The fact that Marks & Gran said they were in negotiation with the BBC for some time over a new series of Goodnight Sweetheart suggests that the issue was something else (ie money) rather than whether or not they wanted a new series.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “This Summer’s Landmark Sitcom Season across the BBC was a great success, garnering over 50m viewers, but there is a finite number of slots for comedy on BBC1 and with two heritage pieces already in the mix – Still Open All Hours and now Porridge – the other available openings have to be for new shows in order to offer up a healthy mix of shows for the audience.”
Why did they bother commissioning 4 'heritage pilots' if only one could be taken to series ? Surely what they should have been doing was piloting non-heritage pilots that had a better chance of a commission ?
To be honest I thought Goodnight Sweetheart was lame. I didn't laugh once. I'd seen it all before. Exactly the same with AYBS. Better spending the money on something else IMO and they have.
Why did they bother commissioning 4 'heritage pilots' if only one could be taken to series ? Surely what they should have been doing was piloting non-heritage pilots that had a better chance of a commission ?
They did do non-heritage pilots, there were five of them, one of which has also be commissioned.
Why did they bother commissioning 4 'heritage pilots' if only one could be taken to series ? Surely what they should have been doing was piloting non-heritage pilots that had a better chance of a commission ?
They did do non-heritage pilots, there were five of them, one of which has also be commissioned.
The idea was that they were one-off specials. None of them should be made into series because they're not original. Porridge wasn't that good, just a pale imitation of the original.
Come on, they were all obviously a testing ground for potential full series.
I know, just like Still Open All Hours was, but they shouldn't have been. It's a celebration of old sitcoms, not an excuse to commission a series out of them. Original series, yes, but not the remakes.
Whether that was the idea or not - it's pretty obvious the idea of a revival must have crossed someone's mind at some point - it's just nonsense to then suggest that:
Quote:
None of them should be made into series because they're not original.
I don't see how that should have any bearing on anything. There have been plenty of successful revivals of old formats and series.
Strictly Come Dancing
and post-2005
Doctor Who
are both wildly more successful than their precursors were. The new
Danger Mouse
is pretty good, too.
Quote:
Porridge wasn't that good, just a pale imitation of the original.
While I do agree that it wasn't as good as the original, that's a) my opinion and b) irrelevant. It was a success with the viewers, so it's coming back. I don't think that's too contraversial.
Was it really a success though? Really? I think that's just typical BBC spin. Goodnight Sweetheart got the better reaction and Are You Being Served got better ratings, but both aren't being extended.
The point is that the BBC can't, and shouldn't, keep relying on past glories to tick their box for the comedy quota each year. And yes, whilst it's good that Motherland was commissioned for a series, that's only one, and it wasn't exactly made a fuss of. All the attention was lavished on the remakes which all look so old and pathetic compared to anything coming out of America right now. Despite what the comedy experts in the industry believe right now, I truly struggle to find many shows that could be deemed classics in years to come (the highlight is Still Game which I do love).
It's laziness to keep bringing things back as well. Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who are exceptions partly because they've been heavily revamped, but the sitcoms aren't different enough from their original counterparts. It's the same with films and franchises. People don't know how to just leave things alone. They may yearn to have something revived, only to say "Oh it's not the same, not as good as it was...". Well, duh.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “This Summer’s Landmark Sitcom Season across the BBC was a great success, garnering over 50m viewers, but there is a finite number of slots for comedy on BBC1 and with two heritage pieces already in the mix – Still Open All Hours and now Porridge – the other available openings have to be for new shows in order to offer up a healthy mix of shows for the audience.”
Why did they bother commissioning 4 'heritage pilots' if only one could be taken to series ? Surely what they should have been doing was piloting non-heritage pilots that had a better chance of a commission ?
Why did they bother commissioning 4 'heritage pilots' if only one could be taken to series ? Surely what they should have been doing was piloting non-heritage pilots that had a better chance of a commission ?
Because if they made only 2, both might have been not good enough for a series? Best to have 4 to choose from. Also just because they didn't go to a series doesn't mean that they weren't worthless as stand alone episodes - they were broadcast and people watched and enjoyed them.
Also they were good for getting publicity for the season as a whole.... although it seems you didn't notice the rest of it!
Just a shame they chose the second-worst recieved. At least they didn't go for Young Hyacinth I guess...
I thought Porridge was relatively well received? Whilst more charming than laugh out loud funny, I thought it showed definite potential and enough confidence to subtly embrace the past without slavishly trying to recreate it (AYBS) to be given a shot.
Also they were good for getting publicity for the season as a whole....
although it seems you didn't notice the rest of it!
*Sighs*. It's the heritage pilots that BBC One devoted its attention to as part of this season. My point being that BBC One is in need of new mainstream comedy hits for which they have declared they have 'new openings'. If there was apparently only ever room in the schedule for 1 heritage pilot to go to series, why not put the effort into 2 heritage pilots & 2 fresh new formats that might have had a chance of going to series for
BBC One
.
Especially as they have said in the statement that the other 'new openings' have to go to 'new shows'. Well they haven't got one of those from this season and maybe they could have. That is my point.
