Little & Large Xmas special 1980. Extraordinary.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Syd seems quite egotistical when talking about his solo career, immediately after A tearful Eddie had talked about having to end their performing career and his heart transplant.Also, his own anecdotes are dependably dull.

Also, don't like to be the guy who says this, but absolutely all of the clips they showed from Syd and Eddie's past tv shows were uniformly fucking awful. You almost get the impression that Matthew Sweet and the entire audience ( well, maybe not Eddie's wife and daughter) were taking the piss.


( alright, to be fair, that dancing they were doing as Laurel and Hardy to " The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine" was actually quite entertaining. Never seen Syd so animated before.)

[Glebe]

That was an interesting watch. The burgers sketch they showed actually made me laugh out loud. Syd claiming Elaine Page smelt like chips was funny. Bit of a choker when Eddie gets emotional there.

Their Laurel and Hardy routine there was actually pretty decent, although of course they'll never top this classic moment.

And nobody will ever beat these guys' L&H:

[Satchmo Distel]

when it was shown on as NBC as America Salutes The Queen they were edited out

Particularly distressing because, had it been shown, Eddie's Deputy Dawg impression would have guaranteed them a Shea Stadium special every year, with free blow jobs.

[Glebe]

Those Slapstick vids are top stuff actually. Watched The Goodies one, and some of the Harry Hill and Doddy ones.

[Rolf Lundgren]

Perhaps the Pythons and the Goodies were just cited by L&L as a synonym for sketch-based humour by former students

That's fair enough and your other point about not wanting to sound bitter also rings true. It just struck me as odd that they weren't railing against alternative comedy in the 80s as you could claim that was more responsible for the death of L+L's brand of comedy but in their own way with references to the Pythons, they probably were.

From press cuttings, it's also true that in 1977 at least, L&L were talked about as the successors to Morecambe and Wise, something the Daily Heil can shoulder some of the blame for. Regarding that year's Silver Jubilee Royal Variety Gala Performance, it's again true that, as they complain, when it was shown on as NBC as America Salutes The Queen they were edited out, a fate also endured by the Brotherhood of Man and Pam Ayres. Tommy Cooper was retained, but half of his act was cut.

Curious, I had a look for the 1977 Royal Variety performance and sure enough it's been uploaded onto YouTube earlier this year. I have a feeling it was probably posted earlier in this thread and I missed it but here's the link anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVKtt2SiV4.

I supposed they had been cut from the NBC broadcast because they did a particularly UK centric act that wouldn't wash with our friends on the other side of the Atlantic and yeah, that is about the size of it. The other reason might be that *and whisper this* it wasn't very good. Bob Hope gives them a very sombre introduction and doesn't very well disguise the fact that he's reading an autocue. He suggests this could be the start of something very big in the boys' career and they promptly run on and do a rendition of "Do You Wanna Touch Me". Reports of how Eddie's Harry Secombe impression would have played in Peoria have not been retained for posterity.

I am curious how L+L would have come across to a US audience. They seem so inherently British, probably even more so than Morecambe and Wise. I can't imagine their 1977 act being shown in the US would have broken them there in any meaningful way, not that I believe they were actively seeking it out or needing it anyway.

Those Slapstick vids are top stuff actually. Watched The Goodies one, and some of the Harry Hill and Doddy ones.

I've really been enjoying them lately, some really great videos. Some comments complain about the sound but it's not off-putting enough to spoil them.

[Glebe]

Curious, I had a look for the 1977 Royal Variety performance and sure enough it's been uploaded onto YouTube earlier this year. I have a feeling it was probably posted earlier in this thread and I missed it but here's the link anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVKtt2SiV4.

They really throw in the kitchen sink there, don't they? Celebrities starting their car, "Gee, Musky!" the lot! Probably just as well it was cut from the US broadcast, Americans don't get 'clever' British humour! This gag was reused by Mike Myers* thirty years later!

*Mike Myers is Canadian but they're all the same them Americans and Canadians.

[Glebe]

Oh yeah, look - a genuine L&L outtake!

And crikey, the director guy who pops up there would appear to be Peter Howitt, who played Joey Boswell in Bread and went on to direct the likes of Sliding Doors and Johnny English!

[Gurke and Hare]

Bob Hope gives them a very sombre introduction and doesn't very well disguise the fact that he's reading an autocue.

It's weird that they're described as ironically named. Surely that would be if it were Eddie Little and Syd Large.

[Gurke and Hare]

New episode uploaded!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQLtjhOLZN4&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=What%27sOnTheTapes%3F

[Fambo Number Mive]

Just watched this.

Spoiler alert

Why would an office have a sign on the inside of the door? (Karate sketch)

[close]

[Gurke and Hare]

Yeah, I thought that too.

The whole thing is just astonishingly bad. Still, it's good that Living In A Box could still get on the telly in 1990.

The thing on the golf course went on for ever.

[kalowski]

New episode uploaded!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQLtjhOLZN4&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=What%27sOnTheTapes%3F

Fucking hell I had to turn it off. What were those cockney accents?

[Phoenix Lazarus]

The thing on the golf course went on for ever.

True to life, then.

[Fambo Number Mive]

I think they relied too much on Eddie's impressions and not enough on actual jokes.

[DrGreggles]

What's not to love?!

[Famous Mortimer]

What's not to love?!

[Satchmo Distel]

Had all their writers gone on strike that week? Would their audience know who the London Boys were.

Give credit to Syd for remembering his lines, as well as just standing there.

