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Post by stevej on Aug 7, 2016 13:11:24 GMT
Yes, some really well-chosen musical guests were featured. The Donovan edition is great; recorded 'in the round', the audience are really with him and his performance of 'Lalena' is quite spellbinding... George Harrison dropped by to spread a little love and peace on the edition I watched the other night and when the Who appeared, their performance ended with Keith Moon's infamous drum kit detonation, which legend has it took CBS momentarily off-air (really?)
If we were showing the series in early 1968, I guess it must have been the first season. I'll be interested to discover how long the BBC took it for. It ended suddenly and acrimoniously in April 1969 when CBS lost patience with the increasingly anti-establishment direction the show was taking. One of the first 1969 shows includes a pounding 4 minute film montage of stills and news film fragments set to music (Iron Butterfly maybe?) encapsulating the turbulent and often violent events of 1968. The brothers end the show hoping for a more peaceful new year in '69. You didn't get that with Morecambe & Wise...!
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour really is a compelling document of those times, thankfully surviving in it's entireity (I think) on colo(u)r videotape. I must save some pennies for the dvd releases.
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Post by stevej on Aug 7, 2016 9:21:45 GMT
Of course- I should have checked genome myself! Thanks for the info John. Mystery solved!
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Post by stevej on Aug 6, 2016 17:51:19 GMT
As per the title really! I spotted a Radio Times from 4/1/68 on ebay which includes a half-page feature on the Smothers brothers. This surprised me as I didn't think they were known outside the US at the time (hence article, presumably!) I suppose it's most likely that they turned up as musical guests on a BBC show, but I did wonder if their comedy hours were shown here. I've been watching several that have been uploaded on youtube and they are satisfyingly sharp and funny, as well as featuring some very hip musical guests, including a great set from Donovan. The show had a fascinating and turbulent history in its comparatively short run: Well worth reading up on or check out the documentary 'Smothered' also on the 'tube.
The other big US topical comedy series of the time 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In' of course was shown by the BBC, initially I think from January 1969 on BBC2, to take full advantage of colour (although I bet the initial 525-625 conversion looked ropey). In some ways it was a surprising import, as many of the political names lampooned would perhaps have meant nothing to British viewers. Psychedelic eye-full that it is, I wonder how it was received by UK audiences, whom I suspect were rather more conservative than today. I'm not sure what prompted BBC2 to repeat it sometime around 1983/4, but that would be when I first saw it as a thirteen year old, not exactly sure what I was seeing, but knowing I kind of liked it!
I'd be interested to hear other impressions or thoughts on these shows. The only home-grown series I can think of which compare were TW3, which ruffled a few feathers, and various other David Frost series, but these had pretty much run their course by the late 60s.
Steve
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Post by stevej on Apr 28, 2016 18:37:22 GMT
a lovely reminder of the era of television comedy when people like Frank Muir were in charge. ~iw I'll drink to that, Ian! As a youngster I just used to love his appearances on 'Call My Bluff', but latterly I came to recognise what an important figure he was in radio and television, from his early writing partnership with Denis Norden ('Take It From Here' and their brilliant shaggy dog stories on 'My Word') to senior roles in light entertainment where his nose for comedy gave him the confidence to fight to get new series and new writers off the ground in the face of indifference or downright hostility from his peers. I miss his witty, raffish presence. I didn't know that Nimmo and Mervyn disliked each other to that extent. I wonder what the problem was? Just a clash or personalities perhaps. Shades of Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel. I'm never sure that I actually want to know things like that, as it tends to temper the enjoyment of the episodes a little. 'AGAG' is such good fun though, with fine comedy acting and a swift pace. It's no good, I'm going to have to go and watch one! Incidentally, there was a short-lived chat show in 1970; the clunkily titled 'If it's Saturday, it must be Nimmo'. Sadly all nine editions are lost: www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?programme=a7645436-97ab-4eb6-9f3a-61cf0f49775cSteve
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Post by stevej on Apr 28, 2016 15:37:40 GMT
