A Thought - A Fresh Viewpoint

[Big Unc]

Picking up vibrations from a couple of recent threads, thinking totally outside the box with a concept which would be totally impractical to implement, suppose we were to view for the first time all those 295 episodes in reverse order, would we still assign the same pecking order to each or would we inherently prefer the ones we saw first? (Alright, in reverse order excluding the episodes of the Hobo era. If they had been first episodes produced the show would never have lasted).

 

[Pearl]

I have noticed that most people do seem to prefer the third man they started with so I think your idea has merit but its only a question we can speculate about.

I also wonder if it had started with Hobbo would it have lasted 37 years?

 

[Beth]

Well to be the odd man out, I prefer the first series of Foggy but started with Truly. I would type more but phone is hard to type o . computer still in shop.

 

[Dennisbn514]

Great topic Big Unc. It really got me reflecting on the series. I don't think there is any question that had the series started with Alvin, Entwistle and Truly as the main trio, it would have been a struggle for me to stay interested for very long. I did not find any of them to be especially strong characters or even funny. On the other hand, Compo made us laugh out loud.

Plus the series with Alvin, Entwistle and Truly had so many superfluous characters that staying involved would have been tedious. The roles of many of those characters just seemed pointless.

 

[Beth]

I did like Alvin and Billy together though.

 

[chris]

The only third man I did not like was Hobo he was just not suited to the show and I think his character only came in to being because of Russ Abbot .Foggy was my favourite and his series were the best ,the first series was a different style of show gritty it matched the scenery houses covered in soot and run down shops etc.Watching how Compos house changed over the years is a way of seeing how the show changed from rough and ready to smooth.The cast also stopped smoking as well and look how the café changed plus the pubs became places you want to go into.Mark you I bet the last bus from Honey is still a dodgy service to ride on!!!!!!!!!

 

[chris]

That should have read last bus from Honley fingers would not do as told.

 

[Nicko12345]

This is an interesting idea for a thread. I think it is easier to simply talk about how each era of the show would be viewed if it were a brand new show and nothing had come before it and nothing were known of the circumstances that went into making it.

I would say firstly that the problem to me with the later series is that there are far too many characters and far too few main plots. One positive of the Hobbo era is that Roy Clarke did try to include some main plots and the series did have some central characters.Many people may not like Hobbo but at least there was something solid to build the show around. And I think that if it were a brand new show then people would probably have a slightly more positive opinion of him. I doubt this kind of show would be a success but it would not be a disaster either.

Series 29 would be considered weaker imo. There are no main characters at all and many of the characters who do appear are not that memorable. One positive would be that the Howard/Marina storyline would be a lot funnier if it were not 20 years old!

The post Compo series would be seen as confusing as the show lost/introduced characters at a startling rate. If the show were starting with Series 22 then I could see it being a success but certainly not running for 100 episodes which it astonishingly did from this point.

The broad episodes from the Seymour/second Foggy era would be a success now as this type of comedy has come back into fashion (Miranda, Mrs Brown`s Boys etc.). A few years ago that might not have been the case.

And the Blamire/first Foggy years would also be popular but some changes would have to be made. You couldn`t have a brand new show now have such relentlessly negative portrayals of the women and some of the other jokes might have to be changed as well.

 

[Marina'sTwin]

I didn't like anything before Marina was introduced because I didn't really pay attention to the show until my mom pointed out Marina and said I was just like her. I guess if I had to choose a favorite 3rd man, it would actually be Truly because I thought he was cool. Since I started with the later episodes, I don't like the earlier ones, so maybe there's some truth to Nicko's theory.

 

[Elmc]

Great topic Big Unc. It really got me reflecting on the series. I don't think there is any question that had the series started with Alvin, Entwistle and Truly as the main trio, it would have been a struggle for me to stay interested for very long. I did not find any of them to be especially strong characters or even funny. On the other hand, Compo made us laugh out loud.

Plus the series with Alvin, Entwistle and Truly had so many superfluous characters that staying involved would have been tedious. The roles of many of those characters just seemed pointless.

Agreed Dennis, I never saw enough ' art of their craft '. With the Foggy crew you saw them always in character. From a distance, you watch Compo walk ( in character ) like on the road in A Quiet Drink, he is dragging a bit behind. Or Taking his time and rubbing under his nose as in Ferret Come Home when Wally says, "Tell her why dontcha?" Clegg looking fearfully, way before his line, at Malc and Eric in Gordon's Wedding. Foggy's exuberance in Full Steam Behind. They all come across and make you glad for watching. In the much later episodes I can only give credit to Billy Hardcastle.