The Good Life – Simon Dunn

Tag: The Good Life

Very Good Indeed Sitcoms

It seems obvious, from looking at the BBC’s Annual Report of 1979, that they were much more proud of their drama output than of their comedy fare. A mere three paragraphs are given over to the gigglepics. To win the viewer’s affection, the scripts of any situation comedy need to be very good indeed. The…

December 3, 2020
Positively Enriching Situation Comedies

Here’s the overview of the BBC’s comedy output during 1977, as recorded in their annual report. Comedies including The Good Life and serials including I, Claudius shared pride of place during the year. Situation comedies, some of which were not only funny but positively enriching, again flourished on BBC Television. As usual much depended on…

December 2, 2020
Hardball Comedy Connections

As is my wont when I am at a loss as to what to write on the daily vomit, I opened up The Radio Times Guide To TV Comedy, and found a 1990 US sitcom called Hardball. You’ll recognise quite a few faces in that cast. And you’ll be traumatised by the mascot no doubt.…

February 3, 2020

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Proctology: A Bottom Examination

For a long time now I’ve been wanting to write an old-fashioned programme guide. One you can hold in your hand and thumb through, make notes on, spill coffee on. So I did. Proctology: A Bottom Examination is my deep dive into Bottom, the hit BBC Two sitcom starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. That’s…

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Re-Casting Keanu

Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him eight years older than Clive Dunn was when he was first cast in Dad’s Army. But don’t panic, Clive Dunn was always playing much older characters than his own age. Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him seven years older than Stephanie Cole was when she was first…