Bo' Selecta

[Noodle Lizard]

I hated it when it was out (aged 10 or so), and still hated it when I tried watching it as a grown-up.  Something very off-putting about Leigh Francis's sensibilities to me.

I am well aware there was no need for my contribution to this thread, but it's one of those things I've always been baffled by the popularity of.

EDIT: Christ, new page for this an all.  Sorry.

[checkoutgirl]

Rewatching this at the moment and forgot how funny it was.
It is very peurile and sometimes its a bit too much, especially the Avid crazy stalker stuff, but the masks and stupid voices are brilliant.

Any favourite bits?

One of my favourite stupid bits i totally forgot was Enrique Iglesias' mole:

"Howay, Enrique, let's gan' down the toon".

Yeah I like that doon da toon quote. One that always stuck with me was Destinys Child and he plays Beyonce as a cockney. So he's getting on the bus as Beyonce and he says to the driver "I've only got a pound, as far as you can for a pound innit" in this ludicrous cockney accent.

Some days I'll be having a shower or making an egg sandwich and that'll pop into my head unbidden. It's quite brilliant.

Another favourite is Scary Spice played like a northern miner. "So I says to Geri if you want to leave the band fuck off, do one. And she did" This bit is in front of a bunch of 5 year old, some of whom are upset to tears by what they see.

His schtick is quite unique and very difficult to explain but for me there are comedy riches within.

[checkoutgirl]

Loved it at the time. Zero interest in watching any of it again, but Jacko, Kelly Clarkson and Marilyn Manson were great.

"I call my baby Blanket, why I call my baby Blanket? Cos I put a blanket on that MUTHAFUCKA'S face"

Oh shit, forgot about Jacko. I actually quoted that line verbatim the other day at my parent's  house.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I always liked the 'day in the life of eminem' where he keeps pissing the bed.

'I'm just gettin' some flowers for Dr Dre... I'm not funny leek'.

[Utter Shit]

The day in the life of Craig David where he gets into an argument with Daniel Bedingfield over the intellectual property rights of singing your own name in songs is inspired.

[Dr Rock]

It was very funny until series three, which was rubbish.

[up_the_hampipe]

I'm really surprised at the praise Bo Selecta is getting on here. Nice to know this place can appreciate really stupid puerile comedy at times.

[Malcy]

Rightly or wrongly im a big fan of early bo selecta, and also its early iteration 'pop stars day off'

This. https://youtu.be/yJMtRfZHKSU

Which was cut from the actual series remains one of the funniest things ive seen.

I used to say 'turns the milk brooooooon' any time i saw Coco Pops, in an almost tourettes way in that it was ALL THE FUCKING TIME, only a handful of people got it. That was one of my favourite bits of unused material.

[Schnapple]

I was very drunk at a very international Christmas party a few years ago, and stuck the video for 'Proper Crimbo' on Youtube for the benefit of a group of very earnest, pretty woke Americans. You should have seen their faces when Mel B popped up, after I'd spent the overly long video intro explaining who Matthew Wright is.

Agree that the first two series are hysterically funny in parts. I'd forgotten about Scouse Aguilera.

[gib]

sex wee

[up_the_hampipe]

'Lovely Davina,
Have you seen her,
Drinking Ribena,
In the cantina.
I've never been keener,
To show her my wiener,
Its never been cleaner.
Oh lovely Davina,
She looks just like Xena,
Warrior Princess with the sword.
Thank you please.'

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Some very surreal moments amongst all the puerile stuff too.

The Christina Aguilera big fuckin' toe being one that sticks in my mind.

[madhair60]

The one where Michael Jackson invented a time machine still makes me laugh, just thinking about it. I liked pretty much all of Bo Selecta, even that absolutely pointless USA based one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIKe5Z3SpQ

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIKe5Z3SpQ

"Mmmmph mmmph mmmmph"

"Will you shut the fuck up Ronnie?!"

[up_the_hampipe]

When Richard Met Judy https://youtu.be/OGNZUTUo1iE

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

I will admit that, despite some of the awfully tedious guests, I find Celebrity Juice often enjoyable as well. What has happened to this place.

Generational change. All the old Chris Morris men who hated Bo Selecta first time around are now in incontinence pants on hospital trolleys somewhere. The kids who they despised for liking it are the new rulers of the Earth.

[Utter Shit]

Has anyone seen the DVD extra when Gareth Gates has Tourettes instead of a stutter? Brilliant.

I CAN EAT THREEEEE

[ersatz99]

Has anyone seen the DVD extra when Gareth Gates has Tourettes instead of a stutter? Brilliant.

