The Young Ones
Mike ---- Schneider
Has anyone ever seen this show? How many episodes of it did they make?
What are all the guys from the show doing now? What was your favorite episode?
Is it on anywhere now? Is there anyplace I could get back episodes? I love this
show, as do many of my friends.
I figured I'd post to rec.arts.tv.uk even though I hear that British folks
don't like all those British comedy shows (Monty Python, Young Ones, etc.) like
us silly Americans.
What is anyones opinion/information on this?
<-------------------
Well lets see, I believe they made a some where around fifteen shows.
I know that after the Young Ones ended they went on to do a show called
The Comic Strip which puts out hilarious short story type comedies every
once and a while, the famous of which was "BAD NEWS" the British Version of
Spinal Tap. Bad News is available on Video Tape in the U.S. via Rhino Records.
My favorite Young Ones episode is when they go on the University Challenge game
s show, although the final episode is good also.
After MTV dropped it, I don't believe it aired anywhere else. But the good news
is that CBS/FOX video has started selling the episodes on video tape. The firs
t tape contains the epsiodes callled OIL, BORING, and FLOOD. The catalog number
is5402. If sales for this inital tape are good CBS/FOX intends to release futu
re spisodes.q
:wq
H
shack
What are all the guys from the show doing now? What was your favorite episode?
Is it on anywhere now? Is there anyplace I could get back episodes? I love this
show, as do many of my friends.
I figured I'd post to rec.arts.tv.uk even though I hear that British folks
don't like all those British comedy shows (Monty Python, Young Ones, etc.) like
us silly Americans.
What is anyones opinion/information on this?
Sime revolution
(Tom @psuvm on mxs144 =
courtesy of shack) power
Mike Godfrey
MuchMusic (Canadian MTV) showed "More Bad News" a few months ago.
Is this the same as "Bad News" or is it the sequel?
(Or am I confused again?)
--
Mike Godfrey "I spy, with my mind's eye,
Dept of Comp Sci, UofT something beginning with `G'".
mi...@csri.toronto.edu -- Rene Descartes
Erik-jan Vens
(as I recall his name was, but I mean Vivian from the Young Ones) did
after The Young Ones. Where Rik sort of was the manager and Adrian gotten
fired off by canons or was set fire to. I especially remember the show
where Adrian was supposed to be fired by a canon, had to break through a
brick wall go through a couple of glass walls through a hoople and
finally land in a bucket of water..
Last evening on BBC I episode 4 of Blackadder IV, which had Rik as the
too-jolly lighthearted English flyer ("There are 2 million women and there
is only one Flashheart") and Adrian as the evil German pilot Baron von
Richthofen ("Ha... ha... ha... you British have such humor! Ha..").
But I think we should note that The Young Ones *and* Filthy, Rich and
Catflap *and* Blackadder were written by Ben Elton (some with others).
Mr. Elton is the real genius. I didn't like his book "Stark", but I very
much liked his one-man shows "The Man From A.U.N.T.I.E.". (rerunning on
BBC now).
Erik-Jan.
Joan McGalliard
>Has anyone ever seen this show? How many episodes of it did they make?
>What are all the guys from the show doing now? What was your favorite episode?
>Is it on anywhere now? Is there anyplace I could get back episodes? I love this
>show, as do many of my friends.
1) Yes.
2) 12.
3) I don't know about Mike (can't even remember the
actor's name) as no reports of him reach here but the
others:
They all appear in Comic Strip Presents - look out for this,
it is a very good British comedy series. Each episode is
totally independent and completely different. Themes range
from parodies of heavy metal (a la spinal tap) to Hollywood
comes to England ( the making of a film about the British
miners strike with Arthur Skargill (sp?) played by "Al
Pacino")
Nigel Planer (Neil) has done some serious acting. His
latest work is somewhere between the two. He has "become"
Nicholas Craig, a rep actor and total wanker. There is a
book out "I, An Actor" by Nicholas Craig which is written
very seriously and is very funny. The only mention of the
real authors is in the copyright note inside the title page
[(c) Christopher Douglas and Nigel Planer]. A series based
on this character is being screened in England "The Naked
Actor" and Nigel Planer's name appears on the end credits as
"assistant to Mr Craig."
Rick Mayall (Rick) is still making The New Statesman, a
series about a young Tory MP.
Haven't seen much Ade Edmundson (Vyvyan) stuff recently. I
have seen him in a couple of teleplays (Honest Decent and
True was very good) but I don't know what else he is up to.
Ben Elton (scripts, plus bit parts) is still working hard.
He writes Black Adder, has his own tv show, wrote a book
last year (Stark), he has a stage play on currently (I
think) and is generally keeping busy.
Alexei Sayle (the Bolovsky family) also has his own show
(Stuff) which is very funny and really worth seeing (and
taping and rewatching and rewatching and rewatching . . .)
4) Bambi (about University Challenge) with Summer Holiday
(the _last_ episode) a runner up.
5) I don't know
6) I've got them, but I guess that doesn't help (no, I am
not going to run a mail order service on pirate videos)
joan
--
"A hedgehog is a gerbil Joan McGalliard,
designed by Baptists." Latrobe University,
Department of Computer Science.
Melbourne, Australia.
