The Young Ones - Unabridged shooting strips with full colour stills (not screen grabs).


Not that there's anything wrong with screen grabs.....

Seeing as there's no chance of ever seeing them again on terrestrial telly....

"Seinfeld" - seasons three to five and beyond (one and two already available)!

All of 'The Goodies', but then I would say that.

'The Comic Strip Presents' would be cool and the full 'Mary Whitehouse Experience' just to clarify those bits where Mark Thomas got exceptionally excited.

Oh, and 'Selwyn Frogggggggiiiiitttt!"

I have a 'Comic Strip' book with the scripts to 'Dorset' and,um, 4 others. You are most welcome to borrow it, if you so choose.

>"Seinfeld" - seasons three to five and beyond (one and two already available)!

I just bought the seasons 1-2 script book for £2.99 at MVC. How is this legal???

Monday, BBC2, 12.05am: "Jerry Seinfeld, back with a new series of award-winning comedy"

>>"Seinfeld" - seasons three to five and beyond (one and two already available)!
>
>I just bought the seasons 1-2 script book for £2.99 at MVC. How is this legal???

Probably the best bargain of your life, sounds to me. I was delighted to buy it for a tenner.

I met a BBC audience researcher on Friday and the subject of the BBC's shit scheduling of the Simpsons and Seinfeld came up. She didn't even try to justify it - she seemed mystified herself.
Why *do* they do it? Does anyone have a reasonable explanation? It's not like they're shy about putting their other imports (like Buffy, 8 flavours of Star Trek, Third Rock) on at reasonable times.

Oh yeah, and what/where is MVC? I too desire cheap Seinfeld scripts.

>Oh yeah, and what/where is MVC? I too desire cheap Seinfeld scripts.


I can answer this because I worked for MVC for far too long. It stands for Music & Video Club, and (sometimes) has very good deals, though not as often as you might imagine. Where are you, Doc? I should be able to tell you your nearest branch.

>I met a BBC audience researcher on Friday and the subject of the BBC's shit scheduling of the Simpsons and Seinfeld came up. She didn't even try to justify it - she seemed mystified herself.
>Why *do* they do it? Does anyone have a reasonable explanation? It's not like they're shy about putting their other imports (like Buffy, 8 flavours of Star Trek, Third Rock) on at reasonable times.

When Seinfeld was first shown in the UK (6 October 1993) it was broadcast on BBC2 at 9.00. To be absolutely honest, it took me a few episodes to get into it, as the early ones especially don't have a lot going on. Its audiences were always very low (apparently), but for a while, attempts were made to screen it next to documentaries and UK comedy - by summer 1995 it was on after the first series of Armistice on Saturday nights, but Armistice got terrible ratings in its first series as well. So in early 1996, they started running it as a double bill with Sanders, and when Sanders finished in 1998, they had a golden opportunity to run it in a primetime slot - why not a weeknight? But no the post-midnight slots seemed the only way.

Here's what you could have: BBC2 would never put American comedy on Friday nights as Channel 4 clean up with a pretty strong line-up of Friends, South Park and Frasier. But how about this on, say, Thursday night:
9.00 The Simpsons (uncut)
9.25 Seinfeld
9.45 The X-Files (also treated very badly by the BBC, even if I don't often watch it)

Or maybe?:
9.00 The Goodies (or Python, or Ripping Yarns etc)
9.30 The Larry Sanders Show
9.55 Seinfeld
10.20 one of those short documentaries like 10x10 or something
Then Newsnight.

Why is this so easy to imagine, and yet so difficult to realise? The number of people I've spoken to who have never seen Seinfeld or Sanders is unbelievable. And it is probably too late for Seinfeld now, with only two seasons left. Why can't BBC2 run early classics, or (what the hell) just show it all from show 1, so that even casual viewers know what they've missed. Including me - apart from the pilot and The Chinese Restaurant, I only have the scripts of seasons one and two (the book mentioned) and I'm missing most of seasons three and four on tape.

If anyone reading this knows anyone at the BBC who is involved in scheduling, PLEASE could they explain why Seinfeld will never be shown at a decent time. Because I know that my scheduling ideas represent deranged optimism.
God, it is so
The Larry Sanders Show

Sorry, ignore the last two lines. I must sack my editor.

