The Passions of the Populists

[Partridge's Love Child]

Someone made a comment the other day about how we 'whores have a habit of making obscure references to people, places and programs.  With some considerable success, and to everyone's eternal credit, members of this 'ere forum search and dig out material which has not been seen or heard by man nor vole for years.

However, this got me thinking that we rarely take time out to appreciate more mainstream offerings, be they old or new.  It seems a shame to ignore some programs just because they're constantly repeated, or we take the view that because every stupid sod likes it, it must be rubbish.  And so, let's redress the balance.  What's your populist passions?  Perhaps you can't resist a glass of Last of the Summer Wine, or, like TJ you desperately miss Noel's House Party.  Perhaps you'd much rather read Harry Potter than William Burroughs, or download Girls Aloud instead of Snot Token onto your fancy electric i-thingy.

Let me kick proceedings off with retired housewives' favourite John Thaw.


"Not now, Lewis" - The dead John Thaw, not yesterday.

I used to bloody love Inspector Morse.  When I was younger I was a real sucker for a detective series - especially murder stuff.  I've never really tracked my personal history of this, but I imagine it stemmed from reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories when I was about 11, which itself grew from watching the old Basil Rathbone and Nigel Green movies about the great detective.

Anyway, for one reason or another I got out of the habit of watching Morse, and as the series rolled on I never really thought twice about watching it.  It wasn't until ITV recently had a Best Ever Morse season that I remembered I used to adore it, and thought I'd see how it stood up.  It's ruddy fabulous.  The plots are all tight and twists were never ludicrous or obvious, the characters are always rounded and the lead actors gave classy performances throughout.  The only questionable aspect about the whole show was that apparently being an Oxford don was as dangerous as being a distant relation to Jessica Fletcher.

Morse and Lewis' relationship was a very strong through-line to the stories.  The makers were sensible enough to recognise that Lewis couldn't stay the slightly stupid wet-behind-the-ears Geordie irritant for too long, and thus he developed into not only a strong character, but also a very fine detective in his own right, even if he did need to nick off to ring his wife Val every time someone else got murdered.

The Jaguar Mark II is also my favourite car of all time.  And Thaw's gammy I've-had-a-stroke leg was also good for a laugh - especially on the rare occasions when he had to leg it across Oxford after some ne'er do well or other.

[BaronMunchausen'sSyndrome]

Sharpe



Some dozen or so of Bernard Cromwell's novels were serialized in the nineties on ITV, and to my mind there's never been a finer drama series.

It was real boy's own adventure stuff, a gang of kind hearted ne-er do well's in Wellington's army taking on impossible odds in the struggle against Boney.

Having read all the books as well, it's easy to see why after a while Cromwell started writing with Sean Bean in mind as Sharpe, just as Fleming did with Connery. Bean fills the role so well, a real hard bastard to whom honour and loyalty to his men meant more than women or wealth ever could.

Another reason I have to be grateful to Richard Sharpe is for first introducing me to Elizabeth Hurley's breasts.

NWS: click

[Purple Tentacle]

Men Behaving Badly:

Now unfairly trashed as typical Loaded yobbery snickering wank, tarnished by a thousand imitators (those fucking WKD adverts are but a tip of the iceberg) ... (in fact you can lump Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in as another popular thing I really like that was ruined by imitators and shit sequels..), Men Behaving Badly was an entity that no longer exists: A truly great mainstream BBC1 sitcom.

Genuinely likeable characters doing cheeky things... take note Julia bloody Davies, you can be bad without being a shit...., and all a great big postmodern pop at laddism while becoming the symbol of laddism itself.... and irony that I feel that Martin Clunes grasped, and Neil fucking Morrissey compeltely missed, the paint peddling cunt.


"This is a new type of beer from Belgium, it's called Sod."

"Two girls walk alone into a pub, that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E!"
"To us it spells M-A-R-L-B-O-R-O."
"......... Middlesborough??"


"You.... Mazda!"


"Can I offer you a scone and some protection?"

"They said that if it had been a girl they would have named it after me, Toni with an I!"
"Aw, that's so sweet! What did they end up calling it?"
"Bilbo."



Of course idiots might wank on about how it fanned the flames of loaded culture, but they missing the point as much as Stella-drinking fanboys. Admittedly the last series was a touch wobbly (although the last episode was great), but I challenge anybody to name someone with as much natural flair for comedic realism, a completely believable character in a contemporary sitcom that never really desends into stereotype, as Martin Clunes in that show.  Throw in the delightful George and Anthea and you've got a conventional sitcom, perfectly made.

