>Come off it, it was. I saw loads of them when they were repeated on UK Gold, and it would take an entire garden full of rose-tinted spectacles to make anyone think it was anything other than BORING.
>
I would love to see most of them myself, because I didn't get cable until Oct 95, which was well after the transmission.
I did see some of Uk Arena's transmissions as well, but they only screened certain shows.
I would have loved to see some of the famous ones such as Kitten Kong & String!
Does the LWT shows still exist, & does G Plus have plans to repeat these?
Same goes for the initial run of TOTP as well.
I did see most of the later repeats, but did UK Gold repeat all the shows they originally broadcast or not?
Harry - there's a whole, very detailed thread on this above.
I genuinely adore 'The Goodies' and will happily defend it if you give me more to go on. "Boring". OK. Get back to us on that one, won't you?
Nonetheless, I'm not blind to it's faults. I've just spent the last two hours struggling to find the right way of slagging 'Snooze', which I dislike just as much as I do a handful of subsequent shows. I can see the mistakes in the twelve year evolution, and understand why they were there, but by it's peak there was nothing to beat it.
The reason it is ever present on this forum is because an awful lot of people want to see it. You don't like it, which is fair enough, but the UKG showings made no difference to an awareness of 'The Goodies'. BBC2 last screened the show in 1986 and since then it's languished in the vaults while the channel's audiences are fed 'Steptoe' and 'The Good Life' until their eyes bleed. It's time for some new archive excavating so that people can judge for themselves, just as you have.
And why stop there? Whack out a few 'Rutland Weekend Television' episodes and dramas like 'Survivors' or 'Play For Today'. It'll inevitably lead to full colour news spreads asking whether or not "The Goodies are the new Ali G" but I'm sure we can whether it. And then if every fucker hates what they see, cool.
They'll be wrong though.
I'd like to make myself unpopular and say that my favourites are the "bigfoot" and "holiday cottage" episodes... both from the LWT series. You may shoot me now! :)
I did have a few of the earlier BBC shows on vid and many were quite naff in many respects, but.. well... there's good and bad in everything. Apart from "Copycats"
Having not seen any complete Goodies episode since the only LWT series was repeated in about 1983, I only have my (largely fond) childhood memories of the shows. Why not show them again, for God's sake? Or at least start putting the videos out, a la Python, in order?
I couldn't agree more with what Bent Halo wrote. Why stop at comedy? Given that UK Gold is now, lazily, beginning to screen material which has barely finished on BBC terrestrial channels, it is time for this "repeating Only Fools/Men Behaving Badly/Dad's Army on a loop" to stop.
Stuff I'd like to see again (on terrestrial):
A Very Peculiar Practice, Ripping Yarns, Q, Alas Smith & Jones (early series), loads of Screen Two and Play For Today, Innes Book Of Records, Happy Families...oh what's the point of a list? The BBC don't care about its past anymore - it would seem only those of us on this forum do now.
UK Drama (was UK Arena) would be the ideal place for Play for Today reruns, but they seem to stick with more ratings grabbing serials, from what I've seen - Tenko and various costume dramas. Which isn't too plebby, but could be better.
I've only seen the ITV Goodies once, but fondly remember Bigfoot. I was 13 at the time though, so it could have been utter shite that I didn't notice.
Bigfoot had a naff ending but the Arthur C. Clarkes's Mysterious World parodies were pretty funny. "Arthur C. Clarke, inventor of the digital lawnmower..." heh. Wonder if the real Clarke ever saw it?
I also liked the human pets episode (also LWT) because it was enjoyably silly.
I don't know what's going on with the LWT shows. There was a rumour that they'd been wiped but that is cobblers. They had a repeat at the time but nothing since.
As the old SOTCAA article stated, the claim that the LWT shows were below-par is pretty flimsy. They were just as good as the later BBC series, even if Bill seemed to have become a really bitter screen character during the interim.
'Bigfoot' is easily the best of the season, with Graeme stealing the show. The holiday episode is pretty good too, but I'd speak up for 'Automation'(Bill as a Swedish au pair) and 'Snow White 2' as key shows.
>Or at least start putting the videos out, a la Python, in order?
This would be great obviously, but the full 25(?) tape range would only exist if it got steady sales from the off. The intention behind the 1994 tapes was to open the floodgates, but as the sale figures are unknown we can only guess how succesful they were. BBC repeats are the only realistic answer.
Bear in mind that 1994 was a bad period for BBCV, with overzealous release schedules combined with poor marketing. The 'Survivors' range should have covered all 38 episodes, but it died after 6 tapes and sales of 1000 for each.
