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David Jason spouts a load of fecking bollocks and says he was offered Father Ted

Started by George White, July 23, 2022, 11:40:20 PM

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David Jason was Coppola's first choice for the role of Don Vito Corleone but Jason was unwilling to commit as he was getting occasional work in rep and on the Dick Emery Show.

When John Sullivan heard about this years later it gave him the idea to cast Jason as a mafioso boss in the 1991 Christmas special.


Twilkes

David Jason was lined up for the prototype of Rolf's Cartoon Club, called A Bit Of A Doodle.

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: Bennett Brauer on July 24, 2022, 05:40:39 PMJason could have unwittingly stopped Steve Martin from being in two unfunny movies. Writer Bernard McKenna, who worked with Jason on The Odd Job, tried and failed to get the rights to Inspector Clouseau as a permanent vehicle for Jason. They ended up writing The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs for him instead. Similar kind of comedy incompetence setpieces.

Just found some confirmation of that. Jason appearing not to have remembered it until that moment perhaps shows that his recall isn't that sharp.


McDead

Quote from: bigfatheart on July 24, 2022, 06:09:05 PMI know the CaB consensus is that he's confused Father Ted with Father Brown, but when this has come up before I've developed a couple of alternative theories as to what might have happened which, perhaps, make him look a bit less like a doddery confused old cunt.

1. Maybe there was another sitcom about a priest in the works around the same time as Father Ted, and it was offered to him? He wasn't interested, so he turned it down - possibly dismissed it out of hand without even seeing a script - and then, when Father Ted comes on, he thinks "Oh, that must be that priest show they wanted me to do."

2. It's a matter of record that Channel 4 weren't keen on casting Morgan et al because of them being unknowns in the UK. Maybe they sounded Jason out behind Mathews and the other one's backs, hoping he'd say yes and they could use this to keep their inexperienced and presumably now starstruck writers in line. Except he knocks them back, and they reluctantly agree to give this Morgan fella a go. This never gets back to Mathews and the other one, hence why it never got mentioned until Del Boy had a book out.

I mean, those are 100% two scenarios I've completely made up, but the fact that David Jason claimed to have been offered the role of Father Ted when that very definitely didn't happen is something that has fascinated me for a while and occupies far too much of my brain.

Two great theories, but I'm sticking with Del Boy being a thick as mince dunce plonker cunt

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: bigfatheart on July 24, 2022, 06:09:05 PMI know the CaB consensus is that he's confused Father Ted with Father Brown, but when this has come up before I've developed a couple of alternative theories as to what might have happened which, perhaps, make him look a bit less like a doddery confused old cunt.


But what hasn't been discussed is how the show would've turned out if Jason had been offered the role and took it. He'd have been 54 in 1994 (Morgan was 42) so arguably an acceptable playing age for Ted but Frank Kelly would've only been a couple of years older than Jason. Sir David certainly has the acting chops but I'm not sure he would've comedically connected with the absurdism and post-modern humour. There was a reason he wasn't asked to join the Pythons after 'Do Not Adjust Your Set'.

You can imagine him saying to the sole writer of Father Ted, Arthur Mathews, "I'm sorry I don't understand why playing this dreary record at the disco...Ghostly Town, is it? over and over again is particularly funny. Maybe, he could be playing bagpipes badly instead. And I think my character Father Brown should have a catchphrase. How about 'Which was nice'?"

Terry Torpid


McDead

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on July 24, 2022, 06:45:46 PMYou can imagine him saying to the sole writer of Father Ted, Arthur Mathews, "I'm sorry I don't understand why playing this dreary record at the disco...Ghost Town, is it? over and over again is particularly funny. Maybe, he could be playing bagpipes badly or something instead.

Can imagine this in that annoyingly peevish posho voice he affects when he's not playing loveable salt of the earth toerag scum.

Jake Thingray

And as he was already the Great British Wally Public's favourite by then, he'd have been a bit too mainstream for how C4 was then still perceived. It's true, confirmed by people who genuinely do their research, that he nearly got to play Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as he then specialised in supposedly comedic roles older than his real age; perhaps he got that mixed up with its contemporary All Gas and Gaiters, then got it further confused with that other, later ecclesiastical sitcom.

kalowski

David Jason was originally down to play Indiana Jones.
"Snakes! Bonnet de douche! Why does it have to be snakes?"

bigfatheart

Quote from: Jake Thingray on July 24, 2022, 06:59:47 PMAnd as he was already the Great British Wally Public's favourite by then, he'd have been a bit too mainstream for how C4 was then still perceived.

Doesn't change the fact that he's talking bollocks, but he'd already done Porterhouse Blue on Channel 4 in 1987.


frajer

David Jason was in the final two to play the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey but Stanley Kubrick lost his rag when Jason refused to stop breathing and cease brain activity.

petril


McDead

I truly cannot stand this guy. I - genuinely - sort of met him about twenty five years ago when I worked at Blockbuster video. He was in disguise, but I recognized his disgusting voice immediately. He came in with his missus and sent her up to the counter with their video selection. It was Armageddon (for which he was offered all the plum roles, including the asteroid).

