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Some of the really good ones tend to end too soon because either the writers didn't want to do it anymore, i.e. like Cleese with Fawlty Towers, or actors playing a major role decide they want to move on. Ronnie Barker with Porridge and Open All Hours decided to leave at the top in both rather...

Not at all and no offence was meant to anyone who may feel that my comments were harsh on what is meant to be a lighthearted subject.

All of us here like LOTSW, although some of us like certain periods of it more than others. I'd have no problem with it coming back, but my own preference would be for a totally new trio, perhaps in their 50's, a modern day throwback to the earlier series. I realise that others would perhaps...

Still Open All Hours will have to try and overcome the absence of the biggest character in Arkwright and Ronnie Barker. The one off didn't have much of a story to it and the original was essentially about the Arkwright/Granville and Arkwright/Nurse Gladys relationship, it will be interesting to...

How in heavens name do you remake Steptoe and Son? Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett died years ago. Who would play those parts? Steptoe and Son died with these two, a remake would probably be rubbish and could never live up to the standard they set.

I will probably be in a minority here, but I usually don't like series either being brought back or remade once they have had their time. This is especially true for comedies that were very successful first time around and are given the "classic" title. The reason for this is simple in that it...

But not the Daily Mirror I assume! Still Open All Hours is to close down – despite the Christmas special proving a ratings winner. http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/open-hours-series-sitcom-closed-3048174 Oh how the red tops love to spread a bit of misery.

I have to say that I've never watched First of the Summer Wine. A few family members who were LOTSW fans who did watch it didn't think much of it. It didn't last long and ran from 1988 to 89, Michael Aldridge as Seymour joined in 1986 up to 1990. Perhaps Roy Clarke thought that he could just get...

Well, well, well.... so much for Daily Mirror "insiders". "Granville's corner shop will be open for business once again after the BBC confirmed it was commissioning a full series of Still Open All Hours with David Jason. The sequel to Ronnie Barker sitcom Open All Hours, which ran on BBC1 for...

I would still have to say that to some degree it isn't just about the writing, even with LOTSW. In the early days one could argue they got lucky in that three comedy actors and the supporting actors that were not really big names, but very well known in acting circles, came together to form a...

The thing is though some actors make a series what it is. Get the mixture of writing and actors right and you can have a winner. Bad or wrongly cast acting and it doesn't matter how good the writing is. I'm sure Brian Wilde could have become Blamire, but part of the audience will always be...

I fail to see what the story is here. A red top comes up with an item from a "BBC insider" which basically could be anyone or no one - they have been known to make these things up before. The story seems to be that because there is no news on a series being commissioned then it must be the case...

I've often felt that The Library Mob would have been an awful title to call the series, although it made sense if it had been a one off. It would have been very limiting as time went on, but at the time it was a decent reflection of what three middle age unemployed men might do with their time...

Perhaps without Truly, but not Clegg. Sad to say, but it has to be remembered that Frank Thornton passed away not long after the series was cancelled, so had it gone on they would have been faced with either replacing him or going on with one less major character that helped make it what it was...

However, the big difference with US comedy sitcoms is that each series can be anywhere between 18 and 30 episodes! They often have a team of writers. In the UK series tend to be between 6 and 10 episodes. I've just started watching an old favorite of mine as the episodes were on Youtube, 3rd...

I think you could probably make a case for Milburn. Perhaps Eli because of his short-sightedness (long or a mixture of both, he was a Mr Magoo type character). His inability to see what was going on around him made him appear a bit dumb, at least for the comedy effect. Morton Beemish as well.

A quick search gives Murphy's age as 80 and Kwouk as 83, so they both would have been mid to late 70's in the final series. Abbot is now 66, so if it is the case that his LOTSW age was mentioned as 50 it's not so surprising that he wore that silly wig. I did think that in the final series Burt...

It was always going to be difficult to transition to what became the final trio. I think they missed the boat in not trying to do it sooner. Given age, health and insurance issues, it was sad but probably inevitable that Peter Sallis and Frank Thornton would have to be relegated to more...

I believe there were some insurance issues with the older actors being outdoors. Not sure how that worked, but I do recall Peter Sallis talking about it. He also had eyesight problems and talks about it in this edition of Desert Island Discs from 2009. They weren't getting any younger and Frank...

By coincidence I watched that the other day, it's at the start of Stop That Bath.