Yes, the Goodnight Sweetheart revival looked like it had promise... then they went for Porridge instead. Even though it was probably the worst recieved of the four. But clearly the cheapest to make.
Yes, the Goodnight Sweetheart revival looked like it had promise... then they went for Porridge instead. Even though it was probably the worst recieved of the four. But clearly the cheapest to make.
Porridge was BBC owned whereas GS was made by an indie.
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Has there been a genuine classic itv sitcom since the 1980s? Even then they were weak compared to the competition.
Has there been a genuine classic itv sitcom since the 1980s? Even then they were weak compared to the competition.
Urm, Mr Bean? That dominated the 1990’s. I would also say the first three series of Benidorm are also some of the best ITV had produced in a very long time, however the latter was a show that should have ended years earlier.
The more successful sitcoms over the years seem to have followed the Fawlty Towers model, ie capping a series at six episodes and usually (with exceptions) running for two series.
Yes, the Goodnight Sweetheart revival looked like it had promise... then they went for Porridge instead. Even though it was probably the worst recieved of the four. But clearly the cheapest to make.
I thought ITV might have swept in on that considering their relationship with the creators. The premise of the revival was very good and certainly had legs for a series.
The golden age of sitcoms does seem to be well and truly over, though. I appreciate that comedy has moved on since the 70s and 80s, and sitcoms featuring the antics and mishaps of a suburban “middle-class” straight white middle-aged couple such as Terry and June, George and Mildred, the Fields (Fresh Fields) or the Fairchilds (Executive Stress) seemingly aren’t going to put bums on seats these days. I don’t really consider the likes of Benidorm to be a sitcom in the traditional sense, due to the abundance of characters, but it was popular. The 90s/00s style of sitcoms like My Family, Outnumbred, Goodnight Sweetheart, the IT Crowd would still work, if the writers came up with something original and contemporary. Personally, I find myself delving into the video vaults when I need a good laugh.
Has there been a genuine classic itv sitcom since the 1980s? Even then they were weak compared to the competition.
Urm, Mr Bean? That dominated the 1990’s. I would also say the first three series of Benidorm are also some of the best ITV had produced in a very long time, however the latter was a show that should have ended years earlier.
It hardly 'dominated', it was only ever put out as occasional specials, it never had a series of 6 like a traditional sitcom.
Has there been a genuine classic itv sitcom since the 1980s?
The Upper Hand was hugely successful throughout most of the 90s.
Even though it was near enough a transplant of its American source show, Who's The Boss, using pretty much the same scripts IIRC in the early years. Then it went off in a totally unique direction in Upper Hand's final series, primarily because ITV wanted another series, even though the main hook had been swallowed at the end of the previous series when the two main leads eventually married, so the final series of married life felt a bit disjointed and tacked on.
Maybe they could have asked Graham Linehan to come up with a new sitcom, if he hadn't killed his reputation with Twitter transphobia and harrasment over the last few months.
The Corrie comment did make me laugh - at the moment on Corrie the 'comedy' is about as funny as stubbing your toe what with a grown man threatening to beat a child with a shovel.