Shame Leslie Ash made me want to scream even back then, Tony wasting his time on that stuck up snooty bitch never really rang true for me.


edit: Because I obbviously can't spell Behaving.  Or obviously.

[Gazeuse]

Thaw's gammy I've-had-a-stroke leg was also good for a laugh.

Yes, what was all that about the leg???

Mrs. Gaz is a connoseur of celebrity limps and spotted John Thaw's dodgy gait even in The Sweeny. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it isn't.

Anyway...I put forward  Terry And June.

Not only did in have June Whitfield (*sigh*) in it, but it also had the fantastic Terry Scott in it too. It was much maligned when the 'alternative' comics (Who I also loved) came in the scene which I thought was a great shame.

It had some really funny moments in it which have stuck in my head all these years and I'd love to see a few episodes again.

[Partridge's Love Child]

Thaw's gammy I've-had-a-stroke leg was also good for a laugh.

Yes, what was all that about the leg?

He'd had a stroke.

Mrs. Gaz is a connoseur of celebrity limps

I like the sound of your bird.

[Gazeuse]

Thaw's gammy I've-had-a-stroke leg was also good for a laugh.

Yes, what was all that about the leg?

He'd had a stroke.

Mrs. Gaz is a connoseur of celebrity limps

I like the sound of your bird.

Hehe...Yes, she can't get enough of 'em.

I just did a bit of research and apparently he tripped on a kerb when he was 15 and broke his foot, which made it drag when he was tired. This explains it's appearance in The Sweeny. You wait 'til I tell Mrs. Gaz...Brownie points for me, Partridge!!! Eh!!!

[Partridge's Love Child]

Well I never.  My mum told me that it was as the result of a stroke years and years ago, and I never thought to question it.  It appears she made it up, the rapscallion.  Perhaps that's one of those lies your parents tell you for a quiet life that you're expected to see through as you get older - like that the dog didn't actually go to live on a farm, or that eating cooking chocolate without melting it first doesn't kill you.

[Almost Yearly]

Mrs. Gaz is a connoisseur of celebrity limps.

Your gout must have really turned. Her. On.


The things I like which are somewhat obscure, like bands whom Jemble Fred's never heard of, are things whose lack of worldwide acclaim confounds me. I'm a populist; I think; but I don't know why Queen were massive and Cardiacs aren't at least biggish. It's hard not to conclude that the populus are for shite, isn't it.

I really enjoyed Cracker, me.

[MojoJojo]

I like Sharpe a lot... started feeling nostalgic about it in fact, and obtained a few episodes of the series. Read the books too.

They are quite good, although they did wear a bit thin after awhile. This is after I read about 6 of the books though.

I also remember Northern Exposure with much fondness, but not sure if that was other popular. They actually show some episodes on ITV 2, the only good thing to have ever graced that abomination of a channel, although hard to get into.

I seem to remember that ITV did lots of book adaptations, and they were all quite enjoyable, but now I can only think of Sharpe and Poirot.

[hencole]

Men Behaving Badly:

Who said that it was shite laddish rubbish? Those damn comedy forum types no doubt. ; ) It was clearly never anything to aspire too.

[Hornet]

Don't think this qualifies, though is worth a mention for its sheer quality - Births, Marriages & Death with Ray Winstone, Mark Strong and Phil Davis.  Same applies to Our Friends in the North.

I got to thinking though that "My Family" might qualify for this in a few years time, but then realised its a load of shite full of cunts now and will always remain so.

[TJ]

May I put forward possibly the least likely example yet...


...Wogan.


Think about it - three nights a week, forty minutes of live chat with generally interesting subjects and musical acts, and a superb host. Everyone liked it at the time (barring the losers who thought it made them look 'cool' to spout "I 'ate Wogan, he's on every channel all the time!!!" pointlessness), but because it was mainstream fare and it was just *there*, people just took it for granted.

You wouldn't get that in the present day, especially not as the starting point of an evening's schedule. In fact, why don't they *have* a starting point any more? It just seems to dribble weakly towards the point when "EastEnders" comes on - a far cry from the days when you'd get Old Tel followed by a procession of bankable ratings winners (NB I am not saying they were all 'good' programmes, just astutely scheduled), be they "Telly Addicts", "Tomorrow's World", "Top Of The Pops", various sitcoms or whatever.

[BaronMunchausen'sSyndrome]

Don't think this qualifies, though is worth a mention for its sheer quality - Births, Marriages & Death with Ray Winstone, Mark Strong and Phil Davis.

That was an excellent series, as was Cracker.

[Jemble Fred]

May I put forward possibly the least likely example yet...


...Wogan.

