That Wacky Redhead
- Thread starter Brainbin
- Start date
Welcome aboard, Mr. Teufel, not only to this thread but also to the board in general, and thank you for kindly bestowing your very first post upon That Wacky Redhead!
Those famous sound effects - you know the ones - will be sorely missedMr Teufel said:I'm disappointed you've butterflied away "The Six Million Dollar Man".
Hmmm, not bad! I'll have to remember that.Mr Teufel said:
Uh, thank you. Uh, thank you very muchMr Teufel said:
Fair enough, I've noticed that the lack of allegory was a fairly common criticism about the reboot film, and I admit that it really was a nothing plot (with a nothing villain). From what I can tell, it seems that they're definitely working on that for the sequel, so we'll have to see how it turns out. All I can hope for at this point are for the Captain, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Ensign Ricky to form a landing party and beam down to the planet. That was also sadly missing from the first film.Mr Teufel said:
I think you hit the nail on the head, here; if there were more character moments, I think we would have forgiven the thinness of the plot. Urban was superb in the movie, acquitting himself magnificently (and as I've said before, it's only fitting that the actor who plays Dr. McCoy really commit to the material, as that's what DeForest Kelley always did). I'm really not crazy about Quinto as Spock, though I wonder if that's because he so obviously pales in comparison to Nimoy, who (unfortunately for Quinto) is apparently going to have a part in the sequel, again overshadowing him. (My feelings about Chris Pine as Kirk are somewhere in between those extremes - as it should be.)Mr Teufel said:
From everything I've heard, Mork and Mindy was largely the product of Williams' ad-libbing anyway, which is basically what he's doing on The Richard Pryor Show (along with, as IOTL, prodigious amounts of cocaine). I've even given Pam Dawber a soft landing on Three's Company. So it could be a lot worseMr Teufel said:You butterflied Mork and Mindy?!
I loved that show. I'm not too keen on much else Robin Williams has done. But Mork was hilarious.
Well then! Welcome aboard, wolfram! Hmmm, looks like I'm going to have to push the end terminus of my chart forward by a few years...
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Finally, a special note: I would like to thank each and every one of you for your 350,000 views of this thread! Your continued support has been most obliged.
From everything I've heard, Mork and Mindy was largely the product of Williams' ad-libbing anyway, which is basically what he's doing on The Richard Pryor Show (along with, as IOTL, prodigious amounts of cocaine). I've even given Pam Dawber a soft landing on Three's Company. So it could be a lot worse
Yes, but will you give Jonathan Winters a vehicle too?
I know I'm a bit late here, but I really loved the update!
Science Fiction Land sounds awesome! Hmm... it reminds me of something I read about. Apparently in the aftermath of Star Wars' success IOTL, a massively-budgeted film adaption of the sci-fi novel Lords of Light was planned, with art design by none other than Jack Kirby. The plan was to build a massive series of sets on location in Colorado, then once production wrapped, they'd be used as the basis for a theme park.
Obviously this plan never came to fruition, but it went as far as a finished screenplay. A screenplay that the CIA managed to get its hands on in order to use for a clandestine operation. For the purposes of the mission, the script was retitled... Argo.
Were these two ideas interrelated?
Science Fiction Land sounds awesome! Hmm... it reminds me of something I read about. Apparently in the aftermath of Star Wars' success IOTL, a massively-budgeted film adaption of the sci-fi novel Lords of Light was planned, with art design by none other than Jack Kirby. The plan was to build a massive series of sets on location in Colorado, then once production wrapped, they'd be used as the basis for a theme park.
Obviously this plan never came to fruition, but it went as far as a finished screenplay. A screenplay that the CIA managed to get its hands on in order to use for a clandestine operation. For the purposes of the mission, the script was retitled... Argo.
Were these two ideas interrelated?
JSmith
Banned
Yes.I made a post about it on pag 118 https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=220395&page=118
Thanks! I've heard of these boards before, but wasn't keen on the political alts. And I'm a long term Trek fan.
I certainly know the ones. I had the action figure - I loved the 'bionic eye', too.Those famous sound effects - you know the ones - will be sorely missed
I wonder if someone else won't try something more serious with Martin Caiden's novels.
I've been thinking on this. 'Mork' was one of Robin's original acts, wasn't he? Then I see no reason he wouldn't do Mork skits on TRPS.From everything I've heard, Mork and Mindy was largely the product of Williams' ad-libbing anyway, which is basically what he's doing on The Richard Pryor Show (along with, as IOTL, prodigious amounts of cocaine). I've even given Pam Dawber a soft landing on Three's Company. So it could be a lot worse
Re: the AIP
Brainbin,
You mentioned that the Religious Right encompassed significant portions of the OTL Religious Right. Does that mean they don't form a Moral Majority alliance with other social conservative forces, like, say, the (mostly-Catholic, mostly-integration-neutral) pro-life movement? I just really don't see the Catholic Church aligning with a party more explicit in its roots to the white backlash, especially in the 70s.
Brainbin,
You mentioned that the Religious Right encompassed significant portions of the OTL Religious Right. Does that mean they don't form a Moral Majority alliance with other social conservative forces, like, say, the (mostly-Catholic, mostly-integration-neutral) pro-life movement? I just really don't see the Catholic Church aligning with a party more explicit in its roots to the white backlash, especially in the 70s.
Back to British Telly
Back To British Telly
The great ocean – often called, with characteristic irony, “The Pond” – which separated the United States from the United Kingdom had been successfully traversed by transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, allowing for permanent telecommunications between the two powers from that point forward. Over a century later, as technologies had evolved far beyond the capabilities of that original medium, ever-faster ships – followed by, eventually, ever-faster planes – reduced trips that had once taken weeks to a matter of hours; still, the vast physical distances remained. Television, the most advanced and ubiquitous form of media from the 1950s onward, was wholly dependent on radio signals which were transferred along the airwaves. Though this state of affairs was starting to change by the late 1970s, the status quo ensured that signals produced stateside or in the British Isles could never cross, which resulted in programming largely unique to either side. The use of film, videotape, and syndication did allow for a certain degree of overlap, however, especially as each market became more aware of trends taking place in the other. And trends in the British Isles were certainly most noteworthy…
Echoing the many major television events taking place stateside in the mid-to-late-1970s, perhaps the pièce de résistance of British television in this era – and certainly the most widely-viewed event of such, with an audience of over 30 million [1], more than half the population at the time – was the appearance on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special of December 25, 1977, by HRH The Prince of Wales (often, though incorrectly, referred to as simply Prince Charles), the Heir Apparent to the throne of United Kingdom and that of all the other Commonwealth Realms. His Royal Highness had been an admirer of Morecambe and Wise, as were most of his future subjects throughout Great Britain; and, against the advice of his courtiers, he consented to making this unprecedented (though pre-recorded) appearance. He featured in the climax to a sketch in which both Morecambe and Wise bluffed about having made the acquaintances of various people, none of whom either of them had obviously ever met. Both of them, naturally, took the time to note their intimate friendship with the Prince of Wales – through female relatives, given his status as the world’s most eligible bachelor – only for them to suddenly cross his path, at which point he firmly (though very politely) rebuffed their appeals to recall having ever met them. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with you at all,” was his famous line, an obvious bit of meta-humour at the pair being household names (“even at Buckingham Palace”, writer Eddie Braben shrewdly observed). This show-stopping turn by the Prince of Wales was very well-received by the press, though one reviewer was jokingly dismissive: “Call me when they manage to have Hirohito make a guest appearance”. This was in reference to singular talents of producer John Ammonds, who was said to have the ability to book anyone to appear on Morecambe and Wise. [2] Whether Ammonds actually tried to get in touch with the Emperor of Japan (and former adversary to the British Empire) in response to this challenge was unknown.
