Little & Large Xmas special 1980. Extraordinary.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

But I think the reaction to them by 1978 was that they had started to settle into a complacent tits and bums routine because nobody was pushing the writers to give them anything with depth or edge. Their talents were being wasted.

That's true, I agree.

[DrGreggles]

Can't believe they used up their best gag in the trailer...
https://youtu.be/f9cHxS1LdbY

BTW, 1990!

[kalowski]

Can't believe they used up their best gag in the trailer...
https://youtu.be/f9cHxS1LdbY

BTW, 1990!

I'd quite like to watch Mongo's Back in Town. Savalas and Sheen!

The Lieutenant Pete Tolstad: (Telly Savalas), is very similar to Kojak. Joe Don Baker is Mongo Nash. Professional killer is hired by his brother, a gang boss, to wipe out a rival gangster, and the hit man is the one Tolstad must stop.

[Spudgun]

Can't believe they used up their best gag in the trailer...
https://youtu.be/f9cHxS1LdbY

I laughed.

I wouldn't have laughed at anyone else in the world performing that gag.

Q.E.D. Little and Large are the greatest comedy double act of all time.

[gilbertharding]

Messrs Barker and Corbett had more than a modicum of talent. They were excellent comedy performers; Barker in particular was a hugely versatile comic actor.

HOWEVER.  I think that at least some of the favourable perception of Barker and Corbett's shows might be down to the fact that they got to do The Two Ronnies Sketchbook, and cement in the public consciousness 'The Best of' The Two Ronnies.

They're repeating old episodes of The Two Ronnies on what used to be The History Channel, and taken as a whole, they're not very good. Quite a lot of it's pure awful.

I mean, at least there were good bits to edit together. Lots of good bits. And their classic sketches are brilliant.

Unpopular opinion: I think the same thing probably goes for Morecambe and Wise.

[Autopsy Turvey]

Unpopular opinion: I think the same thing probably goes for Morecambe and Wise.

"Probably"? The truth cannot be established until you've watched all of TM&WS and made a decent fist of arguing which routines are "pure awful", and how many there are compared to the ones that are very good. Even then, you'll run the risk of appearing like a surly teenager who goes on a lovely picnic on a beautiful day with jolly companions and comes home grumbling about how there was an ant in the squash.

On the subject, which are the "pure awful" Two Ronnies sketches? Obviously too much of the show is clogged up with charity shop music acts, there was some samey plodding filler material and gags swiped from Victorian issues of Punch, but "pure awful"?

[gilbertharding]

No.

Not this.

Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies are great - but are you denying that the reputation of both of them has been polished by excessive repetition of their best bits.

I'm not going to highlight their 'misses' - but I've watched enough regular episodes (ie NOT the usual Xmas Specials and 'best of' compilations) to know that there were plenty.

Believe me - I watched a mid-series episode of The Two Ronnies the other week , and it was a RELIEF when they introduced the singer.

As I said in the other post - at least they HAD some 'best bits' - and many of those were sublime.

I'm not 'complaining about an ant in my squash'. These were TV shows, which were designed to entertain audiences at the time - and they did this very successfully. I'm not surprised that quite a lot of it hasn't quite stood the test of posterity. You should be surprised that so much of it has continued to be such brilliant comedy for so long.

[Autopsy Turvey]

See for me the big surprise when the BBC finally released their complete T2R/M&W archive, was how good so much of it was, not just the greatest hits but the overlooked 'deep cuts'. Yeah not every 30-second monk-based blackout got a laugh out loud, and a lot of the Ronnies' material was old before either of them were born, but for me it was staggering how consistently strong these shows were, especially compared to every subsequent sketch show.

You should be surprised that so much of it has continued to be such brilliant comedy for so long.

Perhaps, but then Pickwick Papers, Diary of a Nobody and Three Men In A Boat are still really funny and 'relatable' comedies, whereas even as a child in the 1980s I could see Little & Large, Cannon & Ball, Dennis & Gee and Bobby Davro were a drastic climb down from previous standards.

[neveragain]

I find[nb]Well, I assume[/nb] that the more 'best of's a celebrated comedy duo or group get the more it tarnishes (rather than bolsters) their reputation in the public eye. Fans will lap it up, others will get even more stoney-faced.

[Famous Mortimer]

"Probably"? The truth cannot be established until you've watched all of TM&WS and made a decent fist of arguing which routines are "pure awful", and how many there are compared to the ones that are very good.

