Well, that's disappointing news...
Me And Mrs Jones Page 8
Quote: Nil Putters @ December 10 2012, 5:55 PM GMThttps://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000995/bbc_one_axes_me_and_mrs_jones/
F**kers, I was enjoying that.
Long gone are the wise, far-sighted days that saw almost everything given a second chance and recommissioned.
I loved that comedy too
Quote: Aaron @ December 10 2012, 8:38 PM GMTLong gone are the wise, far-sighted days that saw almost everything given a second chance and recommissioned.
OFAH's or Fawlty Towers' success would be unthinkable without BBC's courage or faith in good material in those days.
...on the other hand I wasn't impressed by Mrs. Jones so no loss for me.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ December 10 2012, 9:51 PM GMTOFAH's or Fawlty Towers' success would be unthinkable without BBC's courage or faith in good material in those days.
Not to mention Not The Nine O'Clock News, Blackadder, or any number of other series now considered bona fide classics.
Me and Mrs Jones would never become a classic!
Quote: Aaron @ December 10 2012, 10:03 PM GMTNot to mention Not The Nine O'Clock News, Blackadder, or any number of other series now considered bona fide classics.
Those are dubious examples. Not the Nine O'Clock News is nothing like as good in retrospect as it was at the time, and the dismissal of it in an episode of The Burkiss Way as "a load of old Dave Allen quickies" isn't far off the mark (although, ironically, several sketches on NT9oCN were adapted Burkiss Way sketches, such as the "Rowan tries to buy a hi-fi" sketch. As with the "answering the next question" sketch that ended up on The Two Ronnies, Marshall and Renwick were quite happy to try it out on the radio and sell it to the telly).
But at the time, it looked dangerous and edgy, so got recommissioned. Which resulted in the long-running attempt to convince us that Jones and Smith were major comedy talents, which not even a succession of entirely humour-free series would disabuse commissioners of, and the rather more plausible claim that Atkinson is a genuine talent (he is). Pamela Stephenson hadn't gone to a good enough university to be worth considering anyway, so was never seen again.
So with Atkinson dubbed the new Joh Cleese, he was obviously going to go on from the Python that was NT9oCN to the Fawlty Towers that was Blackadder, which he cocked up completely --- Cleese was smart enough to realise that he needed a good co-writer and let her do the work while he took the credit, while Atkinson squeezed out the stinker that was the first series of Blackadder. No-one, anywhere, has ever accused the first series of Blackadder as being a bona fide classic. The Blackadder we know and (largely) love is effectively a different series, written without Atkinson's help, almost completely shot in the studio and not commissioned until three years after the first series ended (essentially the TV equivalent of coming out of the khazi muttering "I'd give it a few minutes if I were you").
Quote: Tokyo Nambu @ December 11 2012, 12:47 AM GMTThose are dubious examples. Not the Nine O'Clock News is nothing like as good in retrospect as it was at the time, and the dismissal of it in an episode of The Burkiss Way as "a load of old Dave Allen quickies" isn't far off the mark.
Only one series of Not The Nine O'Clock News was broadcast before The Burkiss Way ended. So I'm glad your example backs up my point about giving shows a second chance! 
Quote: Charlie Boy @ December 10 2012, 11:51 PM GMTMe and Mrs Jones would never become a classic!
That's what they said about The Black Adder. In any case, I didn't say it would.
This show started badly in the ratings and got close to record lows for a BBC One comedy. I don't see any reason the BBC could have let it continue.
Quote: dennispennis123 @ December 11 2012, 2:24 AM GMTThis show started badly in the ratings and got close to record lows for a BBC One comedy. I don't see any reason the BBC could have let it continue.
No one is saying it got good ratings. Clearly they were very disappointing. But going by ratings alone - which the BBC is supposed to not do - is not only missing the point, but being incredibly short-sighted and foolish. Meanwhile, over on BBC Two Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle gets ratings so abysmally low that executives in any other country would be topping themselves in shame, but it's going to have run for at least, what, 4 series?
Anyway, ratings can be argued back and forth endlessly. The real curious point is how BBC One have decided that Me And Mrs Jones is popular enough to pluck its star for their Christmas trailers, yet not popular enough to recommission. Seems quite the paradox to front the PR for the biggest programming extravaganza of the year with the star of a show you're ashamed of, does it not?
