http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/3716...n-audience-poll

 

The British sitcom standards are not quite high, are they?

 

Some gems amongst a host of typically British sitcom fare - but generally I'm not a fan of the vast majority of British sitcoms, I prefer the best of American sitcoms (ignoring all the dire ones) :lol:

 

 

I caught the remakes. Oh dear. Oh dear. The original casts were mostly skilled long-working actors who understood farce and drama, apart from a couple of inspired castings (Roy Barraclough springs to mind), the new ones looked like they were bunged together using whoever turned up to the audition.

 

Those lost 60's classics - grew up watching them on TV. I don't miss them..... :o

 

Mrs Brown's Boys, is all about Brendan's adlibbing and good-natured ribbing of his family and cast members, that's why people love it. It's never going to win awards and will continue to mystify millions :P

Did anyone hear about Patricia Routledge saying that you won't watch the prequel to Keeping Up Appearances at all?

 

 

The remakes were ok. I think the Porridge writers made a brave attempt to update it but it worked best when the comedy was timeless, such as the constant changing hands of the pineapple chunks.

 

Are You Being Served suffered from the size of the cast, but it was alright.

so i've a question

 

are these just that, specials, or do the BBC have plans to make any of them in to a series if they go well

 

for example, i really liked the coopers and the remade are you being served?, and would love to see them made in to series

 

also, i'm not quite sure how i missed home from home on BBC 2 last night, had plans to watch it.. was it any good?

Edited August 31, 20168 yr by bipolar angel

so i've a question

 

are these just that, specials, or do the BBC have plans to make any of them in to a series if they go well

 

for example, i really liked the coopers and the remade are you being served?, and would love to see them made in to series

I think the remakes are intended to be one-offs at the moment but, I feel like if they believe any of them were successful, they'll make a full series of it. Sort of similar to Still Open All Hours which had a one-off special and then returned as a full series as it was so successful!

 

As for the new sitcoms airing on BBC Two, they seem to be intended as pilots so the most successful ones (if there are any) will be made into a full series!

I'd love to see BBC4 show more sitcoms too. There are very, very few on the channel and it'd be great to see the likes of Kieran Hodgson, Josie Long or Spencer Jones given a six episode commission soon. The Beeb is still reeling a bit from Sachsgate I think and has reverted back almost entirely to cosy, studio-based sitcoms instead of allowing the next generation of young talent to come through.

An ending to Goodnight Sweetheart which has screamed out a full series for sure, the best of the three I've seen from the revivals.

No one could be Mrs Bucket for me with Young Hyacinth on now than Patricia Routledge.

The new episode of Goodnight Sweetheart was absolutely hilarious. It's great the way they've now reversed the premise of the original series, with Gary now travelling to a future that he is unfamiliar with, rather than a past he's unfamiliar with. I'd originally had reservations about it being nothing more than a one-off treat beforehand, but on the strength of this episode, I hope they turn it into a full revival series. Given that they've updated the theme tune, it's possible they had intended it to be a backdoor pilot.

So nostalgic for the 90s <3 Goodnight Sweetheart HAS to be commissioned for a full series, it was great.

 

Love the references to all the old running jokes and the new characters seemed pretty good too, certainly room for more, especially Gary's relationship with his daughter. I'm so glad the time portal has reopened *.* Incredible how much things have changed since 1999, which feels like yesterday to me in many ways.

Really enjoyed the new Goodnight Sweetheart very good. Hope there will be a new series.

Edited September 2, 20168 yr by Mark.

I hope they turn it into a full revival series. Given that they've updated the theme tune, it's possible they had intended it to be a backdoor pilot.

 

Yes I agree. Plus giving a very clear reopening to the narrative with the time portal reopening. If he hadn't been able to get back through again at the end then it would have been a clear one-off but this screams 'we're making another series'.

 

As an aside, Reg has aged well, he barely looked a day older.

Edited September 2, 20168 yr by gooddelta

i can't wait for motherland tonight!

 

yay?:)

 

watched the jury thing yesterday, thought it was funny

 

Young Hyacinth though

 

what

 

that is all

Just watched both 'We the Jury' and 'Motherland', mainly because Diane Morgan (aka Philomena Cunk) is in both of them but I thought the concept of the former was interesting and I've realised that the latter is written by Graham Lineham (Father Ted & The IT Crowd) and Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe) amongst others!

 

Both gave a good few laughs but I probably preferred 'Motherland' overall as I see more potential in a full series, with the posh mums going against the 'normal' mums. I loved the three main leads in it too. All good sitcoms have over-exaggerative concepts and characters and that's what makes them so good but I think there was a bit too much of that in 'We the Jury' which slightly put me off. The concept would be more beneficial in a full series as it would allow the 12 different characters of the jury to develop but, at the same time, it would also have a limited life span and I'm not entirely sure whay they would use as the subject of each episode.

 

I would like to see both be commissioned as full series but, if I had to choose one, it would probably be 'Motherland'!

Darn, I missed Motherland - must catch up on iPlayer.

 

By the way, not a new sitcom (or even that much of a sitcom, more a dark comedy drama) but Fleabag is well worth watching. Sometimes outwardly crude but always deviously subtle.

Agree with everything about Goodnight Sweetheart - it was brilliantly redone - def would watch a new series and it's so easy to write jokes for the series and so many interesting narratives both in the 60s and 2016.

 

I found it was a series which grew stronger as each series passed as they expanded the format of the storylines.

Porridge is getting a full series with production starting in January!

 

I hope this means we will hear some news on some of the original pilots getting full series orders. I'd love to see more of Motherland!

...and the BBC have passed on giving Goodnight Sweetheart a full series. Looks like the writers/creators/whatever will be trying to shop around to get it on another channel.

Wrong choice for me should have been Goodnight Sweetheart. Don't agree with a new series of Porridge because Kevin Bishop is not a patch on Ronnie Barker.

 

 

There won't be any new series for Are You Being Served? or Young Hyacinth either! So only Porridge is getting a full series out of the classic sitcoms.

Wrong choice for me should have been Goodnight Sweetheart. Don't agree with a new series of Porridge because Kevin Bishop is not a patch on Ronnie Barker.

Nobody could possibly replace Ronnie Barker. An attempt to recreate the role of Norman Stanley Fletcher with a different actor wouldn't have worked. I'm not surprised they are going ahead with a new series, but I am rather surprised that they aren't continuing with Goodnight Sweetheart. I thought the one-off episode of that worked well and was clearly designed as a pitch for a new series. Let's see whether another channel now picks it up.