McDead

He also wrecked a classic Terry Wogan Blankety Blank by being a showboating unfunny cunt, for which I cannot forgive him.

kalowski

I used to be his milkman. He used to piss in the bottles and leave them out for me.

McDead

Quote from: kalowski on July 24, 2022, 09:37:19 PMI used to be his milkman. He used to piss in the bottles and leave them out for me.

What an utter wally

badaids


David Jason was offered the role of Uncle Ben on the boxes of rice but turned it down to play what he thought would be a more lucrative role as Mr Peanut.

Cold Meat Platter

Originally Jason was going to 'old up', as he was famous for, for the role of 'Grandad' in Only Fools and Some Horses and 'Del' was going to be played by Clint Eastwood.

Video Game Fan 2000

I'm sure everyone already knows this but Dad's Army only happened because David Jason was asked to cause the greatest armed conflict in human history

Replies From View

David Jason was the first choice to play Herman Munster but he refused to have the top of his head flattened down.

Replies From View

David Jason was scheduled to be Charlie Chaplin until it was discovered he wouldn't sufficiently resemble Adolf Hitler in The Great Dictator.  So they went back and ensured that the person being Charlie Chaplin would be Charlie Chaplin himself.

kalowski

Who can forget that original script for Casablanca?
"Of all the gin joints in all the world, I had to fall through the bar in this one."

Replies From View

Fun fact:  Roger Rabbit is actually based on all of David Jason's mannerisms and his normal speaking voice.

Autopsy Turvey

I heard from a colleague of a colleague of a mate's mate's colleague that when they brought Danger Mouse back they got Sir David Jason OBE in to read for both DM and the narrator, but amazingly he sounded too old and slow for the frantic pace of modern kids' TV.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

I love that story about him burping on purpose right in a make-up girl's face. He just seems like the exact sort of old cunt to do something like that.

badaids


David Jason was successfully cast for the supporting role of Karposi's Sarcoma, but after lobbying was eventually selected to play AIDS and was instrumental in the popularisation and proliferation of the well loved virus.

Cold Meat Platter

Quote from: badaids on July 25, 2022, 12:42:59 PMDavid Jason was successfully cast for the supporting role of Karposi's Sarcoma, but after lobbying was eventually selected to play AIDS

A role after which saw him sadly typecast for the rest of his career.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: bigfatheart on July 24, 2022, 06:09:05 PMI know the CaB consensus is that he's confused Father Ted with Father Brown, but when this has come up before I've developed a couple of alternative theories as to what might have happened which, perhaps, make him look a bit less like a doddery confused old cunt.

1. Maybe there was another sitcom about a priest in the works around the same time as Father Ted, and it was offered to him? He wasn't interested, so he turned it down - possibly dismissed it out of hand without even seeing a script - and then, when Father Ted comes on, he thinks "Oh, that must be that priest show they wanted me to do."

2. It's a matter of record that Channel 4 weren't keen on casting Morgan et al because of them being unknowns in the UK. Maybe they sounded Jason out behind Mathews and the other one's backs, hoping he'd say yes and they could use this to keep their inexperienced and presumably now starstruck writers in line. Except he knocks them back, and they reluctantly agree to give this Morgan fella a go. This never gets back to Mathews and the other one, hence why it never got mentioned until Del Boy had a book out.

I mean, those are 100% two scenarios I've completely made up, but the fact that David Jason claimed to have been offered the role of Father Ted when that very definitely didn't happen is something that has fascinated me for a while and occupies far too much of my brain.

Another scenario is that the story was made up or misreported.

Other than The Sun on Sunday, there's a lack of information about this. Given that it was a fan event that he was meant to have said this, it's odd that nothing that I was able to see was discussed on line; at these events, people often post interesting titbits.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Autopsy Turvey on July 25, 2022, 12:22:42 PMI heard from a colleague of a colleague of a mate's mate's colleague that when they brought Danger Mouse back they got Sir David Jason OBE in to read for both DM and the narrator, but amazingly he sounded too old and slow for the frantic pace of modern kids' TV.

When Disney did Tailspin, they hired Phil Harris as Baloo again but after he recorded a couple of episodes, they recast. One of the writers explains that some of his comic timing had gone; reading in between the lines, there was also concerns about his age (a sprightly 85 years old). I've also read that Harris felt frustrated that his performance wasn't as it should be and wanted to bow out.

My gut feeling is that something similar at play would be here with Jason. His original narration for Danger Mouse was at a very brisk pace; I've only dipped into the reboot but my memory is someone who can do the original still, could do the new version.