Quote: Tim Walker @ March 17 2010, 10:16 AM GMTI think the main character's catchphrase is brilliant though... "What a revolting development this is!" (eat that Little Britain).
Wasn't that a Daffy Duck catchphrase?
Life Of Riley - Series 2 Page 2
Quote: Timbo @ March 17 2010, 11:15 AM GMTWasn't that a Daffy Duck catchphrase?
Might have been. Catchphrases seemed to be somewhat interchangeable between 'toons and early US radio sitcoms, IIRC. Often put in as knowing references for the adults watching the cartoons, I think.
Love the reference to jailbait, I almost spat coffee (well tea) over the laptop.
Ha
Quote: Tim Walker @ March 17 2010, 10:16 AM GMTOh, and looking around the internet, I see that there was already a sitcom of this name (I had thought that the title of this show was, though desperately lazy and pointless, at least original)...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Riley
Seems the US 1950s TV series ran for over 200 episodes. I think the main character's catchphrase is brilliant though... "What a revolting development this is!" (eat that Little Britain).
There was a British sitcom called 'The Life Of Riley' too (1975).
Here's its as-yet-unpublished BCG synopsis: "Frank Riley is a widower with an eye for the ladies. He has a decent job as an Insurance Agent at Lancastrian Insurance but his world is about to change when his god-fearing, Welsh-speaking son Brian walks back into his life needing a job and a place to stay. His carefree lifestyle is under threat and his days of debauchery with his lady friend, Ethel, are under scrutiny."
Quote: Aaron @ March 17 2010, 11:40 AM GMTHere's its as-yet-unpublished BCG synopsis: "Frank Riley is a widower with an eye for the ladies. He has a decent job as an Insurance Agent at Lancastrian Insurance but his world is about to change when his god-fearing, Welsh-speaking son Brian walks back into his life needing a job and a place to stay. His carefree lifestyle is under threat and his days of debauchery with his lady friend, Ethel, are under scrutiny."
Just going by that synopsis this version sounds far better than the pile of reheated shite the BBC see fit to serve their viewing public currently.
Let's hope they get the tapes mixed up with the old one. Would be good if they messed the DVD up as well 
Quote: Aaron @ March 17 2010, 11:40 AM GMTThere was a British sitcom called 'The Life Of Riley' too (1975).
Here's its as-yet-unpublished BCG synopsis: "Frank Riley is a widower with an eye for the ladies. He has a decent job as an Insurance Agent at Lancastrian Insurance but his world is about to change when his god-fearing, Welsh-speaking son Brian walks back into his life needing a job and a place to stay. His carefree lifestyle is under threat and his days of debauchery with his lady friend, Ethel, are under scrutiny."
Sounds like it should have starred Frank Kelly as an accident prone cowboy builder.
Quote: David Carmon @ March 17 2010, 11:48 AM GMTLet's hope they get the tapes mixed up with the old one. Would be good if they messed the DVD up as well
I've had the DVD for more than a year! It seems fine...
....and they're off to a laugh-free start - and why not?!
There are a few good lines, but the dialogue, the performances, and the plots bear so little resemblance to any human experience it is as if the whole thing has been generated by some soulless family-entertainment-by-numbers software. It make My Family look like Chekhov.
To make a sitcom that's even remotely funny you need a good script AND characters (rather than actors bascially playing themselves but with different names). That is what is wrong with most sitcoms today (especially BBC sitcoms) - they have neither.
Just look at Del Boy, Rodney, Boycie, Trigger, Fletcher, Arkwright, Granville, Alan Partridge, Gary, Tony etc- they are nothing like the actors who played them.
I liked it.
Surely this level of unfunniness is universally recognised by anyone with the slightest grasp of the concept of comedy.
Quote: johnny smith @ March 17 2010, 8:36 PM GMTSurely this level of unfunniness is universally recognised by anyone with the slightest grasp of the concept of comedy.
No because some of us don't feel the need to constantly over analyze everything.
Is it the funniest sitcom ever, of course it's not, but I do enjoy it.
It's just a bit of harmless comedy and that's all I want.
The studio audience (if it does indeed exist) seems to be full of those sorts of people who laugh their heads off at any joke that suggests something 'a bit rude' - people of a Cbeebies presenter-level of innocence who wouldn't dream of ever swearing or saying anything crude and smutty during their own lives.