In the case of 'The Goodies' tapes, 'Kitten Kong' sold out ages ago. Which tells us something.
>oh what's the point of a list? The BBC don't care about its past anymore - it would seem only those of us on this forum do now.
TV is scared of it's past, unlike the film industry which seems to be elated by everything it has produced. The original idea behind UK Gold - to screen all the archive programming which terrestrial cannot contain - was a sound one, spoilt by money grabbing and, in latter years, unadventurous schedules. It seems to be a broad trend across the media, Justin, and things need to be shaken up again.
You could do it! Write to Jane Root sensibly and make her aware of how BBC2 is lacking, why the Seventies strand should've been like 'TV Heaven' and not 'Top Ten' and tell her to be unafraid of her channel's past. 'The Goodies' regularly got 10m viewers after 1975 and remains one of the station's most succesful programmes.
In fact, someone has done this already and got a dismissive letter from one of Root's minions who denied all knowledge of BBC repeats of the show. This is despite TBT stating on Radio 2 that the 70s season was to host a 10 week repeat run. I've heard the same story from various BBC sources. Jane's secretarial support is lying.
So, two possible actions - kick her up the cunt or post a civil letter. But do make sure that you do them in the right order.
> 'Bigfoot' is easily the best of the season, with Graeme stealing the show. The holiday episode is pretty good too.
The holiday episodes the one where they all play games of cards, in which they make up the rules and the games as they go along. An idea ripped off completely by 'The League of Gentleman' fifteen years later.
All this talk about the Goodies makes me want to see it! Being a youngster (21) I only have vague memories of ITV showing it on Sunday evenings in the 80s, and then I didn't really know what was going on... I'd really like to see it now, but it's probably not going to happen, is it?
The LWT series - I actually remember it as being as good as the BBC ones, excepting maybe the first one (introducing the robot), which I seem to remember not enjoying at the time.
I've only managed to get copies of the Ballet Hooligans and the Getting Old episodes (or whatever they're called) - I used to have the Holiday Cottage and Bigfoot on vid but stupidly I rubbed them off in the days when tapes were expensive... The first two were released on commercial video, were any others?
Bigfoot came out on video with the two you own, plus 'Automation'. Later editions (the own you own) carry only two eps. Don't ask me why.
[Bigfoot on video]
...and I am still searching 2nd hand video shops for copies of this.
Anyone remember, Sunday mornings in the mid - late 1980's, a kids/teenage show that was based around clips and music, that regularly featured clips from The Goodies? They popped up pretty much every week.
It says something to realise that it was the last time (until the dreadful "I love the 70's" innapropriate clips) I saw The Goodies
on the BBC.
Was it called Boxpops, sheep? (Ran on Sunday mornings from about 1988-91, different theme each week, mixing pop videos/performances with TV clips - pissed over I Love The 70s, that's for sure). Or it might have been a programme called Windmill, presented by Chris Serle, but which occupied the same slot in about 1986/87.
My favourite memory of Boxpops was where they did the theme of towns and cities, and ran as a musical clip, The Anti-Nowhere League's cover of Ralph McTell's "Streets Of London". But for some reason, there was no mention of its B-side "So What" (something to do with its banning under the Obscene Publications Act, apparently...)
Boxpops sounds plausible, since I don't remember any presenters or voiceovers.
From my vaugue memory, yes I agree, it was far superior to "I love the 1970's (pleb edition)"
Was Boxpops mentioned in Robert Ross' book? Robert Ross' book is the authority on such things, I suggest you all rush out RIGHT NOW and buy a copy of it, coz it's GREAT!
I found Mr Ross's book on The Goodies a bit variable.
Bean was being sarcastic.
Oops!
Yes, looking at it again, it's hard to read it as anything other than sarcastic.
And there was me trying to be polite regarding my views of the book.
I'm just an idiot who doesn't deserve to have video copies of The Goodies sent to him........ :)
ps thanks for your kind offer, what's your email address to discuss things further?
>ps thanks for your kind offer, what's your email address to discuss things further?
It's on the FilmFour thread, but here it comes again:
[email protected]
I've just watched 'Archaeology'. You have to have that sharpish.
>Bean was being sarcastic.
Now you tell me, I rushed out and bought a copy on your very recommendation Mr Carrot. Not easy to do 'cos very few bookshops have it as it has been such a sell out, probably.
>Bean was being sarcastic.
It is unquestionably THE best book about The Goodies that has ever been written. Mind you, it is the only one...