Obscure and forgotten comedy recommendations Page 4

Quote: Aaron @ 4th October 2020, 2:25 PM


See Amazon product listing

Ha ha. Well it's in the basket, might well be a xmas pressie to myself once I scare the moths away.

The Upchat Line. Copyright: Thames Television

Mike is pleased.

Some more suggestions that may or may not have been mentioned above:
All Along The Watchtower
Land Of Hope And Gloria
Law And Disorder
Laura And Disorder
My Husband And I (two series, but massively forgotten given its credentials)
Doctor At The Top

I haven't read all the posts but has anyone mentioned the Gnomes of Dulwich?

Yes, Ben mentioned that in his original query. :-)

Quote: Aaron @ 6th October 2020, 9:38 AM

Yes, Ben mentioned that in his original query. :-)

Angelic

Quote: Ben @ 10th September 2020, 4:38 PM

I'm currently in the process of writing a book which takes a look at British comedies which came and went without much fanfare or simply haven't had much written about them. I've already written about quite a few, but recommendations are always welcome as there is so much out there.

Really old sitcoms (pre-1970-ish) are mostly out as most of the footage from this era simply doesn't exist any more. And I need to watch these shows to write about them with some measure of authority. Saying that, I have covered The Gnomes of Dulwich (1969) as I read through a few of the scripts a couple of years back. And I watched the one surviving episode of Hugh and I Spy a while back as well, so that's in there too. In conclusion: list anything odd and unusual from the past.

Thanks!

Nightingales (1990-93)
Men of the World (1994-95)

Both starred a pre-Shameless David Threlfall and both were very funny though I must stress I was a teenager when they aired and the passage of time may have rendered these shows somewhat shite.

Hope It Rains, written by Bob Larbey; Holly Aird, Tom Bell, Eamon Boland
Double First, written by Bob Larbey; Michael Williams, Clive Merrison
Cuffy, written by Francis Essex; Bernard Cribbins
All at #20, Maureen Lipman, Gary Waldhorn, Martin Clunes
Clarence, written by Ronnie Barker; Ronnie Barker, Josephine Tewson
Lucky Feller, written by Terence Frisby; David Jason, Peter Armitage
Duck Patrol, written by Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie; David Tennant, Richard Wilson

Quote: David R @ 8th October 2020, 2:02 PM

Nightingales (1990-93)
Men of the World (1994-95)

Both starred a pre-Shameless David Threlfall and both were very funny though I must stress I was a teenager when they aired and the passage of time may have rendered these shows somewhat shite.

Men of the World is going in there. Been in touch with the writer for a bit more insight as well!

And I watched Not With a Bang last week. Pleasant enough if not overly strong and a great cast - Ronald Pickup is particularly fantastic in it. And Josie Lawrence is forever sublime.

It was written by the actor Daniel Peacock, wasn't it? I'd be intrigued to re-watch it.

So glad you mentioned Not With a Bang - I can barely recall the show but I recently spent half an hour asking people at work if they remembered the name of "that end of the world thing that might have starred Josie Laurence and Mr Bronson out of Grange Hill*".

Here's another: Comrade Dad (1986) - ill-fated alternate history satire starring George Cole.

*Who I now gather wasn't actually in it. Oh well.

Ben got another one for you

A Sitcom from the 60s called Not In Front Of The Children. It does have a DVD release of it's suriving episodes, but many people won't know about it. It has Wendy Craig in it, people won't remember this as Wendy Craig played several similar roles in Butterflies and And Mother Makes Three/Five. There was 4 series but only 8 episodes survive.

Quote: David R @ 9th October 2020, 11:22 AM

It was written by the actor Daniel Peacock, wasn't it? I'd be intrigued to re-watch it.

Here's another: Comrade Dad (1986) - ill-fated alternate history satire starring George Cole.

Yes, Daniel Peacock was the writer. And had a part in it too. It's all up on YouTube.

I might rewatch Comrade Dad, but I wasn't too keen on it when I watched it a few years back. I only really want to cover things I can be positive about in some way. And, well, I found Comrade Dad a struggle!

Wow, that brings back memories...Comrade Dad. I literally haven't heard of that show in years but seem to remember it being funny enough. I just hope it's aged well, it's quite old now.

Might have been mentioned already but what about Lucky Feller starring David Jason?