Funnily enough, I was just thinking that this morning as I listened to the lovely old sarky Mick. It used to be either Tel on BBC1, or Woss on C4. Now the evening chat show is non-existent.

I can't really add much to this thread, because I don't really like many obscure things, except perhaps when it comes to comedy. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I was the one whose outburst inspired this thread – I'm always banging on about the Barley-ness of people (no matter how genuinely) name checking obscure, well... just bands, really. My heart leaps up when a Stereo Excursions thread appears about someone I've heard of, and any time there's a discussion that interests me on there, it dies immediately.

My favourite band is The Beatles, for heaven's sake.

Oh, and Cracker may have been popular, but it's hardly populist. It's the highest quality drama, already on many media sylabuses (sylabi?). Same goes for Our Friends In The North.

[Partridge's Love Child]

I think Wogan is true professional, and also has the largest ears that have ever heard.  His "hair" obscures them, but next time you get chance, have a good look at them - they're vast.

I didn't particularly like Wogan when I was a kid - but I was a kid - why the hell would I have any interest in a middle-aged slaphead waffling to anyone who'd be prepared to sit with him.  Now of course I recognise that it was a fine show led by a fine presenter - and anyway I seem to have developed a penchant for middle-aged slapheads that waffle a lot as many people on here have commented.  It was also a brave move to get a not-a-complete-arsehole-at-the-time Ben Elton to sit in for Wogan when he disappeared on one of his regular holidays.

Does anyone remember Wogan's comeback after he made room for Eldorado, which was on about 11pm on a Friday.  He sat around a table with regulars - one of whom was Frank Skinner - and guests alike and chat.  Good show that was.

[TJ]

It was also a brave move to get a not-a-complete-arsehole-at-the-time Ben Elton to sit in for Wogan when he disappeared on one of his regular holidays.

Brings me round to something else that Elton also guest-hosted on occasion - Radio 1's "Saturday Live", which ran from around 1980 to 1986. A magazine show with the emphasis on mainstream rock for the most part, but which also featured loads of obscure and interesting stuff thrown in for good measure. Mark Radcliffe was the producer for a good span of its duration.

[Vermschneid Mehearties]

TJ reminded me of Tomorrow's World. I couldn't bloody believe it when BBC just announced off hand, "Oh...We're getting rid of Tomorrow's World by the way, in our grand scheme to get rid of everything interesting from your screens."

A good chance to see Peter Snow rave enthiusiastically about something new that's going to be in our living room/dog/schools/groin was just about the only thing that made early evening telly viewable.

Now all we've got is endless gameshows trying to revive a formula that was awful even when it was popular, and is now fawned over ridiculously.

Bring back Tomorrow's World, and then we can look forward to the future again.

[Purple Tentacle]

MARTIN CLUNES:  I'm still waiting to buy that rubber car that makes parking so easy...

[hencole]

May I put forward possibly the least likely example yet...

...Wogan.

Did I tell you the story about the petition?

Three years or so ago a couple of months before the Eurovision song contest there was knock at our door. My Dad goes to answer

'Hello can I help you' he said to the man with  a clip board.
'I'm here to ask you to sign this petition to have Terry Wogan banned from ever presenting the Eurovision song contest' was the reply.

It transpired this chap thought he brought ridicule on an otherwise fine and upstanding competition and should be replaced. Supposedly he'd been doing this for a fortnight!

[gazzyk1ns]

I really like Men Behaving Badly too, although I saw a couple of episodes from the fabled first series (with Enfield) a while ago for the first time ever... rubbish.

Anyway, I've never seen an episode of Friends which hasn't satisfactorily alleviated my boredom. Most people seem to say "The first series was good and then it went bad", but I don't really see it like that, even though I used to. I think what people around my age mean is that for them, the first series had a bit of "magic" about it because you were at the kind of age where you were first "getting into" relationships and so as well as the whole theme of the show being suited to your frame of mind, the whole Ross-Rachel thing had your attention too. Then, within the next series or so, they'd pretty much ditched/copncluded that initial storyline, and you'd done a lot of growing up... a year and a bit is a long time at that age, we all know how massively tastes and attitudes change at that kind of age.

But in all honestly I don't think it ever had anything special. I think that it's always been an "enjoyable" (in the plainest sense of that word...) watch, even if a lot of people are reluctant to admit it. Part of that might be being so familiar with the characters and setting, but... for whatever reason, if I've got nothing better to do, then I can always sit down in front of whatever episode E4/C4 are churning out. I seem to recall one of my first ever posts to VWs was about how I liked the way Friends was "easy to watch", and that's still how I'd sum it up.

