Or maybe not….as the case may be.
So me’ dears…I have watched these new comedy ‘remakes’ and ‘revivals….and wow…just wow. That’s not in a good way by the way….consider my flabber well and truly gasted…
I wasn’t even going to bother with any of it to be honest, there’s enough awkwardness and painful situations in my life as it is…without witnessing more for the sake of ‘entertainment.’
Then a friend kindly stated… ‘Weren’t you going to review them for your blog though?’ and then the train of realization hit me square in the metaphorical bollocks! Yes, I did…and as a true comedy connoisseur, I couldn’t not, as mentioned in my last blog, one of my many annoying personality traits is that even though I know something is going to be bad, I still have to follow it through and witness it for myself (story of my life, really.)
And I have followed it through, to the bitter, hanging, sore, groin grenching end…
And here…ladies and gentlemen…are the results…
(**NOTE** May contain many, many expletives…
**NOTE NOTE (A SERIOUS ONE…FOR A CHANGE) – I have been receiving a lot of messages and emails from people who were eagerly awaiting my thoughts and opinions of these revivals and that has actually taken me back a bit, that people actually care about my opinion (that’s about as rare as a nun in a brothel as it is) so, thank you…it shows that my views on comedy are appreciated and valued and all that time I’ve wasted, errr, I mean ‘spent’ watching, over analysing, over thinking and studying comedy, as well as for my performance degree, hasn’t all been a complete cacking waste of time, so thanks a lot ol’ beans. You’re all good un’s. :)
I shall start with the sheer bottom of the barrel and claw my way upwards…literally…
- Are You Being Served?
A load of shite? Yes, I’m afraid I am…on a platter!
This was by far the worst of the bunch! I don’t actually know how I made it through to the end to be honest, by biting on a wooden spoon and hoping death would come quickly mainly…okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration but it wasn’t far off.
It was just bad, I know that’s not a technical term or fancy or anything, but it was, it was just awful. It was so overdone it was fecking burned!
The innuendos were too childish, obvious and over used, to the point where it got awkward and too crude. The innuendos were too over the top and crude in themselves, so to over use them as well, was just a bad, bad idea.
The cast, despite most of them being very good and established actors, were just fish out of water. It felt like they were in a bad sketch show taking the piss most of the time, to be truly honest, they were so hammed up, the jewish would have run a mile! It was just painful to watch. Sherrie Hewson’s facial expressions made her look like a severe constipation patient suffering from a stroke…rather than Mollie Sudgen’s natural trademark looks and expressions.
But the award for the most cringeworthy, digging the nails into the eyeballs acting goes to the horrendous ‘Miss Brahms’ (Niky Wardley), who was just unwatchable. Her high pitched whines were enough to send you around the twist and stick hot coals in your ears! Again, it just felt like really bad sketch show acting.
& As for Jason Watkins as Mr Humphries, if he’d have gone any camper, he’d have turned into a pink van…!! It wasn’t natural, it didn't look right and it was actually a bit offensive to be honest, John Inman was a natural…this my friends, was far, far from natural, it was shite.
The only two saving graces (I'd make a pun there but I'm too disgusted) were Matthew Horne as the new Mr Grace, whose take on the 80’s business yuppie trying to bring Grace Bros into the present day was believable & funny.... and a long with the new arrival of Mr Conway, who again, was funny, natural and believable as a new starter; they were the two sane sandwiches in a very nutty, cringe worthy pinic basket. They should be proud of themselves for being the only watchable members of the cast.
ARE YOU BEING SERVED? I'D REALLY RATHER YOU DIDN'T.
- - Till’ Death Us Do Part
My god, death would have been a release to get away from this. This is only a slight notch up from the shite that was ‘Are You Being Served?’ and I mean, only a fecking slight notch!
The set was okay, Simon Day was trying his best, despite being a very wrong choice for the role in my opinion, you could tell he was nervous and very, very wooden. At one point I forgot what I was watching and thought I was viewing him in a very bad, unfunny Fast Show sketch, which would have been more forgivable than this pile of trash.