However, Morecambe and Wise, though undeniably popular, were only renowned on their side of the Pond. One of the several phenomena which was felt on both sides of the Pond, on the other hand, was Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the seminal, anarchic, and Dadaist sketch-comedy series. The long-awaited second film to be produced by the troupe (the first had been a compilation of popular sketches) was finally released in 1974, after repeated delays for additional fundraising, re-writes, and re-shoots. [3] American investors wielded considerable influence on the ultimate shape of the film at every stage of development – beginning with the title. A comedic spin on the Arthurian legend, the film was originally to be called Monty Python and the Matter of Britain before this was turned down flat, given what producers perceived as an obvious lack of appeal to potential American viewers. Cleese, in regaling later audiences with the labyrinthine story of the film’s development, would often attribute this veto to an unnamed Texan investor, putting on a ridiculous accent as he imitated him: “He was a short little fellow – half his height alone came from his ten-gallon hat and his impressively high-heeled cowboy boots with the spurs attached”. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was rejected after continued plot revisions, with the title Monty Python and Camelot eventually being chosen instead. In the United States, the term “Camelot” was associated almost entirely with the Kennedy administration by the mid-1970s, thanks to the incumbent President Humphrey referring quite incessantly to his predecessor. “It’s about time we took that back for ourselves,” another investor was apocryphally claimed to have said. [4]
The ultimate question of the movie’s plot, naturally a subject of great deliberation amongst the sextet of Pythons, was essentially answered for them after producers on both sides of the Pond insisted that Connie Booth, known for her past role on Doctor Who (and more popular as an individual than any of the Pythons, including her husband John Cleese), play a key part in the film. It was a relatively new situation for the Pythons, a men’s club through and through, for they had played most of the female parts in Flying Circus themselves, unless the role specifically called for a genuinely attractive woman – in which case they usually enlisted Carol Cleveland, whose… “assets” as a performer were best demonstrated by their affectionate nickname for her, “Carol Cleavage”. Cleveland would indeed be involved in the film, but Booth would have to play the female lead – Queen Guinevere. [5] This was actually quite serendipitous for the Pythons, as they had already decided that Cleese would play Lancelot. Graham Chapman – who was openly homosexual – played King Arthur, allowing for plenty of comedy to be wrung out of that very skewed interpretation of the classic love triangle. This romantic element was set against a backdrop of post-Roman Britain defending itself against the Saxon incursions starting in the fifth century. In fact, the opening scene of the film depicted the last Roman general (facetiously named “Biggus Dickus”) leading his troops off the island of Britannia and leaving the Britons “in God’s hands”. [6] This set up the righteousness of Arthur’s reign (his pulling of the Sword from the Stone was depicted in animations by Terry Gilliam) before the film settled into a groove of comedic Arthurian set pieces. Though only a modest hit at the box-office (having been released in 1974, the tagline in the United States was “If you only see one British film this year, make it Moonraker” [7]), it did well enough for investors to entertain the possibility of a second film, though none of the Pythons were particularly fond of any suggestions for plots or settings; the only one which many of them had felt had showed the most promise – a satire of organized religion set during Biblical times – was flatly rejected by American investors. [8]
Cleese, whose departure from Monty Python’s Flying Circus had sealed its fate, was unsurprisingly not thrilled with working on the film, despite it having been a good experience overall, and had no desire to work on a sequel anytime soon. His true passion, one that had remained with him through the years, was to tell a story about a man running a hotel. The seed had been planted by an unforgettable experience at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, whose proprietor was a highly eccentric individual by the name of Donald Sinclair. He was one of those people who proved that reality was indeed stranger than fiction; and Cleese knew, after having been exposed to his shenanigans, that he would love to write and star in a television program about a similar character. The BBC, having been the previous home of the Pythons, was the obvious first port of call. But despite their established relationship, executives at the network were initially lukewarm on his rather peculiar pitch; that is, until Cleese informed them that he wanted his wife to co-write in and co-star for the show with him (she had virtually no role in the scripting for Camelot, but the pair had written together for the stage). At that point, the excitement became palpable – even as late as 1975, Booth continued to… arouse strong feelings from the right kinds of audiences on both sides of the Pond. By the same token, they were wary of both Cleese and Booth, given their established record for abandoning popular shows at their very peak. Although there was something to be said for quitting while you were ahead, that was not a notion which carried much weight in the television industry – even at the publicly-owned and operated BBC. The couple offered to write for a single season of six episodes, with an option for a second season to be exercised at their discretion. The network countered with a demand for two thirteen-episode seasons upfront, with an option for a third to be exercised at the discretion of the BBC. This unusually high number of episodes (for a British sitcom, at any rate) made a great deal more sense when factoring in the potential for sales to the lucrative American market – feelers were even put out to Desilu, as it was becoming apparent by the mid-1970s that the American studio was increasingly returning to its sitcom roots (as that year had notably marked the end of the Doctor Who distribution agreement).