This appears to be a favourite tactic of yours. I look forward to you informing people of exactly how much of a thing they need to have consumed before they're allowed to have an opinion on it, and the amount of homework they're going to be required to do, re: said thing.

[Brundle-Fly]

God, this is why I love CaB.

[bigfatheart]

They've still got it!

[Alberon]

Syd is just taking table 5's order when he is violently rugby tackled to the ground by Eddie wearing a white dressing gown, headband with the rising sun emblem and yellowface.

Despite Syd's cries for help, Eddie yanks his trousers down and starts inserting the contents of several roast dinners up his partner's straining anal passage.

"Banzai," Eddie yells happily. It's good to be back, he thinks. It's good to be back.

[Satchmo Distel]

Deputy Dawg dies of Coronavirus whilst trying to start his car.

[DrGreggles]

Saturday, 20.30, Channel 5

When TV Double Acts Fall Out

[Satchmo Distel]

RIP:

https://twitter.com/jimmy__cricket/status/1245663976475820032

[dissolute ocelot]

Ugh, getting COVID-19 in hospital and dying from it, how cruel. But he's in heaven now.

[Gurke and Hare]

[tag]Syd, in a Wuhan laboratory, smiles to himself[/tag]

[Tony Yeboah]

The sound of the undertaker trying to start the hearse.

[Jockice]

[tag]Syd, in a Wuhan laboratory, smiles to himself[/tag]

And just stands there at the funeral.

[bigfatheart]

He'll finally be able to do his song.

[FsF]

Limmy is talking about the lads on his stream just now:

https://www.twitch.tv/limmy

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Deputy Dawg dies of Coronavirus whilst trying to start his car.

Ah, the sheer poignancy of this post now. :'-(

[Alberon]

Not seen this photo before. In happier times.



They bought laughter and merriment to many here, but they also worked as a double act including a long running BBC TV show too.

Shitty way to go though. I do genuinely feel sorry for his family. They probably were heavily restricted in how much contact they could have with him in his last days.

[Mr_Simnock]

[tag]Syd looks forward to COVID lock-down finishing so he find Eddie's grave and piss on it[/tag]

[DrGreggles]

♫ Goodbye Eddie Large
Though I rarely watched you at all
You had the skill to impersonate
Cliff Richard and Deputy Dawg
At least you tried to
They probably weren't too accurate
But you could get away with that
On telly in those days

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a fat man with a perm
Pretending famous people's cars
Sounded a bit like them
And Syd would have liked to have done his song
Without you interrupting him
But instead you smashed his glasses up
And threw him in a bin ♫

[Glebe]

Oh fuck. Don't know what to say. Rest in peace, big man. He's probably doing his Deputy Dawg up there as we speak.

Never saw that photo before Alberon. Fuck, this is a bit unreal. Farewell Eddie.

[jenna appleseed]

Not seen this photo before. In happier times.

Apart from him ruining it by having Syd Little's face & stupid glasses, Syd's Emma Peel is actually pretty attractive.

I'm weirdly numb right now about the real Eddy Large actually dying, even though he/they were a regular part of my childhood, & the whole glorious humour gained from this thread & forums (semi)ironic anti appreciation + being the only person who cared enough to bother to transcribe that waste of time Specsavers ad..

ultra weird that was probably intended as a beginning of a pos deliberately self mocking, laughing at themselves, & get the (post) student irony audience, like The Chuckle Brothers, style come back and now it's the last thing they did together in character.

eta: so yeah, you were a bit shit, but I thought you were funny once, so RIP Eddy I guess.

[jenna appleseed]

Deputy Dawg dies of Coronavirus whilst trying to start his car.

YOU KILLED HIM YOU BASTARDS.
just like the entire forum killed Brucey

Good job I'm totally staying in doors without other people right now or there'd be another really awkward explanation of why I'm laughing hysterically over an elderly comedian dying of covid-19 - just like what happened in the newsagent over the headlines of Bruce Forsyth being dead for real.


(can you guys/girls/other use the magical powers of cab for good and kill off some of the genuinely evil people in the world, kai thx bi )

[jenna appleseed]

[tag]Syd Little sneaks into a hospital with a test tube and finally gets his revenge[/tag]

Sorry Syd I don't really mean it.
----


Just want to say - not even joking.

God I love this forum.