with the same old comedies popping up on digital tv theres a load more that don't see the light of day the I see clips on youtube theres an a-z wikipedia list here of the british comedies
This subject has been brought up many times before. The reason why most of these programmes don't see the light of day is because they aren't very good!
This subject has been brought up many times before. The reason why most of these programmes don't see the light of day is because they aren't very good!
I think cost and legal/contract issues also play a part. A channel might put the work in to overcome these issues for a good programme that they think is going to generate a lot of viewers but probably won't bother for an average programme that will bring in average viewers.
What percentage of, lets say, 80s sitcoms are actually available if a channel wanted to show them again?
I haven't seen a single episode of
Noel's House Party
! I was expecting some reruns on UK Gold.
It more fits in with Challenge's remit. It's a wonder they never tried experimenting with showing it when DOND was at it's height.
I guess it's difficult to repeat NHP because when you think about it, it was a very 'of the time' programme. That's not to say things like 321, Bullseye and Crystal Maze aren't but they've got more of a gameshow / playalong factor.
I suppose they could repeat bits of it in various compilations i.e. Noel's Greatest Gotchas etc but I can't see a full show ever being transmitted, but I may be wrong.
I think cost and legal/contract issues also play a part. A channel might put the work in to overcome these issues for a good programme that they think is going to generate a lot of viewers but probably won't bother for an average programme that will bring in average viewers.
What percentage of, lets say, 80s sitcoms are actually available if a channel wanted to show them again?
Probably quite a high percentage. I'd have thought the hurdle is more the doing of the work to clear it rather than the answer coming back as 'no'. Whether it's worth spending the time and money doing that for something that has dated tremendously and no-one will want to watch is the issue
This subject has been brought up many times before. The reason why most of these programmes don't see the light of day is because they aren't very good!
I think cost and legal/contract issues also play a part. A channel might put the work in to overcome these issues for a good programme that they think is going to generate a lot of viewers but probably won't bother for an average programme that will bring in average viewers.
What percentage of, lets say, 80s sitcoms are actually available if a channel wanted to show them again?
Loads of really obscure 80s sitcoms have been released on DVD in recent years.
A couple of late David Croft sitcoms which spring to mind as fitting into this category are 'You Rang M'Lord' and 'Oh Doctor Beaching!'.
YRML popped up on what was then UK Drama about 10 years ago, which I believe is the only time it's been shown ever apart from it's original transmission in the early 90's. This was the final Jimmy Perry/David Croft collaboration and rather ironically pretty much the entire cast had played main characters in either Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, or Hi-De-Hi - all of which were earlier Perry/Croft sitcoms. Incidentally, Donald Hewlett (Lord Meldrum) died a couple of days ago, aged 88.
Oh Doctor Beaching! followed a few years later in the mid-90's (this one was a collaboration with Richard Spendlove) and pulled most of the cast straight over from You Rang M'Lord. I don't think this one has ever seen the light of day since it was first transmitted.
Both are excellent and enjoyable series, both must have been reasonably succesful in their day since they were renewed (YRML ran to 4 series, ODB to 2), and both have been released to DVD. Yet no one seems to want to repeat them any more.
