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Sorry!

Started by Custard, February 15, 2021, 12:46:45 PM

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Custard

So I ended up buying the complete series of this off eBay at a cheap price, as I've been wanting to watch it for a long time. I vaguely remember seeing a couple of episodes when I was growing up and enjoying them

Struggling a bit with it so far, though. Just finished the first series, and although it gives me at least a couple of small laughs per episode, it's not exactly hilarious.

Ronnie Corbett is a 52 year old man playing a 41 year old man who still lives at home with his interfering mother, and all manner of hi-jinks ensue. It gets a bit samey and tedious after awhile. And that's in the first series

Has it just aged badly, or was it never that funny? Or are there big fans of it on here?

I'm gonna stick with it, but yep, mildly disappointed so far. They should, he he, get this, say SORRY to me for buying it!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081937/

jobotic

The theme tune and "language Timothy" are all I remember fondly.

Did he work in a library? Take it from me, there's no way thy can't be mined deeply for laughs!

Blumf

I suspect it's not something to hammer through, box-set style. Better having it paced weekly.

But then, I've not seen it since the 80s and wasn't really the right age for it then.

Theme tune is a banger though.

Tony Tony Tony

Disliked the show with a passion as "Language Anthony" became a catchphrase from my Mother and I thought Timothy Lumsden was a spineless waste of space.

The only thing I am sorry about is that you will have to wade through seven series before little Timmy finally gets his Girl.. which also irked me as I always thought Pippa was a fox and too good for him.

At the risk of looking pretentious...

QuoteSatire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own

Jonathan Swift

imitationleather

The theme was a fucking choooon though.

Custard

He is really spineless, and I agree it is very annoying at times. Though his dad is a quivering jellyfish of a man, so I guess he never stood a chance

He does work in the local library, and also rides a moped. He also looks a lot like my Auntie Pam, but we never tell her that

I kinda recall him getting a girlfriend at the end, and the thought of six more series to get to that point is definitely a bit worrying. Watching one a week actually sounds like a good idea!

shiftwork2

One sexy bangin' motherfucker.  And the theme tune's not bad either.

Custard

I like the theme tune, but I think The Good Life's is still my favourite. I hear that in my head all the time

ajsmith2

Apologies for posting this ludicrously niche cartoon I drew for Valentines day 5 years ago, but I thought there would never be a more appropriate thread to chuck it into.


Glebe

I too have fond, nostalgic memories of it being on and yes, one of the greatest theme tunes ever.

mippy


Icehaven

Quote from: jobotic on February 15, 2021, 01:12:17 PM
The theme tune and "language Timothy" are all I remember fondly.


Same here, although I was also too young for it really and couldn't understand why Ronnie Barker wasn't in it too. The concept of one Ronnie without the other didn't compute.

the

I did give the first series DVD a go, and didn't get beyond the first episode. The problem was that Timothy just needs to tell his mum to fuck off and he doesn't (despite not having a compelling reason for not doing so) - but what ensues from him not doing that isn't funny, it's just annoying. It's just contrived repression to keep the series going.

Watching someone go 'er, oh, shall I press that button that will resolve all of my problems, oh no I mustn't' is a bit perfunctory as the basis of a piece of entertainment. I'd say the theme and the weird intro have kept it hovering about in peoples' minds more than the show itself warrants.

kngen

Quote from: jobotic on February 15, 2021, 01:12:17 PM
Did he work in a library? Take it from me, there's no way thy can't be mined deeply for laughs!

They'd clearly got as much out of that as they could by series 6, and then just went for the top shelf:

Quote from: Genuine Sorry! plot synopsisTimothy finds his hands are full when he has to deal with an escaped convict, a female mud wrestler and a French maid.

I'm intrigued, I don't mind telling you that.

Brundle-Fly

The opening credits are a bumsteer though. Why is Lumsden's mush depicted as a neon light display? He's a librarian, not a sales assistant at Prowler in Soho.

BlodwynPig

Quote"You're Going Nowhere"   4 November 1982   Timothy's plans to pay a visit to the Gobi Desert are ruined by Mother.

I'll buy the boxed set off you when you're finished Custard.

BlodwynPig


jobotic

She does look a lot like my late grandmother, similar sunny outlook on life too.

Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse

Quote from: jobotic on February 15, 2021, 01:12:17 PM
The theme tune and "language Timothy" are all I remember fondly.
Same here. LANGUAGE TIMOTHEEEE

jobotic

It's a great phrase, when used at the right moment.

I'm sure I recall someone at football saying it after a "fucking come on then you fucking cunts" from the away end.

Timothy was always saying that, if I remember rightly.

