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Global Telly Talk
Classic UK TV
The Great British Sitcom
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<blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 429314" data-attributes="member: 23"><p>A couple of weeks ago I watched a video comparing British sitcoms with their American remakes, and it mentioned a long forgotten one that stoked dim memories in the memory banks. So I hastily acquired a copy of the Network DVD set...</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91q1cBOwNlL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 615px" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As the blurb on the front says<em>, Keep It In The Family</em> was created by Brian Cooke who - along with his writing partner Johnnie Mortimer - created <em>Man About The House </em>and its various spinoffs. In my head, though, this is lumped in with various other forgotten teatime sitcoms, and I sometimes struggle to distinguish between <em>KIITF, Full House </em>and the BBC's <em> No Place Like Home</em>.</p><p></p><p>Having recently rewatched the <em>Man About The House</em> film, it's easy to find common ground in the templates between the two series. The unoriginality is only thinly veiled by flipping things, so that it's now young lodgers downstairs/interfering landlords upstairs rather than vice versa. And the weary man constantly rebuffing his wife's advances is now back to the more traditional randy bloke whose wife is rarely in the mood setup.</p><p></p><p>The casting also echoes the earlier series a little, with the two middle class girls, one a former child actress, who are the flatmates and lodgers. The tones and delivery isn't dissimilar to that of <em>Man About The House,</em> though they feel a little more generic. Neither has the snappy knowing delivery of Paula Wilcox, but neither is as monotone and one-note as Sally Thomsett. They both seem to fall somewhere in the middle, which is safe but a little dull. Jenny Quayle was recast with Sabina Franklyn after the first two series and I'm curious as to the reasons. Certainly, Franklyn was a stunner and a perfectly competent actress, but I find nothing to dislike in Quayle's performance. In fact I find her increasingly endearing.</p><p></p><p>Brian Gillespie has perhaps the most challenging role in bridging this gap. His delivery and style evoke Richard O'Sullivan, but this character is the father of the two girls. Not that this has stopped Cooke recapturing the energy of <em>MATH</em> with scenes where he larks about with the two girls, including awkward moments of tickling and romantic dips while dancing. It comes across as troublingly incestuous, and perhaps intentionally so since witnesses seem to register this (such as <em>Summer Wine's </em>Mike Grady as one of their boyfriends who looks on aghast), but the tone is so frivolous it's difficult to know what the intent is.</p><p></p><p>Gillespie's Dudley Rush also falls into the hapless, often irresponsible eccentric husband so often seen in British sitcoms. He's a curious breed, though, with the character's eccentricities and often attention-seeking behaviour grating after a while. Conversations with his hand puppet even when nobody is around are the tip of the iceberg. Most episodes feature a sub-plot with him procrastinating from working on his comic strips, and I'm finding these a little tiresome.</p><p></p><p>One of the key issues I had with the first couple of episodes was that there didn't seem to be a clear premise. I suppose there's the element of the protective father struggling to adjust to his adult daughters’ new independence, but there's a lot of other stuff going on. Not all of it is needed.</p><p></p><p>Not that the series is unenjoyable. The cast does work together. For all his character's foibles, Gillespie is quite charismatic, while Pauline Yates glides though things mostly serenely, but with a nice sting in the tail. Glyn Houston brings a needed gravitas to things, though is sometimes either underused or badly used (his character often ending up suffering from being the butt of practical jokes or well-intentioned actions gone awry). Some of the lines have also made me laugh out loud for their wry wit (I know I should cite a few, but my memory for dialogue is failing me today).</p><p></p><p>Already I'm into the second series, and I suppose it lives up to my memory of it as a reliable-if-unexciting way to pass an enjoyable twenty five minutes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spells & Karma, post: 429314, member: 23"] A couple of weeks ago I watched a video comparing British sitcoms with their American remakes, and it mentioned a long forgotten one that stoked dim memories in the memory banks. So I hastily acquired a copy of the Network DVD set... [CENTER] [IMG width="615px"]https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91q1cBOwNlL._AC_SL1500_.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] As the blurb on the front says[I], Keep It In The Family[/I] was created by Brian Cooke who - along with his writing partner Johnnie Mortimer - created [I]Man About The House [/I]and its various spinoffs. In my head, though, this is lumped in with various other forgotten teatime sitcoms, and I sometimes struggle to distinguish between [I]KIITF, Full House [/I]and the BBC's [I] No Place Like Home[/I]. Having recently rewatched the [I]Man About The House[/I] film, it's easy to find common ground in the templates between the two series. The unoriginality is only thinly veiled by flipping things, so that it's now young lodgers downstairs/interfering landlords upstairs rather than vice versa. And the weary man constantly rebuffing his wife's advances is now back to the more traditional randy bloke whose wife is rarely in the mood setup. The casting also echoes the earlier series a little, with the two middle class girls, one a former child actress, who are the flatmates and lodgers. The tones and delivery isn't dissimilar to that of [I]Man About The House,[/I] though they feel a little more generic. Neither has the snappy knowing delivery of Paula Wilcox, but neither is as monotone and one-note as Sally Thomsett. They both seem to fall somewhere in the middle, which is safe but a little dull. Jenny Quayle was recast with Sabina Franklyn after the first two series and I'm curious as to the reasons. Certainly, Franklyn was a stunner and a perfectly competent actress, but I find nothing to dislike in Quayle's performance. In fact I find her increasingly endearing. Brian Gillespie has perhaps the most challenging role in bridging this gap. His delivery and style evoke Richard O'Sullivan, but this character is the father of the two girls. Not that this has stopped Cooke recapturing the energy of [I]MATH[/I] with scenes where he larks about with the two girls, including awkward moments of tickling and romantic dips while dancing. It comes across as troublingly incestuous, and perhaps intentionally so since witnesses seem to register this (such as [I]Summer Wine's [/I]Mike Grady as one of their boyfriends who looks on aghast), but the tone is so frivolous it's difficult to know what the intent is. Gillespie's Dudley Rush also falls into the hapless, often irresponsible eccentric husband so often seen in British sitcoms. He's a curious breed, though, with the character's eccentricities and often attention-seeking behaviour grating after a while. Conversations with his hand puppet even when nobody is around are the tip of the iceberg. Most episodes feature a sub-plot with him procrastinating from working on his comic strips, and I'm finding these a little tiresome. One of the key issues I had with the first couple of episodes was that there didn't seem to be a clear premise. I suppose there's the element of the protective father struggling to adjust to his adult daughters’ new independence, but there's a lot of other stuff going on. Not all of it is needed. Not that the series is unenjoyable. The cast does work together. For all his character's foibles, Gillespie is quite charismatic, while Pauline Yates glides though things mostly serenely, but with a nice sting in the tail. Glyn Houston brings a needed gravitas to things, though is sometimes either underused or badly used (his character often ending up suffering from being the butt of practical jokes or well-intentioned actions gone awry). Some of the lines have also made me laugh out loud for their wry wit (I know I should cite a few, but my memory for dialogue is failing me today). Already I'm into the second series, and I suppose it lives up to my memory of it as a reliable-if-unexciting way to pass an enjoyable twenty five minutes. [/QUOTE]
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