faginsgirl

Unless its all of us and his family and friends of course

xx

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

johng

I think many older people still remember Harry Worth with affection. He had a brand of humour which you either liked or disliked. He was certainly very popular at the time.

Mention was also made of Arthur Haynes. I think he could be likened to any of the more common sitcoms which are flogged to death on UK GOld and UK Drama. I suspect much of his material has been wiped although some certainl exists since there was a documentary on his life some years ago on ITV I think and this included clips from many of his shows.

They were obviously b/w episodes and most were spoiled because the network tried to emulate colour by fitting a colour filter to the lens. Far better to have left them as originally shown in b/w.

donna

I agree John dont like tampering with black and white, its much better in original format.

davidb

harry who ? no seriosly i remember his shop window routine ,are any dvds of his available ?

stevie boy

not a great fan of Harry but Arthur Haynes was very good.

stevie boy

I think Arthur was seen as ITV's competition to Hancock and /or Steptoe

Windthrop

Haynes helps make Doctor in Clover watchable

That's the joke that killed the Music Hall

scholes

Harry Hill has a very Harry Worth feel about him.
He sounds the same, looks the same(ish) and delivers in a similar manner.
Unassuming wit, always acceptable without being particularly memorable.

johng

A VHS video of Harry Worth was issued some years back with 3 episodes on it and can often be found on Ebay. Apart from that I know that many members have copies and a request in the forum might well produce some results.

donna

my mum liked Charlie Drake but he made me a bit stressed like Norman Wisdom. they took too much out of themselves.

bhowells

Yes Donna, i think childhood nostlagia has a lot to do with it. I think that explains why I still enjoy Lucille Ball and Jerry Lewis, not the most sublte comics either of them but they just bring back memories of a time when the cathode ray tube was a gentler place and indeed the world in general.

Never very keen on Arthur Haynes as you say he is not mentioned anymore, I vividly remember his repetory company on his show, Pat Hayes, Derrmot Kelly, Nicholas Parson, Johnny Speight wrote the scripts pre Alf Garnett.

Moor Larkin

I can recall being an avid *fan* of his tramp persona and I can remember Dermot Kelly and Nicholas Parsons being very funny with him. One *episode* that has stuck with me although I can remember very little specific about it, was when the usual comedy segued into something far more profound. There was a 'two tramps sitting in the gutter, but able to look up at the stars' dynamic going on.

smudge

I recently watched all of Charlie Drake's TV series, THE WORKER. I was very impressed with how cleverly constructed these were - rather like shaggy-dog stories, but with a little more focus. More often than not he and Lew Schwarz brought you back to the starting point, but via a very well planned story. Lots of gags which 'slept' but eventually came back with a vengeance.

It struck me that Drake had a very good insight into how comedy works - possibly running in third place on this to Doddy and the late, great, Bob Monkhouse. I think that the detailed study of comedy is an incredibly intelligent subject and that there's a great deal of psychology about it.

Although his shows were very tightly scripted - even down to the 'ooh ahhs' Frankie Howerd displayed a very natural feel for comedy and what worked too...

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Harry

As the owner of The Official Harry Worth Website I have to say that since his biography has been published there has been a slow revival of interest in him. We all know it was comedy of the age and may not fair well today but it is still worth bearing in mind that he was the BBC's highest paid entertainer of the time and commanded audiences both on stage and tv equal to Morecambe & Wise ( and before anyone says - not the record breaking xmas show ).

There are episodes surviving of his work both TV & Radio but unfortunatley the BBC or ITV companies do not see them as commercialy viable to release them. The book has a lot of photos of Harry and the people he worked with.

Lets all just remember him as we saw him at the time.

Harry

The biography of this long forgotten comedian can be obtained via The Official Harry Worth Website or via most bookshops