Programmes that have aged poorly and programmes that have aged well?

I understand that things become uncomfortable or jarring when we are conflicted but am amazed at people who cannot watch things with an understanding that times and attitudes have changed.

Reading this thread reinforces why there are so few good new programmes now, because everyone is so ready to be offended and the list of things that cannot be said has grown so long there's hardly anything left!

I've just seen you can get the DVDs on Amazon - £24 for each of the two series!!

Dolly Partons Butterflies. I was never a fan of Carla Lane but I watched this because I wanted Rhia to dump boring Ben and get with Leonard 😅

It was called Nanny or The Nanny

The Other One was outstanding - so astutely written and hilarious, as well as having multi-dimensional characters who inspired sympathy and dislike at the same time. Also an ensemble of strong, interesting female characters, with only a few very minor male characters on the periphery.

I looked for it only a couple of days ago, but I couldn't find it anywhere to watch - does anybody know where it might be available?

Reminds me of my late mom as well. There was a strong facial resemblance and definitely the same hairstyle. Mom also had some airs and graces but not as many and could be quite snobby. Probably a generational thing. Never hen pecked my dad who resembled a young Eric Morcombe. My dad died quite young though

I enjoyed it at the time; however the writing wasn't strong enough to back up some of the very well-thought-out situations. Wasn't the writer only about 16 or 17 at the time? Yes, she was amazing for her age; but I think it would have benefited from having an older, more experienced writer or two in addition to her youthful brilliance.

Keeping up Appearances reminds me of my late Mum! The "just been to the hairdressers for a shampoo and set" look was exactly her. She also airs and graces and an element of snobbery! (But she certainly didn't hen peck Dad nor terrorise the postie!!).

I absolutely adore that programme and the book is one of my favourites. 😊

That's not the point, though. The character she played was not only made to look dowdy and plain, but she was repeatedly bullied and humiliated for it.

Her 'character flaw' was not in being mean, rude, arrogant, deceitful, lazy, selfish, dishonest... her 'fault', for which she was repeatedly criticised, was in being a young woman who wasn't pretty. And one of the saddest things of all was the way that she just accepted that treatment as her lot in life.

I find it frustrating when people generalise that there's no good sitcoms on any more - I think there's plenty, on varied topics, but I don't think people watch them in the same way because how we've watched TV has changed.

For example, The Other One is a brilliant BBC sitcom, with a great cast. Alma's Not Normal- hard hitting but funny, Mammoth- amusing. If people are streaming though, or don't look them out, they don't get watched!

G'kar is my absolute favourite. I sometimes go and watch his speeches on YouTube, incredibly well written and delivered with such emotion

Ivanova's death incarnate speech is worth a watch

There is no way it would be commissioned now, mostly because of what comes out of Jim’s mouth.

Or another orifice

Ooh yes The Jewel in the Crown was brilliant.

Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in The Crown remain the best things ITV ever made.

I almost get a physical nostalgic pain when watching the brilliant 1981 Brideshead Revisited.

The last time I watched it I was reminded that it wasn't actually made by the BBC but Granada for ITV. Those were the days.

I saw Two Pints was on recently and watched a bit for curiosity's sake, remembering a light-hearted argument I had with someone in what must have been the late 2000s about what was the funniest thing on TV; Two Pints was her appalling choice. It was actually better than I remember it being, which means one of two things: either it was better than I remember it being, or the standard of sitcom writing gets worse. I'll let the MN Collective draw their own conclusions.

Agreed. Although I do think that Tom's "flirting" with Margot was very tongue in cheek rather than a serious play to get in her knickers. He was efffectively making fun of Margot and Barbara found it a source of amusement too (not right, but that's what it was). But I always thought Margot and Jerry were lovely, generous people whilst Tom and Barbara were both pretty self absorbed and at times very unpleasant.

Yes Minister/Prime Minister is somehow always topical on tv or radio!

Love New Tricks and it's still watchable multiple times (with a bit of a gap in between!).

Also loved Hustle and that's pretty timeless too.

One show which I recently re-watched and loved all over again is Sapphire and Steel - still spooky and thought-provoking, and of course it features the wonderful Joanna Lumley and David McCallum.

Some of the classics seem to pop up on BBC4, though - and BBC3 often has things like Two Pints, which probably aren't that much more recent than when OFAH finished.

I don't get why they would keep making and showing new episodes of Mrs Brown's Boys on BBC1 whilst ignoring their vast archives of similar-style 'traditional' sitcoms that they already have.

I completely agree with you. Some of the old comedy which is now frowned upon was truly laugh out loud amusing. I hate current comedy, most of which seems to concentrate on sex, swearing and bodily functions. I really dislike being confronted with writhing bodies on my TV when I am eating dinner!

Nanny (The Nanny?) was actually later than Butterflies iirc.

Loved it and (along with to The Manor Born) it fuelled my desire to life in a big old house surrounded by rolling fields and with horses.