The script was okay, typical Alf Garnett stuff, but now with less racism for obvious ‘PC’ reasons… and instead we were objected to random, boring, dated filler ramblings about bloody fish and chips, which painfully tried to fill an half hour slot and fell flat on it’s miserable, slow paced, unfunny arse!
The rest of the ‘actors’ were appalling, the originally bubbly, at least a tiny bit interesting characters of Rita and Mike where absolutely mind bogglingly boring and wooden and sounded like they'd only learned their lines the night before...and two bricks would have exuded more character, energy and wit…you know, don’t be honoured that you’ve been given the opportunity to play two classic characters from a much loved sitcom, no, just sit there and rhyme your lines off like you can’t be arsed and sit there thinking about your pay cheque instead! The actress playing Elsie looked and seemed promising at first, but then it was like she got bored half way through and stopped trying…which again, just isn’t acceptable when you’ve got the chance and the role of a lifetime! The script was fine; the acting was appalling, simple as that.
Till’ Death Us Do Part? Let’s f**king hope death comes quickly then.
- Young Hyacinth
I’m very mixed on this, but it’s not something I wish to witness again if I’m truly honest.
‘Keeping Up Appearances’ is something very dear to my little comedy geek heart and it was the staple of my childhood, me and my sister were huge fans and it was just brilliantly done in my opinion, yes, it can seem dated and corny now, but still stands as one of the best sitcoms of all time, with outstanding comic acting from the original cast.
This, I’m afraid, was just not up to the par it could have been. All the characters from the original show were extreme, so I was afraid it might be another case of ‘hammer time’ acting again, but to be honest, it was under done rather than overdone.
It was like it had been turned into some boring, Sunday night 'Heartbeat-esque' drama. I think Roy Clarke couldn’t be arsed writing anything new and this was a script he had stuck in a drawer somewhere about something completely different and decided to throw that at the BBC and tell them it was about Hyacinth and her sisters instead, because it genuinely felt that way to me.
However, I did think that Kerry Howard (Hyacinth) was really good; I totally believed she was Hyacinth, her voice and her mannerisms were amazing at times, she really gave it her all, it did get a bit forced and grating at some points, but for the most part, I thought she was really good. Patricia Routledge is a wonderful, bonkers, eccentric woman and it would be extremely hard to try and match that if you weren't as equally bonkers, but she did a great job none the less.
& Despite Mark Addy not even slightly resembling a young ‘Daddy’, I still believed him to be so.
However, as for the others, again, it was like they couldn’t be bothered and probably hadn’t even seen an episode of Keeping Up Appearances in their life.
& I'm sorry, but no way in god’s green earth, was that Daisy! No freakin' way!!! I didn’t believe any of them. Daisy was far from the cute, funny, fun loving, passionate, silly woman she was in the original show. She was as flat as a pancake…and obviously, the writer thought throwing in a shot of her whacking a TV would somehow make it more believable (of course! *huge eye rolls*)
She was completely re-written, which again, re-enforces my belief that Roy Clarke threw a completely different script in and called it Hyacinth. Rose had gone from the sad, desperate (yet funny and endearing) love chasing femme fetale she was, to a boring, unlikable, personality devoid whore.
So, despite a stellar performance from the leading lady and a surprisingly believable regenerated ‘Daddy’…the rest of the ‘actors’ again, severely let them down and looked like they just didn’t want to be there, which again, is just offensive and damn right shite. To be given that wonderful opportunity and not even to be seemingly trying to do it justice, is just not acceptable.
Roy Clarke also needs to take some of the blame, most of the blame actually... as the script and characters were terrible; he shot his own golden foot and he deserves any harsh criticism he gets for it. There was so much he could have done with those wonderful characters he originally created, he had the chance of creating a wonderful origin story for them…a chance that not many writers get and completely blew it.
