I came across a documentary about how John Sullivan got into writing comedy.
I suppose most of his story is known but there was one thing that stuck out.

After writing Citizen Smith and during the filming, Cheryl Hall, who played Wolfies girlfriend said to him
'you can't write for women'
He was taken aback and a little hurt by this comment.
She continued; ' All I am here for is to set up gags for the men'

The words stung but stuck in his mind.

After he had done Just Good Friends he was complemented by the female cast for writing such good parts for the women.
He did a piece to camera where he thanked Cheryl Hall for her honesty.

I'd thank Cheryl Hall after she let me

Red Dwarf has some questionable dubbing. In the episode Better Than Life there is a scene where Rimmer is entering a restaurant after they have started playing the game and he slaps his gloves against a wall and exclaims 'SIR' but his mouth doesn't move. I've always wondered why they chose that even though it stands out so much.

If Harry H Corbett and Wifrid Brambell had turned down Steptoe and Son, the next two in line were Ronald Fraser and J. G. Devlin.
Devlin later played the elderly escaped convict in the episode 'The Desperate Hours'.

In South Park, for the first 15 seasons there was only one non-white child among the cast.

His forename is Token and his surname is Black.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 10th November 2019, 10:47 PM

In South Park, for the first 15 seasons there was only one non-white child among the cast.

His forename is Token and his surname is Black.

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And what is your point? That just sums it up.

Quote: Chappers @ 11th November 2019, 9:08 PM

And what is your point? That just sums it up.

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I'm not making a point.

I'm pointing (see what I did there?) out a fact about a sitcom - a fact that is sufficiently little-known to make it reasonably describable as "obscure".

Unless I'm very much mistaken, this is not an entirely inappropriate thread on which to do that.

Fans of The Goldbergs will be aware that Jeff Garlin (Mr Goldberg) spends a lot of time sitting in a comfortable chair wearing little but his underwear.

What is less well known is that, when a scene has been shot, Jeff is in the habit of rising from his chair and exclaiming "Oh, my vagina! Oh, my aching vagina! Oh, my vagina's killing me!"

This happened quite a number of times until a member of the crew, who was offended, complained to the human resources department at Sony.

Sony HR contacted Jeff and asked him to stop exclaiming such things.

Jeff said he had no intention of stopping.

Sony HR said he might be sacked if he continued.

Jeff challenged them to sack him, saying that if he were a normal person working in an office with other normal people, he would have every sympathy with the complaint.

He pointed out, however, that he was a comedian working on a comedy show - and told them to get over it.

Good old Jeff!

Thank God we don't have such easily-offended moaning Minnies on the BCG forums.

Quote: Lost Boys @ 10th November 2019, 10:28 PM

If Harry H Corbett and Wifrid Brambell had turned down Steptoe and Son, the next two in line were Ronald Fraser and J. G. Devlin.
Devlin later played the elderly escaped convict in the episode 'The Desperate Hours'.

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Yes I can see the both of them working. Of course you'd always want the originals to play the parts in most great sitcoms, few moreso than S&S. Think I'm right in saying Devlin also played an IRA suspect in a Dad's Army episode. Would he have been as enduringly vulgar as Brambell? Can't see it myself, if anything Harry H was the more expendable of the two.

As characterful as he was someone else could have stamped a slightly different working class schstick on Harold and we'd've taken it, even recognising HHC's performance as one of the greatest in sitcom history that it is. Brambell was the essence of vulgarity without being a cartoon like Father Jack and the Bottom leads, they couldn't possibly have found a better actor for that part.

Yer over 3 years too late

Quote: Lost Boys @ 10th November 2019, 10:28 PM

If Harry H Corbett and Wifrid Brambell had turned down Steptoe and Son, the next two in line were Ronald Fraser and J. G. Devlin.
Devlin later played the elderly escaped convict in the episode 'The Desperate Hours'.

View original

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 8th April 2016, 4:26 PM

J.G. Devlin who played the older Irish convict alongside Leonard Rossiter in Steptoe and Son "The Desperate Hours" was second choice to play Albert Steptoe.

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In the remake, Corbyn has been approached.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 14th November 2019, 10:51 AM

Yer over 3 years too late

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I'll take it as half a new fact. Knock one point off.....

Alan Rickman was asked to play Rimmer in Red Dwarf.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 14th November 2019, 8:56 AM

...HHC's performance as one of the greatest in sitcom history...

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He was good. Alfred, I like your new avara. Jennifer Arcuri , cake and eat it. You're getting more subtle and in the obscure facts thread too.

In the Scrubs episode My Unicorn it guest stars Matthew Perry who is asked to donate a kidney to his sick stepfather who is played by his real life father, John Bennett Perry. In the same episode one of the songs is Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly. It's a great episode and is on 4Music tonight, 7pm.