Howard and the Missing Pearl

Eithne said:
True. I'm not sure that was the indication when the characters were introduced, but at a certain point it was made clear nothing was actually going on. It leads to another possible question for posterity. Despite the show's depiction as a sleepy backwater (especially by detractors) we all know the 70's were a time of social unrest and angst. How much did that affect the development of the program? At which point did the powers that be step in and say you can't show people smoking, you can't say that, or you can't do that in front of the children, which in the 70's seemed to be staying up awfully late if they were watching some of the things they were censoring. I have read that Howard and Marina were actually the favorite characters of many children, I'm sure attracted by Howard's endless inventiveness trying to evade Pearl. I wonder if the BBC or whatever watchdog was in charge of such things said, we have a responsibility to these young viewers, make clear it's harmless, or was it a decision by the director, or how much leeway did an actor have in saying, I don't like this about my character, can we change it?
Not just in the matter of Howard and Marina. Several of the characters are first introduced with a host of eccentric traits that disappear or morph slightly, sometimes within a few episodes. Tom had the least smooth entry into a program I have ever seen. Were there problems with code - the BBC objecting to moral/social situations, was Clarke just feeling his way until things settled, or did the actors have misgivings and request a character tweak?
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Pearl and Howard kissed and cuddled..we know. Also, even if that's as far as the physical connection went. It was too far. Howard was married to Pearl. They weren't playing house together. Vows had been taken and agreed to. I'm pretty sure they didn't include implied (or direct) permission to step out on his wife anytime he felt a "magnetic attraction" to someone else. What he was doing is called 'comitting adultery'. Adultery by omission of completion of the physical is still adultery. He spent all of his free time with this "other" woman. Pearl only got to be with him when she was desperately trying to keep him home. And, of course, when he was there, he was miserable that she wouldn't be good sport enough to let him run around on her. That's what Pearl had to look forward to for years. No conversation..no fun. Yet, she kept trying. She kept the steak and kidney pie (that he loved) on the table every Tuesday. The steak and kidney pie that he did her the favor of "being there for" every week. As she said once to the girls at coffee morning, "You get them to retirement age, you think they'll settle down." So after years of Howard's fillandering..she thought she'd get a break and there'd be just the two of them. But oh-hh-h no-o. He had to go and find one last pathetic creature...er-r...hoorah..for his Summerwine years.
 
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Winefan my friend......you sound like Pearl's brief during a particularly nasty divorce settlement....
It is only "our show"....make believe.....written by Roy to enable us to escape reality..... to a world where no one gets hurt or killed.
The Howard and Marina situation WORKED for decades for us all.
We laughed at his hair brained schemes " I think we've really cracked it this time".....we marvelled at his ingenuity......at no point did we take it seriously.
Their input was a major part of "our show"........NOT to be taken seriously......after all.....they were just excellent actors in a unbelievably wonderful and unique comedy that enthralled millions for decades and decades.
X!
 
MoodyBlue said:
Winefan my friend......you sound like Pearl's brief during a particularly nasty divorce settlement....
It is only "our show"....make believe.....written by Roy to enable us to escape reality..... to a world where no one gets hurt or killed.
The Howard and Marina situation WORKED for decades for us all.
We laughed at his hair brained schemes " I think we've really cracked it this time".....we marvelled at his ingenuity......at no point did we take it seriously.
Their input was a major part of "our show"........NOT to be taken seriously......after all.....they were just excellent actors in a unbelievably wonderful and unique comedy that enthralled millions for decades and decades.
X!
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I laugh during the show (in the past and currently) and at Howard's scheming, plotting, and planning to get with Marina. It still fascinates me that he found an 'other' woman willing to meet him in hedge bottoms and be thrown over walls if he even suspects that his wife is coming...Loll-lol-l ..I'm one of those folks who can watch an A-1 comedy like this and still see the reality of a situation. Understanding, in this case, the Howard and Pearl dynamic helps me to enjoy it more. If you don't look at his love and respect for Pearl, to me, it would be hard to understand why he and Marina only get as far as occasional kisses and cuddles. Each time Pearl threw him out,he never headed for Marina. Howard's main concern was getting back home to Pearl. :) ..If one thought, at least..if I thought, that he and Marina had this amazing, wonderful love then it would be confusing as to why he never left home for her. I get Pearl, Howard, and Marina. My heart goes out to Pearl, but I do laugh at the whole situation and very much enjoy Last of the Summer Wine. I love that at shows end, even though, Howard was trying to sneak a flirt with Marina, Pearl knows, at least to my mind, that Howard really does love her. And that, I believe, was what was most important to her.
 
If you were to look at it seriously then Howard is obviously a scheming git, but the situation with him and Pearl isn`t meant to be taken seriously. If you look beyond the humour then other funny sitcom characters aren`t nice in some ways. Del in Only Fools and Horses can be selfish, Hyacinth in Keeping Up Appearances is insufferable, and Victor in One Foot in the Grave is also insufferable. Sitcoms are humorous escapism, and some like SW are more like an alternate reality than the real world.
 