As for Cleese and Booth, they flat-out refused what they saw as a ludicrous proposal, despite the fact that both Monty Python and Doctor Who had production seasons of at least thirteen episodes during their respective runs. They threatened to take their pitch to ITV, before negotiations yielded a sensible compromise (though Cleese would later admit that his threat was a bluff). There would be one season of eight episodes, followed by an option for a second, at the discretion of the BBC, and then possibly a third, though at the discretion of the creator couple. [9] Fawlty Towers would star Cleese as pompous, overbearing hotelier Basil Fawlty; Booth was not to play his wife Sybil (the only woman who could instill fear in Basil), but the mild-mannered, sensible maid, Polly (who also attended art school). Rounding out the staff were the Spaniard waiter, Manuel (who could barely speak English), and the Cockney chef, Terry; [10] the only other regulars were the long-term guests residing at the hotel. The first season aired in February and March of 1976 and was – unsurprisingly, given its pedigree – very successful. The second season, immediately green-lit by the BBC, had not yet gone into production by the time the show had aired stateside, on PBS. Meanwhile, in Canada, the first season of Fawlty Towers aired on the CBC in the autumn of 1976, as part of the expanded roster of British-made shows on that network (the result of a separate situation entirely). The second season of Fawlty Towers aired in the autumn of 1977. Working so diligently on their scripts (revisions on some of them took months) put a tremendous strain on the marriage of Cleese and Booth; the two divorced in early 1978. [11] Naturally, they also declined to exercise the option to write and star in a third season of Fawlty Towers, though perhaps someday they could be persuaded to change their minds…
Doctor Who, meanwhile, continued apace, the Yank Years now well and truly behind them. The budget, as a result, dropped precipitously; fans were ambivalent. The show certainly no longer looked anywhere near as good as it originally had, but there was an undeniable (and to a certain contingent of viewers, irresistible) back-to-basics feel that evoked the tenures of the First and Second Doctors. Incidentally, the BBC had wiped the episodes depicting their adventures from their archives; this necessitated a sheepish call on their part to Desilu, which retained the syndication copies made back in 1971. [12] Jim Dale and Jane Seymour had excellent chemistry and were strong candidates for being the finest Doctor-Companion pairing in the history of the program. Seymour remained with Doctor Who for four seasons, the longest consecutive tenure of any companion, departing only when she was chosen to appear as the female lead in the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, which would be released in 1980. [13] Aware that she would be departing, producers allowed her reduced participation in her final season, working to groom replacement Companions – male and female – for the Doctor. Dale, for his part, soldiered on without Seymour, happy with his role as the Fourth Doctor; in the process, he endeared himself to British audiences, cementing the “Pertwee vs. Dale” debates that would dominate the fandom on that side of the Pond forever after. And besides, no matter how far the visual effects and overall art direction for Doctor Who had declined from its height during the years of the collaboration between the BBC and Desilu, it still remained head-and-shoulders above any other genre programming on British television. The only show(s) that had been able to compete, the UFO series of programs, had come to an end shortly after the departure of Michael Billington, in order to become James Bond; this was a recurring theme on many high-profile British shows, dating back to the 1960s. Jane Seymour was the latest in a very long line of these performers, which also included two co-stars of The Avengers: Honor Blackman, who played Cathy Gale, left to appear in Goldfinger as the iconic Pussy Galore; Diana Rigg, who replaced her as the legendary Mrs Emma Peel, would also depart for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, playing Teresa di Vicenzo, better known as Tracy Bond, the one woman who had captured the heart of 007. But as far as inferior visuals went, rebuttals to the decline of Doctor Who came in the form of three simple words: The Tomorrow People. Indeed, it was perhaps the endurance of that ITV “ripoff” (which actually owed a great deal more to Star Trek than to Doctor Who, as did so many 1970s science-fiction programs on both sides of the Pond) that made the “shock” of Doctor Who coming back down to Earth seem less abrupt – even at its very best, The Tomorrow People was clearly inferior to Doctor Who at its very worst, in that department. Notably, it failed to make the crossing of the Pond, even after the science-fiction revival started in the mid-1970s. Another product of this movement was the dystopic Blake’s 7, created by one-time Doctor Who writer Terry Nation (the creator of that program’s most notorious adversary, the Daleks). As with many other science-fiction properties of the time, Blake’s 7 owed a great deal to the Western genre (despite the fact that said genre obviously did not have cultural resonance on the islands which had not constituted “frontier” territory for over a millennium). Nation had developed Blake’s 7 largely in response to the optimism of Star Trek (though in reality, the political situation depicted in that series was a great deal more nuanced and complex than the interstellar utopia often depicted in parodies), and indeed he had shopped the show around stateside first, but had no luck. American viewers were willing to accept depressing shows that depicted harsh realities set in the here and now, but far-future settings were much more the province of escapism. It was only when Nation reluctantly returned to England that he was able to sell his show to the BBC. It told the tale of a group of escaped prisoners (the titular seven, led by none other than Blake) on the run from the evil, totalitarian Confederation. [14]
Outside of speculative fiction, many shows found themselves crossing the Pond, continuing a tradition that was kicked into high gear with Till Death Us Do Part and Steptoe and Son. The popular Man About the House sitcom had been successfully adapted in the form of Three’s Company, though the two spinoffs produced from the original series (Mildred and George and Robin’s Nest) had not yet seen transatlantic counterparts, largely because Desilu (the studio producing the show stateside) did not want to tamper with a winning formula. In addition, another hit show, The Liver Birds – which featured two young women from the northern industrial city of Liverpool – was also to be sent over the United States, set in Baltimore. Greater emphasis, however, was placed on the female leads working their blue-collar jobs as opposed to their home lives, reflecting the socioeconomic realities of the time. [15] None of these shows, however, were quite as successful as one which did not make the crossing: the classic situation of the impoverished aristocrat and the nouveau riche lower-class merchant was given a romantic twist with To The Manor Born, the story of a widow who could not afford to maintain her late husband’s estate, being forced to sell it to a grocer whose family hailed from Eastern Europe. She continued to live in a cottage on the estate, with her faithful servant, and often found herself in conflict with her new landlord. Given the primacy of class-based humour in the United Kingdom, it was not surprising that the show was so successful, and that the more egalitarian-oriented United States might not prove as receptive a market for it. But adults weren’t the only people watching television, of course; children were less conscious of class, and also more receptive to visual styles that might charitably be described as “trippy”. This was especially true of those programs produced by Stop Frame Productions, which (as the name might suggest) was particularly fond of stop-motion animation (also known as “Claymation”, given the use of modeling clay as the preferred artistic medium). [16] The more psychedelic children’s entertainment produced by studios such as Stop Frame was juxtaposed with renewed interest in an old standby, the children’s puppet show Sooty, which saw a changing of the guard from the original puppeteer, Harry Corbett, to his son, Matthew. Its popularity withstood even the arrival of a British-produced sister program to the American Sesame Street, which was named Sesame Square; the alliteration had allowed that name to win out over the more fun-sounding Sesame Circus. [17] It was produced by ITV (the BBC having been unimpressed, and even somewhat dismayed, by their pedagogical techniques). The Spanish-language and American culture segments on the original program were replaced with those deemed more relevant to British children; these were filmed at Elstree Studios.
