Quote: Charlie Boy @ November 6 2010, 10:18 AM GMTDawn French was complaining in today's Sun, and wasn't happy that Jam & Jerusalem has been cancelled. Can't wait to see her face when Roger & Val is also cancelled.
You might have to wait a while. It's just been recomissioned.
I think it was a mistake to axe it too; I thought it was getting better and better.
Did they continue to use the Kate Rusby tune for the opening?
Quote: Matthew Stott @ November 7 2010, 11:20 AM GMTI think it was a mistake to axe it too; I thought it was getting better and better.
It must have cost a (relatively for comedy) small fortune to make. The bigger the budget, the more ratings become an issue.
I can't say it enough, I loved Jam and Jerusalem! I think it will be more appreciated in the future than it was in its time. The sad thing is, by then, it will be too hard to get the show back together. There were plenty more story lines for those characters, and I miss em!
How sad it is that this sophisticated, subtle, warm and witty comedy drama will not be back for another series. There is such a list of 'English Village'-type shows out there, and this was something completely different.
There are the regular dramas, with a hint of comedy, that have run for years and years beyond their original cast's involvement in the show and past the use by date of the concept. They often become unbearably soapy and sentimental and yet are still commissioned to return.
Then there are the comedies which, like most popular comedies, rely on repetitive puns and gags, verbal humour consisting of increasingly silly similies that are sometimes funny, sometimes grating, and slapstick and toilet humour - in this case often involving farm animals and thier bodily functions - surely a recipe for hilarity! Often they are warm.
The third category implies that the hedgerows and woods of the English country are full of homicidal maniacs at a level that would place the UK alongside Iraq in terms of travel warnings.
Jam & Jerusalem was never meant to be a laugh-out-loud comedy. It was a keenly observed and unsentimental portrait of the English country designed to provoke a wry smile, an odd chuckle and the occasional tear. Why must all comedies have the same effect and be made in the same style? This was really intelligent writing - looking at the reality behind the grotesque masks of its characters. Sal's (Sue Johnston) coping with the death of her husband is one of the most honest portrayals of grief I've seen in television - no breaking down, just getting on with it as best as you can, making a brave face so that others do not worry too much and comforting those who have come to comfort you. There is, of course, humour in that irony!
Cancelling this show was a great loss - this was Jennifer Saunders demonstrating her unique versatility as a comedian and virtuousity as a writer.
Yes, Jennifer Todd, it was a tragedy.
I can see from your avatar and your previous comments that you are a fan of the older school of comedies, that I have perhaps slighted. I am sorry for that - feel free to "Carry On"... if you will excuse the pun. 
I don't think Tim is but those who support Jennifer Saunders stuff seem to be so desperate to get their point across.
Another programme lacking in laughs but just filled with hundreds of name actors.
Plenty of laughs - I don't know what you mean. Should they throw in some more references to animal dung and put on some canned laughter? Perhaps someone with a predictable cathphrase?
The only point that I am trying to get across is that different is not unfunny or bad.
Quote: ToddB @ February 17 2011, 1:35 PM GMTThere is such a list of 'English Village'-type shows out there, and this was something completely different.
Is there? Care to list them? (Genuinely. I can't think of many at all.)
I should say - 'British village' - to be inclusive:
Ballykissangel
Hamish Macbeth
Monarch of the Glen
Rosemary and Thyme (often in the country)
Midsomer Murders
Heartbeat
The Royal
Father Ted
The Vicar of Dibley
The Darling Buds of May
Emmerdale
Forever Green
Foyle's War
Wild West (also quite different)
Down to Earth
Docotr Finlay
Last of the Summer Wine...
I could go on.
Ah, including non-comedies. Sneaky. Ok, fair enough then.
Quote: ToddB @ February 17 2011, 8:14 PM GMTI should say - 'British village' - to be inclusive:
Ballykissangel
Hamish Macbeth
Monarch of the Glen
Rosemary and Thyme (often in the country)
Midsomer Murders
Heartbeat
The Royal
Father Ted
The Vicar of Dibley
The Darling Buds of May
Emmerdale
Forever Green
Foyle's War
Wild West (also quite different)
Down to Earth
Docotr Finlay
Last of the Summer Wine...I could go on.
That's a ridiculous argument. Of those I would consider three of them comedies - and the Wild Wild West was quite different too in that it wasn't funny either.
My original statement said 'shows' not 'comedies' in particular.
"Wild West" not funny? Again, your opinion. I find it hysterical I know others that do too. You clearly like a different kind of show.
