davidb

perhaps it would be interesting to see an episode of the minstrels again but its something the bbc would have to handle with care ,perhaps put it out a as part of a themed evening on bbc4 .what im talking about here is just filler in case the snooker finishes early ,which is what theve been using the good life for

earlb

I think this debate raises two questions.
1. Does anybody really have the right to stop me seeing an innocent programme and trying to alter my beliefs by a mindless few?
2. All the albums of the B/W Minstrels made it in the charts where people bought them for good listening entertainment. Did it detract from their enjoyment because there was no TV around on their Hi - Fi?

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

CaptainWaggett

1. Nobody has the right to stop you seeing the programme. For many reasons though, you aren't going to be able to watch it on terrestrial tv any time soon. However, I would dispute the idea that those who felt insulted by the programme were 'mindless'. Just because you weren't insulted by Michael Jackson 'whiting up' doesn't mean that there isn't genuine distress caused by the prevalence of positive images of slavery that still exist here and in the US. (I listened recently to an excellent radio programme by the black poet Lemm Sissay about why he would never go into a pub called the 'Black Boy' and I have to say, I started out thinking that he was taking it too seriously and ended up feeling outraged on his behalf)

2. If the songs work perfectly well without the offensive make-up, why did they need the blackface?

To go back to davidb's question - I'd have thought it would be relatively easy (allowing for the ubiquitous 'rights issues') to chop up extracts from old chatshows or news broadcasts, maybe on asporting theme into appropriately sized chucks which would probably interest the snooker audience (who I assume are mostly over-40s?)

batman

Here's a clip ..... what do those who have never seen it before think?

YouTube - The Black and White Minstrels show 1978

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

earlb

Thanks for that Bats, lovely to watch and listen to again.
Interesting to read a posting on that site which says " I laugh at how people always get up in arms about this shit. It's just entertainment. Thats all. Nobody got hurt with this, nor will anyone ever get hurt doing it.
If they ever do, it's because the other person is a close-minded f***, not the other way around.
I wish I had been so eloquent ( you will Oscar, you will)

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

Fellwanderer

No doubt Manning thought the same about his disgraceful material.

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

Mr Cosmo

Getting back to the original post - BBC has loads of copyright cleared Top Of The Pops which they could show - not TOTP2 with inaccurate and unfunny comments by Steve Wright - just the show as it was and as it should be seen. I know BBC4 canibalize 60s clips, but I understand there are still lots of 1970s and 1980s shows.

batman

How about Rock Goes to College or Sounds of the Seventies. They would be great to see again.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

BillTurner80

Soe of the rarely seen stuff like I Didn't Know You Cared etc would be nice. On the subject of the B&W Minstrels, wasn't the last series performed by the guys NOT wearing blackface? Or did I dream it? Hmmm . . .

johng

No what you are thinking of was a programme called Masquerade where the boys appeared without blacking up, but it did not catch on in the same way as the Minstrels shows.

leaving the Minstrels aside which was not the subject of this thread anyway, why must the BBC on terrestrial and also on UK Gold and UK Drama persist in showing the same old sitcoms time after time. I doubt if many people now watch either channel.

For example, not so long ago we had the 3rd/4th repeat of Terry and June and it has currently appeared on another satellite channel. Why not bring out the earlier series for a change Happy Ever After? The same applies to other sitcoms. We keep on seeing the same dozen or so programmes repeated continuously. What about My Wife Next Door as a typical example.

The same applies to drama - we continually are bombarded with the likes of Poirot, the later Maigret etc. Nothing wrong with them but people are fed up watching them over and over again. There is plenty good drama in the archives which has not been wiped and yet it is never aired or issued on DVD.

I know that there may be contractual issues with certain programmes but these must surely be in the minority.

Chevyman

My old mum, RIP, used to love them. Always caught her singing those songs.

I'd like to see some of the Old Grey Whistle tests and some of the excellent drama served up in the seventies and onwards

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

MB

I'd like to see 'Rising Damp', 'The fall and rise of Reginald Perrin', 'Butterflies (the only sitcom by Carla Lane I enjoyed, though), 'The Young Ones' and, actually I think it was a Channel 4 show - but I'd like to see it again - I think it was called 'Desmonds'.

Mark O

Terry and June.......great sitcom!

Mark

Chevyman

Perfect Happy time

Would love to see Clochemerle again. What a cast

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

bhowells

Repeats of Dads Army in a filler spot would be nice, far better than My Family and Keeping Up Apperances.

I'd even settle for Diagnosis Murder.