Let’s hope Young Hyacinth stays where she belongs, in the past…well away from the original series.
- Goodnight Sweetheart
This is where it gets much better for me (thankfully, some sweet relief.) I was a fan and an avid watcher of the original series and I thought this just carried on where it left off completely effortlessly, it was like it had never been off our screens! It was a nostalgia fest for me and I loved it, to be honest. I have a soft spot for Nicholas Lynhurst anyway, just because I always see him as Rodney Trotter, so that helps :)
The actors all seemingly slotted right back into their original roles with ease and it was very enjoyable to catch up with all the old characters and see what had become of them. This series was always very far-fetched and corny anyway, but it was just a bit of fun, what you see is always what you get with this and it was the same for the revival. This is all fair and good. The cards were on the table before it even started and in some ways, I think that’s what made it successful.
Some things did not sit right with me however, the opening titles have gone all emo on us and I didn’t like it at all, nearly made me turn off before it had even started…& they could have made more of the fact that he’d come into a completely different world than the one he left behind in 1999, so much has changed in that time and I think more could have been done with that concept, rather than just having him looking so confused and bamboozled at it all at first and then seemingly being adjusted and alright with it all after just 20 minutes (but I realise that time retraints of an half an hour slot may have had a lot to do with that) & also, his daughter was a terrible character, with an equally terrible actress playing her. Do we really need another posh 'mummy and daddy won't give me what I want so I'm going to be a brat' character on TV? I've never found that to be a funny or likable scenerio for a character.
But, overall, it was an enjoyable half hour and I was glad to see it back and on good form
I’m actually hoping for more!
Sweet Dreams from Goodnight Sweetheart. Thumbs up! :)
- Porridge
This, my friends, was a huge saving grace for me. It was like an ice cube on a burned arse.
It was funny, well-acted, true to the original and very enjoyable. Kevin Bishop did a wonderful job as ‘Fletch’ – he was energetic, likable, endearing and threw in lots of nods to the wonderful Ronnie B, with his facial expressions and mannerisms. His cheeky, cocky wit was a joy to watch and his supporting cast were just as good. They were fully believable and watchable, despite being in a farcicle situation (take note 'Are You Being Served?' *ahem*) and actually looked like they were enjoying themselves and relishing the opportunity they had been given….(*AHEM* take note Till Death Do Us Part and Young Hyacinth.) Which, in contrast to all the others, was just a very refreshing light in a great big tunnel of shite.
& Officer Meekie, was a brilliant hats off to Fulton Mackay’s original, fearsome Mr Mackay.
You could tell the cast had done their homework and were enjoying every minute of bringing this wonderful sitcom back to life. Yes, it was a bit flat in places and it lacked some of the warmth that the original series had, but to be honest, that is going to be a given when you’re re-creating such a loved, classic sitcom which featured such legendary comic actors, but, for the most part, it was a wonderful, respectful and worthy tribute. The script was also on top form from the original writers and I think they did a great job of bringing it into the present day, which couldn’t have been an easy task, especially along with writing for a complete new set of actors... *AHEM AHEM* I'm looking at you Roy Clarke!!
I, for one, would be excited to see where they could take this, if it were given a full series. I think there's lots of potential here and it would wholeheartedly deserve it the chance.
So, in short, Porridge was surprisingly very palatable…and edible…with far less lumps than the rest… & it didn't make me choke half as much as Are You Being Served?...then again, I doubt much would...thumbs up guys, thumbs up! :)
and there you have it (finally)… I think I’ve said all I can stomach (and be bothered) to say…not all bad, granted, but not all good either. A very nutty mixed bag of lazy, slightly infuriating BBC scheduling.
However, we still have Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son to go….but I may have fled the country by then…we shall see. Stay tuned…if you can handle it. :)
Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below, if the mood takes you :)
Laters! :)
The set was okay, Simon Day was trying his best, despite being a very wrong choice for the role in my opinion, you could tell he was nervous and very, very wooden. At one point I forgot what I was watching and thought I was viewing him in a very bad, unfunny Fast Show sketch, which would have been more forgivable than this pile of trash.
