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Post by Stephen Doran on Feb 13, 2006 18:29:59 GMT
having just purchased the 2 dvd set of his specials i was wondering do the rest still survive? ;D
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Post by lfbarfe on Feb 13, 2006 20:12:15 GMT
As far as I know, all his LWT shows survive, but I'm not sure about the BBC shows. Some certainly do, because I've seen clips of Parliamo Glasgow recently, but you'll need someone with the relevant Kal guide for chapter and verse.
Good to have the specials on DVD isn't it? I love the first Nationwide spoof - the one where no actual words are uttered, it's just the cadence and rhythm of the accents. The second one - with the dubious regional gags - is nowhere near as clever.
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Post by Stephen Doran on Feb 13, 2006 20:24:13 GMT
yes cheers , i think some sketches were remade in the 70s eg,rosemary meets the star,parliamo glasgow,in which we starve;iwas trying to recall the shows where references were made to the wombles,dj alan freeman,
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Post by lfbarfe on Feb 13, 2006 23:48:40 GMT
Yes, there's an updated Parliamo Glasgow in one of the LWT specials on the DVD. However, the clip I saw was b&w, I seem to recall. I hope the disc's sold well, because that'll encourage Network to bring out the rest of what survives. I was only a kid when they went out, and I loved the broad comedy and the spectacle of the Baxter shows. Watching them again as an adult, I'm really taken aback by what a sophisticated and knowing satire of television and the movies they really were. They improve with age, IMHO.
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Post by Nosmo King on Feb 14, 2006 8:28:40 GMT
I'm really taken aback by what a sophisticated and knowing satire of television and the movies they really were. They improve with age, IMHO. Knowing many of the movie originals ... the Judy Garland "Born in a Trunk Sequence, Carmen Miranda in "The Gangs All Here" ... "Caberet", "My Fair Lady", Maurice Chevalier in "Gigi" mode. George Formby and the gawping audience - just watch the songs in a Formby film, "Noel Coward" and any number of others show just how spot on those parodies were. The TV ones were perhaps more familiar at the time being contemporary to when the shows were originally made (and consequently sometimes forgotten since) but just as effective. And Baxter was in my mind the only "perfectionist" in LE .. surely no other entertainment show on British TV had quite those production standards. |
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Post by Stephen Doran on Feb 14, 2006 8:33:21 GMT
Yes, there's an updated Parliamo Glasgow in one of the LWT specials on the DVD. However, the clip I saw was b&w, I seem to recall. I hope the disc's sold well, because that'll encourage Network to bring out the rest of what survives. I was only a kid when they went out, and I loved the broad comedy and the spectacle of the Baxter shows. Watching them again as an adult, I'm really taken aback by what a sophisticated and knowing satire of television and the movies they really were. They improve with age, IMHO. i think the orig parliamo glasgow was from about 1968. ;D |
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Post by Stephen Doran on Feb 14, 2006 8:34:33 GMT
I'm really taken aback by what a sophisticated and knowing satire of television and the movies they really were. They improve with age, IMHO. Knowing many of the movie originals ... the Judy Garland "Born in a Trunk Sequence, Carmen Miranda in "The Gangs All Here" ... "Caberet", "My Fair Lady", Maurice Chevalier in "Gigi" mode. George Formby and the gawping audience - just watch the songs in a Formby film, "Noel Coward" and any number of others show just how spot on those parodies were. The TV ones were perhaps more familiar at the time being contemporary to when the shows were originally made (and consequently sometimes forgotten since) but just as effective. And Baxter was in my mind the only "perfectionist" in LE .. surely no other entertainment show on British TV had quite those production standards. i agree yes now having watched all the specials . |
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Post by S Thomas on Feb 14, 2006 9:44:12 GMT
Am I right in thinking there's a sketch missing from 'Stanley Baxter On Television'? I'm sure I remember a 'News At Ten' send-up with Stanley playing the late Reginald Bosanquet, singing
a parody of Sinatra that included the lines "There's one for dear old Reggie and one for Sandy Gall". A freeze-frame of the sketch can be seen in the closing credits. Does anyone know why it wasn't included?
