Quote: TheBlueNun @ 16th July 2014, 10:35 PM BSTI have now watched episodes 1-5 of S1 and yes, from a (wannabe) writer's point of view they are excellent. The first episode outlined all of the main characters, of which there were a great number, with consummate ease and the plot soon zinged along with aplomb.
Keep going into the start of Series 4. Breathtaking skill there.
Well I don't know which series it was from but I watched an ep yesterday and cringed for England. It had everything in bucketfuls- smut and innuendo, cross dressing, national stereotypes, cartoonish slapstick and pratfalls, silly accents, basic humour, blatant setups, zero subtlety, too many characters, breakneck farce and it was swimming or drowning in campness depending on whether you love it or loathe it.
Alright for two or three series of six EPs but not nine or whatever it did.
Talk about kicking it and the viewers to death. Zut alore Nine Nein! Zit is not in the Geneva convention. This un pc campfest gets 70 plus episodes and they wouldn't even give one to the no more blatant but genuinely hilarious Heil Honey I'm Home! 
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 18th July 2018, 9:41 AMWell I don't know which series it was from but I watched an ep yesterday and cringed for England. It had everything in bucketfuls- smut and innuendo, cross dressing, national stereotypes, cartoonish slapstick and pratfalls, silly accents, basic humour, blatant setups, zero subtlety, too many characters, breakneck farce and it was swimming or drowning in campness depending on whether you love it or loathe it.
Alright for two or three series of six EPs but not nine or whatever it did.
No sitcom is perfect, but "Allo, Allo!" comes closer than most. Such was its overall quality that what few faults it had were either ignored or immediately forgiven by almost every viewer. At its best, it was spectacularly brilliant and, at its worst, it was still very very good. There were plans to show it in Germany but, even after German TV executives emerged from a screening session literally crying with laughter, they immediately decided that as wonderful as it may be, it could never be shown in Germany!
"Heil honey, I'm home" was a very different kettle of gefilte fish. It was brave and by no means without merit as a comedy, but it wasn't in the same league as "Allo, Allo!".
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 18th July 2018, 9:41 AMIt had everything in bucketfuls- smut and innuendo, cross dressing, national stereotypes, cartoonish slapstick and pratfalls, silly accents, basic humour, blatant setups, zero subtlety, too many characters, breakneck farce and it was swimming or drowning in campness
Yes! Sublime, isn't it?
Well it's superb panto I agree but after three eps I'm yearning for some of those middling domcoms we used to be swamped with for a bit of adult perspective and normality.
It's not a Fawlty Towers where every scene and line are glorious, it's a knockabout panto that just thinks it's glorious because less demanding viewers loved its sauciness. Has very little of the intimate bond Dad's Army still has with its fans.
Far be it from me to knock "Fawlty Towers" or "Dad's Army": each of them is, in its own way, just about as good as a sitcom gets. Having said that, neither had any erotic content and neither had any real drama. From the opening titles to the end credits. viewers were aware that they were watching people acting and saying funny things in order to get laughs. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but, from an entertainment perspective, "Allo, Allo!" had everything the other two sitcoms had plus several genuinely sexy female cast members and, unusually for a sitcom, a real sense of danger. It's probably the only sitcom in the history of the world where, at any moment, half the cast could realistically have been shot dead by the other half.
It's difficult to say that any of the three sitcoms was better than the other two, simply because each was so different from the other two. What I will say, however, is that when it comes to choosing the greatest or funniest British sitcom of all time, "Allo, Allo!" is a very serious contender.
I am a bit biased as 'Allo 'Allo! is one of my fav sitcoms.
Series 1-6 are excellent, 7-9 are very repetitive although there are still some decent moments and it's still fairly decent. Comedy timing, memorable characters mainly and some very good performances, especially Gorden Kaye and Richard Gibson.
Once they brought in the Italian captains it did go a bit down and we then had too many characters for a 30 minute sitcom.
Ah, I loved Bertorelli, or at least the first one.
I think the world's sitcom fans will agree that one of the most entertaining aspects of a great sitcom is the running joke.
It would be difficult to pick my favourite running joke from all the sitcoms I've ever seen, but one of the top contenders would most certainly be the appearances in 'Allo! Allo!' of Roger Leclerc in disguise, as he brings secret messages to Rene in the cafe.
It has to be said that his disguises were far from impenetrable and, as soon as he entered the cafe and walked towards Rene, the entire viewing audience were waiting for him to 'reveal' his identity to Rene with the immortal line:
ROGER LeCLERC: [lifts glasses] It is I, Leclerc.
At which point, Rene would roll his eyes and look long-suffering.
Utterly, utterly sublime comedy.
I always enjoyed Rene's
"...you stupid womaaaan!"
When caught in a compromising situation with one of the servant girls
Ze flashing knobs, ze flashing knobs!
A little treat.
The BBC will never make another series like 'Allo 'Allo! and couldn't, even if it tried! The lack of political correctness is, quite honestly, refreshing, but it's also not how entertainment rolls anymore. I love all the characters in this show. I'm definitely part of this series' cult following. That the BBC saw fit to produce it, I am eternally grateful. It's a gem ... an absolute gem!
I really enjoyed this. 'Allo 'Allo! was great, René was a great character! I thought the show was incredibly well written and well acted. Some attractive girls in there too!
Only thing I hated was the replacement actor for Herr Flick in the last series, it wasn't the same as the original. The original actor played him so well, I couldn't imagine anyone else doing better than him.
Man, I remember watching 'Allo 'Allo! as a kid and just dying laughing at their jokes. The humour was so simple yet so effective. The only thing that comes even close is Only Fools And Horses. Back then, I had a massive crush on Francesca Gonshaw, which leads me to my little anecdote. Prior to this pandemic, I used to visit casinos around the UK for work. I'm a slot machine installer so we're always on call when casinos have a machine breakdown in peak hours.
So here I am, walking into the Palm Beach casino, and who do I see? It's Francesca. She was there with some people, lovely as ever. Seeing her there brought me back to my childhood almost instantly.
This would have been a cool coincidence had I not seen her again over at Clermont Club. That's two times I've bumped into her in two of the most popular venues in Britain. Jokes aside, I had to say hi this time around. Needless to say, she was very graceful and we had a short chat about the show, various actors, etc.
It saddens me that some of the greats from this series have left us. This is the type of comedy that is no longer acceptable by modern standards. That saddens me as well.
