Not Only...But Also -- was a Peter Cook / Dudley Moore sketch show that ran for 24 episodes between January 1965 and May 1970. To be honest, I don't think this disc features the first 6 episodes, but I believe these are 6 compilation shows of surviving material. Saturday, May 15, 2010
Not Only.....But Also
Not Only...But Also -- was a Peter Cook / Dudley Moore sketch show that ran for 24 episodes between January 1965 and May 1970. To be honest, I don't think this disc features the first 6 episodes, but I believe these are 6 compilation shows of surviving material. 
Beyond The Fringe
Beyond The Fringe was a satircal stage revue that enjoyed a long run in the West End and also on Broadway. Featuring Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, it was Oxford Revue/Cambridge Footlights type comedy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_fringe
Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show was a UK TV staple for decades. He was on BBC from 1955 to 1968 and the first 4 files on Disc 1 are a presentation of surviving film clips from that period. In 1969 he went with the new Thames Television and remained there through 1988. As zany and silly as his shows were, Benny himself was sort of a tragic figure. The Benny Hill Show and Monty Python's Flying Circus were the first UK programs I ever recall watching nearly 40 years ago (outside of "both-sides" programs like The Avengers, The Prisoner, Dangerman, and even Robin Hood).At Last The 1948 Show + Do Not Adjust Your Set
Both of these satire/sketch programs served as forerunner's to Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Goodies. At Last featured Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman, John Cleese and Tim Brooke-Taylor from the "David Frost School of Cambridge Footlights Comedy". Eric Idle appeared in some episodes. 13 were made, 8 are lost.
Do Not Adjust Your Set featured 3 future Pyhtons in Eric Idle, Michale Palin and Terry Jones, plus David Jason and Denise Coffey (who performed the excellent Captain Fantasic sketches together). 27 episodes were produced and it looks like all but 11 were wiped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Adjust_Your_Set
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Last_the_1948_Show
Father, Dear Father
Father, Dear Father was a sitcom about a divorced man with 2 teenage daughters. Patrick Cargill starred. Donald Sinden was a regular and many other familiar faces came and went.Series 6 and 7, the final 13 episodes, have yet to surface. At the end of its run a movie was made (common practice at that time). The program was revived 5 years later in Australia when "Father" goes to Australia to research a book and ends up caring for his brother's two teenage daughters while their father has a job assignment in London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father,_Dear_Father
Nearest And Dearest
Nearest And Dearest was a sitcom starring Jimmy Jewel and Hylda Baker as brother & sister Eli & Nellie Pledge who inherit their father's pickle factory (although few of the stories have anything to do with that). Joe Gladwin (Wally Batty in Last of the Summer Wine) had a role as a long time employee. Nearest And Dearest had a long run of 47 episodes from the summer of 1968 to February 1973. A lot of the actors in this were "Music Hall" veterans who shouted their lines so loud if you listen with headphones you'll hear them echo around the soundstage.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nearest_and_Dearest
On The Buses
On The Buses made its debut in February 1969 and by the time it concluded in 1973 had logged 75 episodes, 3 movies, and a short-lived spinoff. Written by the writers who found earlier success with Meet The Wife and The Rag Trade, it starred Reg Varney, Bob Grant, Stephen Lewis, Anna Karen and Michael Robbins.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_buses
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Worker
The Worker was a Charlie Drake comedy where he played the most unemployable man in the UK. It enjoyed a 13 episode run in 1965 and was brought back for about another dozen in 1970.Two In Clover
The "Two In Clover" were Sid James and Victor Spinetti in this Vince Powell & Harry Driver sitcom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_In_Clover
Till Death Us Do Part
Till Death Us Do Part was another one that made its debut as a Comedy Playhouse episode in July 1965. The first series began about a year later and continued sporadically until the mid-70's. Many episodes are lost and some in the archive have yet to find their way into my hands.
Till Death was somewhat controversial with a lead character having views unpopular with the PC crowd. Norman Lear "borrowed" the idea for All In The Family. The program was revived in the early 80's for 6 episodes and then brought back under a new name (In Sickness And In Health) in the mid-80's where it enjoyed a pretty good run into the early 90's and some 40 episodes.
