Beau Peep Notice Board
Beau Peep Notice Board => Outpourings => Topic started by: Mince on June 06, 2011, 06:38:39 PM
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Does anyone here enjoy The Good Life with Richard Briers?
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Did way back when.
Haven't seen it since.
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Love it - I have it on DVD. ;D
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Does anyone here enjoy The Good Life with Richard Briers?
I used to, but he doesn't invite me round so often these days. He's also quite a bit older than me so I'd probably refuse any invitation that came my way now.
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I enjoyed it but I was (am!) more of a Felicity Kendal fan myself... :)
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Quote from: Mince on Today at 06:38:39 PM
Does anyone here enjoy The Good Life with Richard Briers?
I used to, but he doesn't invite me round so often these days. He's also quite a bit older than me so I'd probably refuse any invitation that came my way now.
Nope, my previous reply still stands, if Felicity invited me round now I'd still be there...
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The most awful, twee example of British sitcom-writing you could ever imagine and a total waste of Richard Briers' talent. Watch "Ever Decreasing Circles" , with the same actor, to see how a similarly suburban format SHOULD be written.
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The most awful, twee example of British sitcom-writing you could ever imagine and a total waste of Richard Briers' talent. Watch "Ever Decreasing Circles" , with the same actor, to see how a similarly suburban format SHOULD be written.
I used to love "Ever Decreasing Circles". I also admit to enjoying "The Good Life", but it was no "Terry & June", let's be honest.
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The most awful, twee example of British sitcom-writing you could ever imagine and a total waste of Richard Briers' talent. Watch "Ever Decreasing Circles" , with the same actor, to see how a similarly suburban format SHOULD be written.
Except that Ever Decreasing Circles was utterly boring and Good Life wasn't.
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I'm with Roger on this one, Ever decreasing cirlces was a masterpeice!
Howard and Hilda, fab!
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Thanks, Bog---you're obviously a man of taste.
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I liked the 'Good Life', and have never seen the other programme.
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I liked the 'Good Life', and have never seen the other programme.
Few other people have either.
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The Good Life seems to be running continuously on one of the channels here at the moment. I switched to it last night and it was the first episode again. I do like it, but have seen it so many times I've (almost) had enough. It's Penelope Keith (Margo) who shines in this for me. :)
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The Good Life was Andrew Lloyd Webber
Ever Decreasing Circles was Elgar
Both have their markets. Only one of them was any good.
I'm not surprised Good Life was successful, it was a Not The Nine O Clock News parody of a British sit-com, just before Not The Nine O Clock News actually started.
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The Good Life was Andrew Lloyd Webber
I've always been suspicious of this kind of crap. If making a sitcom as successful as Good Life is easy, why are there not loads of people doing so? Making rubbish is easy. Making successful "rubbish" is clearly not.
I guess you could say the same about X-Factor, which I think is rubbish, but then that's not going to be shown and watched lovingly in thirty-five years time.
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I guess you could say the same about X-Factor, which I think is rubbish, but then that's not going to be shown and watched lovingly in thirty-five years time.
How do you know I haven't recorded it?
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The Good Life was Andrew Lloyd Webber
I've always been suspicious of this kind of crap. If making a sitcom as successful as Good Life is easy, why are there not loads of people doing so? Making rubbish is easy. Making successful "rubbish" is clearly not.
I guess you could say the same about X-Factor, which I think is rubbish, but then that's not going to be shown and watched lovingly in thirty-five years time.
Mince, I'm struggling to follow you. Are you saying Malc's opinion is crap? If so, well, that's a bit odd and not just because I agree with my close Scottish/Australian friend. It's because...well...it's an opinion and should be respected as such. I think your opinion of Malc's opinion is crap.
You then go on, with heartfelt sincerity, to attack the assertion that writing something like The Good Life is easy. Well done, but...er.. nobody said that. Personally, I think it must have been VERY difficult to write. I thought it was twee and awful.
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So Mince won't be representing Beau Peep at the All-toons Great Debate again this year then?
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Of course he will! Mince is the great defender of lost causes!
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That's good, because he's the only one that will fit in the t-shirt.
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I've inadvertently touched a raw nerve.
If making a sitcom as successful as Good Life is easy, why are there not loads of people doing so?
Who said it was easy? Not me, your honour.
I seriously doubt that writing anything is "easy", whether it ends up successful or not. I'm a writer, I've written god knows how many half hour scripts for TV (animation) and it isn't easy, so I feel I know what I'm talking about.
That being said, and contrary to all advice, people tend to write what they are rather than what they know. If you're a dark thinker, you'll write gothic horror, if you're a trite middle class thinker, you'll write Terry and June.
The Good Life was (in my opinion) well written, and it did have a twist - a fish-out-of-water premise where none of the characters had actually moved anywhere. They were attempting to achieve an agrarian lifestyle whilst remaining in leafy comfortable Surbiton, near doctors, supermarkets and a regular bus service.
Look, I'll give you that The Good Life had its moments - the time when Barbara deliberately pours gravy all down her new dress in a fit of anger. Briers' timing is superb as he counts the beats before delivering "now that's just silly..."
Ever Decreasing Circles is deeper, that's what I like about it. It's for grown-ups. You do feel that Briers wife in the series could easily fall for the smooth neighbour, who doesn't put the moves on, he just hints, and she is SO frustrated by the Obsessive Compulsive she married. The writer doesn't even give us permission to hate Briers' character - we like and admire and are irritated by him in equal measure, just as all red blooded males were infatuated by his wife and identified with the suave neighbour.
OK, I'll take it back -The Good Life is good. But Ever Decreasing Circles is Great.
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I kind of take the simplistic view, the good life was kinda cute, and very 70's, Barbara was a wee bit foxy, and there wasn't a lot of
eye candy then if I recall, it was clean, and in comparison to what else was on offer, a winner. Ever decreasing circles was funny,
I think it was written by the same guys, Ann was less sexy yet, yet something about her, homely in my opinion,
but the script was a lot more grown up and at the time funny for me. To be fair here in the uk we are blessed with re runs of the good life every bloody night.
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Talking about 'rubbish' sitcoms does anyone remember 'Oh Dr Beeching'? The major cast were those out of Hi Dee Hi (which was in my view quite good) but, in the spin off Sue Pollard just acted the same role. Also, I can't remember the name of the actress who played the part of the refreshment-room manager but the phrase 'wooden' was made for her!
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Jerry I remember it well, dreadful it was. it didnt last long either. thank heavens. they all seems to disappear off the radar after that, a few of them have popped up in celebrity come dine with me, another dreadful sitcom with good food tips! Paul Shane even popped up as the buddy of a contestant. he looked every inch an old rocker!
bless, having said that there is little to praise in the current sitcom batch. Dear John is re running at the moment, anyone
remember that? Peter Blake, Marlene from only fools as a young mum. quite good to watch whilst ironing on a sunday morning!
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Dear John was class. I believe Ralph Bates the main actor died, and that put the skids under the series, a bit like what happened with Father Ted.
They did an American version, with Judd Hirsch from Taxi, but the Kirk character was really ridiculous and he ruined what I felt was a good attempt.
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I had to Wiki that. Father Ted is dead. :(