PML3@lehigh
yanked it off the air a couple years back. I would DO ANYTHING to get
my hands on the episodes. Thank god they put the Prisoner on video, I
was hoping that they'd do the same for the Young Ones.
PML3@lehigh
is a CLASSIC.
My other favorite episode is the one with the game show (where on the
way, Adrian gets his head cut off when he looks outside the train
window). If I'm not mistaken , that one was called 'Bambi'.
'We're full-bottomed anarchists!'
-Ric, Summer Holiday
PML3@lehigh
Daniel Bowen
> MuchMusic (Canadian MTV) showed "More Bad News" a few months ago.
> Is this the same as "Bad News" or is it the sequel?
>
> (Or am I confused again?)
"More Bad News" is the sequel; which has NOT been shown in Australia..
(ABC BASTARDS!!!) Thank God for the invention of video tapes,
and overseas mail...
In the sequel there's a bit where they show Bad News on a UK Music
show (The Tube, I think). Does anyone know if this is genuine footage?
Also look out for the Bad News album (EMI Records) and video-clip
for their single "Bohemian Rhapsody". Very funny stuff indeed.
"You are fucking near to fucking having your fucking head kicked in"
Vim Fuego
--
/| "Raymond Luxury-Yacht" |"I know my name is spelt Raymond Luxury-Yatched
/ | DANIEL BOWEN |but it's pronounced Throat-Wobbler-Mangrove"
_/__|__ MONASH UNIVERSITY |NOW AT TWO BRAND_\ vac...@vx24.cc.monash.edu.au
\_____/=MELBOURNE==AUSTRALIA==|NEW ADDRESSES!! /vac...@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au
Matthew Haikin
>don't like all those British comedy shows (Monty Python, Young Ones, etc.) like
>us silly Americans.
What a load of complete crap! I've nevber met ANYONE (well, anyone under
50 anyway) who doesn't think that The Young Ones and Monty Python
are hysterically funny, in fact (at the risk of being vehemently anti-american)
I'm surprised you find it funny over in the states, I mean lets face it, a
nation who's most popular TV show is The Cosby's hasn't got much to offewr
the world in the name of humour (ok, so the simpsons is good, but theres
always exceptions)...
Matthew Farwell
>In article <90338.173...@psuvm.psu.edu> MXS...@psuvm.psu.edu (shack) writes:
>>Has anyone ever seen this show? How many episodes of it did they make?
>>What are all the guys from the show doing now? What was your favorite episode?
>>Is it on anywhere now? Is there anyplace I could get back episodes? I love
>> this show, as do many of my friends.
>1) Yes.
Me too.
>2) 12.
Correct.
>3) I don't know about Mike (can't even remember the
>actor's name) as no reports of him reach here but the
>others:
Christopher Ryan. He appeared in a black comedy about discrimination
called 'Small World' (or something like that) where everyone under 5
foot 2 had to live in ghettoes etc.
>They all appear in Comic Strip Presents - look out for this,
>it is a very good British comedy series. Each episode is
>totally independent and completely different. Themes range
>from parodies of heavy metal (a la spinal tap) to Hollywood
>comes to England ( the making of a film about the British
>miners strike with Arthur Skargill (sp?) played by "Al
>Pacino")
Scargill. There is also 'More Bad News' + they have produced a couple
of albums to date.
>Rick Mayall (Rick) is still making The New Statesman, a
>series about a young Tory MP.
Rik Mayall.
>Haven't seen much Ade Edmundson (Vyvyan) stuff recently. I
>have seen him in a couple of teleplays (Honest Decent and
>True was very good) but I don't know what else he is up to.
At the moment he's doing a Stage version of The Rocky Horror Picture
Show (as Brad).
>Alexei Sayle (the Bolovsky family) also has his own show
>(Stuff) which is very funny and really worth seeing (and
>taping and rewatching and rewatching and rewatching . . .)
A L E X E I - S A Y L E , Alexei Sayle, Alexei Sayle, who's as fat and ugly
as can be?
>4) Bambi (about University Challenge) with Summer Holiday
>(the _last_ episode) a runner up.
Either Bambi or Horror. You really have to have watched University Challenge
to know some of the in-jokes though.
>5) I don't know
Not in this country.
>6) I've got them, but I guess that doesn't help (no, I am
>not going to run a mail order service on pirate videos)
Try contacting the Beeb. I know they've released at least 6 episodes on video,
possibly more.
Dylan.
--
Matthew J Farwell | Email: dy...@ibmpcug.co.uk
The IBM PC User Group, PO Box 360,| ...!uunet!ukc!ibmpcug!dylan
Harrow HA1 4LQ England | CONNECT - Usenet Access in the UK!!
Phone: +44 81-863-1191 | Sun? Don't they make coffee machines?
David Pautler
> 3) I don't know about Mike (can't even remember the
> actor's name) as no reports of him reach here but the
> others:
I asked on the monty-python group a few months ago about the current
whereabouts of Christopher Ryan (Mike, the cool one) but I didn't get
any response. I haven't seen him in any Comic Strip episodes, and my
British friends, who don't follow the show, don't know anything about
him.
> They all appear in Comic Strip Presents - look out for this,
> it is a very good British comedy series.
"Five go mad in Dorset" has to be one of the funniest programs I have ever
seen on television. For those of you not rolling on the floor at the mere
mention of it, it is a parody of the popular fictional adventures of two
girls, two boys, and their long-suffering dog Timmy with all kinds of
scoundrels while on a countryside bicycling tour.
