two word consensus: pig and shit.

Oh, I really don't know. He was probably quite funny on the first series of Saturday Live, and I think we all know about The YOung ONes and Blackadder now, don't we?

But in about '87, we had Filthy Rich & Catflap, a show the BBC considered so good we've never had the chance to see it since. Precisely.

Then, some buffoon thought it would be much better if Elton HOSTED the whole of Saturday Live, and he became boring overnight - it was just shouty rubbish. And that was 13 bloody years ago. On his last series he was outstripped by Ronnie Corbett by some considerable distance.

Has anyone else noticed that, with the possible exceptions of Fry & Laurie (except yeah, Peter's Friends was awful), almost no-one involved in Blackadder has done anything of value since it finished in 1989?

>>almost no-one involved in Blackadder has >>done anything of value since it finished >>in 1989?

-Mr Bean (crap but successful)
-The Thin Blue Line
-Time Team
-Maid Marian and Her Merrie Men (The best childrens programme EVER)
-The Barclaycard ads
-Various films with Hugh Laurie

OK, so I like Ben Elton and think I should support him, but he's not such a destroyer of careers as you might like to suggest.

>>>almost no-one involved in Blackadder has >>done anything of value since it finished >>in 1989?
>
>-Mr Bean (crap but successful)

That's as may be - and the first one basically took stuff from Rowan Atkinson's stage work (cheating in an exam being particularly effective). But I came to realise the whole show's problem when I saw Alexei Sayle's Monsieur Aubergine character on his 1991 series of Stuff. Maybe that's when I lost any sympathy.

>-The Thin Blue Line

Thought this was an awful, cynical attempt to combine Perry & Croft's seminal Dad's Army and Croft & Lloyd's Are You Being Served? in a post-modern way (ie with all the jokes taken out). But I take your point - millions did love it.

>-Time Team
>-Maid Marian and Her Merrie Men (The best childrens programme EVER)

Can't argue with these - although technically Maid Marian's first series coincided with the final one of Blackadder.
Good though.

>-The Barclaycard ads

Sorry - ads bit of a blind spot for me. What about the Rowan Atkinson Give Blood public information film, though? (Oh, it's like getting blood out of a.....oh, thank you!").

>-Various films with Hugh Laurie
>
I'm prepared to believe this one (he is the one character in Peter's Friends that you don't loathe and detest from the opening frame), but I don't really remember what other films he's been in lately. Remind me, Ben. Oh, he was also the one bit of quality in the atrocious Friends Ross/Emily wedding (where he sat next to Rachel on the plane).


>OK, so I like Ben Elton and think I should support him, but he's not such a destroyer of careers as you might like to suggest.
>
>
I know people's careers have to develop and all that, but it's interesting that (in my opinion) Elton's done his best work when collaborating with other people. Maybe I find him irritating to watch or something, but I continue to give him a chance. In about 1997, I sat down to watch him on one of those Face To Face things with Jeremy Isaacs on BBC2, and I even found him insufferable on that (although, in fairness, I felt the same about Isaacs actually - particularly a question like "Do you speak English - or Cockney?" Jesus).

Surely the last straw for me came with the announcement that he's working with Lloyd Webber, though. You have to admit it doesn't add up - he can't need the money anymore. What do you think of this, Ben? (Or anyone else?!)

I think the first series of 'The Man From Auntie' was really funny.
Admittedly I was somewhat younger at the time, but I had tears in my eyes and that was what got the interest in stand-up started for me.

A lot of what I've seen since has been lesser quality, but he still has an incredile gift for high-speed ranting, which I greatly admire.

There are a hell of a lot worse out there.

Ben Eltons entire act, summarised:

Haha, periods!!!

I think he used to be good.

But his last series on TV was bloody awful.

HaHa!! Tampons!!

Andrew Lloyd Webber eh? Not sure of this, didnt know anything about it. However, it might be good, but let's face it here, if you watch anything by Ben Elton and expect some form of high-brow social commentary, you should get back to that documentary on Bulgarian mime artists on BBC2, he isnt trying to be like that, it's ranting, "anti-Fatcher" stand up, and what he does he does damn well.

Can't name any films Laurie's been in, but look for naff costume dramas (mainly by a Bronte or Austen - my sister loves 'em) and he's usually playing "Upper Class Toff with Frilly Collar #3" or some such.

>Andrew Lloyd Webber eh? Not sure of this, didnt know anything about it. However, it might be good, but let's face it here, if you watch anything by Ben Elton and expect some form of high-brow social commentary, you should get back to that documentary on Bulgarian mime artists on BBC2, he isnt trying to be like that, it's ranting, "anti-Fatcher" stand up, and what he does he does damn well.
>
But of course he loves to hate Thatcher, it's how his career pretty much got going in the first place. I don't mind whether he does "a bit of politics" or "swing top bin stuff" - God even a tampon gag if he really wants to!!! As long as he's funny I really don't mind - it's just that round about 10 years ago (round about when Thatcher left office, strangely enough) he started to run out of ideas and began to shout more loudly. For no particular good reason.

Mind you the Lloyd Webber thing could be entertaining - imagine Sarah Brightman and Michael Ball duetting on a little number called "Double Seat Double Seat". Or Elaine Paige belting out "Gareth Hunt's a bastard for a cup of coffee". (I really was quite a fan in the 80s, I owned "Motormouth", so it really gives me no pleasure whatsoever to slate him in this way! Well, not that much pleasure, anyway...)

I while back I saw a double cassette pack of 'Motormouth' and 'Motorvation', his 2 live albums from 1986 and 1987. I got them because I'd never actually heard his regular stand-up act in the 80s.
'Motormouth' was ace. Not up there with Eddie Izzard, but certainly just as good as Newman/Baddiel (and not that different from the kind of stuff they were doing in the early 90s). So 9/10.
'Motorvation' was recorded at some aircraft hanger in London's theatreland, after he'd become Ben Elton the Controversial Left-wing Comedian. Result: tedious routines about Norman Tebbit, the Royals, and the tabloids, interspersing a few decent observational moments almost worthy of Dave Allen. So 4/10.

I never saw 'The Man From Auntie', I tried to watch that last thing he did but I just couldn't stand it for more than 30 seconds.
The thing I most remember about the Jeremey Isaacs interview was the bit where Ben was trying to remind Jeremy how polarised the political situation was in the 80s. "The first night I performed at the Comedy Store, there were riots going on in London" he actually said. Still brings a tear to my eye...