Quote: Aaron @ May 7 2009, 1:39 PM BST

Help is absolutely superb. Possibly the best sitcom of the first half of the decade. I really couldn't care less about what he's done in his private life.

Unsurprisingly, I enjoy it.

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It's not so much that I have a problem with him personally and won't watch them for moral reasons or whatever, it's just that I find it hard to keep the reality of his situation from getting in the way of suspending my disbelief and buying into the show.

Perhaps we're getting away from the point of the question here and becoming a 'lets slag people off' thread. What I was more keen to hear was about heroes who have done a lot of poor work in recent years, but are immune to criticism because of how good their earlier work was.

Quote: glaikit @ May 7 2009, 1:36 PM BST

There's a certain 'mainstreamness' that always seems to occur in the careers of once-anarchic writers.

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Probably because 'anarchic comedy' is always very much linked to the social/political situation of the time in which it was made. Once that time goes, so does their 'anarchy'. The only thing left is their base comic instincts, which lend perfectly to mainstream comic roles.

Steve Martin was a brilliant Stand Up, and made some very good films too, but seems content to do crap in the main these days.

Quote: glaikit @ May 7 2009, 1:42 PM BST

It's not so much that I have a problem with him personally and won't watch them for moral reasons or whatever, it's just that I find it hard to keep the reality of his situation from getting in the way of suspending my disbelief and buying into the show.

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Yeah, I suppose so. I feel the same way with political allegiances, no matter the party someone aligns themself with.

Quote: Aaron @ May 7 2009, 1:35 PM BST

Good reason for that. With a couple of exceptions, they were a motley crew of overhyped, overrated, one-trick (at best) ponies.

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What a load of utter shit. You're entitled to your opinion, of course. But it's rubbish. (With the exception of French and Saunders, who can sod off).

At the time these were first broadcast, these were, alongside The Young Ones, exciting and inspiring programmes. Maybe the passage of time hasn't been fair to some of them, but it doesn't negate the genuine impact they had at the time.

Peter Richardson, in particular, is, if anything, one of the most under-rated, under-hyped figures of British comedy from the past 30 years. (Even if some of his feature films have been a bit tossy).

Quote: Matthew Stott @ May 7 2009, 1:45 PM BST

Steve Martin was a brilliant Stand Up, and made some very good films too, but seems content to do crap in the main these days.

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for me with Steve Martin, it's more a disappointment thing than anger. I REALLY want him to do something funny. I know he still has it in him - his prose pieces show a side to him that movies like Cheaper By The Dozen don't. A side to him that I would really like to see on celluloid again.

Quote: Aaron @ May 7 2009, 1:46 PM BST

Yeah, I suppose so. I feel the same way with political allegiances, no matter the party someone aligns themself with.

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Exactly why my girlfriend won't watch anything with Tom Cruise in it - she can't get past the smarmy, Scientologist thing. I'm not so bothered. When we found out that most of the cast of My Name Is Earl are Scientologists it nearly put her off that as well.

Quote: glaikit @ May 7 2009, 1:48 PM BST

for me with Steve Martin, it's more a disappointment thing than anger.

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Well yeah, I just love some of his stuff and wish he would do more 'good-according-to-me' work. Bowfinger was the last great film he's been in, which he also wrote. Can't say I'm 'angry' at anyone who was once good but is now rubbish.

Quote: Griff @ May 7 2009, 1:49 PM BST

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good example!

and a terrifyingly huge picture. HEEEEEEEEEERE'S WOODY!

Quote: Matthew Stott @ May 7 2009, 1:51 PM BST

Well yeah, I just love some of his stuff and wish he would do more 'good-according-to-me' work. Bowfinger was the last great film he's been in, which he also wrote. Can't say I'm 'angry' at anyone who was once good but is now rubbish.

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I find myself getting genuinely angry at Ben Elton.

But again, I think that has something to do with how opinionated and in-your-face he is. If he just got on with it quietly I wouldn't be so bothered.

And you're right about Steve Martin - surely he has enough clout now to be able to do a John Cusack/Gary Oldman and do big stupid Hollywood movies to fund his own low-budget efforts?

Woody Allen has made a lot of poor films laterly, but he's also made some very good ones, so I wouldn't say he's had a particular downfall, as such.

To be fair to woody, he'd have to be super human to keep producing work of the standard of his early stuff.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ May 7 2009, 1:54 PM BST

Woody Allen has made a lot of poor films laterly, but he's also made some very good ones, so I wouldn't say he's had a particular downfall, as such.

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That Barcelona film wasn't too bad.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ May 7 2009, 1:48 PM BST

At the time these were first broadcast, these were, alongside The Young Ones, exciting and inspiring programmes. Maybe the passage of time hasn't been fair to some of them, but it doesn't negate the genuine impact they had at the time.

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Did I say or imply at any point that it did? No. Quite the opposite.

Woody Allen looks like a terribly grotty, impoverished Peter Sellers.

Woody Allen's in his seventies. And he was never exactly a matinee idol. So he's got every right to look a bit rough.

Quote: glaikit @ May 7 2009, 1:48 PM BST

for me with Steve Martin, it's more a disappointment thing than anger. I REALLY want him to do something funny. I know he still has it in him - his prose pieces show a side to him that movies like Cheaper By The Dozen don't. A side to him that I would really like to see on celluloid again.

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I agree with this. There is some very funny stuff in his book Pure Drivel and I love the first half of The Pleasure of my Company.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ May 7 2009, 1:51 PM BST

Well yeah, I just love some of his stuff and wish he would do more 'good-according-to-me' work. Bowfinger was the last great film he's been in, which he also wrote. Can't say I'm 'angry' at anyone who was once good but is now rubbish.

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Personally I would say that Shopgirl was great as well...or almost great anyway.

But I don't think either of those films were big successes whereas several of his family films have been. Given the choice I would much rather see him do interesting stuff like that or The Spanish Prisoner but I understand why he doesn't.

I haven't seen Traitor yet but would be interested to.

Quote: Griff @ May 7 2009, 2:11 PM BST

That was the film with Scarlett Johanssen getting off with Penelope Cruz in it, right?

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Yes. What are you implying?