Yeah, that kind of confused me. When Pearl threw Howard out, why didn't he just go to Marina? He was so in love with her, right? Here's his chance to be with her without Pearl and he didn't take it. What was the deal with that?
 
I don't think our velvet tongued lothario had got to grips with the "physical side" Maltrab !!!.......because he showed her that picture on THEIR HONEYMOON !!!.
 
I agree. Sitcoms aren't meant to be taken extremely seriously. However, if you don't really look at what's happening with the characters you will never fully understand them or what's happening. For example..Pearl being what one would call a "long suffering wife". She's a sweet person..like all of the 'girls' on the show. And she is very loyal..she took vows..and she meant them. She had no idea that Howard would be cheating and flirting on her for the rest of her life. He created a situation that had her always on the defense and distrustful, because he constantly proved himself untrustworthy..Lol-l ..Just imagine not being trust your husband's going for a walk..bicycle ride..out for a drink with friends..out on his own...at all. But, of course, you have to let him go. You can't keep a husband a prisoner. She did try though, with varying degrees of success, to keep him home and busy. Howard is one of those guys who lives to flirt and 'carry on' with women. Remember "Big Day at Dream Acres". Marina was right there. He'd seen her and "talked" to her. Then, seeing this attractive woman and not realizing that he was looking at Pearl, he started flirting with her and trying to pick her up...Lolll-l. Imvho, he lacks confidence and looks for validation in the eyes of females who don't know him well. The long term partner..the wife..Pearl..probably realized long ago that he'd lied about some things early on and that he wasn't " superman" but he seems so genuine that strange women won't. Marina has known him a long time, but even she doesn't know him well. She thinks his lies are for her, but he's a liar period.

He wasn't physically cruel or anything, and probably was pretty sweet to Pearl especially during their earlier years. She loved him and he loved (loves) her..so..you know..life goes on. Uhm-mm..early on he had work. And that's a pretty controlled environment. Any secretaries there probably got used to him after a bit. He told Clegg that he'd fooled around with other women, so he found time and he found ways but he didn't have the time he now has in retirement. And he hadn't found a woman who would meet him anytime and, certainly, anywhere. To me the situation went on for so long that I think Pearl became insecure. What she really wanted to know was..if he still loved her. She threw him out twice. He never ran to Marina. I think she got her answer.

I love Howard, Marina, Pearl..and Ivy..and Nora and Compo..Foggy..my gosh!..Where would this show without all of these wonderful characters. And that's the magic. How did they even find the perfect actors to play them.
Topic for another day..Howard and his 'friends'. Were they friends? Was Howard a friend?
 
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Winefan18 said:
During the show it was made clear ( by his own admission) that Howard has fooled around with other women before Marina. This means that included in the history of their marriage are Pearl's efforts to try and keep her husband from straying. What exactly was she doing to make his life miserable except attempting to keep him from cheating and constantly humiliating her. Whatever Howard was, he had won her heart years before. She loved him. She tried to make his life comfortable. Despite his cheating she not only still stayed but, apparently, kept trying to do that. She gave him jobs to do around the house to try and keep him home. She even, during the course of the show, tried to remind him of things they'd done together that he seemed to enjoy. Howard never complained about Pearl herself. He only complained concerning her efforts to keep him away from Marina. And what was Pearl to do? Those were the days when most men worked and women stayed home; washing, cooking, cleaning ironing, etc.. Pearl had been in the service during the war (over 40 years before) but she'd never worked outside of the home. She was completely dependent on the lying weasel..Howard. She tried talks, yelling, threatening, physical violence (with her purse)..putting him out (and pretending she wouldn't allow him back), but again..what was she going to do without him. Once Howard realized his life wasn't actually in danger, not only did he continue to see Marina, but got worse. For years, Pearl was publicly humiliated..before her friends and community. Even at show's end, after successfully wangling his way back into the house and after a heart to heart with Pearl, he was still willing to embarrass her by trying to get back with Marina. The show is cute. I love it. You do have to suspend reality to enjoy it, the 'funny' and fun is worth it. But I will never understand how none of his friends understood the position Howard put his wife in, nor what he was actually constantly whining about. Pearl was loyal, sweet, supportive, loving, and even "mostly" polite to his trollop. (Who, by the way, had willingly been kissed and cuddled by every single one of his "pals" (except maybe Truly).
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It went from being shown after the watershed of 9 PM to before the watershed. Mary Whitehouse made sure that nothing that would influence young minds could be said or done before that. The first few series where a lot more gritty but after that family friendly. My youngest grandson now watches it with me on a Wednesday when it's my turn to homeschool and he has learned a lot from it like who Arthur Scargill was, why Foggy was "fighting" the Japs in Burma and what a shilling was but I'm glad he can watch it without my having to answer to many tricky questions. Also we watched First of the Summer Wine as part of his WW2 project.
 
