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Ooh, Betty!

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    Ooh, Betty!

    It was a perfectly functional series for its time, and Crawford's mannerisms are impeccable, but looking at Some Mothers now, it just seems rather too slapstick for modern tastes, not to mention the ubiquity of take-offs. Then again, with Brendan O'Carroll's inexplicable popularity, and the annual exhumation of Open All Hours, who am I to judge?

    #2
    Ooh, Betty!

    It wasn't funny then, and isn't funny now.

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      #3
      Ooh, Betty!

      I came across a showing of the Up Pompeii movie on ITV3 yesterday, a film transition of the good old comedy telly values of saucy, bawdy, nudge-wink, seaside-postcard humour that livened up the viewing existence of millions during the 1970's.

      Or, as I tend to call it, a pile of shit.

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        #4
        Ooh, Betty!

        To give Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em the benefit of the doubt to an extent, the paucity of laughs wasn't all that much important compared to the quite impressive physical stuntwork of Michael Crawford, who, of course, wouldn't be allowed to even fall on his arse without a raft of health and safety concerns today. I don't remember laughing much at SMSAE, but as a showcase of Crawford's peril-defying physical feats, it was pretty much top-notch.

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          #5
          Ooh, Betty!

          If you had a scale fine enough to detect microscopic quantities of humour, you'd at least find that Michael Crawford doing Frank Spencer was, on that tiny scale of one-hundredths of a wry smile, more amusing than Mike Yarwood doing Michael Crawford doing Frank Spencer.

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            #6
            Ooh, Betty!

            Yes. If only they'd all got the balanced nuance that Powell and Driver or Wolfe and Chesney managed over at LWT…

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              #7
              Ooh, Betty!

              It wasn't funny then, and isn't funny now.

              There's one episode in which Frank Spencer is told to insult his teacher in the worst way imaginable. After about a minute of facial contortions, she says, "You devil!"

              I thought that was funny then and I still thought it was funny when I saw it about a year ago.

              I haven't seen any other episodes in the last 35-40 years, but I'm sure that, if I did, I'd laugh at least once during each of them.

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                #8
                Ooh, Betty!

                If you had a scale fine enough to detect microscopic quantities of humour, you'd at least find that Michael Crawford doing Frank Spencer was, on that tiny scale of one-hundredths of a wry smile, more amusing than Mike Yarwood doing Michael Crawford doing Frank Spencer.

                Christ, Yarwood was awful. His work wasn't much above the kind of impressions anyone could pull off if they'd endeavour to put some effort into it. It's noticeable that, as a firm and once popular staple of '70's TV light entertainment, he's one of those artistes who's barely talked about whenever there's any celebratory retrospective of a well-remembered personality. Sounds as if I've got a downer on him, but he really wasn't that impressive.

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                  #9
                  Ooh, Betty!

                  Without wanting to seem to be praising the quality of his impersonations, I always thought the worst part of Mike Yarwood's shows was the three-minute period immediately after he'd said, "And this .... is me."

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                    #10
                    Ooh, Betty!

                    To which the reply 'It was painfully obvious for the last 45 minutes' would no doubt suffice.

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                      #11
                      Ooh, Betty!

                      It wasn't funny then, and isn't funny now.

                      The Dick Emery Show would certainly be one of my picks for this category. Even as a young lad I just didn't find any of his characters or their catchphrases in any way amusing. As Ian points out, another like Yarwood who is rarely mentioned in retrospective shows of 70's TV (unless they are to show us how cheezy and naff some of it was).

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                        #12
                        Ooh, Betty!

                        And yet Stanley Baxter is still going strong…

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                          #13
                          Ooh, Betty!

                          ha ha, that's very good ian in response to "and this is me".

                          And yes, I think that in the mid-1970s those were, in that context, the most depressing words on UK television.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Ooh, Betty!

                            Then theme tune to Some Mothers Do Ave Em, written by the great Ronnie Hazelhurst, is Some Mothers Do Ave Em spelled out in morse code on the piccolo.Which is pretty cool.

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                              #15
                              Ooh, Betty!

                              Some Mothers Do Ave 'Em was the start of 'comedy by excruciating embarrassment" genre in my mind. Which I hate this side of Fawlty Towers.

                              Of course, Mike Yarwood would follow up his impression of Frank Spencer by throwing his beret on the floor and shouting "Chuck Berry". Which was his funniest joke.