> Nigel Planer (Neil) has done some serious acting.
I just saw "Brazil" again last night. Planer is one of the workmen installing
a circular floor segment to replace the hole cut in the ceiling of the
Buttle's apartment.
Rik Mayall hosts a program of children's fairytales on cable channel
BRAVO here in the US.
C. Kurt Svihla
Ahem. First let me say touche. Then let me explain a couple of things.
1. Cosby is apparently very popular. People like to watch it for the
same reasons they've always liked to watch genial, harmless sitcoms. I
don't watch it and I've never heard too many people say they thought it
was hilarious. Mostly harmless, mainly.
2. There are only about two shows on American currently on American
television which can make me laugh: Murphy Brown and the aforementioned
Simpsons. They are both quite funny, but in ways very different from
the more anarchic shows from Britain. I don't know why, but the constant
repetition of the word "bastard" on the Young Ones was often enough to
reduce me to a state of quivering hilarity. It must touch some unseen
funnybone in the cosmic unconscious.
3. British shows are generally funnier than American shows, because, I
suspect, the British sense of humour is more developed than ours. A
short list of recent British hilarity:
1. Monty Python
2. The Young Ones
3. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
4. Fawlty Towers
5. Blackadder
What have we in the States to offer? The Church Lady? Wayne's World?
Fat people insulting each other? The funniest show on American TV in recent
memory (SCTV) was *Canadian*. For some reason, people don't seem to stay
funny very long here in America. The guys on the original SNL were funny at
the time, but couldn't make a Chesire cat grin today. Cosby used to be
very funny in the 60's, now he seems like a self-parody. Even Dudley Moore,
who used to be hysterical with Peter Cooke, made a funny movie or two here,
but lately anything he touches turns to dross. On the other hand, I'm not
sure that everything across the ocean is as funny as the above-cited.
Benny Hill, for example, *is* pretty lame.
Nick Sayer
>1. Monty Python
>2. The Young Ones
>3. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
>4. Fawlty Towers
>5. Blackadder
Let us not forget "Alexy Sayle's Stuff." There's something terribly
funny about, "A lot of my friends say I should go to the States... But
then a lot of them tell me, 'Sod off, you bastard!'"
--
Nick Sayer | Disclaimer: "Don't try this at home, | RIP: Mel Blanc
mra...@quack.sac.ca.us | kids. This should only be done by | 1908-1989
N6QQQ [44.2.1.17] | trained, professional idiots." | May he never
209-952-5347 (Telebit) | --Plucky Duck | be silenced.
Marlon Cole
>actor's name) as no reports of him reach here but the
>others:
>
invariably with a cry from the assembled audience of "That's Mike from the
Young Ones - wassisname?"
For instance he appeared as one of the Driscoll Brothers in an episode of
"Only Fools and Horses", and I can recall him appearing in a couple of other
programs whose names escape me (and hearing him occasionally in commercial
voiceovers....).
>They all appear in Comic Strip Presents - look out for this,
>it is a very good British comedy series. Each episode is
>totally independent and completely different. Themes range
>from parodies of heavy metal (a la spinal tap) to Hollywood
>comes to England ( the making of a film about the British
>miners strike with Arthur Skargill (sp?) played by "Al
>Pacino")
>
Ditto! They've subsequently made a similar episode called "GLC" (I hope!),
with Robby Coltraine playing Charles Bronson playing Ken Livingstone, doing
battle against the dreaded "Ice Maiden" played by Jennifer Saunders! Superb.
>Nigel Planer (Neil) has done some serious acting.
He certainly has, not least his role in the TV production of Dennis Potters
"Blackeyes", and his lead role in a play called (correct me, someone, if I'm
wrong here) "Frankensteins Baby" in which he fell victim to a female Dr.
F.'s experiment in making a man pregnant.
>Haven't seen much Ade Edmundson (Vyvyan) stuff recently. I
>have seen him in a couple of teleplays (Honest Decent and
>True was very good) but I don't know what else he is up to.
>
He was also in a 1988ish series called "Happy Families" in which he played
a dimwit sent out into the world to find each of his 6 sisters (all played by
Jennifer Saunders) and return them to his supposedly dieing granny (also played
by J.S.) - Dawn French played the batty family cook and Steven Fry the doctor
- can't remember if Hugh Laurie put in a appearance in there somewhere as
well :-)
I suspect this series was also written, at least in part, by Ben Elton.
I've vague recollections of seeing him in something serious fairly
recently (anybody help me out here?).
Cheers,
Marlon
Iain D. Sinclair
> He was also in a 1988ish
Mid-1985.
>series called "Happy Families" in which he played
>a dimwit sent out into the world to find each of his 6 sisters (all played by
>Jennifer Saunders) and return them to his supposedly dieing granny (also played
>by J.S.) - Dawn French played the batty family cook and Steven Fry the doctor
> - can't remember if Hugh Laurie put in a appearance in there somewhere as
>well :-)
There was also a fairly characteristic performance from Rik Mayall as
a French Nazi vicar. The whole thing smacks of the Comic Strip Presents stuff.