[Shit Good Nose]

And crikey, the director guy who pops up there would appear to be Peter Howitt, who played Joey Boswell in Bread and went on to direct the likes of Sliding Doors and Johnny English!

It's not - Howitt didn't start directing until the late 90s.  His only behind-the-camera stuff prior to that was as a contributing writer on (ironically) the Cannon and Ball Show in the early 80s.

[non capisco]

Syd's technique for capturing his 'The London Boys' character was to attempt the accent for a couple of lines and then just give up and talk in his normal voice. I mean, we can sneer all we want but this exact same technique won a best supporting actor Oscar for Sean Connery in 'The Untouchables'. Once again an example of one rule for Sean Connery, another for Syd Little.

Actually, going by the hats they're wearing Syd is supposed to be playing London Boy Dennis Fuller who was actually Jamaican. In not bothering with the accent Syd was in fact woke before his time, like when Neil Innes was the only Bonzo member not to black up on that episode of Do Not Adjust Your Set.

I haven't progressed beyond this opening sketch yet but true to L&L form it is fucking woeful beyond belief. The best thing I can say about it is that it's not as bad as the one where they pretend they're Status Quo with Bob Holness for some reason. And Eddie's impression of Ethel from Eastenders is uncannily accurate.

Oh well, might as well see what else that fat dickhead was up to that week....*presses play*

[Alberon]

Got to the end of the week-long golf sketch and had to give up. Two of the sketches are nothing more than excuses to wheel out Eddie's impressions. The opening sketch was tortuous as well. Two sets of L&L just proved more is not always better.

Some time and money went into that though. The shot of Syd hanging from the ceiling by the paint brush couldn't have been that cheap.

All in all though it still boggles the mind that this was on air in 1990. Just ten years from the millennium yet it feels like it was still 1977.

[Glebe]

It's not - Howitt didn't start directing until the late 90s.  His only behind-the-camera stuff prior to that was as a contributing writer on (ironically) the Cannon and Ball Show in the early 80s.

Ah right, cheers for the info SGN. I so wanted it to be Peter 'Joey Boswell from Bread' Howitt!

I made it as far as the golf sketch in the new upload. Is there an exciting music number at the end?

[Brundle-Fly]

Fucking hell I had to turn it off. What were those cockney accents?

I didn't realise the London Boys were from Melbourne.

[Alberon]

I'm beginning to think the 1980 Christmas special was the high point of their career. Beyond the golf sketch is the one about space travel. I've got no further with the episode, but this is the lowest point so far.

The 'it'll do' attitude to the writing is shocking. A ramshackle piece of shit without the finesse of being on film like the golf sketch. The whole thing makes those sketches on 3-2-1 look like Shakespeare.

Two things stand out for me.

1/ Underrated comic actor David Battley who was in the vastly superior Rutland Weekend Television was slogging through a thankless role as a milkman.

2/ Syd starts the sketch watching Doctor Who. A VHS cassette box of the first Doctor story The Daleks is on top of the telly, but it is the 7th Doctor's theme tune you here. Fucking idiots!

[bomb_dog]

I did laugh in the golf shop where the salesman was finishing off a pyramid of golf balls, you think Eddeh is going to collapse the lot, only to take out the bottom corner one and they all stay in place aaah

[non capisco]

I'm fairly sure a gamete swimming about in a thick dog's balls would be able to accurately predict the punchline of that driving test sketch.

Rocksteeeeeady, whenever you're reeeeady! (I'm not going to watch any more of this)

[Fambo Number Mive]

Were there audio episodes of Star Trek in the 1990s?

Why had Syd ordered a spacesuit?

[thr0b]

I think it's worth remembering that by the final couple of series, it only existed because kids really liked it. From the point of view of a 9/10 year old, as I would've been at the time, I remember me and my mates looking forward to it every week. They were regulars in Fast Forward, probably had their own comic strip etc. The writing and sketches were geared toward kids (e.g. basic setups and punchlines) for that reason.

Doesn't excuse the sketches which go on for far too long, obv.

[Glebe]

1/ Underrated comic actor David Battley who was in the vastly superior Rutland Weekend Television was slogging through a thankless role as a milkman.

And also Timothy Lumsden's mate in Sorry! as the postman... (Google's name)... ah right, Roy Holder.

Sinister moment when it cuts back to the guy doing the lines on the road after Syd has hit him with the golf ball, lying at the side of the road... has Syd actually killed him?

I'm beginning to think the 1980 Christmas special was the high point of their career.

How can any funny face
That seems to be commonplace
Project you right into space
Without any warning?

No time to be yawning
While the lads are in charge
Introducing Little and Large,
Little and Large, Little and Large!

[Mr Farenheit]

If you take away the boring comeuppance punchline, the sketch on the beach is fantastic! (23m30s)

Really fast paced compared to the rest of the dross, no impressions at all, just Eddie and some thug mates in a tone-deaf years-out-of-date-version of what I guess he imagined punks/skinheads look like and do, bullying the whole beach before getting round to Syd. I love the fact that Syd has parked his car right in the middle of the sand as well.

[Jackson K Pollock]

If you take away the boring comeuppance punchline, the sketch on the beach is fantastic! (23m30s)

Really fast paced compared to the rest of the dross, no impressions at all, just Eddie and some thug mates in a tone-deaf years-out-of-date-version of what I guess he imagined punks/skinheads look like and do, bullying the whole beach before getting round to Syd. I love the fact that Syd has parked his car right in the middle of the sand as well.

Ha, yes! The bit where Eddie

Spoiler alert

pushes a little girl's face into her candy floss

[close]

was a genuine - and, needless to say, unexpected - laugh out loud moment for me!