On one of those property shows, the presenter said "A Year In Provence" was a classic. Admittedly she was trying to flog a house in France, but it still seemed a bit strong.
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
I'll be slaughtered for even suggesting this, but I've never understood the fuss over Fawlty Towers. Mildly amusing, yes, best comedy of all time, no. Now the Fast Show on the other hand... -
Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
I've been reminded of Birds of a Feather just now. You can see Fawlty Towers is better than that, devil?Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Anything at all by Carla Laine.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
If she cast Nerys Hughes herself, she deserves some credit.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
The Vicar of Dibley
The Thin Blue Line
I watched the recently re-released DVD of Tutti Frutti which I loved when it came out. But the acting was so wooden especially outside the main cast that I couldn't watch it.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Another prime example - any number of shit, straw-chewing American series that Hollywood has seen fit to cinematize. Particularly The Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
It's easy to pick out comedies on this thread, as humour polarizes people so much. For me, it would have to be 'Only Fools And Horses'. Utter shit.
Trying to think of a drama or factual series, but having trouble.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Yes, I have to admit as apparent classics of the comedy genre, Only Fools and Horses and Fawlty Towers, while very different give me exactly the same feeling of emperors new clothes.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
I think 'Fawlty Towers' was a cut above most of the competition at the time, but has lost its sheen through repeated, errr... repeating. Much like Python, actually.
'Only Fools And Horses' has - like most prime time sitcoms since 'Fawlty Towers' - not done anything very different from it.
The problem is - with films and television - the label "classic" tends to get slapped on to any production that cost alot and/or was stretched out over a very long time. In TV terms, this will inevitably mean that in 10-20 years time, such shite as 'Heroes' and 'Lost' are being referred to as classics.
'Das Boot' and series 1 of 'Twin Peaks' deserve the tag, I think. Alot of the mass-produced 'epics' don't. It's the same as popular/busy actors getting classed as good. It doesn't always follow, as we know.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
I don't know about "Worst" but I can't get on with "Monty Python" and repeated catchphrases by idiots don't help
Most stuff like "Only Fools and Horses" and "Fawlty Towers" are cheapened by the repeated showing of "classic" moments
That's a shame, I loved that when it came outI watched the recently re-released DVD of Tutti Frutti which I loved when it came out. But the acting was so wooden especially outside the main cast that I couldn't watch it.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Only Fools was OK in the 30 minute format, but it was when it was stretched out to an hour and ended up becoming half-drama, half-comedy that the standard went downhill. If I'd watched Fawlty Towers with no expectations it would probably be different, it was just waiting for something to happen and ending up with slapstick like the German sketch and the scene where Basil whacks the car with the tree that made me think of it.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
evilC wrote:
You're too optimistic, Clive. I saw some "Making of Heroes" programme where a chap, presumably one of the cast, was talking like it was a classic already. I don't think more than about two episodes had been shown.
The problem is - with films and television - the label "classic" tends to get slapped on to any production that cost alot and/or was stretched out over a very long time. In TV terms, this will inevitably mean that in 10-20 years time, such shite as 'Heroes' and 'Lost' are being referred to as classics.
Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Nobody over the normal mental age of 11 thinks Dukes of Hazzard or A-Team, or Knight Rider were actually any good. It was a time when hardly anybody had cable (and even if they did there were few actual cable channels) or even a VCR, so we all watched the same shitty network shows and therefore it's a generational touchstone. Also, programs like those stayed on the air a lot longer than they would now and they they got flogged on syndication so that when you were hungover in college you could turn it on in the morning and let your brain rest.
Hollywood rarely seems to get that people only think these shows were good because we remember enjoying them as kids before we knew any better and the nostalgia kicks in. Making a film out of it now only ruins it by forcing us to reflect upon those memories a little too carefully and making us realize how shitty it really was and why the hell did we see every fucking episode of, for example, Gilligan's Island or the Brady Bunch or Three's Company? Why God Why?
The only modern film remakes that have remotely grasped this concept and used it to their comedic advantage were the two Brady Bunch movies.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Cable raised standards in America? That's not what seems to have happened here.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Even if one doesn't double over with laughter at Fawlty Towers, there is no way that it is not a classic, never mind the "worst" of anything. What an extraordinary claim to make that Fawlty Towers has any place in this thread.
I hope that in a few years time nobody will be tempted to decribe Desperate Housewives as a TV classic.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
In many european countries, the small TV grid was entirely (or mostly) made up of public channels, like BBCX/ITV in the UK or TF1/France2/FR3 in France. Those are the equivalents of PBS in the US, but in that country TV was commercial from day one, with the three networks dominating and smaller local channels further marginalizing PBS. So the bar was lower at the beginning in the US.Cable raised standards in America? That's not what seems to have happened here.
I'm not sure if the standards were raised much by cable, perhaps a little, what happened was that the grid became more specialized, with the extra outlets allowing people to watch more of what they liked (for instance, wall-to-wall college football on ESPN or 24/7 cooking shows on the Food Channels).
Maybe the standards went up because there are now more outlets for a good show to be picked up, and that's what some are focusing on as opposed to the morass that makes up the bulk of the grid, but I'm not sure if the average show is actually better. Sure the A-Team was crap, but there also was some quality shows pre-cable like Colombo, MASH, Wonder Years, Thirtysomething or Leave it to Beaver. Most of the current big shows like CSI or 24 are totally overrated.
As far as the original topic, I've come to dislike the Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy and other animated shows like Futurama. All of these were pretty fresh the first couple of years they came out (except for Family Guy which wasn't interesting right off the bat, and Futurama was just another Groening show that didn't add much visually). Those shows were innovative and somewhat critical and observant about many aspects of popular culture, but they've been very stale for years now, and seem to have far too much following and influence on popular culture than what they warrant.
Given how rich the comic/graphic novel scene has been in N America, it is a shame that there isn't more fresh material and adaptation coming through in that genre.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
I'm fairly sure I've heard the word "classic", or some variant on it, used to describe 'Red Dwarf'.
It's not a word I'd use in this context.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Dramas are always tougher to analyse because you have to believe in the credibility of the characters and that of the fictional world characted. Going by that, Doctor Who is an A1 kids TV show, but it shouldn't be pitched at adults, as that turns it into the TV equivalent of Twilight or Harry Potter.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Going For Gold.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
I didn't say that.Cable raised standards in America? That's not what seems to have happened here.
I meant that before cable, options were more limited and the audience was less fragmented, so most kids of a certain age anywhere in America were watching the same crap. Now, with the exception of American Idol, everyone seems to be watching different crap.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
'The Outer Limits'. Now 'Twilight Zone' on the other hand is pure gold.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Tony C wrote:
The first two series of Red Dwarf, whilst perhaps not "classic" were certainly pretty good, if only because the lack of budget to spend on the ropey CGI that plagued the later series forced the writers to come up with some decent situation comedy as opposed to "Monster of the Week".I'm fairly sure I've heard the word "classic", or some variant on it, used to describe 'Red Dwarf'.
It's not a word I'd use in this context.
I also defy anyone not to enjoy the bar fight in "Backwards" on some level even if that's where it all started going downhill.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
Ah get you, Reed and Linus.
Eggchaser seems to be dangerously close to the having no money being artistically liberating argument there.
Never seen a minute of Red Dwarf, so you may be right.Comment
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Worst TV show to be described as a "classic"
The New Statesman is featured on a programme called "Comedy Classics" on ITV. The actress who played the wife, of whom I'm quite fond, has said she was glad they "went out at the top".
It was a great "bad good" programme, wasn't it? Good cast, good theme, but not very good. Bit like Budgie really.Comment
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