The script was okay, typical Alf Garnett stuff, but now with less racism for obvious ‘PC’ reasons… and instead we were objected to random, boring, dated filler ramblings about bloody fish and chips, which painfully tried to fill an half hour slot and fell flat on it’s miserable, slow paced, unfunny arse!
The rest of the ‘actors’ were appalling, the originally bubbly, at least a tiny bit interesting characters of Rita and Mike where absolutely mind bogglingly boring and wooden and sounded like they'd only learned their lines the night before...and two bricks would have exuded more character, energy and wit…you know, don’t be honoured that you’ve been given the opportunity to play two classic characters from a much loved sitcom, no, just sit there and rhyme your lines off like you can’t be arsed and sit there thinking about your pay cheque instead! The actress playing Elsie looked and seemed promising at first, but then it was like she got bored half way through and stopped trying…which again, just isn’t acceptable when you’ve got the chance and the role of a lifetime! The script was fine; the acting was appalling, simple as that.
Till’ Death Us Do Part? Let’s f**king hope death comes quickly then.
- Young Hyacinth
I’m very mixed on this, but it’s not something I wish to witness again if I’m truly honest.
‘Keeping Up Appearances’ is something very dear to my little comedy geek heart and it was the staple of my childhood, me and my sister were huge fans and it was just brilliantly done in my opinion, yes, it can seem dated and corny now, but still stands as one of the best sitcoms of all time, with outstanding comic acting from the original cast.
This, I’m afraid, was just not up to the par it could have been. All the characters from the original show were extreme, so I was afraid it might be another case of ‘hammer time’ acting again, but to be honest, it was under done rather than overdone.
It was like it had been turned into some boring, Sunday night 'Heartbeat-esque' drama. I think Roy Clarke couldn’t be arsed writing anything new and this was a script he had stuck in a drawer somewhere about something completely different and decided to throw that at the BBC and tell them it was about Hyacinth and her sisters instead, because it genuinely felt that way to me.
However, I did think that Kerry Howard (Hyacinth) was really good; I totally believed she was Hyacinth, her voice and her mannerisms were amazing at times, she really gave it her all, it did get a bit forced and grating at some points, but for the most part, I thought she was really good. Patricia Routledge is a wonderful, bonkers, eccentric woman and it would be extremely hard to try and match that if you weren't as equally bonkers, but she did a great job none the less.
& Despite Mark Addy not even slightly resembling a young ‘Daddy’, I still believed him to be so.
However, as for the others, again, it was like they couldn’t be bothered and probably hadn’t even seen an episode of Keeping Up Appearances in their life.
& I'm sorry, but no way in god’s green earth, was that Daisy! No freakin' way!!! I didn’t believe any of them. Daisy was far from the cute, funny, fun loving, passionate, silly woman she was in the original show. She was as flat as a pancake…and obviously, the writer thought throwing in a shot of her whacking a TV would somehow make it more believable (of course! *huge eye rolls*)
She was completely re-written, which again, re-enforces my belief that Roy Clarke threw a completely different script in and called it Hyacinth. Rose had gone from the sad, desperate (yet funny and endearing) love chasing femme fetale she was, to a boring, unlikable, personality devoid whore.
So, despite a stellar performance from the leading lady and a surprisingly believable regenerated ‘Daddy’…the rest of the ‘actors’ again, severely let them down and looked like they just didn’t want to be there, which again, is just offensive and damn right shite. To be given that wonderful opportunity and not even to be seemingly trying to do it justice, is just not acceptable.
Roy Clarke also needs to take some of the blame, most of the blame actually... as the script and characters were terrible; he shot his own golden foot and he deserves any harsh criticism he gets for it. There was so much he could have done with those wonderful characters he originally created, he had the chance of creating a wonderful origin story for them…a chance that not many writers get and completely blew it.