Long-running British sitcoms, such as Are You Being Served?, continued to remain popular, even after casting changes – venerable character actor Arthur Brough, who played senior menswear salesman Mr Ernest Grainger (played as an over-the-hill, somewhat cuddly Winston Churchill type) had decided to retire from the program following the death of his beloved wife – the episode “Goodbye Mr Grainger” was written to give him a proper send-off. [18] The decision was made to promote the popular Mr Humphries character to senior, and the layabout “everyman” type Mr Lucas to associate. This was considered a key strategic decision, as Lucas – played by Trevor Bannister – was originally written as the main character, before becoming eclipsed by his talented roster of co-stars. One fewer person to compete with was just fine by his reckoning. [19] Are You Being Served? co-writer David Croft obviously had proven experience with older, veteran actors, as they were the entire focus (as opposed to playing nominally supporting roles) in another sitcom of his, Dad’s Army, which was a period piece set in the Home Front of World War II. The show actually predated Are You Being Served?, and ended prior to the death of Brough; in fact, the idea of re-casting Grainger with one of the now-unemployed actors from the earlier program was briefly floated, though just as quickly dismissed. Dad’s Army, as the name might suggest, depicted the lives of those men who were too old to serve in combat, and were obliged to contribute through less direct – but no less essential – means. Initial concerns that the program would belittle or dismiss the efforts of the Home Guard (a running gag on Are You Being Served? was the denigration of the “Captain Peacock” character, who claimed to have fought against Rommel but was actually an army caterer [20]) were fortunately found unwarranted. In fact, the same writing team behind Dad’s Army worked on a later program, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, which actually was set on the Front, in what was then known as the British Raj (though in the closing days of the Second World War, so as to avoid excessive encounters with the Japanese). The plot entailed the day-to-day interactions of the British troops with the Indian natives – creating an obvious parallel subtext to the situation in the United Kingdom, which saw large influxes of immigrants from the former Raj settling in the domain of their one-time colonial masters. It was a classic shorthand for the changes facing the world as distances continued to shrink in the modern age, including those once-vast oceans…
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[1] IOTL, “only” 28 million viewers are claimed to have watched their 1977 Christmas Special; the presence of Prince Charles is enough to boost those figures further.
[2] Prince Charles did not appear on Morecambe and Wise IOTL, though Ammonds vigorously sought to secure his presence, and he is thus “the one that got away”.
[3] Still a year earlier than IOTL, which saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail released in 1975.
[4] Obviously, IOTL, they went with “…and the Holy Grail” instead of “…and Camelot”.
[5] Booth appeared in only a single scene IOTL, playing a (suspected) witch. ITTL, her higher profile radically alters the plot structure of the film, which now focuses on the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot triangle as a result. This does allow them to spoof a fair number of love triangle and romance-related tropes that they could not IOTL.
[6] The film was a good deal less historically accurate IOTL, set in “England 932 A.D.” – which was during the reign of Athelstan, by some reckonings the first effective King of England, though by this time any “King of the Britons” would have far more to fear from the Danes than from the Saxons, for obvious reasons. The character of Biggus Dickus, of course, appeared IOTL in a later Python film – and with all due respect, I have no doubt that it took the Pythons all of five seconds to come up with that name.
[7] Inspired by the OTL tagline: “Makes Ben-Hur look like an epic”.
[8] Greater mainstream success earlier on can be a double-edged sword. Thus, roadblocks have prevented anything like the OTL Life of Brian film from coming to fruition.
[9] The OTL agreement yielded just one season of six episodes; it soon became clear that the option to produce a second, of equal length, rested with Cleese and Booth.
[10] Sybil Fawlty is not played by Prunella Scales ITTL, as Cleese wanted another (unnamed) actress for the part IOTL, and thus it is she who plays Sybil. Note also that the chef Terry (who joined the cast for the second season IOTL) is part of the show from the outset.
[11] IOTL, the first season aired in the autumn of 1975; the second would not follow until 1979, by which time Cleese and Booth had divorced (just as they would do ITTL).
[12] A sheepish call that, sadly, could not have been made IOTL, resulting in a perpetual search for new leads to recover those lost episodes for the past three decades.
[13] Seymour was the principal Bond Girl in Live and Let Die IOTL, which was released in 1973. The more mature Seymour ITTL plays the more complicated role of Anya Amasova (portrayed IOTL by Barbara Bach), regarded as one of the finest Bond Girls, up there in the highest echelons with Honey Ryder, Pussy Galore, and Tracy Bond.
[14] Or, in a particularly blatant nod to the program’s modus operandi as the anti-Star Trek, simply the Federation IOTL. The BBC, who ITTL have a good working relationship with Desilu and intend to keep it that way, refuse to allow Nation to go ahead with calling his evil empire that, much to his chagrin.
[15] The Liver Birds never made the transatlantic crossing IOTL; but note the lack of a Laverne & Shirley ITTL, and then re-examine the plans for the adaptation.
[16] Stop Frame ceased to be in 1975 IOTL, but was resurrected as Cosgrove Hall, under which name most of the principal artists did some of their most successful work. ITTL, the original company survives, due to the vagaries of the business world, though its output is largely similar to that of the later OTL company.
[17] For an example of how a British version of Sesame Street might graft local colour onto the skeleton of the American program, consider the OTL (and TTL) example of Canadian Sesame Street. And yes, those sets at Elstree are the very same ones that, IOTL, housed those of The Muppet Show.
[18] The episode “Goodbye, Mr Grainger” existed IOTL as well, though it ended with the character remaining at Grace Bros. Department Store; Brough’s wife died during the off-season, at which point he declined to return, necessitating a re-cast (actually, a series thereof). Brough died shortly thereafter, IOTL and ITTL.
[19] Bannister departed from the program in 1979 IOTL, but will remain in place until the bitter end ITTL.
[20] Precise character details on Are You Being Served? were generally subject to the Rule of Funny, but consensus seems to be that Captain Peacock served in the Royal Army Service Corps, which (needless to say) made his contributions invaluable toward the war effort, despite the lack of glory from serving on the front lines.
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Thanks to Thande for his advice and suggestions in the making of this update!
So here we have another look at the Telly across the Pond! I hope that this helps to answer some of your many questions. There will be more, of course – this timeline still has the better part of a decade to go, after all – and we’ll be hearing a good deal more about British society in the very immediate future. But I certainly can’t start talking about politics without exploring the underlying popular culture first! I mean, who could possibly imagine doing such a thing?
The great ocean – often called, with characteristic irony, “The Pond” – which separated the United States from the United Kingdom had been successfully traversed by transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, allowing for permanent telecommunications between the two powers from that point forward. Over a century later, as technologies had evolved far beyond the capabilities of that original medium, ever-faster ships – followed by, eventually, ever-faster planes – reduced trips that had once taken weeks to a matter of hours; still, the vast physical distances remained. Television, the most advanced and ubiquitous form of media from the 1950s onward, was wholly dependent on radio signals which were transferred along the airwaves. Though this state of affairs was starting to change by the late 1970s, the status quo ensured that signals produced stateside or in the British Isles could never cross, which resulted in programming largely unique to either side. The use of film, videotape, and syndication did allow for a certain degree of overlap, however, especially as each market became more aware of trends taking place in the other. And trends in the British Isles were certainly most noteworthy…
Echoing the many major television events taking place stateside in the mid-to-late-1970s, perhaps the pièce de résistance of British television in this era – and certainly the most widely-viewed event of such, with an audience of over 30 million [1], more than half the population at the time – was the appearance on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special of December 25, 1977, by HRH The Prince of Wales (often, though incorrectly, referred to as simply Prince Charles), the Heir Apparent to the throne of United Kingdom and that of all the other Commonwealth Realms. His Royal Highness had been an admirer of Morecambe and Wise, as were most of his future subjects throughout Great Britain; and, against the advice of his courtiers, he consented to making this unprecedented (though pre-recorded) appearance. He featured in the climax to a sketch in which both Morecambe and Wise bluffed about having made the acquaintances of various people, none of whom either of them had obviously ever met. Both of them, naturally, took the time to note their intimate friendship with the Prince of Wales – through female relatives, given his status as the world’s most eligible bachelor – only for them to suddenly cross his path, at which point he firmly (though very politely) rebuffed their appeals to recall having ever met them. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with you at all,” was his famous line, an obvious bit of meta-humour at the pair being household names (“even at Buckingham Palace”, writer Eddie Braben shrewdly observed). This show-stopping turn by the Prince of Wales was very well-received by the press, though one reviewer was jokingly dismissive: “Call me when they manage to have Hirohito make a guest appearance”. This was in reference to singular talents of producer John Ammonds, who was said to have the ability to book anyone to appear on Morecambe and Wise. [2] Whether Ammonds actually tried to get in touch with the Emperor of Japan (and former adversary to the British Empire) in response to this challenge was unknown.
