It's a subtle thing. Love Thy Neighbour had black actors in lead roles and really tried to do a "we're all muddling along and being rude to each other" vibe. Most people of Caribbean descent I know who watched it had a lot of affection for it.

As opposed to Carry On Up The Khyber which was full of white actors in makeup playing Indian. And the jokes were strongly aimed at the Indians and not vice versa.

As for On The Buses it wasn't especially racist, it just didn't have many black actors in lead roles. Exactly the same could be said about Friends. But its sexism was a bit, well, unpleasant and cheap; the laughs it got from this were usually mean spirited and bullying.

Quote: Aaron @ May 16 2011, 4:44 PM BST

The Luxton & District Traction Company was entirely fictional.

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I'm sure I caught one the other day. Well it was green, anyway.

Quote: sootyj @ May 16 2011, 4:51 PM BST

But its sexism was a bit, well, unpleasant and cheap; the laughs it got from this were usually mean spirited and bullying.

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But still pretty much a reflection of the times. I didn't hear Germaine Greer chanting for its demise, it was one of many that enjoyed good hearty sex based humour. And quite right too.

Quote: sootyj @ May 16 2011, 4:51 PM BST

As opposed to Carry On Up The Khyber which was full of white actors in makeup playing Indian. And the jokes were strongly aimed at the Indians and not vice versa.

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Think what you will of browning-up, but Carry On Up The Khyber is poking fun at British attitudes and imperial rule. If you find that "the jokes were strongly aimed at the Indians", you're just not getting its humour!

Quote: sootyj @ May 16 2011, 4:51 PM BST

It's a subtle thing. Love Thy Neighbour had black actors in lead roles and really tried to do a "we're all muddling along and being rude to each other" vibe. Most people of Caribbean descent I know who watched it had a lot of affection for it.

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All of us who laughed our way through not only the staple diet of On The Buses, Love Thy Neighbour, Mind Your Language, et al were part of a different time that wasn't being judged by the values of today. And then there's Monty Python.

With characters like Mrs Niggerbater, even the Monty Python team of writers would be called 'racist' if it went to air in 2011. During the first Secret Policeman's Ball, Terry Jones declared, in character, "I don't like darkies". Yet - and I realise this isn't actually the thread - Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language are the only ones still singled out as being racist.

Quote: sootyj @ May 16 2011, 4:51 PM BST

As opposed to Carry On Up The Khyber which was full of white actors in makeup playing Indian. And the jokes were strongly aimed at the Indians and not vice versa.

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Carry On was end of peer/naughty seaside postcard stuff. Whatever else is noticed today, Carry On carries with it an innocence that belies the cultural importance and comedy legacy of producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas.

Quote: sootyj @ May 16 2011, 4:51 PM BST

As for On The Buses it wasn't especially racist, it just didn't have many black actors in lead roles. Exactly the same could be said about Friends. But its sexism was a bit, well, unpleasant and cheap; the laughs it got from this were usually mean spirited and bullying.

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The ignorance of the white man was always held up to ridicule yet Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language are always singled out as racist when in point of fact sitcoms of the time played it for laughs with the ethnic character always coming out on top.

Can't help noticing how much Tom Petty is looking like Jack these days.

I'm not sure I'd view Carry On as all that innocent. I know I'll be vilified for this but watch one for 15 minutes and count up the number of; sexual assaults, artisan rapes, sexual harrassments, homophobuc remarks and racist remarks.

The total can be a little shocking. Certainly sitcoms of the time were well ahead of the cinematic curve.

Except On the Buses is more a sort of Fruedian nightmare scenario.

2 older men reduced to permanent childish states. One expressing his hatred of women through constant attempted sexual conquest. The other reduced to a sexless neuter by his sister's ugliness and his mothers dominance.

I think if in the last episode they'd run away to a gay commune run by Blakey it would have been a more pleasing narrative.

Quote: sootyj @ May 17 2011, 1:43 PM BST

I'm not sure I'd view Carry On as all that innocent. I know I'll be vilified for this but watch one for 15 minutes and count up the number of; sexual assaults, artisan rapes, sexual harrassments, homophobuc remarks and racist remarks.

The total can be a little shocking. Certainly sitcoms of the time were well ahead of the cinematic curve.

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The most bizarre is Carry on Camping in which a fifty something man invites a frigid middle aged woman away to what he thinks is a nudist camp which he believes will make her randy.
When Sid's plans go awry he amuses himself looking at naked schoolgirls through a hole in the shower cubicle.
He does of however find his moral compass by thwarting degenerate hippies from playing their evil pop music for which he is rewarded with sex with Joan Sims.

An analysis I did watching Terry Scott in it for 5 minutes

Terry Scott gets pissed f**ks a school girl, screams at his wife, assaults a man in his underwear then date rapes his missus.

And Joan Simms attacks her mother with a wild animal before having sex with Sid. This is Wickerman territory.

Quote: youngian @ May 17 2011, 2:01 PM BST

The most bizarre is Carry on Camping in which a fifty something man invites a frigid middle aged woman away to what he thinks is a nudist camp which he believes will make her randy.
When Sid's plans go awry he amuses himself looking at naked schoolgirls through a hole in the shower cubicle.
He does of however find his moral compass by thwarting degenerate hippies from playing their evil pop music for which he is rewarded with sex with Joan Sims.

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Of course, Sid's acquiescence to accepting the end of restrictive union practices, plus allowing his daughter to marry the boss' son in 'Carry On At Your Convenience' was the major trigger leading to the decline of union influence during the 1970s and subsequently inspired the Thatcher government's stance against the NUM.

Quote: sootyj @ May 17 2011, 2:04 PM BST

An analysis I did watching Terry Scott in it for 5 minutes

Terry Scott gets pissed f**ks a school girl, screams at his wife, assaults a man in his underwear then date rapes his missus.

And Joan Simms attacks her mother with a wild animal before having sex with Sid. This is Wickerman territory.

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Quote: youngian @ May 17 2011, 2:01 PM BST

The most bizarre is Carry on Camping in which a fifty something man invites a frigid middle aged woman away to what he thinks is a nudist camp which he believes will make her randy.

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I blame Baden Powell given that his master plan was to get a load of prepubescent boys, put them in shorts and whisk them away to the woods for a bit of tent fun, a woggle and a badge.

Quote: Tim Walker @ May 17 2011, 2:30 PM BST

'Carry On At Your Convenience' was the major trigger leading to the decline of union influence during the 1970s and subsequently inspired the Thatcher government's stance against the NUM.

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It doesn't help when your shop steward is a ghost either.

At least Sid went on to his bit for coastal town economic renewal at Firkham on Sea council.

I love the On The Buses films. My favourite one is Holiday On The Buses. Stan says to Jack when the bus is stuck in the sand, "I see you studied the tides".

I have always had a soft spot for the first On The Buses film. This is probably because I remember seeing it when it first came out in the pictures in 1971. The scene when a pregnant Olive is craving for pickled onions has stuck in my memory forever for some reason. One thing I forgot about is that chirpy little song featured in the film, "It's a great life on the buses." On The Buses as a TV series and its movie spin-offs were not the stuff of comedy gold but its nostalgia value is immense.