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Post by Stephen Doran on Feb 14, 2006 9:50:20 GMT
ill have to play that bit again i never noticed that.
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Post by lfbarfe on Feb 14, 2006 17:22:19 GMT
And Baxter was in my mind the only "perfectionist" in LE .. surely no other entertainment show on British TV had quite those production standards. I'd argue that Morecambe and Wise were as thorough in their own way. Actually, it would have been great to put Stanley Baxter with Ernest Maxin, who did more to bring a touch of Hollywood to TV LE than anyone else. |
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Post by Nosmo King on Feb 14, 2006 20:37:48 GMT
I'd argue that Morecambe and Wise were as thorough in their own way. Actually, it would have been great to put Stanley Baxter with Ernest Maxin, who did more to bring a touch of Hollywood to TV LE than anyone else. The 75-77 M&W Christmas Shows were certainly high budget ... I'd say that the boys were far too prolific (across all three companies they made shows for ... I think some 120 programmes or so?) to be quite up there in "perfection" with the Baxter LWT specials - only 6 in a decade (plus a couple of series too). The way he played "every" practical role in most of them also pushed him into another league than virtually anybody else I can think of ... I can't really comment on his earlier 60s BBC work - I suspect they were more "production line" programmes ... Maxin was certainly fond of that spectacular style .. I must say I found it generally unsuited to his Les Dawson BBC late 70s/1980s variety shows (which I think he was trying to continue the Eric and Ernie style with a very different performer) .. as the star was better off generally on a more free flowing and simply set verbal wit than being smothered by Lulu or the Roly Polys ad infinitum. In that case I much prefer most of his YTV 1969-1977 "Sez Les" and other work for that company ... it's all dependent on the star you are packaging. On a similar note the BBC also smothered Kenny Everett with "production values" when he left Thames ... a lot of the "pure" stuff was in the Thames format ... he really did go "Hollywood LE" when he reached the BBC. Mind you there are plenty of LE comedic performers of all types who don't require "gloss" ... very differing examples are Dave Allen (only the stool, microphone and drink needed), Tommy Cooper (a few magic props), Eric Sykes and Jasper Carrott all of who are much better with very little "gloss" around them .. Stanley Baxter certainly benefitted though and the specials on the double disk are on the whole pretty special (pun intended) stuff. |
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Post by Andy Henderson on Feb 19, 2006 12:11:32 GMT
BBC Scotland have shown chunks of SB from 405 VT (I taped years ago - can't recall when). This included the original Parliamo Glasgow which is a damn sight better than the remake versions. It also has a great opening title parody. If I recall most of the shows are intact and most are on 405 VT. Lots of contemporary partodies like a 'sound of music' skit with him running up a hill singing (as in the film) and the camera quickly revealing a very grim cityscape instead of Austria.
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Post by Mark Elliott on Mar 14, 2006 16:17:59 GMT
Am I right in thinking there's a sketch missing from 'Stanley Baxter On Television'? I'm sure I remember a 'News At Ten' send-up with Stanley playing the late Reginald Bosanquet, singing a parody of Sinatra that included the lines "There's one for dear old Reggie and one for Sandy Gall". A freeze-frame of the sketch can be seen in the closing credits. Does anyone know why it wasn't included? Also a "Blue Peter" sketch which is also only visable via a freeze frame in the credits on one of the shows on the DVD.... Unless I missed seeing it? |
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Post by Simon Mclean on Mar 19, 2006 10:50:50 GMT
Watching them again as an adult, I'm really taken aback by what a sophisticated and knowing satire of television and the movies they really were. They improve with age, IMHO. I wasn't overly impressed with the compilations Channel 4 did a couple of years ago, but I have to admit 'Parliamo Glasgow' was very well done - I saw a colour version (presumably the LWT?) on some clip show a while back, and he'd obviously observed the original 'Parliamo Italiano' very closely. The title sequence was spot on, even using the proper theme tune! Have the C4 shows given me the wrong idea, and Stanley Baxter's output worth investigating further? |
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