To wish we had more TV like this?

[SaintlyLady]

Last night I watched The Two Ronnies Xmas Special from 1982 and Sorry! from 1988.

i literally laughed out loud at some of the sketches in the Two Ronnies -

and Sorry! is an excellent example of my VERY favourite TV genre -

Home Counties set,
middle class,
middle aged,
middle England, ‘
’middle of the road’
sitcoms 🙌

AIBU to want these programmes back on linear BBC1 and ITV?

I loved the episode when he went for an interview at a holiday camp (Roy Castle auditioned him) and his "Vesuvious" malfunctioned!!
Also a very funny episode was when he had to defend himself in court against charges of possession and distribution of pornography!

Omg no. It is shite.

You mean you don’t like 2 middle aged men dancing on stage to whimsical ditties with these kind of lyrics -

🎵🎶🎵
“we’re titting up and down on the willy bum bum
We’re prancing up and down on the cobblers nobblers ..”

🎶🎵🎶

I’ve only seen very little of them when I was younger but that is hilarious!’ 🤣

Oh yes - the Vesuvius!!!

The words are taken from the Not The Nine O clock News parody of them - the whole sketch is on YouTube if you type

‘The Two Ninnies’ in the search engine!

Or go upthread where I posted it

I’ve just watched that clip on YouTube! I remembered it once I saw it. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em!

The reason I can remember so much of The Good Life is because I have watched it many times over the years and it’s one of the very few DVDs I still have!

You see you have moved on, Phoenix Nights was brilliant

I'd like to be more like Margot when I grow up! Maybe less of the swooshy dresses and turbans, but that fine timing and effortless one-liners, and the bravery to just be herself, even though people laughed at her for it. Yes, Geraldine was the goat with the golden boobs! I have a dairy cow at work named Geraldine in homage... along with many others with names befitting their looks and personalities!

I asked for The Good Life on DVD for Christmas years ago. My family all said, "The Good Life? Are you sure?" I don't usually watch much TV, and The Good Life is much older than I am. By the time it got to the excitement of finding John Seymour's "The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency", I think that they gave up on trying to make me be their version of normal.

I used to love watching The Darling Buds of May with my grandfather, and got into the original series of All Creatures Great and Small, too.

There is just something so nice about watching The Good Life. The first time I saw it, I just loved it! I bought the DVDs from HMV and still have them! I just really like that era even though it’s before my time. Margo really was the star of the show!

I used to watch the original All Creatures Great and Small and My Family and Other Animals (Brian Blessed and Hannah Gordon.) Both great shows!

Oh that really made me snort!

We always quote ‘declared out of bounds’ if I drop something down my cleavage 😂

Great thread!

I was born in 1972 and grew up with all the 80s half hour comedies shown on weekdays generally at 7.30/8.00/8.30pm (BBC news was at 9pm in those days). I loved the cosiness of domestic life, I watched

Terry and June
George and Mildred
Open all hours
Are you being served?
Butterflies
The Good Life
Me and my Girl
Robin’s Nest
Home to Roost
No place like home (very young Martin Clunes)
Rings on their fingers
Just Good Friends

I can still remember the theme tunes to most of these!

Remember most of these & would add Birdwatching! Loved that (born late 1970s)

Sorry, why shouldn’t she have been called Karen? What am I missing here?

Hang on, what about That’s My Boy?

I didn't really watch Outnumbered when it was originally on, but last year I watched all the episodes with my 14 year old granddaughter and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

I did like the Two Ronnies when it first aired but I feel it is a bit dated now. I liked Sorry too but, again, I feel it might not have aged well.

Having said that, I do find some of the comedy that my son likes to be mostly very unfunny. For instance, I have never taken to Peep Show, though I very much liked Alma's Not Normal, and Fleabag, both of which were very risque in parts. I suppose it's just a matter of taste. Though I resisted watching Ghosts, when I eventually started to watch it, I thought it hilarious - I think it is perhaps more along the lines of the traditional comedies. My son thinks it's rubbish.

Some Mothers Do 'Ave @Em is extremely silly but I still think it's funny.

Omg I was born exactly the same year as you and absolutely LOVED all these!

I think you'd have a lot to talk about with my Dad. He is mid 60s and I'm in my 30s and growing up watched so many 70s/80s shows. He prefers more physical/silly comedy whereas I like more dry stuff. I used to joke he couldn't watch anything made after 1995 unless it was sport.

Morecambe and Wise - nice at the time but wouldn't work now. Modern equivalent probably Michael McIntyre? Dad would always have the Xmas specials on

Two Ronnies - tbh I thought they were so clever and brilliant
Only Fools - excellent writing
Open All Hours
Last of the Summer Wine - I can't stand it
Dad's Army - can't stand this either
Step toe and Son - awful
George and Mildred
Likely lads
Porridge
Rising Damp
Just Good Friends
Keeping up Appearances - RIP Hyacinth
Many others I can't recall

If you like that era of comedy theres a live show on called Last Laugh about Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse.

I was born in the mid-sixties so remember many of these comedy shows really well. I think the seventies to nineties really were a golden era for comedy but, naturally, some shows have aged better than others. One of my favourites still is Ever Decreasing Circles. It is a lovely, subtle comedy of manners, gentle and grown up in the true sense of the word. Richard Briars' sensitive portrayal of a man on the autistic spectrum (at a time when we all knew people who were slightly odd but didn't know why) is very well done and the supporting cast are all superb. The problem with many later comedy shows is that they have become increasingly obvious and crude, relying on bad language for a laugh. The best older shows are much more nuanced.

I agree the older shows are more nuanced. The ones from the 60s and 70s are before my time but I really like a lot of them.

I loved Ever Decreasing Circles but I did feel for Martin. It must’ve been hard for him living in the shadow of someone likeable and popular like Paul and even harder that Ann got on so well with Paul!

Howard and Hilda cracked me up with their matching outfits!

I haven’t seen it in years but this thread has made me want to watch it all again!

SaintlyLady, Thank you for this thread. It’s brought back memories of watching old sitcoms and has made me want to watch some again. It’s also been lovely finding other people who enjoy them too!

Forget Don’t Wait Up, I fancied Nigel Havers. Episodes are on YouTube.