BBC Sitcom "re-boots"

[m444ttb]

Composite Guru said:

Strangely I'm just watching my Goodnight Sweetheart boxset at the moment. Such a great show.

I've always liked this despite everything (like it being st!).

[AlexC1981]

Jonesy23 said:

PoleDriver said:

ash73 said:

A sitcom about bigamy and infidelity. It truely was dire.

Surely it's only bigamy if he's married to them at the same time?

Reading the plot summary he actually was married to them both eventually, had a child with wife no. 2 while wife no. 1 miscarried.

It's not something I particularly watched but the bare bones of it aren't really much of a comedy but actually pretty unpleasant with all the scamming and cheating. At least in the end Gary gets stuck with the crappier option.

Calm down, that's like saying Dad's army was about the evils and horrors of war.

[J4CKO]

We really enjoyed Are You Being Served, really captured the spirit of the original, pussy jokes a plenty good casting as well.

[Daz68]

J4CKO said:

We really enjoyed Are You Being Served, really captured the spirit of the original, pussy jokes a plenty good casting as well.

Liked this too.

[kowalski655]

Liked it too, like the original, some of the same jokes

[Halmyre]

The chap over-reacting to the pussy jokes was unnecessary; thanks, but, yes we know, pussy = vagina.

The Porridge remake just made me nostalgic for the original, winks and nods aside - pineapple chunks, two fingers, "I won't let you catch me". Was the old lag Joe in the original series at any point? The Harry Grout type was too real-life to be humorous.

[Iva Barchetta]

I switched over after about 10 minutes.

I just didn't get it.

Grumpy old git, not liking re hashed old tv probably....

[ch108]

Sorry, thought Are You Being Served remake was utter mince. Didn't laugh once. Had high hopes for Porridge because it was written by the original writers, but it wasn't much better.

I much preferred the Dads Army programme the BBC done recently, because it was a drama about Jimmy Perry getting the programme commissioned, casting the actors and the story of how it became a success. It was far better than just a poor remake of one episode.

[Kaj91]

Halmyre said:

Was the old lag Joe in the original series at any point?

No, though he was in Bad Girls, so he has previous.

[marshalla]

Kaj91 said:

No, though he was in Bad Girls, so he has previous.

Maybe they got confused and thought the actor was the bloke from the band?

[s3fella]

Daz68 said:

J4CKO said:

We really enjoyed Are You Being Served, really captured the spirit of the original, pussy jokes a plenty good casting as well.

Liked this too.

We liked it too, thought it was a great "hommage" (ooeer!) and good to see some cheesy double entendres going on. I thought the actors portrayal of the original characters was very good, Mr Rumbold was Mr Rumbold, "Boyce" was good and Mrs Slocombe, Miss Brahms and Mr Humphries were spot on. I was a bit disappointed in Arthur Smith, seemed a little hammed, but a decent effort.
As a one off, glad I watched it and glad they made it.

Porridge I wasn't quite so sure of, maybe moving it to modern times didn't quite translate so well? But was at least watchable, which for a BBC comedy is a rare thing nowadays.

I think going into them with an open mind helped.

[Iva Barchetta]

Smiler. said:

Hancock's Half Hour - BBC1, Thursday 8th September 21.00

Quoted that part of the OP as I clicked the link and it said it's on BBC4 not 1.

I'll give it a try.

[Escort3500]

Watched 5 minutes of Are You Being Served before I switching over. Utter garbage; it wasn't funny in the seventies (though typical of the generally dire sitcoms of the era) and shouldn't have been resurrected IMO.

Mind you, Miranda and Mrs Brown's Boys show that lessons haven't been learnt.

[vixen1700]

Watched Are You Being Served, it was a good homage to the original but totally unfunny. Maybe that was the point?

[Riley Blue]

Watching Are You Being Served as I type - cringemaking in the extreme.

[MrOnTheRopes]

Halmyre said:

The Porridge remake just made me nostalgic for the original, winks and nods aside - pineapple chunks, two fingers, "I won't let you catch me". Was the old lag Joe in the original series at any point? The Harry Grout type was too real-life to be humorous.

I thought it was Barry Hearne in prison, because Kevin Bishop played it exactly the same as he did in The Rack Pack.

[Steamer]

vixen1700 said:

Watched Are You Being Served, it was a good homage to the original but totally unfunny. Maybe that was the point?

Very hard work sticking with that.. The Porridge one was a much better homage / mix-up / story in it's own right.

[megaphone]

Enjoyed them both.

Are You Being Served was very well cast, lots of innuendo, made me snigger a few times, wasn't laugh out loud stuff, but then the original wasn't either.

Porridge was a good idea, I think a series could be possible, but it would always be compared to the original, so best let things lie!

Both where too fast paced, lots of cutting between scenes, 'American style'. Modern 'comedy' series are all like that now, trying to cram as many 'laughs' in as possible. The over enthusiastic canned laughter was a bit much.

[r11co]

Smiler. said:

Goodnight Sweetheart - BBC1, Friday 2nd September 21.00

This one isn't a reboot. It is a continuation of the original series seventeen years on, meaning the 'back in time' parts are in the '60's.

[telecat]

r11co said:

Smiler. said:

Goodnight Sweetheart - BBC1, Friday 2nd September 21.00

This one isn't a reboot. It is a continuation of the original series seventeen years on, meaning the 'back in time' parts are in the '60's.

And the only one of the lot to feature the Original cast (as it finished, Derla Kirwin and Michelle Holmes left after season 3).

Edited by telecat on Monday 29th August 22:19