Quote: Aaron @ October 21 2009, 11:32 AM BST

The setting might be cosy, but the story/content is anything but.

View original

Yes I wouldn't call the content cosy either, but I don't think I found it depressing, as you and some others see it. I'd call it more thoughtful or wistful light comedy, in a very Carla Lane sort of way. It looked less out of place in sitcom land in its day to be honest, there was much more of this sort of poignant sitcom-drama stuff about in the 1970s and 1980s than there is today, probably something to do with Carla Lane herself writing so much of it then and being redundant now. But I found a similar sort of melancholy strain in things like To The Manor Born at times. I quite liked this sort of thing as a contrast to the cartoony sitcoms like Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and OFAH but wouldn't like just this type of sitcom only to be on.

You should watch Black Books...think it's still on 4OD.

I am thinking of getting some DVDs from a seller. I want to try some different sitcoms and here are a list of things I'm thinking of getting from him. Please give me your opinions about them if you have seen them:

1. Down The Gate
2. Casanova '73
3. Bloomers
4. For The Love Of Ada
5. Come Back, Mrs Noah
6. My Wife Next Door
7. AJ Wentworth BA
8. The Nineteenth Hole
9. Colin's Sandwich
10. Chalk And Cheese
11. No Honestly
12. Grandad
13. Beggar My Neighbour

Did I not send you 8 and 10?

No - Honestly was recently released on DVD, so you might want to think twice before buying from someone as they may be iffy-quality and/or cut.

Casanova 73 is pretty good.
Bloomers I found really very weak.
For The Love Of Ada I've been watching recently and really enjoying. It's another one that is in the process of appearing on DVD. AFAIK, the only copies 'doing the rounds' are the heavily cut UK Gold versions.
Come Back, Mrs Noah is not as bad as its reputation, but it's not great.
My Wife Next Door wavers a little; some really good, some a bit mundane. Certainly worth a go.
A.J. Wentworth, B.A. is great. Really enjoyed what I've seen of it, and would love to get more.
Chalk And Cheese is an interesting one; good performances, but pretty dull and not very funny.

Quote: Aaron @ February 8 2010, 8:14 PM GMT

Did I not send you 8 and 10?

No - Honestly was recently released on DVD, so you might want to think twice before buying from someone as they may be iffy-quality and/or cut.

Casanova 73 is pretty good.
Bloomers I found really very weak.
For The Love Of Ada I've been watching recently and really enjoying. It's another one that is in the process of appearing on DVD. AFAIK, the only copies 'doing the rounds' are the heavily cut UK Gold versions.
Come Back, Mrs Noah is not as bad as its reputation, but it's not great.
My Wife Next Door wavers a little; some really good, some a bit mundane. Certainly worth a go.
A.J. Wentworth, B.A. is great. Really enjoyed what I've seen of it, and would love to get more.
Chalk And Cheese is an interesting one; good performances, but pretty dull and not very funny.

View original

Thanks for the advice Aaron. I didn't receive 8 and 10 from you. Casanova 73 is appealing to me for some reason, it sounds quite a trashy sitcom, yet its notoriousness is wanting me to watch it. Galton and Simpson wrote it, yet apparently, it didn't in the slightest bit feel like a Galton and Simpson comedy.

Could have sworn I'd sent you those. My memory really is shocking though.

It's not a particularly typical Galton & Simpson work. Very farcical. But I think there are bits in there that set it apart from a show by any-other-writer. Something that few people realise is that it started off as an episode of The Galton & Simpson Comedy (LWT, 1969) called The Suit.

And an episode that was scripted for the series but never shown was later used but with Richard Briers in the main role in the classic 'Galton & Simpson Playhouse' episode 'Swap you one of these for one of those'

I really dislike that episode.

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

I thought it was a great episode.

Do you not feel very cheated, if you will, for Briers? I really didn't like that one bit.

How do you mean?

Well, he goes to all of that trouble and through all of that mucking around, only to be refused entry by his terribly slimy colleague, before his wife is taken in without question and ... well, y'know.

Yeah, but it serves him right for trying to smuggle his wife into a wife swapping party. That is fair I suppose? He got what was coming to him.

Doesn't come close to my definition of fair!

It was quite a funny episode though, the dialogue between Briers and a female employee in the opening scene is very funny.