Curtis/Elton 1984 Madness pilot. The Young Ones Step Beyond!!!

[Brundle-Fly]

Young Ones/ Madness fans might be interested to know that the band have recently unearthed a copy of their BBC  comedy pilot they recorded in 1984, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Madness are releasing it as part of a 4 DVD box set.

I'm quite excited about this. I remember a Record Mirror interview with Suggs glumly mentioning a recent comedy project that had gone down the pan and also grumbling about Michael Caine backing out of their promo video at the last moment. He added that the band were struggling without Mike Barson too. It was a bad week at Nutty Towers.

[Jemble Fred]

Interestingly enough, we'd just been discussing this on the Madness thread. It will have to be watched with all speed, but not sure how to afford the RRP right now...

[Huzzie]

Young Ones/ Madness fans might be interested to know that the band have recently unearthed a copy of their BBC  comedy pilot they recorded in 1984, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Madness are releasing it as part of a 4 DVD box set.

I'm quite excited about this. I remember a Record Mirror interview with Suggs glumly mentioning a recent comedy project that had gone down the pan and also grumbling about Michael Caine backing out of their promo video at the last moment. He added that the band were struggling without Mike Barson too. It was a bad week at Nutty Towers.

Struggling without Monsieur Barso? I should think so too! He is Madness!

[Brundle-Fly]

Struggling without Monsieur Barso? I should think so too! He is Madness!

And lest we forget, producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, respectively, the eighth and ninth members of Madness.

[Uncle TechTip]

If you're really desperate to see at least a bit of this you can pre-order now and download it... an odd move but to be welcomed I suppose. http://blog.madness.co.uk/?p=3179

[Spiny Norman]

So has anyone at all ever seen that pilot episode now? It's supposed to be on that DVD set, right? But the interwebs are really deafeningly silent on the subject....?

[Brundle-Fly]

So has anyone at all ever seen that pilot episode now? It's supposed to be on that DVD set, right? But the interwebs are really deafeningly silent on the subject....?

The Madness Googlebox 4 DVD set (that the pilot features in its entirety) is as rare as hen's teeth now. Didn't realise it was a limited run.  Nobody is even selling it on Discogs. I just assumed it would be around for a bit and go down in price so never picked up a copy. Furious about that.

https://www.discogs.com/Madness-Gogglebox/release/7918861

[phantom_power]

Is is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve0heplLmzU

[Spiny Norman]

Is is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve0heplLmzU

Must be!

[Brundle-Fly]

Yes. It's rather like watching a bunch of teenagers mucking about with a video camera. There's some funny gags here and there but they're not experienced enough comedy actors to pull it off. Probably could now. It's their poncey floppy haircuts that crack me up the most. You can almost smell the conditioner.

[thenoise]

Yeah, looks incredibly cheap and home made.  Badly directed and acted.  Makes the Young Ones look like Game of Thrones.

But mildly amusing as a one off.

[Brundle-Fly]

Yeah, looks incredibly cheap and home made.  Badly directed and acted.  Makes the Young Ones look like Game of Thrones.

But mildly amusing as a one off.

I do like the "I've put the tea on the table" gag and saxophonist, Lee Thompson's unhingedness. If they had commissioned it, it would have been a show for the under tens.

At the very least, it gives us a rough idea what Stephen Spielberg's Supergrass sit-com (that was on the cards for ten minutes in 1996) might have turned out.

[Spiny Norman]

It really is amazingly close to The Young Ones, I could almost see Mike talking to the camera and Jerzy Balowski as doctor Maniac. Mothers coming round = the visit from Neil's parents. And of course the literal minded interpretation stuff (I don't know why the writers ever got away with that).

At some points I thought the bad acting was deliberate, but perhaps that is just my optimism putting a positive spin on it.

[thenoise]

[tag]this is a story about some nutty boys[/tag]

[Brundle-Fly]

I think it's funny that seemingly the only existing copy of it was found in one of the band member's attics.