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The Curse of Dad's Army Strikes Again

Started by gilbertharding, June 27, 2022, 10:15:12 AM

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Bad Ambassador

Quote from: Alberon on June 29, 2022, 09:52:48 AMIf any one TV show is really cursed though it's probably Babylon 5. The number of main cast members who have died young is well above average (especially compared to a contemporary show like DS9). Should give any potential cast members for the reboot pause for thought.

Claudia Christian's ex-husband went missing. His body was found a year later at the wheel of his submerged car, which couldn't have simply veered off the road without driving three miles into oncoming traffic, and his hands had been cut off. The case is still unsolved.

Alberon

Bloody hell. Hadn't heard about that.

Brundle-Fly

Huge annual repeat fee cheques for the cast and their estates since the early 1970s was quite the curse. Doubly malevolent by the time you could buy the videos and DVD boxsets. Those poor souls.

Captain Z

Quote from: Bad Ambassador on June 29, 2022, 10:45:19 AMwhich couldn't have simply veered off the road without driving three miles into oncoming traffic

Was the water at the end of a particularly busy one-way street?

Tony Yeboah

Lavender been coining it in off the tontine for decades.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Tony Yeboah on June 29, 2022, 11:52:22 AMLavender been coining it in off the tontine for decades.

OOf! Are you implying that he's...?

Virgo76

Quote from: Alberon on June 29, 2022, 09:52:48 AMIf any one TV show is really cursed though it's probably Babylon 5. The number of main cast members who have died young is well above average (especially compared to a contemporary show like DS9). Should give any potential cast members for the reboot pause for thought.
A few have died in their sixties. It's not especially unusual.

Alberon

#37
One at 65, one at 63, three at 60 (though in Jeff Conaway's case it's a miracle he lived that long), one at 59 and one at 44.

Were the sets built from crumbling asbestos and the studio on the grounds of an old uranium mine?

Quote from: Alberon on June 29, 2022, 02:47:23 PMOne at 65, one at 63, three at 60 (though in Jeff Conaway's case it's a miracle he lived that long), one at 59 and one at 44.

Were the sets built from crumbling asbestos and the studio on the grounds of an old uranium mine?

Being in space that long's probably gonna take a few years off you.

Des Wigwam


QuotePolice concluded that for DeVore to crash his vehicle in this location meant that he would have had to have driven 3 mi (4.8 km) against traffic without being seen. This would have been doubly difficult because the vehicle's lights were not switched on.[

Wrong - it would have been easier not to be spotted without any lights on.

Hillbert

The first I ever head of this joke was from Viz (sfw), not sure if it was the originator or not.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Hillbert on June 29, 2022, 05:10:23 PMThe first I ever head of this joke was from Viz (sfw), not sure if it was the originator or not.

If 1977 was 13 years ago (as it says in the article) this might well be one of the first sightings (or would it be 'citing'?) of 'the curse' - but I've a feeling Viz is sending up something which already exists.

Helvetica Scenario

Around the same time as the Viz article, I think (1 min}.

Bennett Brauer

I almost made a post in the GB death thread before this one - something along the lines of "Obligatory Curse of Dad's Army mention" but I didn't bleedin' bother. Enter Gilbert 'Dead at 53' Harding to save the day.

The joke curse has been mentioned here before at least once https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=71264.msg3715294#msg3715294 and I remember it being a thing on NOTBBC as well. As GH says above the phrase probably originated with Viz, but the MWE sketch rings true as something older generations would say when the show was repeated.

I have a copy of Williams's autobiography somewhere, and recall him saying that the Pythons were very clever geniuses in rehearsal (he was in a couple of court sketches - "Don't call me Maurice in court!"), and when he did a Morecambe & Wise show Eric was full of genial wisecracks even when the cameras weren't rolling.
It was Williams who filmed a lot of the Dad's Army cast behind the scenes with the cine camera he bought to preserve memories of the camaraderie behind the show.

Glebe

Quote from: Bennett Brauer on June 29, 2022, 08:37:38 PMIt was Williams who filmed a lot of the Dad's Army cast behind the scenes with the cine camera he bought to preserve memories of the camaraderie behind the show.

Although apparently Arthur Lowe and Clive Dunn didn't get on because Lowe was a staunch Conservative supporter and Dunn was a a socialist or summit?

In any case RIP Frank Williams.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Helvetica Scenario on June 29, 2022, 07:49:33 PM
Around the same time as the Viz article, I think (1 min}.

Wow. I can't decide what's most disturbing about that clip. The sheer, audacious laziness of it (I presume it took four of them to 'write' it), or the fact they felt so free to lay into *checks notes* Suzanne Charlton because they suspected she might have had an eating disorder. What a bumper crop of absolute arseholes that show was.

Des Wigwam

Quote from: gilbertharding on July 01, 2022, 08:54:27 AMWow. I can't decide what's most disturbing about that clip. The sheer, audacious laziness of it (I presume it took four of them to 'write' it), or the fact they felt so free to lay into *checks notes* Suzanne Charlton because they suspected she might have had an eating disorder. What a bumper crop of absolute arseholes that show was.

I can't play that clip right now but am guessing it's the "eat some food. eat some fooooood" one. Even at the time as an edgelord teenager I thought it was a bit shitty.

I thought MWE was one of the funniest things ever at the time. Really glad I've not seen any of it since.

Replies From View

David Baddiel in particular looks like he's in secondary school doing his best performance for his class assembly (you can read that in the voice of History Today if you like).  His effort for the Last of the Summer Wine one, and then the way he sits back in his chair to be less prominent for the next bit.

Replies From View

I loved The Mary Whitehouse Experience at the time, but maybe it was more because my parents were reliably out that evening of the week so I was enjoying having the house and TV to myself.

Replies From View

Why does the Dad's Army one use a different set to the rest of them?  Was it presented as one sketch like that, or was it cut up into fragments?

It's the kind of filler you get in something like 8 out of 10 cats isn't it, where the host gives a topic and everyone has to step into the middle one at a time to improvise a response to it, and then there's another topic and another and they repeat until it's time for the next round.  But they bothered to "write" it and treat it as a proper sketch that was worth filming with a set.

THINGS YOU SAY TO THE TELEVISION WHEN LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE IS ON
David Baddiel steps into the middle:  "they are old and might die soon"
*audience laughs politely*

gilbertharding

I can't remember if I saw this, or how I reacted if I did. I'm fairly sure I did see it, as it was kind of obligatory for us youngsters to watch whatever was dished up for us. I like to think I spotted the misogyny, but I probably didn't... I'm quite confident I didn't find it funny, though, so...

In any case, that isn't even what people said to the telly when Suzanne Charlton was on. What we said was, "hey, did you know that apparently she's Jackie Charlton's daughter?"

idunnosomename


poodlefaker

Quote from: gilbertharding on June 29, 2022, 05:33:13 PMIf 1977 was 13 years ago (as it says in the article) this might well be one of the first sightings (or would it be 'citing'?) of 'the curse' - but I've a feeling Viz is sending up something which already exists.
I'm sure it was a thing in the tabloids in the late 80s.

Replies From View

Quote from: poodlefaker on July 01, 2022, 11:14:57 AMI'm sure it was a thing in the tabloids in the late 80s.

But the cast of Dad's Army were only about ten years old back then.

Replies From View

Quote from: gilbertharding on July 01, 2022, 11:03:34 AMWhat we said was, "hey, did you know that apparently she's Jackie Charlton's daughter?"