Mark X

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on February 15, 2021, 07:50:29 PM
The opening credits are a bumsteer though. Why is Lumsden's mush depicted as a neon light display? He's a librarian, not a sales assistant at Prowler in Soho.

From https://www.ravensbourne.ac.uk/bbc-motion-graphics-archive/sorry-1981 the designer of those opening credits, the prolific Liz Friedman, writes:

QuoteTitles for a comedy series starring Ronnie Corbett. The idea had to reflect the lead character who kept making mistakes and getting into trouble. My initial idea involved creating a model of a pinball machine with chrome balls animating around and hitting images of the character which then flipped round spinning. However, the budget didn't lend itself to this approach so an alternative solution had to be found. A stylised version of the original concept accepted by the producer was re-worked. One image of Ronnie Corbett was hand drawn and the typography was photo set. The artwork of the face and the text were photographed in a series of six perspectives to give the impression of the image flipping round. These images were then made into clear on black photographic Kodaliths for back lighting on a rostrum camera with coloured gels stripped into various areas. Multi-fade effects were created in-camera as were shafts of light, by multiple exposures on separate runs. The music was composed to the finished piece by a young composer who had won a commission to do the job in a competition. It was played in live in a studio in Lime Grove Studios, then enhanced afterwards.

Absorb the anus burn

When I used to DJ as Suburbanbatherson I'd usually finish my set with a mash-up of the Sorry theme and Seen And Not Seen by Talking Heads.

famethrowa

Quote from: Mark X on February 15, 2021, 10:05:51 PM
From https://www.ravensbourne.ac.uk/bbc-motion-graphics-archive/sorry-1981 the designer of those opening credits, the prolific Liz Friedman, writes:

I looked up the theme composer, one Gaynor Colbourn, she seems to be an original progger from the 70's, but now she makes music for horses as they do that steppy thing?

neov1974

I think this only has the prominence it has cos it was an absolute stalwart in the kinda 7:00-7:30pm slots way back when, it probably got you from local news to Eastenders and went on for years. It was never good, but it was just there, bit like Ever Decreasing Circles or No Place Like Home

Keebleman

As I recall this debuted the same night at Hi-De-Hi (a Thursday I think).  I think it's slightly underrated.  True, it wasn't terribly funny, but I thought Timothy was quite a likable character and Corbett was very well cast.  The main problem with the show was that the mother was such a hateful creation.  There was nothing to endear her to the viewer, not even a sense that she genuinely loved her son.

monkfromhavana

Quote from: neov1974 on February 16, 2021, 12:07:11 AM
I think this only has the prominence it has cos it was an absolute stalwart in the kinda 7:00-7:30pm slots way back when, it probably got you from local news to Eastenders and went on for years. It was never good, but it was just there, bit like Ever Decreasing Circles or No Place Like Home

Ever Decreasing Circles is a great sitcom and shouldn't lumped in with Sorry!

Custard

Yeah, I thought Ever Decreasing Circles was very well regarded? I think Steven Merchant lists it as one of his favourite sitcoms. I remember reading that in Uncut magazine years back, trivia fans

That's interesting about Hi-De-Hi debuting on the same night. I recently watched all of that show, and although it took a handful of episodes to get into it, by the end I loved it. It's very well written and very funny

I will stick with Sorry. Mainly because I enjoy the late 70s/early 80s feel of it, and of course Ronnie Corbett is great to watch in anything

Have to agree about the mother, though. They should have softened her up a bit, to make her more likeable. It's genuinely a chore listening to her at times. The dad being such a pushover is annoying too. In fact, maybe the dynamic would've worked better without him. In that scenario the mum is clingy due to loneliness, not just cos she's massively possessive and annoying

There's an episode where all three of them go to the cinema, and they just won't shut up. It's infuriating. I know it's a light-hearted sitcom, but it's wildly annoying. And it always ends the same: the mum is loud and obnoxious, some big lad tells her to shut up, and mum turns to Timothy and asks him what he's going to do about it. Seen that exact thing play out three or four times already. I think the best idea is to leave her at home and not hang about with your mum, mate

Bad Ambassador

Hi-de-Hi started two weeks earlier, while it's pilot episode aired more than a year before that.

Gurke and Hare

Quote from: jobotic on February 15, 2021, 09:11:05 PM
It's a great phrase, when used at the right moment.

It's also why everyone called Tim fucking hates Ronnie Corbett.

neov1974

Quote from: monkfromhavana on February 16, 2021, 07:56:22 AM
Ever Decreasing Circles is a great sitcom and shouldn't lumped in with Sorry!

I will happily defer to the groupthink on EDC

These things were somewhat of a mulch to my small child brain at the time, unlike say Only Fools and Horses or Porridge which were brash enough to get through