Replacement show for Last of the Summer Wine

[wstol]

One of the 'reasons' for bringing LOTSW to an end was to make way for a replacement show to fit the usual Sunday evening slot.

I don't think anything came close to filling the void, I don't think there was anything remotely similar.

There has been talk of a spin-off with the two policemen, which would be a more than suitable replacement show.

Also, filming is due to start any day for the new series of Still Open All Hours. Now this would fill the void very nicely, as it has many links with LOTSW.

Apart from those, how do you possibly make a replacement show for LOTSW?

Many of the remaining cast have presumably retired, and if they were available, presumably they wouldn't be wanted, otherwise they wouldn't have cancelled LOTSW.

It has, however, often been mentioned that the star of LOTSW was the scenery. This still remains.

And what would be a good, fresh, idea for a new sitcom? It's all been done hasn't it?

In the 60s and 70s, new ideas for sitcoms were tried out as one off pilot episodes under the title of Comedy Playhouse - every week a different set of characters in a different situation.

I mentioned how important the Holmfirth scenery was.

My crazy idea is this: 6 episodes with a different set of characters and a different situation each week, but every episode is set and filmed in Holmfirth.

Each episode can be about anything, as long as it's set in Holmfirth. All the top writers should be invited to write an episode each.

There shouldn't be any mention of LOTSW characters, unless Mr Clarke writes an episode, and so can write what he likes.

To be shown 7.00 pm Sunday autumn evenings, I reckon.

This may help those missing LOTSW, just to see the place again, have a laugh, and be entertained for half an hour.

 

[Marianna]

Interesting idea. I'd love to see a different slice of West Yorkshire scenery each week, but I'm afraid that seeing it in the context of background for a comedy would cause me to miss Last of the Summer Wine too much to enjoy the new show.

All that notwithstanding, I've fantasized about a comedy starring that geographic area. Populate the scenery with a trio of men just at the age to have been forced into early retirement by corporate "right-sizing" with pensions sufficient to live modestly, but with very little discretionary income so that they have to create their own entertainment. Make them regulars at a cafe for morning coffee and at a pub for their after-lunch pick-me-up, so the cafe owner/staff and the publican would be regulars. Have them occasionally interact with a comedic trio of men fifteen or twenty years younger who work at jobs that will be prime candidates for "right-sizing" just about the time that the older actors' health forces them to stop working. Add occasional comedic contact with the ordinary kinds of people around town that a group of close friends might be expected to bump into. Having the younger trio "apprenticing" to become the unemployed late middle-aged trio in future might build longevity into the show without the awkwardness of having to replace the main actors/characters on an emergency basis.

With either the idea that originated this thread or the one I've outlined, the scripts and the acting would have to equal or surpass the LOTSW scripts and acting. That could be an insurmountable obstacle.

Marianna

 

[barmpot]

... Populate the scenery with a trio of men just at the age to have been forced into early retirement by corporate "right-sizing" with pensions sufficient to live modestly, but with very little discretionary income so that they have to create their own entertainment. Make them regulars at a cafe for morning coffee and at a pub for their after-lunch pick-me-up, so the cafe owner/staff ....Add occasional comedic contact with the ordinary kinds of people around town that a group of close friends might be expected to bump into. ......


Marianna

sounds like Lasat of the Summer Wine!

Great idea but I suspect will never happen.

 

[Marianna]

sounds like Last of the Summer Wine!

Exactly! Except that the younger trio's presence from the very start would build in longevity without having to shoehorn new characters into the older trio. If the scripts were good enough to stand up to comparison with Last of the Summer Wine, actors would be likely to stay with the show until they died or became too frail to continue working, so there wouldn't be the problem of having to shoehorn a new character into the show because an actor quit.

Of course, it's all a pipe dream, but an enticing one.

Marianna

 

[Adanor]

You could bring Tom Owen back as Tom as one of the older threesome. He could be the Cleggy replacement.

 

[Big Unc]

You could bring Tom Owen back as Tom as one of the older threesome. He could be the Cleggy replacement.

I wonder if this is written tongue in cheek (can one write tongue in cheek?). But stirring things up, I just could not go with it. Tom Owen is far from good enough an actor and Tom is just not a Clegg character. Far from convinced the two policemen are strong enough actors to be main characters and like Tom Owen could only fill supporting roles.