However, Morecambe and Wise, though undeniably popular, were only renowned on their side of the Pond. One of the several phenomena which was felt on both sides of the Pond, on the other hand, was Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the seminal, anarchic, and Dadaist sketch-comedy series. The long-awaited second film to be produced by the troupe (the first had been a compilation of popular sketches) was finally released in 1974, after repeated delays for additional fundraising, re-writes, and re-shoots. [3] American investors wielded considerable influence on the ultimate shape of the film at every stage of development – beginning with the title. A comedic spin on the Arthurian legend, the film was originally to be called Monty Python and the Matter of Britain before this was turned down flat, given what producers perceived as an obvious lack of appeal to potential American viewers. Cleese, in regaling later audiences with the labyrinthine story of the film’s development, would often attribute this veto to an unnamed Texan investor, putting on a ridiculous accent as he imitated him: “He was a short little fellow – half his height alone came from his ten-gallon hat and his impressively high-heeled cowboy boots with the spurs attached”. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was rejected after continued plot revisions, with the title Monty Python and Camelot eventually being chosen instead. In the United States, the term “Camelot” was associated almost entirely with the Kennedy administration by the mid-1970s, thanks to the incumbent President Humphrey referring quite incessantly to his predecessor. “It’s about time we took that back for ourselves,” another investor was apocryphally claimed to have said. [4]
The ultimate question of the movie’s plot, naturally a subject of great deliberation amongst the sextet of Pythons, was essentially answered for them after producers on both sides of the Pond insisted that Connie Booth, known for her past role on Doctor Who (and more popular as an individual than any of the Pythons, including her husband John Cleese), play a key part in the film. It was a relatively new situation for the Pythons, a men’s club through and through, for they had played most of the female parts in Flying Circus themselves, unless the role specifically called for a genuinely attractive woman – in which case they usually enlisted Carol Cleveland, whose… “assets” as a performer were best demonstrated by their affectionate nickname for her, “Carol Cleavage”. Cleveland would indeed be involved in the film, but Booth would have to play the female lead – Queen Guinevere. [5] This was actually quite serendipitous for the Pythons, as they had already decided that Cleese would play Lancelot. Graham Chapman – who was openly homosexual – played King Arthur, allowing for plenty of comedy to be wrung out of that very skewed interpretation of the classic love triangle. This romantic element was set against a backdrop of post-Roman Britain defending itself against the Saxon incursions starting in the fifth century. In fact, the opening scene of the film depicted the last Roman general (facetiously named “Biggus Dickus”) leading his troops off the island of Britannia and leaving the Britons “in God’s hands”. [6] This set up the righteousness of Arthur’s reign (his pulling of the Sword from the Stone was depicted in animations by Terry Gilliam) before the film settled into a groove of comedic Arthurian set pieces. Though only a modest hit at the box-office (having been released in 1974, the tagline in the United States was “If you only see one British film this year, make it Moonraker” [7]), it did well enough for investors to entertain the possibility of a second film, though none of the Pythons were particularly fond of any suggestions for plots or settings; the only one which many of them had felt had showed the most promise – a satire of organized religion set during Biblical times – was flatly rejected by American investors. [8]
Cleese, whose departure from Monty Python’s Flying Circus had sealed its fate, was unsurprisingly not thrilled with working on the film, despite it having been a good experience overall, and had no desire to work on a sequel anytime soon. His true passion, one that had remained with him through the years, was to tell a story about a man running a hotel. The seed had been planted by an unforgettable experience at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, whose proprietor was a highly eccentric individual by the name of Donald Sinclair. He was one of those people who proved that reality was indeed stranger than fiction; and Cleese knew, after having been exposed to his shenanigans, that he would love to write and star in a television program about a similar character. The BBC, having been the previous home of the Pythons, was the obvious first port of call. But despite their established relationship, executives at the network were initially lukewarm on his rather peculiar pitch; that is, until Cleese informed them that he wanted his wife to co-write in and co-star for the show with him (she had virtually no role in the scripting for Camelot, but the pair had written together for the stage). At that point, the excitement became palpable – even as late as 1975, Booth continued to… arouse strong feelings from the right kinds of audiences on both sides of the Pond. By the same token, they were wary of both Cleese and Booth, given their established record for abandoning popular shows at their very peak. Although there was something to be said for quitting while you were ahead, that was not a notion which carried much weight in the television industry – even at the publicly-owned and operated BBC. The couple offered to write for a single season of six episodes, with an option for a second season to be exercised at their discretion. The network countered with a demand for two thirteen-episode seasons upfront, with an option for a third to be exercised at the discretion of the BBC. This unusually high number of episodes (for a British sitcom, at any rate) made a great deal more sense when factoring in the potential for sales to the lucrative American market – feelers were even put out to Desilu, as it was becoming apparent by the mid-1970s that the American studio was increasingly returning to its sitcom roots (as that year had notably marked the end of the Doctor Who distribution agreement).
