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March 29, 2024, 02:54:34 PM

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Jane Root - was she so bad?

Started by Virgo76, February 22, 2021, 07:24:19 AM

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jobotic

Was the glorious pub lock-in scene with the Scott Walker soundtrack from Attention Scum!? If so it was worth it for that.

Quote from: Ignatius_S on February 22, 2021, 10:24:49 PM

A better comparison for The Goodies would be Dick Emery; massively successful and a big hit with viewers, but after his death, his programmes have only been repeated on UK Gold. That it took the BBC 26 years after they left to repeat a single Goodies episode is unusual compared to how its repeated other successful shows that still had audiences (the 2010 episodes had excellent figures for the time slot). The dealings that Network had with the Beeb over the first two DVD releases sounded like a complete nightmare that I'm amazed that the complete collection came out - although I understand that the BBC aren't obstructive over licensing as they were.

That's not quite right though, re: the BIB, as the BBC did also repeat their last BBC series - the 8th - later in the same year it was shown, 1980, along with a few early-to-mid 70s episodes at the end of that year, and three episodes of the 8th series got a further repeat around Spring 1984 (ITV also repeated their series of it in the Summer of that same year). They also repeated an episode for their 50th anniversary celebrations for BBC Television in Autumn 1986.

I don't think there were any repeats of it on terrestrial television between 1986 and 2004, so that's still a fairly long-ish gap.

Virgo76

Quote from: Alternative Carpark on February 24, 2021, 07:37:19 PM
That's not quite right though, re: the BIB, as the BBC did also repeat their last BBC series - the 8th - later in the same year it was shown, 1980, along with a few early-to-mid 70s episodes at the end of that year, and three episodes of the 8th series got a further repeat around Spring 1984 (ITV also repeated their series of it in the Summer of that same year). They also repeated an episode for their 50th anniversary celebrations for BBC Television in Autumn 1986.

I don't think there were any repeats of it on terrestrial television between 1986 and 2004, so that's still a fairly long-ish gap.

Not really entirely Jane Root's fault then clearly.

All the best to Richard Herring this week incidentally.
Has the usual thread about him been taken down in the light of his current health issues?
Seems like an odd reaction, if so?

MojoJojo

Quote from: Virgo76 on February 26, 2021, 07:01:48 AM
Not really entirely Jane Root's fault then clearly.

All the best to Richard Herring this week incidentally.
Has the usual thread about him been taken down in the light of his current health issues?
Seems like an odd reaction, if so?

The Herring thread has just dropped off the front page. Although I think there is a new one about performing in an empty theatre, which might end up being the new catch all Herring thread. I'd not heard anything about his health issues.

thr0b

Quote from: Alternative Carpark on February 24, 2021, 07:37:19 PM
That's not quite right though, re: the BIB, as the BBC did also repeat their last BBC series - the 8th - later in the same year it was shown, 1980, along with a few early-to-mid 70s episodes at the end of that year, and three episodes of the 8th series got a further repeat around Spring 1984 (ITV also repeated their series of it in the Summer of that same year). They also repeated an episode for their 50th anniversary celebrations for BBC Television in Autumn 1986.

I don't think there were any repeats of it on terrestrial television between 1986 and 2004, so that's still a fairly long-ish gap.

Also, lets be honest - The Goodies was basically a family entertainment show. And how many 50-year-old family entertainment shows get repeated, or ever have? Not many.

I never understood why so many seemed affronted that The Goodies were rarely repeated.

(If it were Southern-produced, it'd be a Talking Pictures staple, natch.)

Virgo76

Quote from: MojoJojo on February 26, 2021, 09:37:00 AM
The Herring thread has just dropped off the front page. Although I think there is a new one about performing in an empty theatre, which might end up being the new catch all Herring thread. I'd not heard anything about his health issues.
It's all on his Warming Up blog.
He has had testicular cancer.

Mr_Simnock

Quote from: thr0b on February 26, 2021, 10:39:53 AM
Also, lets be honest - The Goodies was basically a family entertainment show. And how many 50-year-old family entertainment shows get repeated, or ever have? Not many.

I never understood why so many seemed affronted that The Goodies were rarely repeated.

(If it were Southern-produced, it'd be a Talking Pictures staple, natch.)

The bits of Goodies I have watch in the last couple years are very dated in look and feel, I think that has more to do with it.

Endicott

Quote from: thr0b on February 26, 2021, 10:39:53 AM
Also, lets be honest - The Goodies was basically a family entertainment show.

It was originally aired at 9pm on a weeknight, which is not a family slot.

Jake Thingray

Quote from: Mr_Simnock on February 26, 2021, 12:37:42 PM
The bits of Goodies I have watch in the last couple years are very dated in look and feel, I think that has more to do with it.

Agree entirely with that, and with thr0b's post just prior. This is a real word of mouth generalisation, but one reason The Goodies wasn't repeated for so long (apart from being terrible, in my view) was that it's always been seen as the inferior, infantile stablemate to Python, and whenever the more respected MPFC did get repeated in the late 80's and early to mid 90's, it drew comments from fashionable and unfashionable quarters alike that it was sexist, meandering and had dated badly, so the terrible trio never stood a chance of reassessment. Plus, of course, there were never any Goodies films.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Endicott on February 26, 2021, 12:51:08 PM
It was originally aired at 9pm on a weeknight, which is not a family slot.

That might strictly be true, but it was also repeated at various times including right after Nationwide. I know because I looked it up - but mainly because if it had been shown at 9pm I'd most likely never have seen a single episode.

Jake Thingray


Ignatius_S

Quote from: gilbertharding on February 26, 2021, 04:12:06 PM
That might strictly be true, but it was also repeated at various times including right after Nationwide. I know because I looked it up - but mainly because if it had been shown at 9pm I'd most likely never have seen a single episode.

When repeated by BBC1, the show's start time was usually between 19:00-20:00 (in the main 19:30 or 20:00) and on weekdays. Endicott's point remains as if it had been a family entertainment show, it would have been scheduled as such (e.g. Saturday primetime) - whereas it was a comedy show that had a broad appeal.

pigamus

It sounds like she went great guns on stuff she liked but was a pain in the arse for legacy stuff that had been commissioned by someone else or didn't originate with her - Meades, Lee and Herring, that other comedy thing whatever it was.

vainsharpdad

Don't think I've posted this (about The Office) before

Anil Gupta (Executive Producer): Jane Root was in charge of BBC Two at the time. We played her the demo tape after meeting with Jon Plowman and then explained to her it was a mockumentary about an office. I remember her turning to the guy to her left, a guy named Liam Keelan, who was the scheduler, and there was a pause when the tape finished. She turned to him and said, "Is that funny?" He said, "Yeah." She said, "All right." That was them commissioning the pilot.

AlexTwist

Met her once.  She came across as someone that didn't have a sense of humour, which must be quite a disadvantage when commissioning comedy.