                              Indeed, I have found that I hate impressionists more and more and I think that that comes from post-Yarwood-stress syndrome. I especially hate impressionists who can't et through an interview without breaking into an impression.

                              Goodness knows why I love "The Trip".

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Ooh, Betty!

                                Indeed, I have found that I hate impressionists more and more and I think that that comes from post-Yarwood-stress syndrome. I especially hate impressionists who can't get through an interview without breaking into an impression.

                                There's limitations with impressionists, isn't there? An impressionist can only do a specific number which suits their vocal range (Jon Culshaw seems to be forever switching between Patrick Moore and Tom Baker) and you can't really do all that much with the novelty of it, beyond stuff like Dead Ringers, which soon becomes stale. One of the few successes that came off was Stella Street, and it still felt a bit 'much of a muchness' despite the talent.

                                There are still some tremendous impressionists out there, and the Radio 4 show, Secret World, showed that the art of mimicry has some value, but the trouble is that the concept and format you can place those kind of talents in to make them work is so narrow and unfeasible.

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                                  #17
                                  Ooh, Betty!

                                  I loved the Dick Emery Show when I was a kid. It was on just before MoTD.
                                  If that's true about the theme tune to SMDAE then, like, wow.

                                  Just watched a cracking Arena (from what looked like the 80's) about Frankie Howerd.

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                                    #18
                                    Ooh, Betty!

                                    My girls watched the one where Frank ends up dressed up as an angel on the roof of the church the other night; it was the first time they'd ever seen an episode of SMDAE and they loved it. So it still, at least, appeals to the 11-13 year olds among us.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Ooh, Betty!

                                      ian.64 wrote: the Radio 4 show, Secret World, showed that the art of mimicry has some value
                                      Oh, good point. I love "Secret World" but there is something about that that reminds me of Alison Jackson's art rather than straight impressions.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Ooh, Betty!

                                        Calvert wrote: If that's true about the theme tune to SMDAE then, like, wow.
                                        Same with the 'Morse' theme tune and 'YYZ' by Rush.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Ooh, Betty!

                                          ian.64 wrote: Indeed, I have found that I hate impressionists more and more and I think that that comes from post-Yarwood-stress syndrome. I especially hate impressionists who can't get through an interview without breaking into an impression.

                                          There's limitations with impressionists, isn't there? An impressionist can only do a specific number which suits their vocal range (Jon Culshaw seems to be forever switching between Patrick Moore and Tom Baker) and you can't really do all that much with the novelty of it, beyond stuff like Dead Ringers, which soon becomes stale. One of the few successes that came off was Stella Street, and it still felt a bit 'much of a muchness' despite the talent.

                                          There are still some tremendous impressionists out there, and the Radio 4 show, Secret World, showed that the art of mimicry has some value, but the trouble is that the concept and format you can place those kind of talents in to make them work is so narrow and unfeasible.
                                          Dermot Morgan was an extraordinary mimic, and had a radio show that was massively popular at the end of the Haughey Era. which was a time of massive corruption and extravagant characters. You wouldn't know too many of the politicians involved at the time, but here's Eamon dunphy making an attention seeking appearance on the news

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                                            #22
                                            Ooh, Betty!

                                            I recall reading somewhere that, in the US, Michael Crawford is regarded as one of the all time greats of English acting, alongside John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.

                                            Whereas over here he's imprinted on our collective memory as Frank Spencer whose 'cat did a whoopsy in his beret.'

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                                              #23
                                              Ooh, Betty!

                                              Jon Culshaw did an impression of Ed Miliband as Frank Spencer on Brucie's show last week. It was crap, but the audience roared. Gah.

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                                                #24
                                                Well this is handy, a tread for me to raise from the dead.

                                                I'm not sure what's prompted me to watch it, but it's on iPlayer now. The series is just a series of vignettes, often a framing device to a flashback, the plot just isn't important. All that is important is to get Crawford into a situation. I caught myself thinking it a proto Mr Bean a couple of times.

                                                I don't find it a good program, which isn't to say that there aren't funny moments but overall it's not good and there's a low key homophobia running through a number of episodes.

                                                But my god, Michael Crawford. He can do mannerisms, and a silly voice. They can put him in a beret, wrap him in a mac and have him wear his tank top in his pyjamas. It's not enough hide what a fine figure of a man he was. Like a dancer with everyone pretending that he's a weird, ungainly figure.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Crawford was a dancer. Watch Hello Dolly.

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