Steptoe And Son
Steptoe And Son made its debut in the first week of 1962 as one of the first Comedy Playhouse presentations (The Offer). As the name implies, S&S was really a 2-man show with Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. The program was written by Galton & Simpson who had enjoyed great success writing Hancock's Half Hour. Steptoe & Son originally concluded in November 1965 after 27 episodes, but was revived in winter 1970 for another 30 episodes and 2 movies before concluding on Boxing Day 1974. I think it would be safe to say this program would be included on any all-time Top 20 UK sitcoms list. I think one thing that set this one apart from others was Brambell and Corbett were really fine actors. They weren't comics doing a sitcom.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steptoe_and_son
The Rag Trade
The Rag Trade produced 58 episodes over a span of 17 years (of course there was a period of 14½ years between Episodes 36 and 37). The original program made its debut in October 1961 and featured the likes of Reg Varney, Sheila Hancock, Peter Jones, Miriam Karlin, Wanda Ventham (was in about a dozen of the early eps), Barbara Windsor, veteran Australian film actress Esma Cannon, Judy Carne (who later in the 60's appeared in US sitcoms and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), and Ann Beach ("it's-only-Sonia" in Fresh Fields). Of the original 36 episodes 17 are lost. In 1977 the program was revived for another 22 episodes with the original roles by Peter Jones and Miriam Karlin intact and joined by Anna Karen in her Olive role from On The Buses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rag_TradePlease Sir!
Please Sir! was a schoolhouse sitcom that ran for 56 episodes from November 1968 to February 1972 before spinning off into Fenn Street Gang which itself had a spinoff in Bowler. Please Sir! was the work of writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey who also wrote The Good Life, Get Some In!, Ever Decreasing Circles, Brush Strokes, Hope It Rains, Now And Then, Mulberry and then Larbey wrote A Fine Romance, On The Up, and As Time Goes By. I read someplace that this was the inspiration for a US sitcom called Hello Mr. Kotter or something. I haven't watched this one through yet but it looks to me that the actors look more like 25 than 15. Pardon The Expression
Pardon The Expression starred Arthur Lowe and was, surprisingly, a spinoff of Coronation Street. It ran for 36 episodes from June 1965 to June 1966. Lowe's character on both programs was Leonard Swindley and both Lowe/Swindley were extended to another program of 6 episodes in early 1967 called Turn Out The Lights. All Gas And Gaiters
All Gas And Gaiters was a sitcom about the clergy at "St. Ogg's Cathedral". 33 episodes were made from it's Comedy Playhouse pilot in May 1966 to the final ep in June 1971, but only 11 survive. Derek Nimmo, who played the bishop's chaplain, was later in a similar sitcom and it's spinoff: Oh Brother! and Oh Father!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Gas_and_Gaiters
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width was another ethnic-humor sitcom about a tailor shop operated by a Jewish guy and an Irish/Catholic guy. It ran for 40 episodes from Feb. 1967 to Sept. 1971. Supposedly only 11 episodes are lost, but I'm missing 8 of the not-lost eps.Meet The Wife
Meet The Wife began as The Bed on Comedy Playhouse at the end of 1963 and produced a further 38 episodes over the next 3 years. Starring Freddie Frinton and Thora Hird as the battling Blacklocks. It's been reported that 17 episodes still exist in the archives, but to date I've been able to track down only 8. Meet The Wife was immortalized in a Beatles song in February 1967 about 7 weeks after the final episode was broadcast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_the_Wife
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Likely Lads + Whatever Happened To?
The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? The Likely Lads ran for 20 episodes from December '64 to July '66, however only 8 episodes survive. Some 6½ years later the program was revived picking up the story where it ended in 1966 but 6½ years on when The Lads meet again on a train. The Lads were Rodney Bewes and James Bolam (with Sheila Fearn as his sister). This program was an early work of writers/producers Ian LaFrenais and Dick Clements. The return of the Likely Lads ran for 27 episodes (Jan. 1973 - Christmas Eve 1974) and was followed up with a Likely Lads movie in 1976. James Bolam's character of Terry Collier is pretty much identical to his Roy Figgis role in Only When I Laugh.Hugh And I
Hugh And I was a long running sitcom lasting over 70 episodes from July 1962 to January 1967.Unfortunately, almost all of these appear to have been lost. Hugh was Hugh Lloyd (Hancock's Half Hour...and I think his last appearance before his death was on the Doc Martin episode Aromatherapy) and Terry Scott (as "I") (Happy Ever After / Terry And June). Molly Sugden played the neighbor Mrs. Crispin. Jack Haig ('Allo 'Allo! "it is I, Leclerc!) also had a supporting role. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_and_i
Hark At Barker
Hark At Barker, Barker being Ronnie Barker as Lord Rustless, was sort of a sitcom but also sort of a sketch show. A sketchcom? Lord Rustless tackled a different topic each episode. Lord Rustless had a staff that included a secretary, Mildred, played by Josephine Tewson (Keeping Up Appearances, Last of the Summer Wine, Shelley, Clarence) and Dithers the gardner played by David Jason.George And The Dragon
George And The Dragon was a sitcom that starred Sid James (Hancock's Half Hour, Citizen James, Bless This House, Two In Clover, the Carry On films) and featured Peggy Mount (The Larkins, You're Only Young Twice), John LeMesurier (Dad's Army, Pardon The Expression, Hancock's Half Hour and guest appearances on almost every program ever made) and Keith Marsh (Love Thy Neighbour, The Gaffer, Beiderbecke, etc.).
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