Revisiting Old TV shows

maltrab

maltrab

Administrator
Staff member
TV companies are trying to get the feel of older TV shows that were a great success in their day,we now have Endeavor which is a young Morse,some time back they had A Young James Herriot and I am sure there have been others over the last few years,is this a desperate attempt to get viewers interest seeing they find it hard to come up with anything new of any quality,are they saying this worked 20 years OK lets just make another version of it. Personally I found it was they actors of the day that made the show great along with the original writers

For me it worked with FOSW as it was written by Roy Clarke,but I am not sure it works with new writers and cast
 
The new Yes Prime Minister was rubbish I really hope they don't do the same to other much loved programmes! Endeavor was OK but not brilliant I think the story lacked substance but it was watchable.

I hate it when they take a really good film and rehash it, The Italian Job was one, in my opinion ruined. It seems new writers lack imagination these day the future for TV is not looking good.
 
How I feel about old shows is clear, if there was change regularly in them (Doctor Who) then bringing them back is ok, but if it's just a remake of a classic (Yes Minister and Reggie Perrin) then it's an insult to the original actors, however i've got nothing against spin-offs (The Green Green Grass and Lewis) or prequels (Rock and Chips, Endeavour and First of the Summer Wine), if Last of the Summer Wine was to be brought back in the future (wishful thinking i know) the only way I would accept it was if it was a continuation of the show (the younger actors still there like Hobbo, Barry, Glenda, Morton, Cooper and Walsh, Tom etc) and not a remake with other actors playing our favourites, it would be an insult to the original actors and just wouldn't work
 
I recall some time ago Paul Merton tried to reprise some old Galton and Simpson material but for me having seen the originals it just did not work.
 
Yes, I remember that. I suppose it kind of worked on the long forgotten and dated pieces of work like I Tell You it's Burt Reynolds (which orginally starred Leonard Rossiter).

But you can't go tampering with Hancock masterpieces like The Missing Page.
 
As a Hancock fan, I admired Paul Mertons lagubrious face and somewhat deadpan expression but the programmes did not quite make it did they??
 
Paul Merton is excellent on HIGNFY, and did as well as could be expected doing the Galton and Simpson revivals, but no one can replace Tony Hancock, can they?

Rather than remaking outstandingly good classic programmes, they could have a look at some awful programmes that were total flops, and have a go at remaking those.
 
wstol said:
Paul Merton is excellent on HIGNFY, and did as well as could be expected doing the Galton and Simpson revivals, but no one can replace Tony Hancock, can they?

Rather than remaking outstandingly good classic programmes, they could have a look at some awful programmes that were total flops, and have a go at remaking those.
Click to expand...

There is no doubt we LOTSW lovers are an eclectic crew!

I might have said it before (now, there's a surprise) but to me "Have I Got News For You" and Paul Merton in particular are the very antithesis of humour and comedy.

To me, Merton is a sarcastic, cynical bore whose only capability is to be destructive of anyone actually trying to do something and of anything bordering on creative. The thinking behind HIGNFY and the attempt at entertainment it represents is the thinking behind the BBC policy which killed of LOTSW. It hates genuine humour and genuine talent, to a considerable extent because it cannot compete at that level.

Has Merton done anything else other than the likes of HIGNFY? What justifies his being on our screens?
 
Does anyone remember "That was the week that was" ?? now that trod on a few pompous toes if I remember rightly.
 
I'm going to have to add my voice to the disgust of most revisions of classic shows. Even the ones I never liked, I don't think they should be brought back in these "reboots" or whatever the stupid buzz words they use to call them.

I agree, all you can do with something like LOTSW are spin-offs with a totally different idea, like FOTSW. Not trying to catch the same magic, but build on it as well as it can.

I had heard about the try at "Yes, Prime Minister," but only when it was a thought and nothing had started. I didn't even see this show, but I was sick when I heard it suggested and just figured it would be scrapped early. YM and YPM were, in my opinion, THE finest sitcoms ever! You can't do it. You are on some kind of ego trip to think that sort of phenomenon could ever be touched again.

Another show I was really sad about (but not surprised,) was the new "Upstairs, Downstairs." Really weak, no matter what "other show" was on at the same time. I love the original Up/Down, and will happily forget the revision.


I stopped watching American TV, so I have little to no clue what's on. Though I don't watch any TV at all, I just see bits here and there online, so I'm usually content with things.

But the day they have a go at "I Love Lucy" is the day I'll want blood!
 
No one would dare mess about with I Love Lucy. I had the dvd's and of her other shows also. No one can ever replace her. She was unique.
 
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin was revisited twice.

In the 90s there was a follow up which featured just about all of the original cast except Leonard Rossiter in The Legacy of Reginald Perrin. This worked only in that it was made in the similar style as before. Only thing was the story wasn't very good, and the main character was missed.

The recent Reggie Perrin series with Martin Clunes was a total insult. Here the story was retold, very differently, and missing all the good bits like the fake suicide. Total waste of time, and totally unnecessary.

It was commissioned by a certain Jay Hunt...
 
wstol said:
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin was revisited twice.

In the 90s there was a follow up which featured just about all of the original cast except Leonard Rossiter in The Legacy of Reginald Perrin. This worked only in that it was made in the similar style as before. Only thing was the story wasn't very good, and the main character was missed.

The recent Reggie Perrin series with Martin Clunes was a total insult. Here the story was retold, very differently, and missing all the good bits like the fake suicide. Total waste of time, and totally unnecessary.

It was commissioned by a certain Jay Hunt...
Click to expand...


Shows compleat lack of imagination, I really don't know why these people are given jobs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top