I find when you watch back older sitcoms, say Fawlty Towers or even The Office, they still feel fresh. Of course, staying at hotels are still pretty familiar as they are in Fawlty even if the issue of class isn't quite as big a deal now (nor are comb-overs quite as prevalent in modern society as they were in that show).
With The Office, again it's very relateable, and there are few things to date it. The only things that date them are any cultural and pop culture references to the time.
If you show The Office to someone in 25 years and they will surely still be able to relate to it (working in an office, annoying co-workers) and love it. But could the same be said for Extras? A lot of it relies on pop culture references to celebrity. So many of the stars in this rely on you knowing of their star 'persona', even if it is then exaggerated by the writing.
I watched an episode of Bottom the other day and laughed and laughed, but there were a few pop culture gags which I did not get because I didn't know who they were. They were before my time; Esther Rantzen and Sandi Toksvig. I don't know who they are (or 'were', rather - they're forgotten). The great thing about Bottom is it's timeless.
An article on Chortle:
Fundamentally,the characters... are flitting away the days until the release of death. In Eddie's case, the coping mechanism is one of drinking and time-wasting while Richie chases a dream of sexual success at least once with any woman available.
...In fact, by making the characters' goals rooted in the most base of purists, the programme gains a timeless quality.
Aside from references to the television programmes Richie and Eddie use to while away their days, there is very little in the scripts for Bottom that confines it to a specific year. The highpoint of the series, the ferris wheel-confined two hander Hole, could be performed in a theatre today and be just as relevant, its ending perhaps even more so.
This ability to produce a sitcom that could be simultaneously absurdist and satirical, yet unconfined to the time it was written in, shows Mayall and Edmondson's writing having developed to a new height.
I totally agree with this, and I suppose the only aspect which ages it and indeed any older show is that now, characters trapped on a ferris wheel would be using their iPhones for help. In fact any bored characters whittling away their lives would still be plugging away at their iPhones.
Back to Extras: Also I'm very familiar with stars such as DeNiro and Sam Jackson but less familiar with stars of generations past such as Marlon Brando. In 25 years will new viewers be that familiar with DeNiro and Sam Jackson? Even moreso, who the hell will know who Dean Gaffney or Les Dennis is in 25 years?
Just a thought.
The sitcom is fantastic though and does mainly rely on the relationships between Andy and his friends. I just think it's going to age poorly.