Have had a very brief think about it with mind uncluttered by uisge beatha, checked a few dates of birth and conceived a trio of Philip Jackson (the authority figure, third man), Mike Grady, Barry (the Clegg figure - tricky with his being married) and Bobby Ball (Lenny taking the Compo role). I wondered about bringing back Billy Hardcastle but Keith Clifford is getting on and does not seem to have done anything since 2008.

:me: : :me: : :me: : :me: :​

 

[codfanglers]

Exactly! Except that the younger trio's presence from the very start would build in longevity without having to shoehorn new characters into the older trio. If the scripts were good enough to stand up to comparison with Last of the Summer Wine, actors would be likely to stay with the show until they died or became too frail to continue working, so there wouldn't be the problem of having to shoehorn a new character into the show because an actor quit.

Of course, it's all a pipe dream, but an enticing one.

Marianna

Yes, for this to be anywhere near as good as Summer Wine is a bit of a stretch (but optimistically a slight possibility). One point Marianna brings up is that the trio would be a bit younger. Therefor, it has potential to now only reflect Summer Wine, but show a resemblance to the older days where there is a true trio.

I know Big Unc is pessimistic, but I think anything slightly reflecting Summer Wine is better than nothing!

 

[Marianna]

Have had a very brief think about it with mind uncluttered by uisge beatha, checked a few dates of birth and conceived a trio of Philip Jackson (the authority figure, third man), Mike Grady, Barry (the Clegg figure - tricky with his being married) and Bobby Ball (Lenny taking the Compo role). I wondered about bringing back Billy Hardcastle but Keith Clifford is getting on and does not seem to have done anything since 2008.

He would need to do some potentially funny maneuvering to persuade Glenda to let him roam with the trio, and there's comedic potential among the four characters in Glenda trying to join in on the trio's adventures rather than letting him go off without her.

Marianna

 

[Marianna]

In the UK, do corporations offer pensions? If so, at what age can one retire and collect that pension? And at what age can one collect the government pension? If corporate pensions exist, that's the age I had in mind for the older trio and for the actors playing those parts. Otherwise, they would have to be at the government pension age at the start of the series.

I don't know what the pensionable ages are currently for my former employer, having gotten out of touch since taking early retirement twelve years ago at age 58 when the company went through a major, traumatic, downsizing. The minimum age to collect the government pension, Social Security, is still 62, but it's at a reduced monthly rate. People my age had to delay beginning to collect until age 66 to receive the full monthly rate. People who are 55 this year can collect at the full rate at age 66 and 10 months. Is it anything at all like this in the UK?

Marianna

 

[chris]

Retirment in the Uk is 60 for women 65 for men but the powers that be want to push retirement age upwards there is talk of 70 but it luckily does not concern me anymore.Companies have by and large stopped pension schemes but if you are a civil servant you are in clover with fantastic pensions all claimed from 60 years of age .Most people take out private pensions but they are not so good due to tax changes governments seem to want to screw us while we work and when we retire.

 

[Marianna]

Companies have by and large stopped pension schemes but if you are a civil servant you are in clover with fantastic pensions all claimed from 60 years of age. Most people take out private pensions but they are not so good due to tax changes governments seem to want to screw us while we work and when we retire.

Most companies in the States have discontinued their pension plans, too. They've substituted 401(k)s, (I think that refers to a section of the Federal income tax code, but don't take my word for it). They used to be an adjunct to the pension plans; now they've completely substituted for them. 401(k)s allow workers to invest a percentage of their salaries on a before-tax basis, deferring taxes on the capital and its earnings until they make withdrawals after retirement at age 55 and older, when their total income is expected to be lower, so the tax impact will be smaller. Some companies contribute to their workers' 401(k)s, up to a percentage of the workers' investments.

I was among the last generation of employees in my company to have a pension. Management was in the process of phasing it out for new employees when I retired.

Marianna

 

[Marianna]

Retirement in the UK is 60 for women, 65 for men ...

So if a replacement show began now, the older trio, and the actors playing those parts, would be 65 or a bit older. Probably not much older if they had been pushed into retirement by corporate down-sizing.

Marianna