Shelved After One Series

[Clinton Morgan]

I've never seen Hardwicke House....

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotcaa/sotcaa.ht.../hardwicke.html

....but I'd like to have done.

[Steve Crook]

Originally posted by Wetherby Pond@Aug 11 2005, 11:51 PM

The current reruns of Trevor's World of Sport are reminding me (1) of what an underrated gem it was - certainly one of the funnier new sitcoms of recent years - and (2) how disgracefully the BBC treated it by unceremoniously yanking it out of its Friday peaktime slot after the first three episodes and dumping it in a Monday graveyard slot to finish its run.



I suppose I should be grateful that they deigned to show the rest of it at all - but I somehow don't see them commissioning another series. And even if they did, there's precious little chance of writer Andy Hamilton agreeing, after he expressed his views on the saga somewhat pithily.

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I agree with both your points, and that of Andy Hamilton, it was disgracefully treated.



But the re-runs do also help to remind us what a great actor Paul Reynolds is, even if he does always seem to be getting stuck in roles as shadey wheeler-dealer types. He's very good at them.



He started with his brilliant portrayal of Colin Matthews in Press Gang



Apart from his great performance in Let Him Have it has he done many roles that weren't shadey wheeler-dealer types?



He was in the soap on BBC World Service Westway and guess what type of character he played? Yes, that's right, a shadey wheeler-dealer type [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clapping.gif[/img]



Steve

[alan gowdy]

Originally posted by Marky B@Aug 6 2005, 01:42 AM

Thanks,Steve

I feel a bit better I am not alone in my opinion that Ricky Gervais is about as funny as a weekend in Auschwitz.

Ta Ta

Marky B [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]

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I read a description of Mr Gervais recently as a "one trick pony." Apart from a good grasp of the comedy of embarrassment, has he any other guns in his arsenal?

[Wetherby Pond]

Originally posted by alan gowdy@Aug 12 2005, 01:41 PM

I read a description of Mr Gervais recently as a "one trick pony." Apart from a good grasp of the comedy of embarrassment, has he any other guns in his arsenal?

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Well, there's the much sought-after skill known as "being able to get more than one series commissioned", which rather begs the question as to why so many posts in this thread are about him!

Originally posted by samkydd@Aug 5 2005, 03:50 PM

His g/f was big in TV long before he did The Office, and Steven Merchant was a trainee producer for the BBC when I knew him. SM was also struggling in try-out spots at various comedy clubs around London and the last time I saw him he ran off the stage after about a minute of his five minute spot and left the building because the audience gave him a hard time because he wasn't funny. So whatever bullshit they tell you it is strictly who you know not what you do!

But doesn't the fact that Merchant appeared on screen for about three minutes in total - and, if I remember rightly, it was towards the end of the second series - suggest that he might have learned something from this experience and decided to stay behind the camera? (In any case, this story reminds me of one about a comedian in New York who died on stage pretty much every night for weeks on end, and it was only his manager's faith in him that kept him going as a performer. His name was Woody Allen - I wonder what happened to him?)



Anyway, you're clearly right in that "who you know" is a crucial factor in getting something commissioned in the first place, but contacts are little use if what you produce is resoundingly rejected by critics and audiences for being crap - and this categorically wasn't the case here. In fact, it was the exact opposite: a genuine word of mouth hit that received next to no hype, or indeed much marketing of any kind, in the early stages.

[Fellwanderer]

Originally posted by JamesM@Aug 5 2005, 03:17 PM

I did enjoy the US tv series of Logan's Run, which did not run into a second season.

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But the film just has to be far, far superior for obvious reasons [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

[smudge]

Originally posted by Fellwanderer@Aug 12 2005, 05:57 PM

But the film just has to be far, far superior for obvious reasons [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

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Oh, behave !! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blushing.gif[/img]



[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]



SMUDGE



[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

[Fellwanderer]

Originally posted by smudge@Aug 12 2005, 09:18 PM

Oh, behave !! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blushing.gif[/img]



[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]



SMUDGE



[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

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I will always be the perfect gentleman wherever that lady is concerned - unfortunately [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img]



FELL

[smudge]

Originally posted by Fellwanderer@Aug 12 2005, 08:58 PM

I will always be the perfect gentleman wherever that lady is concerned - unfortunately [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img]



FELL

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I think I'd just fall at her feet, all of a quiver, Fell ! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blushing.gif[/img]



SMUDGE



[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

[Fellwanderer]

Originally posted by smudge@Aug 12 2005, 10:07 PM

I think I'd just fall at her feet, all of a quiver, Fell ! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blushing.gif[/img]



SMUDGE



[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

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I'll admit my heart was pounding rather fast when I did meet her [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wub.gif[/img]

[mysteriesofedgarwallace]

I always enjoyed 'Dad' with George Cole in the title role, with (IIRC) Kevin McNally (??) which ran from circa. 1997-1999. Granted it did go to a second series, but seems to have sunk without trace ever since.

GC gave a very accurare portrayal of an old fuddy duddy.

[Darling]

Originally posted by Tony in Ottawa@Aug 13 2005, 07:36 PM

I was very disappointed to see The Strange Report disappear after one season back in 1968. I haven't seen it since, but I think it would still hold up well against today's rubbish.

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Yes, I agree. I've just recently bought the DVD set and was very pleasantly surprised that it does stand up very well against current TV trends. It recalls a more innocent, less complicated era unlike the slick and superficial of today. They did great work on their comparatively minuscule budgets back then. I had a school girl crush on Kaz Garas when the series was originally screened in the late 60s! I haven't had a chance to check out the extras yet but they include interviews with Anneke Wills and Kaz Garas and an on-set photo gallery by Kaz Garas. It's a shame that Anthony Quayle is no longer with us. Ah, nostalgia...you can't beat it.

[Harbottle]

Hardly recognised Kas Garas in the interview on the Strange Report DVD set, still it was a long time ago [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif[/img] Nice touch that AW was interviewed by Roger Lloyd-Pack who father was a regular in the series.

[bartonbank]

Bear with me, because I can remember very little about a comedy series that keeps popping into my mind...can't remember the name, the actors and can only say that the decade was EITHER the 70's or 80's!!

Being unable to remember much tends to imply it wasn't any good, but I can recall LOL at it...my lack of recollection is probably down to women/alcohol, which implies the early 80's.

I am sure the programme was on BBC2....set in a Welsh undertakers...I think Huw Griffiths was in it...because of this programme I have always wondered what chocolate covered bumble bees taste like!

Right, time for my tablets!

[Fellwanderer]

Originally posted by bartonbank@Aug 16 2005, 07:52 AM

Bear with me, because I can remember very little about a comedy series that keeps popping into my mind...can't remember the name, the actors and can only say that the decade was EITHER the 70's or 80's!!

Being unable to remember much tends to imply it wasn't any good, but I can recall LOL at it...my lack of recollection is probably down to women/alcohol, which implies the early 80's.

I am sure the programme was on BBC2....set in a Welsh undertakers...I think Huw Griffiths was in it...because of this programme I have always wondered what chocolate covered bumble bees taste like!

Right, time for my tablets!

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It rings a bell - though more of a tinkle than a thundering peel. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif[/img]

[Marky B]

Mentioning undertakers,I remember seeing a brief scene from a programme which starred Peter Ellis and Ben Roberts (Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow and Chief Inspector Derek Conway of The Bill) as two undertakers,hiding from what could be a spot of bother. Does anyone know much about it?

Ta Ta

Marky B [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]