As for Cleese and Booth, they flat-out refused what they saw as a ludicrous proposal, despite the fact that both Monty Python and Doctor Who had production seasons of at least thirteen episodes during their respective runs. They threatened to take their pitch to ITV, before negotiations yielded a sensible compromise (though Cleese would later admit that his threat was a bluff). There would be one season of eight episodes, followed by an option for a second, at the discretion of the BBC, and then possibly a third, though at the discretion of the creator couple. [9] Fawlty Towers would star Cleese as pompous, overbearing hotelier Basil Fawlty; Booth was not to play his wife Sybil (the only woman who could instill fear in Basil), but the mild-mannered, sensible maid, Polly (who also attended art school). Rounding out the staff were the Spaniard waiter, Manuel (who could barely speak English), and the Cockney chef, Terry; [10] the only other regulars were the long-term guests residing at the hotel. The first season aired in February and March of 1976 and was – unsurprisingly, given its pedigree – very successful. The second season, immediately green-lit by the BBC, had not yet gone into production by the time the show had aired stateside, on PBS. Meanwhile, in Canada, the first season of Fawlty Towers aired on the CBC in the autumn of 1976, as part of the expanded roster of British-made shows on that network (the result of a separate situation entirely). The second season of Fawlty Towers aired in the autumn of 1977. Working so diligently on their scripts (revisions on some of them took months) put a tremendous strain on the marriage of Cleese and Booth; the two divorced in early 1978. [11] Naturally, they also declined to exercise the option to write and star in a third season of Fawlty Towers, though perhaps someday they could be persuaded to change their minds…
Doctor Who, meanwhile, continued apace, the Yank Years now well and truly behind them. The budget, as a result, dropped precipitously; fans were ambivalent. The show certainly no longer looked anywhere near as good as it originally had, but there was an undeniable (and to a certain contingent of viewers, irresistible) back-to-basics feel that evoked the tenures of the First and Second Doctors. Incidentally, the BBC had wiped the episodes depicting their adventures from their archives; this necessitated a sheepish call on their part to Desilu, which retained the syndication copies made back in 1971. [12] Jim Dale and Jane Seymour had excellent chemistry and were strong candidates for being the finest Doctor-Companion pairing in the history of the program. Seymour remained with Doctor Who for four seasons, the longest consecutive tenure of any companion, departing only when she was chosen to appear as the female lead in the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, which would be released in 1980. [13] Aware that she would be departing, producers allowed her reduced participation in her final season, working to groom replacement Companions – male and female – for the Doctor. Dale, for his part, soldiered on without Seymour, happy with his role as the Fourth Doctor; in the process, he endeared himself to British audiences, cementing the “Pertwee vs. Dale” debates that would dominate the fandom on that side of the Pond forever after. And besides, no matter how far the visual effects and overall art direction for Doctor Who had declined from its height during the years of the collaboration between the BBC and Desilu, it still remained head-and-shoulders above any other genre programming on British television. The only show(s) that had been able to compete, the UFO series of programs, had come to an end shortly after the departure of Michael Billington, in order to become James Bond; this was a recurring theme on many high-profile British shows, dating back to the 1960s. Jane Seymour was the latest in a very long line of these performers, which also included two co-stars of The Avengers: Honor Blackman, who played Cathy Gale, left to appear in Goldfinger as the iconic Pussy Galore; Diana Rigg, who replaced her as the legendary Mrs Emma Peel, would also depart for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, playing Teresa di Vicenzo, better known as Tracy Bond, the one woman who had captured the heart of 007. But as far as inferior visuals went, rebuttals to the decline of Doctor Who came in the form of three simple words: The Tomorrow People. Indeed, it was perhaps the endurance of that ITV “ripoff” (which actually owed a great deal more to Star Trek than to Doctor Who, as did so many 1970s science-fiction programs on both sides of the Pond) that made the “shock” of Doctor Who coming back down to Earth seem less abrupt – even at its very best, The Tomorrow People was clearly inferior to Doctor Who at its very worst, in that department. Notably, it failed to make the crossing of the Pond, even after the science-fiction revival started in the mid-1970s. Another product of this movement was the dystopic Blake’s 7, created by one-time Doctor Who writer Terry Nation (the creator of that program’s most notorious adversary, the Daleks). As with many other science-fiction properties of the time, Blake’s 7 owed a great deal to the Western genre (despite the fact that said genre obviously did not have cultural resonance on the islands which had not constituted “frontier” territory for over a millennium). Nation had developed Blake’s 7 largely in response to the optimism of Star Trek (though in reality, the political situation depicted in that series was a great deal more nuanced and complex than the interstellar utopia often depicted in parodies), and indeed he had shopped the show around stateside first, but had no luck. American viewers were willing to accept depressing shows that depicted harsh realities set in the here and now, but far-future settings were much more the province of escapism. It was only when Nation reluctantly returned to England that he was able to sell his show to the BBC. It told the tale of a group of escaped prisoners (the titular seven, led by none other than Blake) on the run from the evil, totalitarian Confederation. [14]
Outside of speculative fiction, many shows found themselves crossing the Pond, continuing a tradition that was kicked into high gear with Till Death Us Do Part and Steptoe and Son. The popular Man About the House sitcom had been successfully adapted in the form of Three’s Company, though the two spinoffs produced from the original series (Mildred and George and Robin’s Nest) had not yet seen transatlantic counterparts, largely because Desilu (the studio producing the show stateside) did not want to tamper with a winning formula. In addition, another hit show, The Liver Birds – which featured two young women from the northern industrial city of Liverpool – was also to be sent over the United States, set in Baltimore. Greater emphasis, however, was placed on the female leads working their blue-collar jobs as opposed to their home lives, reflecting the socioeconomic realities of the time. [15] None of these shows, however, were quite as successful as one which did not make the crossing: the classic situation of the impoverished aristocrat and the nouveau riche lower-class merchant was given a romantic twist with To The Manor Born, the story of a widow who could not afford to maintain her late husband’s estate, being forced to sell it to a grocer whose family hailed from Eastern Europe. She continued to live in a cottage on the estate, with her faithful servant, and often found herself in conflict with her new landlord. Given the primacy of class-based humour in the United Kingdom, it was not surprising that the show was so successful, and that the more egalitarian-oriented United States might not prove as receptive a market for it. But adults weren’t the only people watching television, of course; children were less conscious of class, and also more receptive to visual styles that might charitably be described as “trippy”. This was especially true of those programs produced by Stop Frame Productions, which (as the name might suggest) was particularly fond of stop-motion animation (also known as “Claymation”, given the use of modeling clay as the preferred artistic medium). [16] The more psychedelic children’s entertainment produced by studios such as Stop Frame was juxtaposed with renewed interest in an old standby, the children’s puppet show Sooty, which saw a changing of the guard from the original puppeteer, Harry Corbett, to his son, Matthew. Its popularity withstood even the arrival of a British-produced sister program to the American Sesame Street, which was named Sesame Square; the alliteration had allowed that name to win out over the more fun-sounding Sesame Circus. [17] It was produced by ITV (the BBC having been unimpressed, and even somewhat dismayed, by their pedagogical techniques). The Spanish-language and American culture segments on the original program were replaced with those deemed more relevant to British children; these were filmed at Elstree Studios.