[Vermschneid Mehearties]

I agree. Friends and The Simpsons are probably the least taxing programs ever to watch. You could just sit there and devour the lot. With Channel 4 getting both very soon, expect the laziest scheduling this side of E4 in BB season.

[Chadwick]

And Thaw's gammy I've-had-a-stroke leg was also good for a laugh - especially on the rare occasions when he had to leg it across Oxford after some ne'er do well or other.

I remember seeing some sort of tribute show after John Thaw died and apparently he suffered from drop foot and insisted that where ever possible he was shot from the kness up when walking. Rather bizarrely he was able to run perfectly normally, with now sign of wobbley footedness.

[Lt Plonker]

Was The Krypton Factor ever popular? I used to love it when I was a kid. Except the quiz bit at the end, which used to bore me. But everything else - the spot the mistakes, puzzles, flight simulation and obstacle course were fantastic entertainment. Even the logo that used to morph into a symbol for each event was fun.

That, and the Crystal Maze. Weekdays, Ch4 at 6pm, I think. Perfect timing, if I remember.

I also have a thing for those Holidays/Garages/Gardens/Neighbours from Hell programmes on ITV. They're just hilarious to watch.

[shatnersbassoon]

Sharpe

Bernard Cornwall was about the only remotely famous person who went to my school. He came back to give a lecture one year, and my best mate went up to him afterwards and asked how he chose the names for his book. Cornwell took his name, and next year he was immortalised as Captain Joel Chase of the Royal Navy in Sharpe's Trafalgar.

Not bad, I thought.

[mikeyg27]

Krypton Factor and The Crystal Maze absolutely ruled. Why the fuck aren't there any game shows to match nowadays? The only thing that comes close to entertaining me in the manner that they did is Takeshi's Castle, and that hardly counts as populist (except in Japan?).

And since we're reminiscing over popular game shows, Gladiators was top notch entertainment. Like Robot Wars, but with real people, so a lot more entertaining. Actually, to be fair Robot Wars was very entertaining whenever a six year old had his cardboard shite destroyed by the fifty year old nerd with nothing else to do but build a mini tank, and then the boy would be interviewed and would be trying to fight back the tears. DON'T MESS WITH WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!

[Dr David V]

More votes for The Crystal Maze and The Krypton Factor. And Takeshi's Castle, but that's not exactly populist.

Ah The Crystal Maze, what a fantastic show. I still watch the repeats on Challenge and get just as much enjoyment out of them now as I did 10 years ago. Christ, it has been about 10 years since it finished, hasn't it? I don't remember The Krypton Factor as well, apart from that it was fantastic, and Challenge don't seem to be showing it at the moment. Shame, I'd love to see more of that.

Oh, and again for Men Behaving Badly, classic stuff.

"Dear Mr Strang, due to her heavy workload, my client, Miss Kylie Minogue will be unable to meet you and your friend Tony for a doughnut. Bah!"

[The Region Legion]

And Takeshi's Castle, but that's not exactly populist.

That program would probably be alright if it wasn't for fucking Craig Charles taking the piss out of it for idiots. I remember one episode he'd obviously been told to laugh at everything happening on screen... for 2 FUCKING MINUTES. Craig Charles imitating breathless laughter while japanese people get hit by things is probably the most annoying thing ever.

And Men Behaving Badly is one of the best sitcoms of all time, if not THE best (oo controversial).

[Narshty]

More votes for The Crystal Maze

Yes, but it was best in the early days with Richard O'Brien periodically trying to distract the contestants by playing his harmonica tunelessly and dancing.

[Uncle Gripper]

More votes for The Crystal Maze

Yes, but it was best in the early days with Richard O'Brien periodically trying to distract the contestants by playing his harmonica tunelessly and dancing.

Superb televisual entertainment, perfect timing as someone else rightly said and reet good for spouting off at.  Screaming at some slack fannied 'sales consultant' from Bradford as she bumbles along idioticly unable to complete the given task and the answer is right in her face and the co-workers are screaming like bastards because they can see the answer and she can't cause she is thick and they know it and they all stop screaming and one person calmly tries to direct her before realising there is only 10 seconds left then screaming at her to get out but she is in the middle of some fucking rope 'maze' and the crytstal is there, in a hole in the wall, right beside her, and she suddenly see's it just as she gets locked in.  

Or the bit were some sadsack would spin off the wet logs and crash into another one, or batter their heads on the wall.  In fact i'm sure they had a particularly painful one incorporated into the opening montage, made me laugh every time.

[Timmay]

It only ran for a couple of years originally in the late-80s, but Sledge Hammer has to bring back some of my fondest TV memories as a kid. Oh, and Crystal Maze, and the Krypton Factor. Boy did I ever want to go on both of those.