I could probably quote you the script word perfect, but by gum it was good to see it on yer actual telly.
Porridge Page 5
'Oh don't worry Fletch, I won't be doing that, the bloke died years ago. That I do know. It were me that killed him.'
Cue doo diddly doo music, startled faces in freeze shot.
They do not make endings like that anymore, no!
I liked how Blanco promised Lukewarm to get him that scented notepaper. Would that joke be considered as not politically correct today? (I'm confused with this PC thing.)
Certainly hope not, if that's off the list now then we may as well just ban comedy. And they were never nasty to Lukewarm were they, harmless stuff. No should think that's okay still. Maybe saying poof is off limits now, which I must say is a shame. Such a great comedy word. And fairy.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ March 22 2013, 8:42 AM GMTCertainly hope not, if that's off the list now then we may as well just ban comedy. And they were never nasty to Lukewarm were they, harmless stuff. No should think that's okay still. Maybe saying poof is off limits now, which I must say is a shame. Such a great comedy word. And fairy.
One of my favourite "fairy-jokes" in Porridge was when in an episode the conductor of the prison choir asks Fletch to join: "We need more sopranos" he says. And Fletch replies: "We have a lot more sopranos here than you think, mate"
Here's another British sitcom they took from us, called Laat maar Zitten
Quote: george roper @ August 13 2013, 1:31 PM BSTHere's another British sitcom they took from us, called Laat maar Zitten
They talk double Dutch. 
I watched the episode where Godber was released the other night. It was really beautifully acted by Barker and Beckinsale with Fletcher showing his more compassionate side in telling Godber to make sure he makes the most of his opportunities now he has been released. Also the scene where McKay visits Fletcher's cell to talk about the new inmate was really well done too, ending with Fletcher saying he'd tell the new inmates to not let the warders grind them down (not quite his words!).
Quote: joeinbrighton @ August 15 2013, 8:33 PM BSTAlso the scene where McKay visits Fletcher's cell to talk about the new inmate was really well done too, ending with Fletcher saying he'd tell the new inmates to not let the warders grind them down (not quite his words!).
Didn't Fletch give MacKay the v-sign "by accident" in this scene?
EDIT: Yep! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1x5gPTEJ4
Yep one of the best comedies of all time, best of British.
This is a classic. A great show. The film is just as great as this. So watch it. All of the characters make me laugh which is rare for me.
This sitcom is guilty of serious plagiarism. Clement and La Frenais stole the "lugless Douglas" joke from Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, written by......? A fab gag and well worth repeating.
Quote: paulted @ 15th March 2014, 1:42 PM GMTThis sitcom is guilty of serious plagiarism. Clement and La Frenais stole the "lugless Douglas" joke from Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, written by......? A fab gag and well worth repeating.
They also reused the "Fill this beaker" "From here?" in "Never Say Never Again" the Bond movie Script Doctored by . . .?
Great writers. Shame that Going Straight didn't make it.
Great show. Stick two men in a cell. In someone else's hands and not Barker and Beckinsale, it would have been a slow boring show, instead it's a comic masterclass, no wonder the BBC thought so much of The Two Ronnies, they were and are superb, in a strange way my favourite double act growing up. I loved them even more than Morecambe and Wise.
The scripts are witty and challenging, and just amazingly engaging, all human suffering is there. Yes it may be a comedy but it's more than sitcom, it's up there with Chekov and Kafka as examples of wonderful fully realised vision. And more than that, it has the word scrote in it too. Which Chekov never managed to say once in Star Trek.
Watching it now, it's never dated. Well the fashions remain the same, no garish 70s platforms, the whole thing has a 50s feel to it, clothes wise, which means it never feels like a 70s sitcom. Pure genius.