Well, in Scotland there is a football related comedy.
It's called Only An Excuse and it stars Jonathan Watson who impersonates the main figures of Scottish football. It is on every Hogmanay and is consistently funny.
Up here, it is an institution. The festive period would not be the same without it.
Quote: Jazza @ December 30, 2007, 12:32 AMWell, in Scotland there is a football related comedy.
I thought you were going to say the Scottish Premier League.
Oh - and did you see Ronaldo miss that penalty today? Pissed myself laughing.
Did you see the man died? First interesting thing that's happened in football this decade.
Quote: Aaron @ December 30, 2007, 12:43 AMDid you see the man died? First interesting thing that's happened in football this decade.
Actually they keep dying which is a bit worrying
looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
sory excuse mf ,k/@LII*{
Cat on the keyboard
Quote: Jazza @ December 30, 2007, 12:32 AMWell, in Scotland there is a football related comedy.
It's called Only An Excuse and it stars Jonathan Watson who impersonates the main figures of Scottish football. It is on every Hogmanay and is consistently funny.
Up here, it is an institution. The festive period would not be the same without it.
Is that still going? Someone bought me a video of it years ago. Is Jonathan Watson that little bloke who used to be on 'Naked Video'? If so, I remember him recreating Gazza's infamous pretend Flute-playing goal celebration, as well as him impersonating people like Frank McAvenie and Graham Souness. It also featured Alistair McGowan, if I remember rightly.
Does anyone remember that sitcom "Prince Among Men"? With Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf, Brittas Empire) That was about a footballer.
Also Soccer AM is a football related comedy. Though, it misses Tim Lovejoy a lot.
I'm a season ticket holder at Manchester United (it seems we're much loved on this forum) and I often wander about writing a sitcom (or a series of sketches) about a group of season ticket holders.
What I never get is why people shout instructions like "No Wayne! Take it down the centre, son!" or "For f**ks sake Giggsy what was that?" at players? They can't hear them and even if they could they're not going to take their advice over that of their manager. Also whatever the stadium you have the gobshite who had his eye on "him" since he was in Stockport County's reserve team and knows exactly how to break down the Arsenal defence. The bloke who brings his own picnic and claps like his wrists have the firing mechanisims of an Army Standard Uzi. The bloke who tells you stats, you don't care. The old dear who thinks it's all a bit too rough, until the referee gives an offside decision and he's the biggest f**king c**t to walk the face of the earth and she's going to cut his bastard children's throat for that. The father and son who don't really like each other, the son would much rather be listening to Cradle of Filth or self harming and the father who thinks this makes him "a gay."
Of course there would be one seat in the middle that isn't designated for a season ticket (or the owner of the ticket sells it each game) and there'd be someone new and alien each time that the regulars would be wary of...
...In fact I might write it now.
There was a bloke all the way through last season (that being the title winning season of 06/07) who would clap all the way through the game. We couldn't see him. But he just clapped.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Ninety minutes of just
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
The most bizarre thing, I think this bloke must of been mentally ill. Had visions of him sat at home. Alone. Clapping. In the pub, sat with his pint, clapping.
Quote: Charles E. Lawley @ December 30, 2007, 3:05 AMThere was a bloke all the way through last season (that being the title winning season of 06/07) who would clap all the way through the game. We couldn't see him. But he just clapped.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Ninety minutes of just
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Why can't all Manchester UInited supporters get the clap?
Quote: Charles E. Lawley @ December 30, 2007, 3:05 AMThe most bizarre thing, I think this bloke must of been mentally ill. Had visions of him sat at home. Alone. Clapping. In the pub, sat with his pint, clapping.
Well he's a Manchester United season ticket holder. What do you expect?
And I bet he comes from Norfolk or Devon - or worse still London.
Tim Healey starred in a one-off comedy called 'Bostock's Cup' a few years back, in which he played Bertie Masson, the hapless manager of a team who managed to spring a giant cup shock many years previously. That was quite amusing. I still have that on VHS somewhere.
Also football related, Peter Cook's fantastic perfomances on the Clive Anderson special he did were topped off by his marvellous creation Alan Latchley, the old-school football manager. I also have that on VHS somewhere. I'm sure that is on You Tube too.
there was a sitcom on itv when i was a kid in the 70s. i think it was called FEET FIRST. anyone remember it?
Football is more tragic than funny these days.
But I am an England and Tottenham fan
Living in Liverpool, I pick up the Welsh Channel S4C, and there was a football-related sitcom on there called 'C'mon Midfield!', which ran for years.
By the way, if I haven't already mentioned it, I'm an Everton fan.
Hope you finish above Liverpool. I cannot stand them.
