Cartman
Producer
Posts: 2,332 
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Post by Cartman on Sept 2, 2016 13:51:58 GMT
The Porridge one was just about passable, Are you being Served was utter, utter garbage. To be fair though, I was a huge fan of the original Ronnie Barker series of Porridge so it was a decent basis to work on. AYBS, however, I thought was crap when it was originally on. To me it was dated even then, why bother to revive something which was rubbish when it was current?
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 2, 2016 16:58:47 GMT
In an age where the originals can be seen not only on dvd ( and in the case of Porridge regular BBC2 repeats ) but instantly on youtube, iplayer & the rest it makes little sense to remake them. The prequel to 'Keeping Up Appearances', & sequel to 'Goodnight Sweetheart', as redundant as they are given that both series ended years ago, at least offer something new, but why would anyone choose to watch an inferior & unrelated show just because it bears the same title? The only reason I and I'm sure everyone else here looked at them was curiosity value, you'd have to be completely new to both shows to want to see a full series of remade versions. No one who's seen John Inman's Mr.Humphries is going to take the new one on face value, they'll be comparing his performance to Inman's & inevitably the comparison will not be favourable.
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Post by Steve Austin on Sept 2, 2016 19:56:26 GMT
I agree Arthur. I'm not sure what the point of this season is. Why not just put on the originals, uncut? I must admit that I haven't watched them and so that probably renders my points worthless but I have seen the originals and don't see the point of watching inferior copies - same reason I didn't watch the recent Sweeney movie.
I did read the review of Till Death Us Do Part and it seemed favourable. This was a remake of the original deleted episode but even then the reviewer mentioned that, to paraphrase, it was the same but different.
I will watch the new Goodnight Sweetheart episode as I enjoyed that and this features the same actors etc but I am fearing the worst. |
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Post by Charles Bronson on Sept 3, 2016 10:19:38 GMT
I think it's pathetic to remake so many classic shows. Why don't the writers use their brains and try to create something new ?
It's a bit cowardly really.
Charles.
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Post by Alex Drake on Sept 3, 2016 12:06:36 GMT
Well I'm loving these remakes, sorry to go against the general consensus. I love that 'Are you being served' was still retro but had moved in to the 80's I think it gave them permission to freshen things up.
'Good night sweet heart' probably my least favourite, seemed a bit slow and plodded through, but I was never a fan of the original.
Keeping up appearances well I think this was better than the original would love to see more of young Hyacinth Bucket.
Alex
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 3, 2016 19:02:26 GMT
Watched some of 'Till Death Us Do Part' which was played out on a stage without an audience but with an obvious laugh track which jarred. The canned laughter combined with Simon Day, best known for The Fast Show, playing Alf Garnett, made it come across more like a mickey take similar to the 'On The Buses' sketch on Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse's show.
Responding to criticism about remaking AYBS the show's writer Derren Litten said that he 'just wanted to make people laugh', fair enough you might say but he also wrote 'Benidorm' which imo is a show that desperately wants to be like the comedy of the 70's but just isn't that good. I think it partly boils down to not having the calibre of writers & performers that the 60's/70's produced, but mostly it's about the impossiblity of recreating the magic that some of these shows had.
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Post by Dick Dastardly on Sept 4, 2016 20:43:55 GMT
It'll be 'It aint alf hot Mum' next..... try making that PC!!
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Post by Gene Hunt on Sept 4, 2016 20:50:38 GMT
It'll be 'It aint alf hot Mum' next..... try making that PC!! Or Love Thy Neighbour...
Gene.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 5, 2016 19:26:18 GMT
I agree Arthur. I'm not sure what the point of this season is. Why not just put on the originals, uncut?
Concerns about the 'offensive' content of some of the shows could be part of it. I only say that because it's something that's invariably brought up whenever certain sitcoms are mentioned in the press. Porridge had a female governor & AYBS had a new black character, both of which are perfectly valid, but the impression I get is that it's been done to sanitise the content & make the shows more 'inclusive' for a modern audience. I think a more cynical reason for remaking them could be because they're also showing new sitcom pilots as part of this 'sitcom season'. Scheduling these pilots amoungst new versions instead of the original 'classics' is bound to make them look better, or 'less worse' than they are. By that I mean if they show some of the best episodes of the original shows they risk making the pilots look poor in comparison. They would never show an original episode & then show a modern version of it straight after. These remakes trade on people's memories. Wasn't it last year that the BBC had a series of new comedy pilots? From a selling point of view it makes sense to associate successful BBC comedies of the past with new stuff to fool viewers into thinking that the new BBC comedies aren't as crap as they appear. |
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Terry Collier
Cameraman
I'd offer you a beer, but I've only got 6 cans.
Posts: 217
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Post by Terry Collier on Sept 11, 2016 17:37:16 GMT
I think it's pathetic to remake so many classic shows. Why don't the writers use their brains and try to create something new ? It's a bit cowardly really. Charles. I agree Charles. Look what happened when they got that pair of prats to remake the Likely Lads episode No Hiding Place!
TC.
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