(AFAIK, Sarah Alexander hasn't otherwise been a regular in a BBC One show since 2009 drama All The Small Things.)
Quote: Aaron @ December 11 2012, 3:03 AM GMTNo one is saying it got good ratings. Clearly they were very disappointing. But going by ratings alone - which the BBC is supposed to not do - is not only missing the point, but being incredibly short-sighted and foolish. Meanwhile, over on BBC Two Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle gets ratings so abysmally low that executives in any other country would be topping themselves in shame, but it's going to have run for at least, what, 4 series?
Anyway, ratings can be argued back and forth endlessly. The real curious point is how BBC One have decided that Me And Mrs Jones is popular enough to pluck its star for their Christmas trailers, yet not popular enough to recommission. Seems quite the paradox to front the PR for the biggest programming extravaganza of the year with the star of a show you're ashamed of, does it not?
(AFAIK, Sarah Alexander hasn't otherwise been a regular in a BBC One show since 2009 drama All The Small Things.)
Although I thought this show was a waste of time and money, I agree about that ratings can go either way. In With the Flynns was cancelled after receiving 3 million viewers, whilst the last episode of The Thick of It was watched by less than 1 million.
And I agree on your point of Sarah ALexander fronting the Christmas trailer. Is she in a Christmas show this year???
Quote: Aaron @ December 11 2012, 3:03 AM GMTNo one is saying it got good ratings. Clearly they were very disappointing. But going by ratings alone - which the BBC is supposed to not do - is not only missing the point, but being incredibly short-sighted and foolish. Meanwhile, over on BBC Two Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle gets ratings so abysmally low that executives in any other country would be topping themselves in shame, but it's going to have run for at least, what, 4 series?
Anyway, ratings can be argued back and forth endlessly. The real curious point is how BBC One have decided that Me And Mrs Jones is popular enough to pluck its star for their Christmas trailers, yet not popular enough to recommission. Seems quite the paradox to front the PR for the biggest programming extravaganza of the year with the star of a show you're ashamed of, does it not?
(AFAIK, Sarah Alexander hasn't otherwise been a regular in a BBC One show since 2009 drama All The Small Things.)
BBC1 is about ratings at the end of the day. It's meant to be a mass, populist, channel for shows to be watched by big audiences. The ratings were abysmal for this show. The first episode had 3.4m in the consolidated figures (which is already low for this time of year) and fell to 2m for it's last episode which is a dreadful figure. I don't see how the BBC can recommission a show with terrible ratings that were getting lower and lower, with mostly negative reviews and won't get anywhere near winning any awards.
Stewart Lee is a totally different example because he's on BBC2 which is a channel designed for niche shows and the show in on past 11pm, it's never been intended or expected to get a lot of viewers. And, unlike Me abd Mrs Jones, Stewart Lee has a very loyal following, got a lot of critical praise and won several awards for that show.
I don't see the Sarah Alexander/Christmas Trailer point as curious at all. She's a comedy actress playing a part in a set of adverts. Me and Mrs Jones being a failure doesn't mean her or any of the cast are failures now or deeply unpopular with the public, she's still a well respected comedy actress.
Very curious. The BBC have always used popular BBC stars from popular BBC shows to lead their Christmas programming.
Quote: Charlie Boy @ December 11 2012, 9:04 AM GMTAlthough I thought this show was a waste of time and money, I agree about that ratings can go either way. In With the Flynns was cancelled after receiving 3 million viewers, whilst the last episode of The Thick of It was watched by less than 1 million.
And I agree on your point of Sarah ALexander fronting the Christmas trailer. Is she in a Christmas show this year???
Again your comparing a BBC1 sitcom to a BBC2 sitcom when the paramter of success is very different. The Thick Of it had a very loyal audience and had loads of criticial praise and won dozens of major awards.
Quote: Aaron @ December 11 2012, 1:32 PM GMTVery curious. The BBC have always used popular BBC stars from popular BBC shows to lead their Christmas programming.
Who would you have used instead?
Quote: dennispennis123 @ December 11 2012, 1:37 PM GMTWho would you have used instead?
Someone from a series not being axed, perhaps?