I remember the episode where one of Saunders' characters (who was in prison)
was being interviewed by a documentary-maker; the documentary-maker was
fabricating jargon used by the inmates to make the doc seem more authentic!
I really loved _Happy Families_ and I wish that someone, somewhere, would
repeat it.
--
Iain Dick // axolotl@ultima. // Every dark cloud has an acid rain lining. //
Sinclair // socs.uts.edu.au // (NB: my email address is unreliable.) //
Marc Wiener
>In article <93...@latcs1.oz.au> j...@latcs1.oz.au (Joan McGalliard) writes:
>>
>>
> Christopher Ryan - he appears once in awhile in the occasional program,
>invariably with a cry from the assembled audience of "That's Mike from the
>Young Ones - wassisname?"
He also appeared in an episode of Dr. Who as an alien in heavy makeup and
costume. If not for his name in the credits I wouldn't have recognized him.
--
Marc Wiener | ma...@pinet.aip.org
American Institute of Physics | ma...@aip.bitnet
500 Sunnyside Blvd. |
Jeff Sullivan
What a bunch of nationalist bullshit! When was Python made? How long
since they did a TV series?
America hasnothing to offer in humor? How many British film comedies
have even made a dent over here? Give me a break.
Comedy is very cultural. Some comedies break the culture barrier;
some don't. Monty Python is not very popular at all over here. There
is, however, a small but fanatical following.
Over here, right now, we have several very funny shows:
1. Get a life.
2. Parker Lewis Can't Lose (very quirky and, dammit, funny)
3. The Simpsons (but not as good as last year, IMHO)
4. Murphy Brown (ditto)
One thing you'll notice about British comedies is their seasons are
much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
sitcoms.
Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
jas
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey A. Sullivan | Senior Systems Programmer
j...@venera.isi.edu | Information Sciences Institute
j...@isi.edu DELPHI: JSULLIVAN | University of Southern California
S.S.Sturrock
>
>What a bunch of nationalist bullshit! When was Python made? How long
>since they did a TV series?
>
>America hasnothing to offer in humor? How many British film comedies
>have even made a dent over here? Give me a break.
>
>Comedy is very cultural. Some comedies break the culture barrier;
>some don't. Monty Python is not very popular at all over here. There
>is, however, a small but fanatical following.
>
>much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
>a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
>sitcoms.
>
>Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
>few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
>ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
>
>
>jas
>
No doubt you're expecting this but:
We only have 4 TV stations, much of the time the programmes are not comedy,
so not much time can be spent on making the programmes.
Quality not quantity is the name of the game (old cliche but what the hell)
Maybe we know when an idea is getting tired.
Britain is very much smaller than America.
I find American humour simplistic and dull, personal opinion only.
(maybe humour says more about a country than I thought :-) )
I don't see that we should take lessons in humour from a country that can't
even spell the word :-)
Now thats Nationalistic!!!!
Shane Sturrock, Biol Lab., University of Kent, Canterbury, Great Britain.
Jimmy Aitken
>since they did a TV series?
>America hasnothing to offer in humor? How many British film comedies
>have even made a dent over here? Give me a break.
The British fuilm indusry (if you can call it that) is considerably
smaller and has less infrasctructure than the US. With films costing
so much to make, two that don't make their money back can push a
production company into bankrupcy, so you tend to get less people
willing to take risks.
>One thing you'll notice about British comedies is their seasons are
>much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
>a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
>sitcoms.
>
>Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
>few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
>ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
I don't think the producing of them was a problem, but the writing
was. Seasons 2,3 and 4 of Black Adder were written by two people who
were doing a lot of other work at the same time. Coming up with good,
amusing ideas on demand can't be easy. I don't know how many people
are involved in the writing of, say, an episode of Cheers as the
credits usually fly by too fast for any normal human to read and
digest, but I'd guess that it's not the same one each week.
Personally I'd prefer comedy that was good every so often, than
mediocrity the whole time with inspired brilliance very now and then.
Jimmy
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- Distribution without permission frowned upon
Jeff Sullivan
>In article <16...@venera.isi.edu> j...@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes:
>>What a bunch of nationalist bullshit! When was Python made? How long
>>since they did a TV series?
>
>>America hasnothing to offer in humor? How many British film comedies
>>have even made a dent over here? Give me a break.
>
>The British fuilm indusry (if you can call it that) is considerably
>smaller and has less infrasctructure than the US. With films costing
>so much to make, two that don't make their money back can push a
>production company into bankrupcy, so you tend to get less people
>willing to take risks.
So? They claim superiority, then make excuses?
>
>>One thing you'll notice about British comedies is their seasons are
>>much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
>>a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
>>sitcoms.
>
>>
>>Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
>>few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
>>ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
>
>I don't think the producing of them was a problem, but the writing
>was. Seasons 2,3 and 4 of Black Adder were written by two people who
In TV, producing IS writing.
>were doing a lot of other work at the same time. Coming up with good,
>amusing ideas on demand can't be easy. I don't know how many people
You're right. It isn't. Try having to put out a show every week.
It's been likened to writing a play on a typewriter that's on a
conveyor belt. You type and type as the typewriter moves toward a
hole in the wall, and whatever you have done by the time the
typewriter hits the hole is what you have. It's a grueling business.
>are involved in the writing of, say, an episode of Cheers as the
>credits usually fly by too fast for any normal human to read and
Except, of course, that credits for writing are up front, and are up
for about 5 seconds.