Long-running British sitcoms, such as Are You Being Served?, continued to remain popular, even after casting changes – venerable character actor Arthur Brough, who played senior menswear salesman Mr Ernest Grainger (played as an over-the-hill, somewhat cuddly Winston Churchill type) had decided to retire from the program following the death of his beloved wife – the episode “Goodbye Mr Grainger” was written to give him a proper send-off. [18] The decision was made to promote the popular Mr Humphries character to senior, and the layabout “everyman” type Mr Lucas to associate. This was considered a key strategic decision, as Lucas – played by Trevor Bannister – was originally written as the main character, before becoming eclipsed by his talented roster of co-stars. One fewer person to compete with was just fine by his reckoning. [19] Are You Being Served? co-writer David Croft obviously had proven experience with older, veteran actors, as they were the entire focus (as opposed to playing nominally supporting roles) in another sitcom of his, Dad’s Army, which was a period piece set in the Home Front of World War II. The show actually predated Are You Being Served?, and ended prior to the death of Brough; in fact, the idea of re-casting Grainger with one of the now-unemployed actors from the earlier program was briefly floated, though just as quickly dismissed. Dad’s Army, as the name might suggest, depicted the lives of those men who were too old to serve in combat, and were obliged to contribute through less direct – but no less essential – means. Initial concerns that the program would belittle or dismiss the efforts of the Home Guard (a running gag on Are You Being Served? was the denigration of the “Captain Peacock” character, who claimed to have fought against Rommel but was actually an army caterer [20]) were fortunately found unwarranted. In fact, the same writing team behind Dad’s Army worked on a later program, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, which actually was set on the Front, in what was then known as the British Raj (though in the closing days of the Second World War, so as to avoid excessive encounters with the Japanese). The plot entailed the day-to-day interactions of the British troops with the Indian natives – creating an obvious parallel subtext to the situation in the United Kingdom, which saw large influxes of immigrants from the former Raj settling in the domain of their one-time colonial masters. It was a classic shorthand for the changes facing the world as distances continued to shrink in the modern age, including those once-vast oceans…
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[1] IOTL, “only” 28 million viewers are claimed to have watched their 1977 Christmas Special; the presence of Prince Charles is enough to boost those figures further.
[2] Prince Charles did not appear on Morecambe and Wise IOTL, though Ammonds vigorously sought to secure his presence, and he is thus “the one that got away”.
[3] Still a year earlier than IOTL, which saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail released in 1975.
[4] Obviously, IOTL, they went with “…and the Holy Grail” instead of “…and Camelot”.
[5] Booth appeared in only a single scene IOTL, playing a (suspected) witch. ITTL, her higher profile radically alters the plot structure of the film, which now focuses on the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot triangle as a result. This does allow them to spoof a fair number of love triangle and romance-related tropes that they could not IOTL.
[6] The film was a good deal less historically accurate IOTL, set in “England 932 A.D.” – which was during the reign of Athelstan, by some reckonings the first effective King of England, though by this time any “King of the Britons” would have far more to fear from the Danes than from the Saxons, for obvious reasons. The character of Biggus Dickus, of course, appeared IOTL in a later Python film – and with all due respect, I have no doubt that it took the Pythons all of five seconds to come up with that name.
[7] Inspired by the OTL tagline: “Makes Ben-Hur look like an epic”.
[8] Greater mainstream success earlier on can be a double-edged sword. Thus, roadblocks have prevented anything like the OTL Life of Brian film from coming to fruition.
[9] The OTL agreement yielded just one season of six episodes; it soon became clear that the option to produce a second, of equal length, rested with Cleese and Booth.
[10] Sybil Fawlty is not played by Prunella Scales ITTL, as Cleese wanted another (unnamed) actress for the part IOTL, and thus it is she who plays Sybil. Note also that the chef Terry (who joined the cast for the second season IOTL) is part of the show from the outset.
[11] IOTL, the first season aired in the autumn of 1975; the second would not follow until 1979, by which time Cleese and Booth had divorced (just as they would do ITTL).
[12] A sheepish call that, sadly, could not have been made IOTL, resulting in a perpetual search for new leads to recover those lost episodes for the past three decades.
[13] Seymour was the principal Bond Girl in Live and Let Die IOTL, which was released in 1973. The more mature Seymour ITTL plays the more complicated role of Anya Amasova (portrayed IOTL by Barbara Bach), regarded as one of the finest Bond Girls, up there in the highest echelons with Honey Ryder, Pussy Galore, and Tracy Bond.
[14] Or, in a particularly blatant nod to the program’s modus operandi as the anti-Star Trek, simply the Federation IOTL. The BBC, who ITTL have a good working relationship with Desilu and intend to keep it that way, refuse to allow Nation to go ahead with calling his evil empire that, much to his chagrin.
[15] The Liver Birds never made the transatlantic crossing IOTL; but note the lack of a Laverne & Shirley ITTL, and then re-examine the plans for the adaptation.
[16] Stop Frame ceased to be in 1975 IOTL, but was resurrected as Cosgrove Hall, under which name most of the principal artists did some of their most successful work. ITTL, the original company survives, due to the vagaries of the business world, though its output is largely similar to that of the later OTL company.
[17] For an example of how a British version of Sesame Street might graft local colour onto the skeleton of the American program, consider the OTL (and TTL) example of Canadian Sesame Street. And yes, those sets at Elstree are the very same ones that, IOTL, housed those of The Muppet Show.
[18] The episode “Goodbye, Mr Grainger” existed IOTL as well, though it ended with the character remaining at Grace Bros. Department Store; Brough’s wife died during the off-season, at which point he declined to return, necessitating a re-cast (actually, a series thereof). Brough died shortly thereafter, IOTL and ITTL.
[19] Bannister departed from the program in 1979 IOTL, but will remain in place until the bitter end ITTL.
[20] Precise character details on Are You Being Served? were generally subject to the Rule of Funny, but consensus seems to be that Captain Peacock served in the Royal Army Service Corps, which (needless to say) made his contributions invaluable toward the war effort, despite the lack of glory from serving on the front lines.
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Thanks to Thande for his advice and suggestions in the making of this update!
So here we have another look at the Telly across the Pond! I hope that this helps to answer some of your many questions. There will be more, of course – this timeline still has the better part of a decade to go, after all – and we’ll be hearing a good deal more about British society in the very immediate future. But I certainly can’t start talking about politics without exploring the underlying popular culture first! I mean, who could possibly imagine doing such a thing?
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As you so often do, you've managed to take a wide range of material, and knit it together very well. As a longtime fan of the American version from before I could read, I note that Seseme Street made the crossing of the Pond--an interesting reminder that cultural cross-contamination is not just one-way.
Thande
Donor
Good update, I'm glad you were able to use some of the ideas I gave you.
I may have mentioned this before, but: I'm not sure about Sesame Street getting a British version...maybe if it was made by ITV perhaps. The BBC was always very hostile to Sesame Street when the idea of showing or remaking it here was mooted, calling it 'authoritarian and moralistic'. (See wiki article here). ITV was a bit reluctant as well in OTL but could perhaps be persuaded to do it, it fits their tone at the time rather better. I did see it growing up on Channel 4, but even Channel 4 dropped it a while back: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8340141.stm
I'm not sure about the name Sesame Square...depends if they wanted a direct association with the US version or not, and whether they wanted to sound exotic (which it does to our ears).
