had been thought lost. It was from this archive that Lenny Henry’s first appearance from Opportunity Knocks, was found after being considered lost for ever.

Not long before his death he did a stand-up show in 2003 for which he invited all the top comedy talent in this county to attend, with many wondering why they invited. By the end of the show everyone who attended were dumbstruck by the quality of his comedy, his career and the all the gods of comedy he worked with during it. It takes real guts to do that.

I felt like you about him until a watched a documentary about him 10 years after his death, which covered what I had written above and much more.

That was a great documentary. His final show, performed mainly to comedians and others in the industry was very moving as he knew he didn't have long left. Think he died a few months after.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Maybe the enjoyment was purely down to Samantha Janus ! She was pretty tasty back then

I thought game on was a good laugh
That self obsessed but complete inadequate bloke reminds me of someone I know .

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

You are throwing out the baby with the bathwater with your opinion of Keeping Up Appearances.

Forget about the stupid plots and its middle class appearance of most of the characters. Just sit back and watch a master class in comedic character acting from Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket. There are not many who can carry it with that level of comedic skill. Check out her monologues as Kitty on Vitoria Wood and the ones she did for Alan Bennett, you can see that coming through when she does the one sided telephones calls.

She was a good actress but keeping up appearances was not my bag

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

You are judging Bob Monkhouse on his game show period, which was a smarmy persona, but it was the role he played. Don’t judge a book by the cover.

He spent the first 20 years as a performer and scriptwriter, writing for all the big names at the time. He used to write for Bob Hope on his British tours.

Throughout his career he wrote down every single joke he wrote or came across in an indexed archive. That enabled him to find a joke for any occasion when scriptwriting.

He also had one of the biggest archives of film TV and radio shows in the country which was handed over to the BFI. It contained many shows on TV and radio that had been thought lost. It was from this archive that Lenny Henry’s first appearance from Opportunity Knocks, was found after being considered lost for ever.

Not long before his death he did a stand-up show in 2003 for which he invited all the top comedy talent in this county to attend, with many wondering why they invited. By the end of the show everyone who attended were dumbstruck by the quality of his comedy, his career and the all the gods of comedy he worked with during it. It takes real guts to do that.

I felt like you about him until a watched a documentary about him 10 years after his death, which covered what I had written above and much more.

I don't find him funny at all

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

That was a great documentary. His final show, performed mainly to comedians and others in the industry was very moving as he knew he didn't have long left. Think he died a few months after.

But I didn't find him funny

Not doubting his ability to write jokes

It's when he delivers them