Sad Ernie Wise

[Glebe]

Rowan Atkinson became quite friendly with Eric Morecambe, I believe, even visiting him at home on at least one occasion.

Crikey, that's an interesting titbit!

I read their wives didn't get along and that they never socialized outside of their onscreen partnership because of this. Ernie's wife thought he was the star, not Eric, and was quite nasty about him. She never had children so she could go on tour with Ernie and be sure he never strayed as she was giving him sex. To be honest she sounds very odd

That's sounds strange. I recall some awards ceremony on TV from around the '90s where Ernie excepted some lifetime achievement award (receiving a pat on the back from Ronnie Barker before he took the stage) with his wife in tow... she said wished Eric was here, with Ern adding "So do I!" natch.

I've only ever seen this referred to on this forum, I'd be very interested to pin this down. British comedy didn't seem to notice punk rockers until about 1987 (even Vyv was more a metalhead, what self-respecting punk rocker wore Kiss, Saxon, Whitesnake and Rush t-shirts?).

Hmmm, yeah... aside from the Vyv 'Metalhead? Punk?' debate that's be raging all these years and the likes of punks popping up in The Nag's Head in early episodes of OFAH, your theory holds some weight!

AYBS? episode 'Calling All Customers', which features Mrs Slocombe and Mr Humphries in fancy dress as punks, went out in 1983, a good six years after punk came along. Also I just recently caught second-last ever episode 'Friends and Neighbours' (1985) on either GOLD or Drama recently, it included Mr Spooner playing some punk song which I still haven't identified and which seems to be cut from YT/Dailymotion uploads I've checked out (maybe also some DVD releases and due to copyright?).

And 1987 is indeed the year that Terry and June finally embraced punk, with the episode 'Age Before Beauty', in which June goes full bondage and spikey coloured wig!





In any case I would've loved to see a sitcom with Little Ern sparing with his punk son. It'd certainly beat John Thaw berating his mulleted offspring for smoking hash in Home to Roost!

[jenna appleseed]

o/t but god June's incredibly sexy as a punk.

[Menu]

Tbh I was hoping it might be sexier than that. I used to have a crush on June Whitfield.

[Ambient Sheep]

Kenny Everett started doing Gizzard Puke for his first show on the Beeb, the opening Christmas Special of The Kenny Everett Television Show, on 24 December 1981.

Plus the various punks on NTNOCN (some have already been mentioned, but there was also stuff like Rowan Atkinson as a punk at a urinal, broadcast during S03E01 on the 27th October 1980).

[Tilt Araiza]

Ernie did a guest appearance on a US sitcom and it's exactly the kind of thing he should have been doing back home.

http://www.morecambeandwise.com/viewpage.aspx?pageid=395

[Alternative Carpark]

There was also a punk character in the Robin Bailey sitcom, 'Sorry I'm a Stranger Here Myself', on ITV in 1981 - 82.

[Brundle-Fly]

Don't forget Cheese & Crackers in 1984.

[Jockice]

One thing that seems to have been totally forgotten in the M&W canon is It's Childsplay, a one series thing in 1976 which they hosted then they and some well-known actors did versions of plays written by children. Hence the title.

The only reason I remember it is that a former neighbour of mine - well there was one house between us - called Humphrey Dunn was one of the kids whose work was chosen. Humphrey from what I remember (we'd moved twice since then) had no sense of humour whatsoever and had written what was obviously meant to be a serious drama (with the lead character called Famous Detective). But they ripped the piss out of it turning it into a comedy piece. I bet that isn't archived anywhere.

The cast. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1062192/

[Brundle-Fly]

I have never heard of that before. Find!

[Jockice]

There's a bit more on it here. They certainly had some respected actors in it anyway. I may be slightly wrong in that it says here they only hosted it, while I remember then actually taking part in the plays. But then the article's wrong as it says it was a showcase for teenage screenwriters. I was ten when it was broadcast and Humphrey was the same age or possibly even slightly younger,

He looked exactly like you'd expect someone called Humphrey to look and in my head his mum and dad were the Modern Parents from Viz. Not that he and his younger sister Harriet called them mum and dad. They called them by their first names, which as a traditional seven-year-old when we moved onto that road was one of the strangest things I'd come across in my life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_other_television_appearances_by_Morecambe_and_Wise

[Ignatius_S]

There's a bit more on it here. They certainly had some respected actors in it anyway. I may be slightly wrong in that it says here they only hosted it, while I remember then actually taking part in the plays. But then the article's wrong as it says it was a showcase for teenage screenwriters...

Wikipedia having a factual inaccuracy? What are the odds of that happening?

I was looking at the series a while ago, mainly because of a couple of named actors, and according to listings at the time, episodes were penned by writers under the age of 16; so likely to be teenagers but not definite.

Re: Morecombe & Wise only hosting - there is a still image online that showed them in costume, purporting to be from the series doing a sketch but suppose that could be do with the introduction. 

[Glebe]

Ernie did a guest appearance on a US sitcom and it's exactly the kind of thing he should have been doing back home.

://www.morecambeandwise.com/viewpage.aspx?pageid=395

Interesting!

[Tony Tony Tony]

Currently listening to this weeks Richard Herring offering which is a curious piece where Rich, Robin Ince and a Tommy Pearson discuss Morecambe and a Wise in front of an audience in Eric's home town of Harpenden. Some of the points about Ernie post Eric mooted above come up in the discussion.

Probably deserves a thread of its own but so far a great reminisce and analysis of the phenomenon that was M&W. Even made me think about returning to RHLSTP.

[Keebleman]

Child's Play was a very unusual project.  I was six or seven when it was on and even then I was a little puzzled that M&W were chosen as hosts.  I remember a comedy playlet called The Ghosts' Convention or something where a meeting of lots of dead historical celebs was chaired by Adam - cue jokes along the line of 'turning over a new leaf' - and a Victorian drama about two friends who had 'promised to share everything, even death.'

[Gurke and Hare]

The cast. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1062192/

I like the way they're all listed as playing themselves, as if these teenage prodigies have written something about fictionalised versions of Keith Barron, Alfie Bass and Dora Bryan.

[gilbertharding]

I like the way they're all listed as playing themselves, as if these teenage prodigies have written something about fictionalised versions of Keith Barron, Alfie Bass and Dora Bryan.

Now I'm remembering that Big Train sketch with the day in the life of the bank manager, voiced by a nine year old.

[petril]

they are having An Affair

[lauraxsynthesis]

Don't forget Cheese & Crackers in 1984.

👏👏

[Virgo76]

Wow never knew that. That's a proper variety show right there! Have to say I did always think that Ed Sullivan was almost laughably unsuited to be a presenter of any television show, let alone the biggest one on US television. He always looks so wooden and devoid of charisma. How did that happen?

Agreed. He always seems like he's doing a bad impression of Richard Nixon all the time.
Unless Nixon was trying to impersonate him?

[Menu]

Ha ha! Yeah that's a good description.

[Twonty Gostelow]

Just wanted to second the recommendation for Barfe's book; I read it over Christmas and it was a tonic -- enjoyable as well as very informative.

I wonder if Louis has any thoughts on the hardback cover photo being a reverse image of them. Could have been an aesthetic decision to keep the title text left-aligned if it wasn't just ignorance, but either way it's crap.