I CAN EAT THREEEEE

Just a few posts up.

[Dusty Gozongas]

I hated it when it was out (aged 10 or so), and still hated it when I tried watching it as a grown-up.  Something very off-putting about Leigh Francis's sensibilities to me.

I'm with you there although I was already grown uppish when it appeared, and now a jaded old twat.

Despite the occasional beautiful moments (and Francis being a likeable fucker if I'm to be honest), it always felt like Reeves and Mortimer taken to some logical yet inversely proportional conclusion. No more than zany filler material.

I am well aware there was no need for my contribution to this thread, but it's one of those things I've always been baffled by the popularity of.

Likewise on both counts.

[imitationleather]

I think I was about thirteen when the first series was on, and me and my friends who watched it reckoned it was one of the funniest things ever made. I recall the quality fell off a cliff, though. Wasn't Bob Mortimer involved towards the end somehow?

Watching the clips and I am a-chuckling.

[Catalogue Trousers]

SHIT FOR CUNTS

ALL OF IT

[phatfill]

Has anyone seen the DVD extra when Gareth Gates has Tourettes instead of a stutter? Brilliant.

I CAN EAT THREEEEE

this was dropped because leigh thought it too cruel which was a shame because its a brilliant pastiche of the sad but funny johns not mad. I always thought his attention to detail was class.He loves his tv and film and i Would suspect comedy as well.

[SavageHedgehog]

To give Leigh Francis his due, it's a talent of its own to be able to do that cheerfully puerile wee poo willy humour well. Misfire and you get nasty results like Sex Lives of the Potato Men or any of the woeful Viz rip offs.

Have to say it generally fell to the latter side of the scale for me, although I suppose it wasn't really mean spirited...although wasn't there a bit where Ant and Dec (or was it Baddiel & Skinner?) were "satirised" via sketch by a bit where they pop behind the curtain during a live broadcast for a quick bit of sodomy?

Never made a point of watching Kieth Lemon, but the character can occasionally be amusing in small doses.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Does Keith Lemon even qualify as a comedy character? What is he supposed to be? What are his defining characteristics? Isn't it just Leigh Francis putting on a silly voice and lazily titting about with bland ITV celebrities?

So many questions...

[The Lion King]

the bo selecta craig david has a very infectious laugh

[bgmnts]

Does Keith Lemon even qualify as a comedy character? What is he supposed to be? What are his defining characteristics? Isn't it just Leigh Francis putting on a silly voice and lazily titting about with bland ITV celebrities?

So many questions...

The character started out as 'businessman of the year '93' if i recall. Which is funny.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

But that's the only joke? I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse, I genuinely don't understand what Keith Lemon is supposed to be. Isn't he just a one-dimensional, money-making front for Leigh Francis, who is, by all accounts, a very shy man?

Bo' Selecta made me laugh when I first stumbled across it, as it felt genuinely strange and abrasive. Those edges were smoothed off completely once Francis and the celebs he was supposedly satirising cosied up to each other.

He's a lazy, cynical hack.

[up_the_hampipe]

But that's the only joke? I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse, I genuinely don't understand what Keith Lemon is supposed to be. Isn't he just a one-dimensional, money-making front for Leigh Francis, who is, by all accounts, a very shy man?

Bo' Selecta made me laugh when I first stumbled across it, as it felt genuinely strange and abrasive. Those edges were smoothed off completely once Francis and the celebs he was supposedly satirising cosied up to each other.

He's a lazy, cynical hack.

He was "discovered" by Davina McCall and only really got a television career because he buddied up with her. There were celebs popping up as guests on Bo Selecta right from the start as well, so he was never any sort of edgy outsider.

As far as I can tell, the Keith Lemon character is a gawdy, fame-hungry pervert. The lines between the character and the man blur as the panel show format calls for spontaneous banter. Leigh Francis has a wife and kids, and I doubt Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby would work with him if he was treating them off-camera like he does on the show.

[Brundle-Fly]

I never got it (too old)? but I think Leigh Francis is likable, talented and has an appealing dynamism. Even though he loves his slebs, he doesn't appear to play the sleb game himself. I can't recall the man ever being slagged off on CaB which is some feat.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I never got it (too old)? but I think Leigh Francis is likable, talented and has an appealing dynamism. Even though he loves his slebs, he doesn't appear to play the sleb game himself. I can't recall the man ever being slagged off on CaB which is some feat.

Yes, he's apparently a very nice man. He's also easy to ignore, unless your television is somehow locked into ITV2.