There was Alan Bleasdales 'Scully' Channel 4 (1984). I liked it as a 14 year old
Also the superb 'Boys From The Blackstuff'again by Alan Bleasdale ,although not a comedy had appearances of Dalgleish, Souness and a few others in it. Some Scully info below:
I have fond memories of Scully, from when it was first shown on Channel 4 back in 1984. I was in the midst of studying for exams (that wasn't the fond memory that I was referring to!) and one of the brief respites from the tedium of revision, was the weekly episode of Alan Bleasdale's now classic comedy / drama.
Over the course of 7 weeks, I became totally engrossed in the escapades, the ups and the downs in the life of the lovable scouser.
Andrew Schofield is absolutely note perfect in his portrayal of Francis Scully who longs to become a professional footballer and who has vivid daydreams that usually involve Kenny Dalglish appearing when he least expects it!
Equally memorable (and hilariously so) is his dimwitted best friend, Mooey, played by Ray Kingsley.
The series also features a strong supporting cast, including Mark McGann, Cathy Tyson, Jean Boht, Tom Georgeson, Gilly Coman, Tony Haygarth and Elvis Costello (as Scully's brother, obsessed with listening to train noises on his cassette recorder!)
Although the series is generally regarded as a comedy, it's not without its pathos, especially in the last episode. In spite of his attempts to break away from his working class background, Scully just can't seem to stay out of trouble, whether it be with the local police (Isaiah) or 'Dracula' the school caretaker (and his assistant 'Castanets').
There's some moments I've always remembered from when I first saw the series over 20 years ago: The scene when Scully goes on a date with Marie and overdoes it with the talcum powder is a classic. Possibly one of the funniest things in the entire series is when Mooey falls through the ceiling and lands on the table, covered in dust and debris, right in the middle of a seance.
I've been waiting a LONG time for this series to appear on DVD, having watched a ropey old copy that I taped off the TV some years ago. It's good to finally have a copy that looks as good as the original broadcasts. Sure, the image on the DVD could be a little sharper, but this is Scully as I remember it and love it and I wouldn't have it any other way. Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
Contrary to the deluded view of the previous reviewer, this is a comedy drama series with occasional references to and appearances by Liverpool players of the early 80's.
However, do not let this put you off, as it is still extremely funny and as usual with Bleasdale has it's fair share of pathos and realism along the way. Of all Bleasdale's work, this probably focuses on the comedy more than his others with the relationship between Scully and his dopey sidekick Mooey superbly portrayed.
My memories of 'Scully' are really, really vague, as I was quite young when it was on. The only thing I remember about it, is that his little brother used to put rollers in his hair. As for 'Boys from the Black Stuff', I only ended up seeing it because it was repeated, in about 1989.
Actually, I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with the many, many Liverpool-based T.V. shows/films/characters of the '80s and early '90s. Yes, a lot of the writing behind them was brilliant, but at the same time, I think a lot of it was quite damaging to the city's reputation. For instance, when that bloke who writes for The Spectator, said Liverpool people like to "wallow in their victim status", back when Boris Johnson was editor, I think the main thing that had influenced him to write it, was the writing of the likes of Alan Bleasdale, Willy Russell, Carla Lane, Jimmy McGovern and other Liverpool-born writers, who all seemed to become successful at around the same time. Now I'm not saying their respective portrayals of the city and it's people were totally inaccurate, but they did always seem to write about people who were desperate, and that must have had an effect on the rest of the country's opinions on the city.
The worst of all the shows, for me, had to be 'Bread'. The way the characters seemed to take pride in the fact that they were on the dole used to make my skin crawl. When you think that the show was getting an amazing 22 million viewers, when it was at it's peak, it's not hard to work out why jokes about Scousers suddenly became so popular, back in the 80s. Today's Mancunians probably feel the same way about 'Shameless'. Actually, I heard that the real residents of the housing estate on which 'Shameless' is filmed, tried to stop the show being filmed there, a couple of years ago, but failed.
While I'm on the subject, the other day, I read that there were twice as many incidents of gun-crime in Nottingham, as there is in any other city in the U.K. This got me wondering why you never hear people make jokes about Nottingham being a bad area. Then I realised, it was because Nottingham is never, and, for as long as I can remember, has never been featured on T.V. (apart from the obvious Robin Hood programmes).
Agree with you about 'Bread' - crap. Liverpool writers did give the city a bleak portrayal but with humour as well. Saw McGoverns Hillsborough docudrama not so long ago and thought it was pretty good.
Its the old lazy humour again when popular stuff focuses on different regions in the UK, its the easy option - Scousers and wheel trims, N.Ireland and terrorism, Jocks being tight, etc,etc.