>digest, but I'd guess that it's not the same one each week.
>
That's right. It isn't. It's usually onew of the writing staff.
Occasionally, it's a freelancer. The writers guild has regulations
that keep a show from monopolizing all of the writing on a show. It
keep other writers sort of "in work."
>Personally I'd prefer comedy that was good every so often, than
>mediocrity the whole time with inspired brilliance very now and then.
>
But what would you watch the other 45 weeks a year? Reruns?
Matthew Farwell
>>In article <90338.173...@psuvm.psu.edu> MXS...@psuvm.psu.edu (shack) writes:
>>>I figured I'd post to rec.arts.tv.uk even though I hear that British folks
>>>don't like all those British comedy shows (Monty Python, Young Ones, etc.) like
>>>us silly Americans.
>>What a load of complete crap! I've nevber met ANYONE (well, anyone under
>>50 anyway) who doesn't think that The Young Ones and Monty Python
>>are hysterically funny, in fact (at the risk of being vehemently anti-american)
>>I'm surprised you find it funny over in the states, I mean lets face it, a
>>nation who's most popular TV show is The Cosby's hasn't got much to offewr
>>the world in the name of humour (ok, so the simpsons is good, but theres
>>always exceptions)...
>
>What a bunch of nationalist bullshit! When was Python made? How long
>since they did a TV series?
Late 60's Early Seventies. And it actually wasn't very popular at the time
certainly not when it started.
>America has nothing to offer in humor? How many British film comedies
>have even made a dent over here? Give me a break.
I wouldn't say that. But a lot of the 'American Humour' that comes over here
is very mainstream and IMHO boring.
>One thing you'll notice about British comedies is their seasons are
>much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
>a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
>sitcoms.
Umm, yes. The usual season for shows over here is six episodes.
>Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
>few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
>ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
As has already been mentioned, this is because the writers were doing
other things in between writing for the episodes.
It seems to me that American TV networks are less willing to stick their
necks out and mainly put out mainstream stuff. ie going for the ratings
Sweeping generalisation coming up:-
In American soaps + comedies + tv shows generally, if people are nasty
to one another, then everyone eventually makes up in the end, or there
is a 'moral to the story', which is spelled out in nice clear terms so
people can understand it. In our house, its usually accompanied by
several of us running to the toilet to throw up. In the british
comedies under discussion presently in this newsgroup (ie Blackadder,
the Young Ones, Red Dwarf), there is no sickly moralising at the end of
the program, which to me makes it better to watch.
I dread to think what The Young Ones would have been like if we'd
had moralistic overtones thrown in too.
"Yes, Rick, I'm sorry I chopped your head off with that chainsaw, it was
very nasty of me."
'Yes well vyvyan, I was a bit nasty to you, nailing you to the wall that
way, just because you called me a poof, and thats a word that nasty
people use to insult people just because they happen to be different'
"Yes Rick, and I'm sorry"
Matthew Farwell
>You're right. It isn't. Try having to put out a show every week.
>It's been likened to writing a play on a typewriter that's on a
>conveyor belt. You type and type as the typewriter moves toward a
>hole in the wall, and whatever you have done by the time the
>typewriter hits the hole is what you have. It's a grueling business.
So maybe its a better idea to do the writing beforehand?
>That's right. It isn't. It's usually onew of the writing staff.
>Occasionally, it's a freelancer. The writers guild has regulations
>that keep a show from monopolizing all of the writing on a show. It
>keep other writers sort of "in work."
So you get a lot of people who may not know the characters in the show
writing for the show?
>>Personally I'd prefer comedy that was good every so often, than
>>mediocrity the whole time with inspired brilliance very now and then.
>But what would you watch the other 45 weeks a year? Reruns?
Sometimes. But, you see, although we get repeats of Blackadder, and the
Young Ones (sometimes), we hardly ever get repeats of the American
Comedies we get over here (Cheers is a notable exception, but that has a
special place in Channel 4's history, since it was the program that
almost single-handedly kept it on its feet). I've never seen a repeat
of The Cosby Show, or Roseanne.
(A quick aside on the different styles of program making. Both sides of the
atlantic made versions of 'The Life and Loves of A She-Devil', in the States
it was called 'She-Devil' and was actually a film, whereas here it was a TV
series made shown on (and made by?) the Beeb.
The american version starred Meryl Streep and wassername from Roseanne, and
from what I've seen (admittedly not all) wasn't nearly as well done as
the beeb production, which starred Jane Asher???, Tom Baker and (for the
life of me I can't remember her name). This was much more atmospheric
and more in keeping with the book.)
I'm not saying that Americans don't produce good series, far from it. All
The American networks seem to be much more prepared to put out stuff
which offends the minimum amount of people.
Dylan. (Incoherent at this time in the morning)
Matthew Farwell
>Maybe we know when an idea is getting tired.
Oh, I don't know. Look at Terry + June. Hand up everyone who said
'Well thank god thats over' when they finally stopped repeating them?
For once I was glad to see Wogan on the box.
Dylan.
Matthew Farwell
>Oh, I don't know. Look at Terry + June. Hand up everyone who said
Thats hands up in the air, for anyone who was wondering...
Chris Cooke
> America hasnothing to offer in humor? How many British film comedies
> have even made a dent over here? Give me a break.
