"New" Reggie Perrin

[Globalti]

No, what made the original funny was The Man himself; Rossiter had an appealing mix of all kinds of qualities. He managed to portray somebody teetering on the brink of an explosion - I even thought him dangerously unbalanced at times. As written above Clunes is indeed a pudding-faced oaf.

 

[Arch]

No, what made the original funny was The Man himself; Rossiter had an appealing mix of all kinds of qualities. He managed to portray somebody teetering on the brink of an explosion - I even thought him dangerously unbalanced at times. As written above Clunes is indeed a pudding-faced oaf.

Well, it's true, he was perfect (although it's always hard to imagine more than one person in a role, except for Dr Who...).

Anyway, the latest version sits firmly in my 'leave on if there's nothing better, while I knit' category.

 

[Davidc]

As others have said the main problem is that the original was perfect, with inspired casting and brilliant writing. This one is to the original what supermarket own brand lager is to Chateauneuf du Pape!

Why can't current writers come up with something new and original? Surely even if they explore the same themes they can find new insights and angles on them. That way the broadcasters could repeat the original and show the new stuff which might give us a whole hour a week of watchable television.

(btw most UK productions use a studio audience to generate laughter and a warm up comedian to get them hysterical before recording - which still sounds almost as naff as the US & Aussie practice of using recorded laughter)

 

[TVC]

I heard they were remaking The Good Life with John Barrowman and Cathrine Tate. - Should be a classic

 

[John the Monkey]

I heard they were remaking The Good Life with John Barrowman and Cathrine Tate. - Should be a classic

Sylvester McCoy and Carol Smilie play Jerry and Margot, as I understand it.

BrokenTV made some interesting points about the new Perrin - a couple that stick in my head are;

1) Where Rossiter comes across as weary and put upon, Clunes seems to be little more than a grumpy peanut at times.

2) It seemed surprisingly old fashioned, at which point the writer drops in a reference to a laptop or a text message.

(Actually, I've misremembered some of that, on re-reading the review, but the whole thing is here; http://broken-tv.blogspot.com/ )

 

[Lardyboy]

Remakes are seldom better than the originals. This one is no exception!!!!

 

[Flyingfox]

If it ain't broke why fix it?

Why the remakes, are there no original writers out there any more? I can't think of a remake that was better than the original - film or TV show - Leonard Rossiter was Reggie Perrin, and instead of being 're-done' the first version should be shown again.

 

[Crankarm]

If it ain't broke why fix it?

Why the remakes, are there no original writers out there any more? I can't think of a remake that was better than the original - film or TV show - Leonard Rossiter was Reggie Perrin, and instead of being 're-done' the first version should be shown again.

You might be right there. The Italian Job - diabolical, Starsky and Hutch - poor and St. Trinians . Have already mentioned Minder - awful.

That's why Atkinson, Robinson, Curtis, Fry and Laurie have declined to redo or to allow to have redone any of the Blackadders or make any new ones. They were then and we are now.

But the Thomas Crown Affair remake was as good as the first IMHO. Although McQueen and Dunaway had so much more style then Brosnan and Russo.

 

[Steve Austin]

It was better this evening

 

[threebikesmcginty]

It was better this evening

hang your head in shame!

 

[dav1d]

Approach re-makes with an open mind and forget the original, otherwise you're bound to be disappointed!
I thought it quite good, except as already pointed out, for the canned laughter. "Not Going Out" suffers from the dreaded can. also.

Did that get axed? I heard it did, and I thought it was a great comedy.

 

[dav1d]

I've just watched one of the new episodes on BBCi Player. Thought it was quite funny. As I haven't watched the originals, I'm going to watch this series first and then buy the originals.

 

[dellzeqq]

I tried again. And failed.

 

[Crankarm]

The new FRRP came in for a lot of crtiticism on Points of View for the canned laughter. Apparently a mixture of canned and live studio laughter is used . Cut it all would be the best option .

On sat the Beeb screened another repeat of the Dad's Army episode where the platoon are tasked with guarding the German U-boat crew in the church hall. One of the best DA episodes and comic offerings ever up there with Fawlty Towers, Fools and Horses, Porridge, Black Adder and the original FRRP:-

Private Pike on the ladder with Tommy gun,
"Whistle while work,
Hitler is a twerp
He's 'alf barmy so his army...."
German Commander,
"Vot ez yor naim?"
Capt. Mainwaring,
"Don't tell him Pike!"

 

[Arch]

The new FRRP came in for a lot of crtiticism on Points of View for the canned laughter. Apparently a mixture of canned and live studio laughter is used

No, that's not what they said, if I remember correctly. It is all real reactive laughter from a studio audience - some is scenes filmed in front of the audience, as in a play, and the bits that can't be done that way - location filming mainly, and special effects, are shown to the same audience on screens to get the laughter reaction. The laughter is all real, albeit sometimes a bit over the top due to them having been warmed up, etc... Canned laughter would be a tape of laughter added in whenever the editor thought it was needed - I think it's much more obviously fake.

TBH, I hadn't even noticed the laughter, maybe I'm just good at mentally editing it out.

I heard a story once from the good old days of radio. One technician came into a suite to find another editing tape. He would listen, then reel a great long chunk through, and cut it out, then listen again and so on, leaving minutes worth of tape on the floor. Asked what he was working on, he explained that it was the Goon Show, and he was cutting out the minutes of hysterical laughter after each gag. Leave it all in, and each episode would go on for hours... I don't know whether they collected it up and used it on less funny shows...