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Post by pearly queen on May 17, 2013 17:47:27 GMT
Anyone else seen this sitcom?
I've tried to like it - but honestly it's crap: totally lazy self indulgent rubbish.
It tries to be like the 70s style of sitcom ie George and Mildred or Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em sort of shtick - but it's totally unfunny.
Normally I wouldn't start a new thread solely to put the boot in (not very constructive) but I think one of the reasons it's so disappointing is because Ben Elton can do so much better. He has had a long and (commercially, if not artistically) successful career, including tasteless (but lucrative) stuff like We Will Rock You in the West End (*cringe* - I've seen it).
He can be forgiven for wanting to earn money, that's not a crime - but this is the man who wrote The Young Ones and Blackadder! He has got comedy talent. I was hoping that The Wright Stuff might be him coming back fighting after all the turkeys - but no, it's another embarassment.
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Post by Nick on May 17, 2013 17:50:15 GMT
I watched the first one
It's a shame because David Haig is a great actor..excellent in 'The Thin Blue Line' and The Talking Heads series
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Post by pearly queen on May 17, 2013 18:10:28 GMT
Yes, David Haig is good - I remember him as one of the better characters in Four Weddings and A Funeral.
In The Wright Stuff when he goes off on one of his moaning Health and Safety monologues I can just hear Ben Elton talking, doing one of his 1980s political rants - stuff that worked at the time, but now is outdated.
And it's not just my aged memories that are clouding it - I watched The Wright Stuff with my 15 year old son, and he also thinks it's old fashioned, and that the constant innuendo stuff is just awful.
Give up, Ben - just live off the royalties from everything else!
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Post by RitaLittlewood on May 17, 2013 23:18:05 GMT
Oh dear. Sounds awful. Ben Elton stopped being funny years ago. I love Queen but have no intention of ever seeing We Will Rock You and I'm glad he never wrote Rock of Ages (musical, not awful film).
Patsy
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Post by pearly queen on May 18, 2013 8:16:40 GMT
We Will Rock You is pretty bad - I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's a mystery why it's been so popular for so long - but there's no accounting for taste! When we went most of the auditorium was filled with coachloads of young Germans - who really got into all the high hand clapping etc! Personally I'm not a massive Queen fan, but my late husband was - and he got tickets to see We Will Rock You, and he didn't rate it much. And as for Ben Elton 'writing' it - ha! there is scarcely any storyline that I can recall, it's just a bunch of young street punks with stupid names like Sting and Sandy Shaw running around trying to rediscover music, or some such tripe - and they keep bursting into song. Why the surviving members of Queen let him loose on their biggest hits I really do not know! Now he's inflicted The Wright Stuff on us. A far cry from Rik, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike the cool person living in that hilarious mad house. Even though it was childish and slapstick - I still think it's funny now. Shame Ben lost his comedy mojo  |
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Post by sootycat on May 18, 2013 11:03:40 GMT
Saw 5 minutes and switched over to another channel, at least I gave 'Vicious' a bit longer before doing the same !!
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Post by RitaLittlewood on May 18, 2013 12:42:33 GMT
Because they're greedy bastards clinging to the past, hence 5ive + Queen. Queen died with Freddie. At least John knew that and retired garacefully. Brian and Roger should have started a new group instead of looking like desperate old farts. I've never liked these ideas of musicals based around established songs. Mamma Mia makes me cringe. Had never heard of Rock of Ages until NCL announced it would be on Breakaway so didn't know what to expect but it was good and funny. Story with various songs added. Pity the film's crap and story changed. As for Ben Elton, a Tory-hating leftie who made a lot of cash then left the country. Hypocritical git. But he's been mauled Down Under too. www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/elton-hits-back-at-critics-20110215-1auen.htmlMost of his other shows were co-written so you have to wonder how much of the good stuff was by the others rather than him? Things he's written solo haven't lasted long. Patsy |
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Post by CG Wendy on May 30, 2013 18:51:03 GMT
I nodded in agreement so much at that post of your Pats that my neck is aching!
And I thought it was only me that cringed at Mamma Mia. Great songs, but not even Meryl and Julie could save it in my opinion.
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Post by Nick on May 30, 2013 20:03:05 GMT
I cringed too
More or less anyone can write a flimsy plot connecting already hugely popular and established songs....and fans of that group will listen to any old rubbish just to hear the songs performed
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Post by pearly queen on May 1, 2015 18:40:10 GMT
Oh dear. Sounds awful. Ben Elton stopped being funny years ago. I love Queen but have no intention of ever seeing We Will Rock You and I'm glad he never wrote Rock of Ages (musical, not awful film). Patsy When I saw your pic of Kevin Kennedy I remembered this earlier discussion about how Ben Elton is a sold-out one trick pony. So... how was it being trapped on a boat in the middle of the sea, with no escape from We Will Rock You?  |
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Post by RitaLittlewood on May 2, 2015 22:17:54 GMT
LMAO! Well it was free - apart from paying for the cruise.  |
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