I'm 15 minutes into the programme since I started typing, the actor playing Robertson Hare is excellent! ~iw Yes, the casting was really very good. Radio 4 newsreader Zeb Soames was unrecognisable as Nimmo! In some ways it was a surprising- but extremely welcome- choice for an afternoon play, as I'm not sure that the average listener would remember 'All Gas & Gaiters'. It did make for a very engaging 45 minutes though and a nice insight for those of us with the dvd set (or double VHS set in my case). Of the original series, I think my favourite is 'The Bishop Loses His Chaplain' if only for the novelty of seeing the redoubtable Joan Sanderson and Penny Spencer sharing a screen probably for the first time since 'Please Sir!' - and on the BBC too. One thing I always notice on the colour episodes is how shiny William Mervyn's forehead becomes as the show progresses. I guess that's due to the studio lighting being considerably more intense in those early days of colour. Either that or his robe was a tad on the snug side. Steve
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Post by stevej on Apr 27, 2016 20:25:03 GMT
If like me you have a bit of a soft spot for 'All Gas & Gaiters', you may want to head to the i-player to catch this afternoon's Radio 4 play, 'All Mouth & Trousers' which was a nicely crafted dramatisation of how actors Edwin Apps and Pauline Delaney came to try their collective hand at comedy writing back in the 60s. It provided an insight into how the initial Comedy Playhouse script was presented to Frank Muir and how the show was cast. Interestingly it suggested that Derek Nimmo and William Mervyn didn't get on too well, whilst veteran actor Robertson Hare was in the habit of transcribing his lines in beautiful copper-plate long hand. Apps and Delaney appear as themselves in the play and sound in fine form. It's a good listen. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0787dm6#play
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Post by stevej on Mar 31, 2016 7:37:27 GMT
Thanks Gary, mystery solved!
Steve
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Post by stevej on Mar 29, 2016 19:31:11 GMT
A very colourful performance, but from where? Ignore the audio- it's been replaced with a track from the 1968 LP 'Without Earth' by an American band called The Moon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeBrAQqFiPY
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Post by stevej on Mar 28, 2016 9:45:39 GMT
Well, 'rocking out' within the confines of light entertainment. Stumbling across this put a bit of a spring into an otherwise soggy Bank Holiday Monday: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyM3J53ZwhEand from the same show 'Are You Sitting Comfortably': www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UDxKjpwoqQI've previously only seen their earlier appearance, where they performed 'Ride My See Saw'. All of which leads to the inevitable if rather futile hope that one sunny day there will emerge onto the market a beautifully re-mastered dvd boxed set of surviving editions of 'This Is...' Steve
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Post by stevej on Dec 27, 2015 13:03:01 GMT
That's amazing! - I was only wondering the other day if we're ever likely to see the Kenny Everett Thames series given a proper release. I loved it as a youngster and have a distinct memory of seeing the promo film to 10cc's 'Dreadlock Holiday' on it, unless my mind is playing tricks. I wonder what other bands were featured over the run?
Wouldn't it be great if the surviving editions of 'Nice Time' and the sole surviving 'Ev' were included as extras? (please!)
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Post by stevej on Dec 27, 2015 12:55:48 GMT
That's great news John. 'Scott On...' had quite a long run and seems to have a rather patchy survival rate, making a dvd release all the more intriguing. Lostshows implies that the 1968 series was colour, so presumably it was BBC2 unless that's a mis-print. I don't know much about the show itself- was there a regular supporting cast?
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Post by stevej on Sept 29, 2015 18:55:48 GMT
Wow those are brilliant! Thanks Paul.
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Post by stevej on Sept 28, 2015 15:46:20 GMT
Thanks Kev. That sounds highly plausible as the song was released in October of that year.
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Post by stevej on Sept 27, 2015 21:08:52 GMT
Dragging this back on track, does the TOTP edition used to source 'You'll Always Be A Friend' exist as a telerecording or is it b&w video (it's hard to tell when watching on i-player)? If it's the latter does that make it unique in being colour TOTP held as a b&w videotape copy and not a b&w film recording, as some early 70s editions are.
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Post by stevej on Sept 26, 2015 16:06:07 GMT
Yes, certainly heavy on TOTP for most of the clips. I wouldn't have said I was a particular fan of the band but I'm glad I took the time to watch, as this compilation highlighted some memorable tunes and good songwriting, with surprisingly eclectic subject matter. 'Brother Louie' was notable by its absence but possibly no BBC performance survives.
Unfortunately it's generally only 'You Sexy Thing' or 'Everyone's a Winner' that ever get played on the radio, lumbering the band with a generic '70s disco' image when evidently there was much more to them than that. Hopefully this compilation will redress the balance somewhat and bring the lesser known releases to a wider audience.
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