Quote: Tim Azure @ June 9 2013, 11:14 AM BSTMemorabolia.
Anyway...
What did you get?
I just got a signature from Gorden Kaye and had a chat with Arthur Bostrom, Richard Gibson and Sue Hodge. It was a good day out!
'Allo 'Allo! Page 2
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ June 8 2013, 1:23 PM BSTHe might be pissing past her arse today
If she's not pissed her prim...
I watched it as kid in the late 80s every Saturday. It's definitely a guilty pleasure now. It does very well on repeats still. High concept comedy is all very well. Sometimes you need 30 minutes of purile daft banter to switch your mind off from the world. All said and done in today's endless debates of what sitcoms should be like in the year 2013. In all reality, you're on TV, you got 30 mins to make then laugh as much as possible. 'Allo 'Allo! does that still, unlike Badults etc.
I didn't have wild fantasies about any of the cast, no. But when I was coming to realise I was gay around the age of 12 I picked up immediately on Lieutenant Gruber and all the jokes around that, same with John Inman on Are You Being Served?. For a brief time when I was 12 I actually thought being gay was being part of some sitcom! Only a brief time though. 
Quote: BenS @ August 25 2013, 3:32 PM BSTI didn't have wild fantasies about any of the cast, no. But when I was coming to realise I was gay around the age of 12 I picked up immediately on Lieutenant Gruber and all the jokes around that, same with John Inman on Are You Being Served?. For a brief time when I was 12 I actually thought being gay was being part of some sitcom! Only a brief time though.
Out of curiosity: Have you ever regarded these stereotypical (and often ridiculous) portrayals of gay men in sitcoms as being offensive?
I find these 70s innuendos and jokes on gay people rather funny...well...impish but on the whole innocent. (I consider myself not as a homophobe).
But I often wonder what's the "gay community"'s view on this kind of humour...especially when it's written and acted by (allegedly) heterosexual authors and actors.
John Inman was openly gay AFAIK, but the character of Mr. Humphries was only ever described officially (by the writers) as something along the lines of "an effeminate mothers' boy", not gay.
Not sure about Guy Siner, but Gruber was obviously an explicitly gay character.
As to your question Gordon, you'll find there's no one view (nor one 'gay community' to have one 
). Both characters - Humphries particularly - were campaigned against and objected to by some, but adored and embraced by others.
I agree with Aaron, to me they were not offensive in the least and they're still not. Mr. Humphries was a hilarious character whose night-time adventures were alluded to but he was one of the first characters to be so blatant.
Lt. Gruber was a positive character, yes he was a Nazi but he was a Nazi with a heart. I certainly don't look up to them but they were positive images for me at that time in my life. I think if gays cannot laugh at such caricatures then they are too politically correct. Yes, I used the word PC, I used to be PC... not anymore. People laughed with them not at them and they were well loved, still are. I can't speak for anyone else though.
Thanks for the replies.
Quote: BenS @ August 25 2013, 8:58 PM BSTPeople laughed with them not at them and they were well loved, still are.
This is an important point. I claim this is also the case with It Ain't Half Hot Mum. And I don't only mean Gunner Beaumont but also the portrayal of the (clumsy) Indian characters. But the BBC refuses to repeat that show. If their portrayal is racist then they shouldn't repeat Fawlty Towers as well because of Manuel. PC overkill.
Quote: BenS @ August 25 2013, 8:58 PM BSTyes he was a Nazi but he was a Nazi with a heart
An often heard phrase from the defence counsels in the Nuremberg Trials.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 25 2013, 9:51 PM BSTThanks for the replies.
This is an important point. I claim this is also the case with It Ain't Half Hot Mum. And I don't only mean Gunner Beaumont but also the portrayal of the (clumsy) Indian characters. But the BBC refuses to repeat that show. If their portrayal is racist then they shouldn't repeat Fawlty Towers as well because of Manuel. PC overkill.
I can see their point in some ways, but not at all in others. Now if it was an evil homosexual out trying to seduce young men away from their girls... I might have something to say. But, to be fair, a lot of gay-oriented media is stereotypical. There's a show called the Lair which is basically twilight/trueblood but everyone's gay! Now, I find that show offensive, but only because it's such a terrible show (hailed just because of it's high numbers of gay characters.)
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 25 2013, 9:51 PM BSTAn often heard phrase from the defence counsels in the Nuremberg Trials.
Biologically the Nazis all had hearts, pumping blood through their veins to important things like muscles and the brain and the kidneys.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 25 2013, 9:51 PM BSTThis is an important point. I claim this is also the case with It Ain't Half Hot Mum. And I don't only mean Gunner Beaumont but also the portrayal of the (clumsy) Indian characters. But the BBC refuses to repeat that show. If their portrayal is racist then they shouldn't repeat Fawlty Towers as well because of Manuel. PC overkill.
Yes, but reason, logic and consistency are not bedfellows with said PC types.
Quote: Aaron @ August 25 2013, 10:29 PM BSTYes, but reason, logic and consistency are not bedfellows with said PC types.
Refusing to show IAHHM is an alibi: The BBC wants to demonstrate how morally conscious they are ("No, we don't let entertainment/art mock minorities"...they wouldn't sacrifice an international classic and much loved show such as Fawlty Towers though. And: they let Jimmy Savile doing his "hobby" for years. Hypocrits.
Back to topic: Did they repeat Allo Allo in recent years?
Quote: BenS @ August 25 2013, 10:19 PM BSTbrain
I'm not so sure about that.
Yes they have done.
Quote: BenS @ August 25 2013, 10:19 PM BSTThere's a show called the Lair which is basically twilight/trueblood but everyone's gay! Now, I find that show offensive, but only because it's such a terrible show (hailed just because of it's high numbers of gay characters.)
The thing is (also in German speaking world) that producers and other execs discovered the so-called gay community as a huge potential market. Now they throw in gays or gay themes in nearly every product. But they're doing no one a favour by doing it that blatant and half arsed. I can understand your anger.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 26 2013, 11:24 AM BSTThe thing is (also in German speaking world) that producers and other execs discovered the so-called gay community as a huge potential market. Now they throw in gays or gay themes in nearly every product. But they're doing no one a favour by doing it that blatant and half arsed. I can understand your anger.
Not to get off topic, but the show I referred to was created by a GLBT Network! If it was done by a primetime network I might be able to just brush it off, but no... it's like really corny gay porn (but isn't meant to be.)
'Allo 'Allo! is currently being broadcast on BBC Two on weekday afternoons, directly after the equally classic Are You Being Served?.