Let’s hope Young Hyacinth stays where she belongs, in the past…well away from the original series.
- Goodnight Sweetheart
This is where it gets much better for me (thankfully, some sweet relief.) I was a fan and an avid watcher of the original series and I thought this just carried on where it left off completely effortlessly, it was like it had never been off our screens! It was a nostalgia fest for me and I loved it, to be honest. I have a soft spot for Nicholas Lynhurst anyway, just because I always see him as Rodney Trotter, so that helps :)
The actors all seemingly slotted right back into their original roles with ease and it was very enjoyable to catch up with all the old characters and see what had become of them. This series was always very far-fetched and corny anyway, but it was just a bit of fun, what you see is always what you get with this and it was the same for the revival. This is all fair and good. The cards were on the table before it even started and in some ways, I think that’s what made it successful.
Some things did not sit right with me however, the opening titles have gone all emo on us and I didn’t like it at all, nearly made me turn off before it had even started…& they could have made more of the fact that he’d come into a completely different world than the one he left behind in 1999, so much has changed in that time and I think more could have been done with that concept, rather than just having him looking so confused and bamboozled at it all at first and then seemingly being adjusted and alright with it all after just 20 minutes (but I realise that time retraints of an half an hour slot may have had a lot to do with that) & also, his daughter was a terrible character, with an equally terrible actress playing her. Do we really need another posh 'mummy and daddy won't give me what I want so I'm going to be a brat' character on TV? I've never found that to be a funny or likable scenerio for a character.
But, overall, it was an enjoyable half hour and I was glad to see it back and on good form
I’m actually hoping for more!
Sweet Dreams from Goodnight Sweetheart. Thumbs up! :)
- Porridge
This, my friends, was a huge saving grace for me. It was like an ice cube on a burned arse.
It was funny, well-acted, true to the original and very enjoyable. Kevin Bishop did a wonderful job as ‘Fletch’ – he was energetic, likable, endearing and threw in lots of nods to the wonderful Ronnie B, with his facial expressions and mannerisms. His cheeky, cocky wit was a joy to watch and his supporting cast were just as good. They were fully believable and watchable, despite being in a farcicle situation (take note 'Are You Being Served?' *ahem*) and actually looked like they were enjoying themselves and relishing the opportunity they had been given….(*AHEM* take note Till Death Do Us Part and Young Hyacinth.) Which, in contrast to all the others, was just a very refreshing light in a great big tunnel of shite.
& Officer Meekie, was a brilliant hats off to Fulton Mackay’s original, fearsome Mr Mackay.
You could tell the cast had done their homework and were enjoying every minute of bringing this wonderful sitcom back to life. Yes, it was a bit flat in places and it lacked some of the warmth that the original series had, but to be honest, that is going to be a given when you’re re-creating such a loved, classic sitcom which featured such legendary comic actors, but, for the most part, it was a wonderful, respectful and worthy tribute. The script was also on top form from the original writers and I think they did a great job of bringing it into the present day, which couldn’t have been an easy task, especially along with writing for a complete new set of actors... *AHEM AHEM* I'm looking at you Roy Clarke!!
I, for one, would be excited to see where they could take this, if it were given a full series. I think there's lots of potential here and it would wholeheartedly deserve it the chance.
So, in short, Porridge was surprisingly very palatable…and edible…with far less lumps than the rest… & it didn't make me choke half as much as Are You Being Served?...then again, I doubt much would...thumbs up guys, thumbs up! :)
and there you have it (finally)… I think I’ve said all I can stomach (and be bothered) to say…not all bad, granted, but not all good either. A very nutty mixed bag of lazy, slightly infuriating BBC scheduling.
However, we still have Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son to go….but I may have fled the country by then…we shall see. Stay tuned…if you can handle it. :)
Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below, if the mood takes you :)
Laters! :)