Winefan18 said:
I agree. Sitcoms aren't meant to be taken extremely seriously. However, if you don't really look at what's happening with the characters you will never fully understand them or what's happening. For example..Pearl being what one would call a "long suffering wife". She's a sweet person..like all of the 'girls' on the show. And she is very loyal..she took vows..and she meant them. She had no idea that Howard would be cheating and flirting on her for the rest of her life. He created a situation that had her always on the defense and distrustful, because he constantly proved himself untrustworthy..Lol-l ..Just imagine not being trust your husband's going for a walk..bicycle ride..out for a drink with friends..out on his own...at all. But, of course, you have to let him go. You can't keep a husband a prisoner. She did try though, with varying degrees of success, to keep him home and busy. Howard is one of those guys who lives to flirt and 'carry on' with women. Remember "Big Day at Dream Acres". Marina was right there. He'd seen her and "talked" to her. Then, seeing this attractive woman and not realizing that he was looking at Pearl, he started flirting with her and trying to pick her up...Lolll-l. Imvho, he lacks confidence and looks for validation in the eyes of females who don't know him well. The long term partner..the wife..Pearl..probably realized long ago that he'd lied about some things early on and that he wasn't " superman" but he seems so genuine that strange women won't. Marina has known him a long time, but even she doesn't know him well. She thinks his lies are for her, but he's a liar period.

He wasn't physically cruel or anything, and probably was pretty sweet to Pearl especially during their earlier years. She loved him and he loved (loves) her..so..you know..life goes on. Uhm-mm..early on he had work. And that's a pretty controlled environment. Any secretaries there probably got used to him after a bit. He told Clegg that he'd fooled around with other women, so he found time and he found ways but he didn't have the time he now has in retirement. And he hadn't found a woman who would meet him anytime and, certainly, anywhere. To me the situation went on for so long that I think Pearl became insecure. What she really wanted to know was..if he still loved her. She threw him out twice. He never ran to Marina. I think she got her answer.

I love Howard, Marina, Pearl..and Ivy..and Nora and Compo..Foggy..my gosh!..Where would this show without all of these wonderful characters. And that's the magic. How did they even find the perfect actors to play them.
Topic for another day..Howard and his 'friends'. Were they friends? Was Howard a friend?
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Good post.

I see the characters as comic archetypes, and know that Roy Clarke was influenced by the tough women of his youth who had to keep husband's in check from going to the pub too much etc. If you dig too far into the characters the point is missed that they`re there for humour despite some hints at their backstory. Sitcoms are somewhat of a frozen world often with little change in the characters situations.
 
Pearl said:
It went from being shown after the watershed of 9 PM to before the watershed. Mary Whitehouse made sure that nothing that would influence young minds could be said or done before that. The first few series where a lot more gritty but after that family friendly. My youngest grandson now watches it with me on a Wednesday when it's my turn to homeschool and he has learned a lot from it like who Arthur Scargill was, why Foggy was "fighting" the Japs in Burma and what a shilling was but I'm glad he can watch it without my having to answer to many tricky questions. Also we watched First of the Summer Wine as part of his WW2 project.
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One of the reasons I like First of ... so much is that it connects directly and accurately to 1939 British history, but I had never thought of it as a tool for teaching history. Well done, Pearl!
 
Pearl said:
It went from being shown after the watershed of 9 PM to before the watershed. Mary Whitehouse made sure that nothing that would influence young minds could be said or done before that. The first few series where a lot more gritty but after that family friendly. My youngest grandson now watches it with me on a Wednesday when it's my turn to homeschool and he has learned a lot from it like who Arthur Scargill was, why Foggy was "fighting" the Japs in Burma and what a shilling was but I'm glad he can watch it without my having to answer to many tricky questions. Also we watched First of the Summer Wine as part of his WW2 project.
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IIRC there was a joke about orgasms in one of the very early series.
 
WellyMan said:
Good post.

I see the characters as comic archetypes, and know that Roy Clarke was influenced by the tough women of his youth who had to keep husband's in check from going to the pub too much etc. If you dig too far into the characters the point is missed that they`re there for humour despite some hints at their backstory. Sitcoms are somewhat of a frozen world often with little change in the characters situations.
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I agree. I'm astounded that one man wrote this show for over 30 years. Great, great job. And all the while he was also writing other shows. My husband started watching LOTSW some years ago and then got me watching. I fell in love with it. My side was already hurting from watching Hyacinth.
 
WellyMan said:
I think she lives with her mum, so perhaps that`s why Howard couldn`t go there.
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That makes sense, I forgot about that. I use to have this headcanon that Marina's mom was just like her and raised her to be the way she is, but if Howard couldn't go to Marina's house, now I'm wondering if maybe her mom was this really strict lady who doesn't allow that kind of thing and Marina rebelled against her. Lol
 
Marianna said:
One of the reasons I like First of ... so much is that it connects directly and accurately to 1939 British history, but I had never thought of it as a tool for teaching history. Well done, Pearl!
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He's very inquisitive, anything that grabs him he asks a million questions about, to be fair Google is a very good teachers aid.
 
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