Death by nostalgia

I must say I find the vintage comedy strand of the Sitcom season a mess. I also find this longing for the commissioning of remakes like Porridge and the truly awful Are You being Served odd. Do we need a cheap remake of the Mona Lisa as in the case of Porridge, even the attempt by Barker to carry on with the character in Going Straight bombed, why would this pale imitation fair any better. As for are you being Served, those who like this kind of thing are being well served at present with the mind numbing Mrs Brown and Benidorm etc. As for the film of Dad's Army, it was an interesting experiment but in the end that was all. If you want these so called family comedies, commission some new original ones and create a fond nostalgia in the future, don't sully the classics. The sitcom is in a terrible dirge, harking back to the past is a sure sign of creative bankruptcy. I would have prefered a comprehensive repeat of classic sitcoms on BBC4 rather than this exercise in misplaced nostalgia and pointless tinkering

Oh no, I liked some of the remakes and now I am being made to feel like an inadequate fool.
Should I be ashamed that I enjoyed the programmes and be thought of as a sub-intelligence idiot.

'Are You Being Served' was a very popular programme in its day and like many comedy programmes of that time relied on catch phrases being repeated in every episode (that was half the fun). So the odd 'pussy' and 'I'm free' joke was still funny in a nostalgic sense. I still hear people saying 'I'm free' in the camp voice of Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries to this day.

I thought 'Goodnight Sweetheart' was excellent and very clever the way they stitched to past story to the present. I really hope they make a new series.

I, shall we say, smiled a lot at the remake of Keeping Up Appearances. Mainly at Kerry Howard's portrayal of Hyacinth. She got her lilts and facial expression spot on at times.

If you are going to compare them all with the originals then you are sure to find faults but that is not the exercise here.

I would like to hear the opinions of someone young enough to have never seen any of the original programmes.

These shows' very existence invites comparison. A problem you wouldn't have with original ideas.

I have avoided the remakes because (and only because) having selected look-a-likes the premise is then to direct them to impersonate the original actor who made the character famous. There is no artistic merit in this whatsoever. What I would liked to have seen (and it is an opportunity lost) is remakes that put a new slant on the original. Otherwise, as Muddlecombe says, a total waste of time but as Ronald S also says, some will like it. I mean if you offer shit-on-a-stick to enough people, someone will buy one.

Thank you, I have been denigrated again

I don't see it that way.

The buyer is never wrong nor have they been cheated if they are happy with their purchase.

Quote: Ronald S @ 7th September 2016, 11:19 AM

Oh no, I liked some of the remakes and now I am being made to feel like an inadequate fool.
Should I be ashamed that I enjoyed the programs and be thought of as a sub-intelligence idiot.

'Are You Being Served' was a very popular program in its day and like many comedy programs of that time relied on catch phrases being repeated in every episode. (that was half the fun) So the odd 'pussy' and 'I'm free' joke was still funny in a nostalgic sense. I still hear people saying 'I'm free' in the camp voice of Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries to this day.

I thought 'Goodnight Sweetheart' was excellent and very clever the way they stitched to past story to the present. I really hope they make a new series.

I, shall we say, smiled a lot at the remake of Keeping Up Appearances.' Mainly at Kerry Howard's portrayal of Hyacinth. She got her lilts and facial expression spot on at times.

If you are going to compare them all with the originals then you are sure to find faults but that is not the exercise here.

I would like to hear the opinions of someone young enough to have never seen any of the original programs.

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Well said. Even though I don't think a full series of Are You Being Served will happen, if it does that will make the people who enjoyed it happy. Surely people who don't find a comedy funny, all they have to do is turn their TVs over? I bet half of them watch it all just so they can moan.

Quote: alan1967 @ 7th September 2016, 2:15 PM

...I bet half of them watch it all just so they can moan.

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Yes, that's right of course.

I go one further, I didn't watch it at all and I'm still moaning about it...

With Frankie here But as pointed out we have the choice not to watch it. I think this kind of thing is better left to ITV as in Birds of a Feather. I don't want my money spent on it ha. Anyway if you like it fine, personally didn't think much of it first time around no way I'm going to like a second weaker version. And no one is denigrating or belittling taste, we have ours, you have yours, no use playing the martyr, no comedy ever has a unanimous fanbase, and tastes differ, expression of them differ too, and that is what forums are here for, not just to say how good everything was if it patently wasn't to that individual

Who'd have thought the umbrella was poison-tipped? Foiled again.

As well as these remakes/updates there have been several new interesting sitcoms for the first time in about 10 years I think.

They're not all aimed at the In-Betweeners type audience.

True and that has been the most interesting thing about it. One or two of them quite promising

Quote: Ronald S @ 7th September 2016, 11:19 AM

'Are You Being Served' was a very popular programme in its day

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I was in my twenties when it first aired and it made me cringe then, I've certainly no interest in a straight copy re-run.

Like those old 15 Bob Top of the Pops albums - 'can you tell the difference between these and the original artists?' Errrr, yes

Quote: fasty @ 12th September 2016, 11:13 AM

Like those old 15 Bob Top of the Pops albums - 'can you tell the difference between these and the original artists?' Errrr, yes

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Ha! We used to get such guff in Australia, marketed as "It's not by the original artists but you can hardly tell the difference!".

Quote: Muddlecombe @ 7th September 2016, 10:45 AM

don't sully the classics.

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Yes, I wasn't thrilled by the Shane Ritchie reboot of Minder. AYBS was such simple fare in the first place (yet superbly done), that any remake was bound to seem lesser. Just look at the much-maligned Australian version of AYBS, which is not as dreadful as its detractors claim, it's just a bit pointless. Beane's Of Boston though, now there was a show that should have been commissioned.

There's enough old stuff now available on DVD or streaming sites, so old farts can completely dwell in the past. No need to remake it for them, but perhaps worth recording "missing/junked" stuff. Like old episodes of the Marx Brothers radio shows being redone, and the missing Dr Who stuff being animated.

I haven't been over impressed with the BBC Sitcom Season either and have been quite vociferous on here about certain shows. That said, each to his/her own, and if some bizarre half-baked cringeworthy rehash of AYBS makes a large volume of people laugh like drains then so be it.

That comedy documentary on BBC4 was very preachy the other day though.