The world should be made to watch Larry Sanders. Anyone else enjoying the complete-ish run of 'It's Garry Shandling's Show' on Paramount? It's just looped back to the start so you can once again watch how it reinvented itself over four series into an unwieldy mess. It *was* brilliant though, even if the post modernism has worn through overuse in other shows.

Weren't many of the Simpsons writers taken from It's Garry Shandling's Show - apparently Al Jean & Mike Reiss (founding writers) were regulars.

Haven't seen IGSS for at least ten years. That was subject to appalling scheduling by BBC2 as well.

And we can't get Paramount. Actually, we can't get satellite at all, as we're not allowed to put a dish on the side of the block.

Going back to the original topic, I'd love to see all the scripts to Absolutely in book form. Preferably original, not transcripts. It would be great to see some drafts of stuff like the "death" episode (where Don & George bury the remains of their landlady who has sponteanously combusted).

>Going back to the original topic, I'd love to see all the scripts to Absolutely in book form. Preferably original, not transcripts.

Wasn't there a script book about eight or nine years ago called "Absolutely: Just The Words"? Mind you, that was probably a) a compilation and b) comprised of transcripts.

I'm afraid I didn't buy it, though.

I want to see a father ted script book that has been transcribed from poor quality video, by a deaf person who has never heard of the program.
Seriously though, how did they get the script book so right? And why (to my knowledge) can no one else?

>All of 'The Goodies', but then I would say that.

And I WOULD agree with it.

>'The Comic Strip Presents' would be cool and the full 'Mary Whitehouse Experience' just to clarify those bits where Mark Thomas got exceptionally excited.

I agree.

>Oh, and 'Selwyn Frogggggggiiiiitttt!"

I think you mean "Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggit" Bent Halo...

And may I add my vote for "The Complete Keep It In The Family".

>>Going back to the original topic, I'd love to see all the scripts to Absolutely in book form. Preferably original, not transcripts.
>
>Wasn't there a script book about eight or nine years ago called "Absolutely: Just The Words"? Mind you, that was probably a) a compilation and b) comprised of transcripts.
>
>I'm afraid I didn't buy it, though.
>

I did, its very good but it is only a selection of sketches from the series.
I'll find out the ISBN number and get back to you tomorrow

>
>Here's what you could have: BBC2 would never put American comedy on Friday nights as Channel 4 clean up with a pretty strong line-up of Friends, South Park and Frasier. But how about this on, say, Thursday night:
>9.00 The Simpsons (uncut)
>9.25 Seinfeld
>9.45 The X-Files (also treated very badly by the BBC, even if I don't often watch it)
>
>Or maybe?:
>9.00 The Goodies (or Python, or Ripping Yarns etc)
>9.30 The Larry Sanders Show
>9.55 Seinfeld
>10.20 one of those short documentaries like 10x10 or something
>Then Newsnight.

I think I've just come...


> my scheduling ideas represent deranged optimism.

Oh Justin, my Justin, my very own Justin...that's why we love you!

Will you marry me?

I suppose the issue is that The Simpsons is a cartoon and therefore (BBC idiots think) more suited to 6pm than 9pm. God knows why they muck Seinfeld around, maybe they just don't get it.

The only Shandling writer I remember off the top of my head is Alan Zweibel.

I am having all the shows posted to me and watching them in an endless series. I will keep an eye out for Simpsons writers.

As for other scripts, I think the time is right for an extended version of the Python book with loads of extra sketches that never made the grade. Thoughts?

Agreement. Total agreement.

>Oh Justin, my Justin, my very own Justin...that's why we love you!
>
>Will you marry me?
>
*gulps*

>>
>*gulps*
>

*swallows*




(sorry sorry sorry, that was disgusting and un-called-for, sorry sorry sorry...)

*tuts but sort of laughs guiltily at the same time*

*blushes, bats eyelashes*

Hey! Get a room you two!

I don't think the un-used Python should be published. Because Cleese said once that each of them had reservations about some of the final stuff, and at the script stage they would drop anything that 2 people jointly objected to. So the unused stuff is stuff that the whole group didn't agree to and therefore doesn't represent Python as such, and shouldn't get issued as "extra Python". If you see what I mean.

It's very funny though.