Just read on main page that Are You Being Served? is making a one off return and if a success it could lead to further episodes.
Are the BBC so devoid of comedy ideas that they need to regurgitate the same old formula? Sure it was a success in the 70s it was a programme of its time?
It of course gets worse, the person writing the script is Derren Litten of Benidorm. Now if the current standard of writing for Benidorm is anything to go by this will be dreadful.
What worries me is the 'all-star cast', you just know the BBC will find a way of cramming David Walliams, Catherine Tate, Miranda Hart and Jack Whitehall into it and God forbid they stick Alan Carr in the role of Mr Humphries.
The only person I could really think of that could fill any of the roles would be Alexander Armstrong as Captain Peacock and as much as I like Armstrong even I think that would be pushing it,
Quote: Sarc @ 15th February 2016, 7:39 PM GMT...and God forbid they stick Alan Carr in the role of Mr Humphries.
Horror! Graham Norton is the man for this job.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ 15th February 2016, 8:17 PM GMTHorror! Graham Norton is the man for this job.
Yes, very good in Father Ted. 
Actually yeah to be fair I could see him doing justice to that role.
I so agree with the first 2 comments on this page. In my opinion the BBC have ruined Open All Hours and now they want to ruin others as well. I will watch this one off episode to see what it's like but I expect it will be awful. I'm sorry to be so negative but it's what I feel.
Not going to work. I don't think it will be the same without John Inman, Mollie Sudgen and other people who will be in the original. IMO, it should be left where it is and never be touched. BBC should just make something new up than, reviving old sitcoms, with a new cast, because it's a waste of time.
Fiver says they'll try and remake bloody Python next, the vultures.
So glad I no longer work for the BBC.
Find it odd that they are going to recreate the characters. Even if they original actors were still alive- I don't think those characters would work today. If they are that desperate to update it then maybe put new characters in a modern setting.
Or maybe just leave it alone.
Would remakes stand a better chance if they didn't carry old baggage but were given a fresh title?
Quote: Flook @ 18th February 2016, 3:46 PM GMTWould remakes stand a better chance if they didn't carry old baggage but were given a fresh title?
That wouldn't be a remake, it would be what has been happening on TV all along.
I do not mind remakes as long as Catherine Zeta Jones isn't asked to be Mr Rumbold's secretary.
Strumpet
Quote: Flook @ 18th February 2016, 3:46 PM GMTWould remakes stand a better chance if they didn't carry old baggage but were given a fresh title?
Remakes are a much tougher proposition than many TV networks realise. They usually get the formula wrong and that is why so many fail. A new version of an old show needs to have some baggage and enough of the spirit of the original to bring back and satisfy fans of the original series. But it must also move with the times and be contemporary enough to attract new fans.
I hate to say it, but the Are You Being Served? reboot looks set to fail before it goes to air because of a fundamental flaw. I read that the original characters will be reused and played by new actors. This will automatically turn off a lot of viewers. Whoever plays Mrs Slocombe will suffer by comparison to the irreplaceable Molly Sugden. The same goes for whoever plays Mr Humphries, Mr Lucas, Captain Peacock and so on. While keeping the department store setting, the style of humour and storylines, they should have started with a clean sheet when it came to the characters and their backstories.
I really don't think that it'll work either. The ethos behind AYBS was that it was 'of its time' and therefore the majority of the humour will not translate to a 2016 audience.
I suppose the feeling is that most of the people who saw it before are dead now so it's a totally new audience.
Quote: Chappers @ 20th February 2016, 8:15 PM GMTI suppose the feeling is that most of the people who saw it before are dead now so it's a totally new audience.
That's pretty true! I must re-watch the feature film as I haven't seen it for years. I bet that it's as good as I recall?