Re the point about Captain Peacock's war career or lack thereof, I always found it strangely ironic that his actor went on to play the role of Frank "Truly" Truelove on Last of the Summer Wine, who replaced Brian Wilde's Foggy Dewhirst -- the reason being that Foggy's schtick had also been being a supposed war veteran constantly boasting about his experiences while actually having been in a non-combat role.
I may have mentioned this before, but: I'm not sure about Sesame Street getting a British version...maybe if it was made by ITV perhaps. The BBC was always very hostile to Sesame Street when the idea of showing or remaking it here was mooted, calling it 'authoritarian and moralistic'. (See wiki article here). ITV was a bit reluctant as well in OTL but could perhaps be persuaded to do it, it fits their tone at the time rather better. I did see it growing up on Channel 4, but even Channel 4 dropped it a while back: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8340141.stm
I'm not sure about the name Sesame Square...depends if they wanted a direct association with the US version or not, and whether they wanted to sound exotic (which it does to our ears).
Re the point about Captain Peacock's war career or lack thereof, I always found it strangely ironic that his actor went on to play the role of Frank "Truly" Truelove on Last of the Summer Wine, who replaced Brian Wilde's Foggy Dewhirst -- the reason being that Foggy's schtick had also been being a supposed war veteran constantly boasting about his experiences while actually having been in a non-combat role.
Now that was a very full and extremely intriguing update.
Brilliant ! That might even result in an increase of popularity for the Prince.
Now that is a shame but not surprising. IOTL, the film was only made because George Harrison put up the money.
Interesting. Does the early success of the original series in the US mean that there won't be any attempts at American adaptions ? From what I've heard, these haven't been particularly successful.
How about the other Pythons ? Hopefully Palin and Jones still produce Ripping Yarns ITTL - maybe they even get the funding to complete the second season.
"Ripoff" is a bit strong - I'm not sure that The Tomorrow People deserves that. While the effects were inferior and some of the acting less than first class, the plots weren't that bad. Also the series was influenced by Star Trek more than Doctor Who. There was a background of a Galactic Federation and even though the telepaths could jaunt everywhere, they always arrived or departed their lab on a platform that looked similar to a Transporter.
Great ! I wonder if ITTL, Nation will introduce the Daleks into Blake’s 7. It was something that he considered at the end of the second season OTL.
IOTL, the female leads of The Liver Birds were two single girls (similar to Laverne & Shirley ) hence the pun on "Birds" in the title. Obviously as the series progresses, it could evolve into being about two housewives, but that wouldn't be for several seasons. IOTL, in season 9 one of the girls (Sandra) was married. Before that, both were single (Beryl got married as she left the series).
Cheers,
Nigel.
Brilliant ! That might even result in an increase of popularity for the Prince.
Now that is a shame but not surprising. IOTL, the film was only made because George Harrison put up the money.
Interesting. Does the early success of the original series in the US mean that there won't be any attempts at American adaptions ? From what I've heard, these haven't been particularly successful.
How about the other Pythons ? Hopefully Palin and Jones still produce Ripping Yarns ITTL - maybe they even get the funding to complete the second season.
"Ripoff" is a bit strong - I'm not sure that The Tomorrow People deserves that. While the effects were inferior and some of the acting less than first class, the plots weren't that bad. Also the series was influenced by Star Trek more than Doctor Who. There was a background of a Galactic Federation and even though the telepaths could jaunt everywhere, they always arrived or departed their lab on a platform that looked similar to a Transporter.
Great ! I wonder if ITTL, Nation will introduce the Daleks into Blake’s 7. It was something that he considered at the end of the second season OTL.
IOTL, the female leads of The Liver Birds were two single girls (similar to Laverne & Shirley ) hence the pun on "Birds" in the title. Obviously as the series progresses, it could evolve into being about two housewives, but that wouldn't be for several seasons. IOTL, in season 9 one of the girls (Sandra) was married. Before that, both were single (Beryl got married as she left the series).
Cheers,
Nigel.
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Thande
Donor
I forgot to mention that in a bit of a tragic coincidence, John Ammonds died last week.
I agree. The BBC definitely wouldn't make it. I can see ATV making it ITTL - they did produce Julie on Sesame Street OTL and I could see them developing that into their own version of Sesame Street since they didn't get to make The Muppet Show ITTL.
Cheers,
Nigel.
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Brainbin
Fascinating update. One big loss with no 'Life of Brian' but some interesting developments. Like the idea of Charles turning up on M&W. Although most of the humour there was in the way they treated their guest stars, especially Eric and that wouldn't be very practical with Prince Charles.
Would agree with a couple of comments. While its unrealistic pacifism grated on me I quite liked the Tomorrow People and think that if anything it copies more ST than DH. Also that as NCW8 says the Liver Birds were single, at least for most of the run. Gods that takes me back a bit as care barely remember either programme.
Steve
Fascinating update. One big loss with no 'Life of Brian'
but some interesting developments. Like the idea of Charles turning up on M&W. Although most of the humour there was in the way they treated their guest stars, especially Eric and that wouldn't be very practical with Prince Charles.Would agree with a couple of comments. While its unrealistic pacifism grated on me I quite liked the Tomorrow People and think that if anything it copies more ST than DH. Also that as NCW8 says the Liver Birds were single, at least for most of the run. Gods that takes me back a bit as care barely remember either programme.
Steve
Thande
Donor
Fascinating update. One big loss with no 'Life of Brian'
I don't think he'd mind, I remember him doing a similar sketch in OTL with some other comedians (I forget who) as part of the Royal Variety Performance in honour of his fiftieth birthday. He was willing to take part when John Ammonds approached him in OTL but the Palace vetoed it. So in OTL they had to content themself with former Prime Minister Harold Wilson instead.
I actually liked the update, Brainbin. Nice job. Though - let me say this - the way you described To The Manor Born leaves it WAY open for a potential version made in Canada, though based not on class humour but (since this is Canada we're talking about) based on something akin to Bon Cop, Bad Cop, at least in the beginning. Who knows, it would serve as a genuine CBC/Radio-Canada production by bridging the English and French units together and might prove to be a hit.
Well, nowadays Northern Ireland has its own version (ironically, in part made by the BBC) called Sesame Tree. Though TBH - as someone who watched some of the US version here in the 1990s - some of the criticism I find quite a bit funny, since I don't notice it. (Though I guess it's easier when one's a child to not notice these things.)
Thande
As you say he probably wouldn't mind. It would be other members of the firm that would be the problem.
Have a memory of him appearing in a dustbin, think it was in a university review. Also he probably did something with the Goons at some point as he was their most famous fan.
Steve
Nice to see that Fawlty Towers is longer ITTL, albeit by only 4 episodes, but still. Perhaps there will be one more season, in 1978 or 1979. I know you're not John Cleese, but do you have any plot ideas Brainbin that could be used for a hypothetical third series?