Strike was FAR too long... My fave was 'Didn't you kill My Brother', Alexei Sayle before he started churning out BBC series.
How funny was The Comic Strip Presents? Page 5
I thought they were at their peak around that time, the third series (and the cinematic release Supergrass) were some of my favourite episodes. The Strike , More Bad News, Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, The Yob and Didn't You Kill My Brother? Classics all! Series four went a bit wonky went it started trying to relive past glories with episodes like GLC, a precursor of what was to come with Churchill The War Years many years later. I hope the Comic Strip do get another run on TV. Personally, and I may be in a minority of one, but I think it's a shame Peter Richardson never managed to get a go at the Carry On London film, he was certainly all set for it with contracts signed and so on. Just the small matter of having no money but he could have done a decent job at reviving the series. The Comic Strip Presents always seemed like a Carry On when it was firing on all cylinders.
Oh and some of the best Stuff (see what I did there) Alexei Sayle ever made was when he started churning out BBC programmes. Especially if you were a hopelessly addicted young Python fan at the time.
I just thought they were smartarse rather than funny.
I see there's loads of them available on 4OD.
Going off topic a little, but my favourite Sayle is the vintage (Young Ones, 'Cak!' album) which puts me in the minority I guess. Stuff was great but ran out of steam in the last series, the All New Show didn't work for me either. Just my opinion.
He was never the most brilliant or polished of comics. But he was always watchable and funny.
His stuff could be anarachic, subversive and surpisinglt intellectual.
He's kinda the comic I'll always watch,
Sayle's turned into a great little short story writer. He's one of the few comics-turned-writer that I'd actually rate.
This series of 'one-offs' was fine at the time, but it's out of favour with me today as this type of comedy heralded in the dreaded 'P.C.' non-comedy phenomenon that we are permanently saddled with today. A lot of the 'alternative' material of the 80s laid the foundation for over-analysed, 'anti-comedy' that still pollutes the airwaves today. I quite liked The Young Ones as it was violent, anarchic and surreal, but The Comic Strip was instrumental in setting into motion the appallingly sterile-minded pseudo-comedy we are now permanently lumbered with.
I know that the creators certainly never intended to deconstruct the art of comedy with their efforts (indeed quite the reverse), but the long-term effects of this brand of humour has been disastrous for UK comedy - in my view, others may actually enjoy today's offerings - and we're still picking up the pieces today.
Quote: Tim Walker @ October 29 2010, 11:01 PM GMTMr Jolly Lives Next Door will always be my favourite of the series: Rick & Ade at their best, plus a Peter Cook cameo - what more could you ask for? As a little piece of somewhat strange trivia, 'Jolly' was directed by Stephen 'The Queen' Frears, around about the time he was also directing Dangerous Liasons with Glenn Close & John Malkovich.
Not forgetting Nicholas Parson still a great straight man doing the same stuff as he did 35 years before.
I just got the boxed set. The Comic Strip Presents is hysterical. They were fresh and unpredictable at the time and they still feel the same way to watch today.
Their stuff was a welcome watershed after all of worn out double-entendres, tripping over, puns and punchline gags of the seventies - not to mention the relief from racism and sexism. I quite like the parodies - particularly the subtle digs at old school humour - Rik and Ade are particularly good at taking the old school stuff and massacreing it with joy!
The stuff these comedians have produced over the last few decades has left a comic legacy that few can ever fill. 
Quote: Timbo @ June 11 2008, 4:04 AM BSTWhich got me thinking, were the Comic Strip the Carry On team for the eighties?
Quote: Aaron @ June 11 2008, 4:05 AM BSTIf they were, then 80s culture was even worse than I had ever imagined.
Oh, come on! The "Carry On..." films were regularly funny but rarely the apogee of wit nor ground breakers for their time... The "Comic Strip..." crew, however, were satirical and edgy - even now they still feel fresh as comedy has, in many ways, become more conservative again since this group of people have been producing less output.
80% of them are bloody awful!
Quote: lofthouse @ May 3 2011, 6:26 PM BST80% of them are bloody awful!
I don't find them awful - they're just not all intended to be laugh-out-loud funny. Some of them are, but others are wryly comic or amusingly bizarre - and I'm fine with that.
I'm glad that even in episodes with few laughs, that the laughs are genuine and take you by surprise - you're not just laughing because you want to be entertained and you're going along with it.
The films are actually extraordinarily sophisticated, in most cases, for fairly new writers with not that much of a budget.
Well maybe not awful (although some are pretty woeful IMO).
It's just I don't understand the point of a lot of them.
I have every one on DVD, and with a lot of them they are neither funny, nor are they interesting or well written stories.
So ...what was the idea/point?
I like Bad News, Five Go Off etc, Four Men in a Plane/Car, Strike and a few others.
But some are just ..pointless!?
I love most of the work, except for "Wild Turkey" (I think that was the title). After 1 viewing, on the box set, I didn't need to see it again. My faves depend on my mood at the time. Mr. Jolly & Supergrass!
I remember seeing Bad News & 5 Go Mad in Dorset, in the 80s & last year, on a trip to London, I hoped I'd find that on DVD, so imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the box set! I adore the collection! I would've liked some outtakes. I wonder if they exist in a box somewhere in Peter Richardson's house, & will they ever be released with another Comic Strip episode/Richardson movie etc?
Sex Actually was ok. I've never been keen on Eat The Rich much. These were not in the box set, but for the money, I think it was a great collection! I also enjoyed the Retrospectives.