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    The Manageress

    A mate of mine mentioned Cherie Lunghi on Facebook, which got me thinking about this. What was the general opinion on this TV drama? I remember being eager to watch it when it came on, but I just got bored by it very quickly. However, I got bored by most things very quickly when I was 15.

    A prime-time football drama tackling gender inequality is fundamentally a good thing. But it was cut after 2 seasons, so I'm guessing my 15 years old self's opinion was the popular one. There's absolutely nothing I can find on youtube to revise this opinion.

    #2
    The Manageress

    It's the same malaise that afflicts all football dramas. The on-pitch sequences are laughable, the dialogue stilted and the situations and characters unbelievable. Didn't Sky have a show....Dream Team or something? All uniformly awful. Mostly male audience....doomed from the off.

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      #3
      The Manageress

      Dream Team - which featured a pre-Corrie Alison 'Carla Connor' King - was fairly risible, with players being assassinated, killed in plane crashes and God-knows-what almost every week. (The unnecessary soundtrack of crappy 'millennium indie' [JJ72, Feeder, etc] did it few favours, either.)

      The Manageress, on the other hand, was half-decent: while the script was indeed a bit stilted, the strong plot idea and one or two okay performances elevated it somewhat. (A guy I knew, Mark, was in it, too - he played the blond midfielder whom nobody liked.)

      I don't think it has ever been repeated, nor is it available anywhere online as far as I can see.

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        #4
        The Manageress

        Firstly, I really fancied Cherie Lunghi. Secondly, my mate played Dave McGregor who, I think, was a hard tackling midfielder which laughably shows how much of a good actor he was. It was 25 years ago and still there is no possibility of a female manager. Ridiculous really. The only real-life comparison was Karren Brady.

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          #5
          The Manageress

          Back in the day I remember it was reasonably well received in most intelligent circles. Footy sequences were shit of course, but there were some pretty good heavyweight actors in the mix.

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            #6
            The Manageress

            Jah Womble wrote: Dream Team
            Just went to Wikipedia to check, and it turns out this shite stayed on the air for ten years. I think this sums this shite up better than anything I could come up with:

            Arguably the most famous character in Dream Team was Karl ‘Fletch’ Fletcher (played by Terry Kiely), who became the series' stalwart character, remaining a fixture in the cast from the beginning of season 1 through to the end of season 8. During his tenure with Harchester, Fletch was briefly promoted to manager, became a father, married (and divorced) physiotherapist Abi, and was briefly jailed. At the end of season 8, Fletch died after being impaled on a coat peg by deranged manager Don Barker.

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              #7
              The Manageress

              Well that brings a whole new meaning to the word 'pegging'*

              *Do NOT google that at work. Or anywhere, ever, come to think of it.

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                #8
                The Manageress

                Jah Womble wrote: Dream Team - which featured a pre-Corrie Alison 'Carla Connor' King - was fairly risible, with players being assassinated, killed in plane crashes and God-knows-what almost every week. (The unnecessary soundtrack of crappy 'millennium indie' [JJ72, Feeder, etc] did it few favours, either.)
                I recently met someone who used to work on Dream Team. Apparently it only existed to fulfil Sky One's Offcom-mandated original drama output and actors were killed off so regularly in order to replace them with much cheaper ones (because actors kept on tended to be able to demand more money).

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                  #9
                  The Manageress

                  Dream Team was a veritable feast of Scorsesian killer drama when compared to the pile of pus that was Footballers' Wives.

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                    #10
                    The Manageress

                    Footballers' Wives was great fun, you fool.

                    (It also wisely chose not to show any football.)

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                      #11
                      The Manageress

                      I don't know anyone who appeared in, or worked on, Dream Team. However I did go to school with someone who appeared in Footballer's Wives - she played a sort of Colleen Rooney type. Curiously looking at her Wikipedia page she appears to have become a year younger than me at some point since we were at school.

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                        #12
                        The Manageress

                        My recollection of The Manageress is somewhat vague except for the following;

                        a. Cherie Lunghi’s character giving an eloquent speech extolling the virtues of Don Revie
                        b. Warren Clarke being somewhat shouty and waving a fat cigar as the clichéd football chairman
                        c. Tom Georgeson saying ‘shitehawk’. A lot
                        d. Ross Kemp playing some non-league Mick Whitlow hell-bent on sawing the star player in half during a pre-season friendly

                        Not sure if the series would have aged as well as Ms Lunghi; but then again who does?

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                          #13
                          The Manageress

                          One of the McGann brothers waved his willy at her in one episode, IIRC.

                          I mean, his character did.

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                            #14
                            The Manageress

                            That was The Monocled Mutineer.

                            Unless the brothers McGann just exposed their genitals to Cherie Lunghi on a rota system.

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                              #15
                              The Manageress

                              I liked The Manageress... I also remember the Cherie Lunghi character expounding on how Don Revie was her inspiration. And one of the players in the team had supposedly been to University, and was constantly at loggerheads with the boneheaded midfield hard man.

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                                #16
                                The Manageress

                                Indeed - although the hard men kind of accepted him when he told them a few Spanish swear words while on a European tour. (Goalkeeper Brian Rimmer had the nickname 'The Flying Potato', IIRC.)

                                Unless the brothers McGann just exposed their genitals to Cherie Lunghi on a rota system.
                                Clearly they must have. Lucky old Cherie.

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                                  #17
                                  The Manageress

                                  There may likely appear a separate thread, but given our recent discussion, I thought I'd put this here. RIP, Warren Clarke.

                                  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30023012

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                                    #18
                                    The Manageress

                                    trimster wrote: I liked The Manageress... I also remember the Cherie Lunghi character expounding on how Don Revie was her inspiration. And one of the players in the team had supposedly been to University, and was constantly at loggerheads with the boneheaded midfield hard man.
                                    I seem to remember him being outed as the team's drug dealer in the second series. And he read The Guardian , the rotter

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                                      #19
                                      The Manageress

                                      It's gradually coming back to me now...and the bone-headed midfield hardman proved he had a softer side when he was seen doing charity work for handicapped kids.

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                                        #20
                                        The Manageress

                                        'Special needs' - one of the team had a son who (IIRC) had cerebral palsy. For some reason, he wasn't at all happy about the manageress turning up and offering support at the school sports day. For why, was never explained.

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                                          #21
                                          The Manageress

                                          The night before the final episode aired, I ended up having a drink with Ms Lunghi in the Windmill near the Old Vic, as you do!

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