We don't have a film industry to speak of, so it's pretty unlikely
you'd see many British films of any type anywhere in the world.
Nothing to do with lack of talent, everything to do with British
investors' short-sighted attitudes.
Please don't follow up nationalist bullshit with more of the same...
--
-- Chris. c...@cs.ed.ac.uk (on Janet, c...@uk.ac.ed.cs)
"He's not the sort of chap you'd want to invite to dinner. Or even lunch."
Edward Heath on Saddam Hussein
Philip Stylianos
o Law and Order just made the Popular Twenty by rating, pitted against
thirtysomething, which didn't do relatively bad. Is Law and Order the
second hit of the season? (America's Funniest People was the first.)
o A repeat of the I Love Lucy christmas episode came in 30th by rating.
Will CBS ever sink so low as to necessitate rerunning the other epi-
sodes?
o Something's Got to Give, a documentary on Marilyn's last movie efforts,
came in a disappointing 73rd by rating, losing to Cheers, Gabriel's
Fire and The Flash. I have a feeling if this interesting show were on
another network, it would have done better, even in the Th9 timeslot.
o The Simpsons disappoint again. A repeat got clobbered by The Cosby
Show. This may not sound so bad, but The Simpsons always have a higher
viewership, repeat or not, but this time they were trounced soundly
(27.1 million v 21.4 million).
o Twin Peaks is like a liability on ABC's books, which I'm sure they
would like to erase. This week, it ranked 67th by rating, and only
scored a 15 share.
o Is the fad over? America's Funniest hour (!), Su8, is slipping. Ameri-
ca's Funniest People did not even make the Popular Twenties.
o As football gets more exciting, CBS Mo9 - Mo 10 suffers. Formerly
Popular Five shows, they now barely crack the Popular Twenties.
o Who *deserves* the Tu8:30 slot more - Head of the Class (yea, right),
or The Wonder Years? Ask yourselves that, ABC.
o Plug of the week: Seinfeld, NBC We9:30. No, it's not on yet, but
remember this for future reference, Nielsen viewers.
POPULAR TWENTY by Rating (Number of households tuned in divided by 931,000)
Show Network RATING Viewers Slot
---- ------- ------ ------- ----
1 Cheers NBC 22.6 33.8 Th9
2 60 Minutes CBS 20.6 29.4 Su7
3 A Different World NBC 18.2 27.8 Th8:30
Monday Night Football ABC 18.2 25.9 Mo9
5 Empty Nest NBC 18.1 27.0 Sa9:30
6 The Cosby Show NBC 17.7 27.1 Th8
In the Heat of the Night NBC 17.7 25.7 Tu9
8 Roseanne ABC 17.5 26.4 Tu9 repeat
9 The Golden Girls NBC 17.2 25.6 Sa9
10 Unsolved Mysteries NBC 16.9 25.6 We8
11 Murder, She Wrote CBS 16.5 23.0 Su8
12 Designing Women CBS 16.4 21.7 Mo9:30
13 L.A. Law NBC 15.9 22.1 Th10
14 Coach ABC 15.8 23.4 Tu9:30
15 Grand NBC 15.6 22.6 Th9:30
Sinatra's 75th Birthday CBS 15.6 21.9 Su9 special
17 America's Funniest
Home Videos ABC 15.4 27.0 Su8
18 Matlock NBC 15.3 22.2 Tu8
19 Murphy Brown CBS 15.0 20.2 Mo9
20 Law and Order NBC 14.4 19.8 Tu10
POPULAR TWENTY by Audience Share (percent of households watching TV tuned
into the show)
Show Network SHARE Rating Rat. Rank Slot
---- ------- ----- ------ --------- ----
1 Cheers NBC 36 22.6 1 Th9
60 Minutes CBS 36 20.6 2 Su7
3 Empty Nest NBC 32 18.1 5 Sa9:30
4 Monday Night Football ABC 31 18.2 3 Mo9
The Golden Girls NBC 31 17.2 9 Sa9
6 A Different World NBC 29 18.2 3 Th8:30
The Cosby Show NBC 29 17.7 6 Th8
8 In the Heat of the Night NBC 28 17.7 6 Tu9
Roseanne ABC 28 17.5 8 Tu9
Unsolved Mysteries NBC 28 16.9 10 We8
11 L.A. Law NBC 27 15.9 13 Th10
Bob Hope's Christmas Special NBC 27 14.1 22 Sa10
13 Murder, She Wrote CBS 26 16.5 11 Su8
Law and Order NBC 26 14.4 20 Th10
Hunter NBC 26 13.5 26 We10
16 Coach ABC 25 15.8 14 Tu9:30
Grand NBC 25 15.6 15 Th9:30
Sinatra's 75th Birthday CBS 25 15.6 15 Su9
Matlock NBC 25 15.3 18 Tu8
20 Designing Women CBS 24 16.4 12 Mo9:30
America's Funniest
Home Videos ABC 24 15.4 17 Su8
20/20 ABC 24 12.7 32 Fr10
BEST TEN THEME SONGS WORST TEN THEME SONGS
Show Show
---- ----
BEST Twin Peaks WORST Doogie Howser, M.D.
2 Family Matters 2 America's Funniest Home Videos
3 The Simpsons 3 Who's the Boss?
4 thirtysomething 4 Murphy Brown (closing theme)
5 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 5 A Different World
6 Grand 6 Cheers
7 Coach 7 L.A. Law
8 Full House 8 The Golden Girls
9 Get a Life 9 The Wonder Years
10 In Living Color 10 Amen
----------------------------------- -------------------------------
Hunter ALSO Married . . . with Children
ALSO The Cosby Show RAN
RAN Married . . . with Children
Babes
Dallas
L.A. Law
60 Minutes :>
Allen Halsell
to the point or drop it? _The Young Ones_ was a great show, of
course, as was Monty Python. I'm sure many of the readers here loved
them (and others, yes). But this "did not - did too!" exchange is
really boring!
If you want to continue, fine. But please change the header so those
of us who really want to read about _The Young Ones_ don't have to wade
through your diatribes.
PS. I am a Yank who grew up outside London and this whole exchange
doesn't appeal to me at all. Now, if you want to talk about the
French, well ... :-).
Ken Staggers
>o Law and Order just made the Popular Twenty by rating, pitted against
> thirtysomething, which didn't do relatively bad. Is Law and Order the
> second hit of the season?
NBC to delay LA LAW (those giving it lots of new episodes for the May sweeps,
I hope) and to give L&O a 6 week tryout. Look at it. Its killing
30something. ABC must be pulling out its hair because it cant surround
Roseanne with hits like NBC did with Cosby and Cheers. CBS must be screaming
because it HELPED DEVELOP L&O, and then passed on the show after the pilot!
>o Twin Peaks is like a liability on ABC's books, which I'm sure they
> would like to erase. This week, it ranked 67th by rating, and only
> scored a 15 share.
True, but millions did return to the show after dumping "Hammer, Slammer,
and Slade" at 9pm.
>o Is the fad over? America's Funniest hour (!), Su8, is slipping. Ameri-
> ca's Funniest People did not even make the Popular Twenties.
I hope so!
>o As football gets more exciting, CBS Mo9 - Mo 10 suffers. Formerly
> Popular Five shows, they now barely crack the Popular Twenties.
Did anyone know that the Trials of Rosie is the 2nd lowest rated Monday show
out of ALL the shows on Monday on ABC/CBS/NBC?
Monday Night SEASON-TO-DATE Ratings (9/17-12/9) [Ratings/Share]
----------------------------------------------------------------
MacGyver: 12.1/20
NFL: 17.0/29
Evening Shade: 13.3/20
Major Dad: 15.6/24
Murphy Brown: 17.7/26
Designing Women: 17.9/27
Trials: 12.0/21
Fresh Prince: 13.6/22
Ferris: 11.2/17
NBC Movie: 14.7/23
Fox Movie: 4.7/7
>o Who *deserves* the Tu8:30 slot more - Head of the Class (yea, right),
> or The Wonder Years? Ask yourselves that, ABC.
"Davis Rules" starring Randy Quaid and Jonathon Winters.
>BEST TEN THEME SONGS
Hey...how'd this get in here :^)
>10 In Living Color
This should be #1...this is a song that I would actually buy! Why dont
they release it?
--Ken (The Travelin' Fool)
Steven Grimm
>In article <35...@netnews.upenn.edu> sty...@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Philip Stylianos) writes:
>>o Twin Peaks is like a liability on ABC's books, which I'm sure they
>> would like to erase. This week, it ranked 67th by rating, and only
>> scored a 15 share.
>True, but millions did return to the show after dumping "Hammer, Slammer,
>and Slade" at 9pm.
Is it as bad as it looks? The ratings only measure households, not viewers.
And I know that "Twin Peaks" often plays to a packed house at my place on
Saturday nights. I know I'm not the only one who hosts a large group of
TPers every week, and I hope ABC is smart enough to realize that there's
a lot of that going around. (Just to be safe, though, WRITE A LETTER and
tell ABC that you're watching!)
---
" !" - Marcel Marceau
Steven Grimm Moderator, comp.{sources,binaries}.atari.st
kor...@ebay.sun.com ...!sun!ebay!koreth
Philip Stylianos
>In <22...@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> stag...@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Ken Staggers) writes:
>
>>In article <35...@netnews.upenn.edu> sty...@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Philip Stylianos) writes:
>>>o Twin Peaks is like a liability on ABC's books, which I'm sure they
>Is it as bad as it looks? The ratings only measure households, not viewers.
Perspective:
Millions of Viewers Rating Ranking
Doogie Howser, M.D. 18.7 33 (the repeat episode, We8:30)
Primetime Live 12.3 58
Going Places 13.5 67
Twin Peaks 12.1 67
Get A Life 12.1 73
Point: Twin Peaks does not seem to have a lot of viewers as compared with other
comparably ratings-ranked shows.
Excuse the terseness.
The Unknown User
> Show. This may not sound so bad, but The Simpsons always have a higher
> viewership, repeat or not, but this time they were trounced soundly
> (27.1 million v 21.4 million).
It was a repeat! Jeez.. Maybe "Simpsons" viewers are intelligent
enough to NOT WATCH a show if it's a repeat and so they watch something
else so the ratings go down. Sheesh! Of course I watch reruns of shows I've
seen already sometimes, but I also use that time to watch something else!
>o Twin Peaks is like a liability on ABC's books, which I'm sure they
> would like to erase. This week, it ranked 67th by rating, and only
> scored a 15 share.
Damn I hope they don't cancel it! This show is great! It's probably
the one that I wait with most anticipation for since it's a continuing
story.. (that doesn't mean it's my favorite though).
>o Is the fad over? America's Funniest hour (!), Su8, is slipping. Ameri-
> ca's Funniest People did not even make the Popular Twenties.
Excuuuuuuse me... "America's Funniest Hour"???? America's Funniest
Home Videos IS funny, but the show afterwords is lame 99% of the time..
There's nothing else on at that time, so I occassionaly (sp?) watch it if
there's nothing else to do.
The host of America's Funniest People is worse than the dude on
America's Funniest Home Videos.. (although it was interesting to find
out that he did the voice for the guy who becomes a werewolf when he sees
the moon in the cartoon from ~10 years ago)
>o Who *deserves* the Tu8:30 slot more - Head of the Class (yea, right),
> or The Wonder Years? Ask yourselves that, ABC.
They're BOTH funny shows... Although Head of the Class was MUCH
better with Howard Hessman... Hopefully though now Hessman can go sign up
for the new WKRP!
--
/Apple II(GS) Forever! unk...@ucscb.ucsc.edu MAIL ME FOR INFO ABOUT CHEAP CDs\
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\ "Dammit Bev, is it you inside or is it the clown?" -IT by Stephen King /
Sheryl D. Chapin
> much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
> a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
> sitcoms.
>
> Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
> few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
> ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
>
>
I do NOT want to get into the middle of a "YOur side of the pond is
disgusting!" debate. Though I disagree with Mr. Sullivan's choices of
exemplary American comedy, I certainly think that American comedy has
something to offer -- even if it's covered over in dross much of the
time.
The point I want to make relates Sullivan's above statements. Am I to
understand that he thinks that the fact that American comedies generally
produce 24 - 26 episodes per season is a good thing? You seem to be
pointing unfavorably towards the British "short seasons," yet you also
seem to indicate that such a work load might mean that the Brits would
have to produce substandard episodes.
To me the American production schedule is the death of all of its comedies.
British comedies (with a few exceptions) seem to bow out at peak
moments. I rarely watch a British show to find myself saying that
it was better the previous season. But this *always* happens with
American shows. Even two of your prime examples of American
comedy suffer from this -- the other two are still in their first
season. The only reason The Simpsons is slumping somewhat in
quality IMHO is because Groenig has been forced to produce to an
unreasonable degree.
American shows tend to run themselves into the ground -- the big
bosses count the profits from syndication sales -- there are very few
shows (even among those that I originally loved) that I watch beyond
the fourth or fifth season. By that time they are invariably tired
and cliched. Despite the fact that Bob Newhart did have one of the
funniest last episodes I've ever seen -- if Larry, Darryl, and Darryl were
to walk through my door today I'd scream, "Shut up! We know what your
fucking names are! And it's just not funny anymore!"
In answer to the question, what do you do the other 46 weeks (after the
six new episodes of [your favorite British show] have been run)? You
watch OTHER shows! In case you haven't noticed there is quite a
variety of shows (thanks to the fact that each only gets six episodes
per year), and because each show only employs one or two writers -- those
writers are kept busy for most of the year. Having so many shows
(especially considering that there are only four channels) is, uh, sort
of a way of keeping writers in work.
Gary Parker Chapin
--
It was only for kicks cracks and flacks plicks and placks and plickers--
Lackplacker Lackplicker loundwadtti Daago--Nickers flickers lackplicker--
Kicks flicks plack and ack lackflacmac ack ack macflackack ...
-- Roscoe Mitchell
Keith Richards
> One thing you'll notice about British comedies is their seasons are
> much shorter. All things considered, if they had to do 24-26 episodes
> a year, they might not be as "brilliant" as even (gasp) American
> sitcoms.
>
> Think about it. All of the Blackadders combined (and I've only seen a
> few, but liked them a lot -- are they playing in SoCal at all?) total
> ONE season of a US sitcom. How long did it take to produce them?
I don't remember much about it, but for some reason this reminds me of
an old British sit-com, "Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width". :-)
---
Keith Richards | RT3321, BT Research Labs, Martlesham Heath, IP5 7RE, UK.
+44 473 642473 | kric...@axion.bt.co.uk (...mcvax!ukc!axion!krichards)
Chris Cooke
> So? They claim superiority, then make excuses?
"They" are several people, with several different points of view.
You can't logically squash them all together into one
amorphous "they" and then claim that "they" are being
inconsistent. Don't be silly.
> But what would you watch the other 45 weeks a year? Reruns?
I have a very low tolerance for bad/boring/indifferent TV.
I watch maybe one or two good programmes a week, then
switch it off.
Neither the US system nor the British system
produces consistently good comedy programmes; most of
both are crud. The British comedy shows you see in the
US are far better than the normal drivel produced by
the BBC, London Weekend, Thames and the rest.
A lot of British sitcoms are now produced by American
methods, with teams of writers, and it shows.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jeffrey A. Sullivan | Senior Systems Programmer
> j...@venera.isi.edu | Information Sciences Institute
> j...@isi.edu DELPHI: JSULLIVAN | University of Southern California
--