id say porridge .also i quite liked the movie of ,the likely lads,not as good as the tv show but the magic between bolam and bews couldnt never be compleaty dimed i recall this great piece of diolgue"id give you a beer but iv only got 6 cans"
I think Porridge and The Likely Lads are generally considered to be two of the best "tv spin offs" as they called them back then. I quite liked the first Steptoe And Son film although it was actually quite sad in parts seeing Harolds marriage destroyed. Its been said on here many times that most of these films went wrong by taking the cast out of their usual environment and most of them involved the characters going on holiday. I think the biggest rip off was the Rising Damp film which used situations and storylnes already done in the series! Sill hard to believe that On The Buses was the biggest grossing film of 1971 beating Diamonds Are Forever! Mind you even last year The Inbetweeners was a huge hit. If it had beaten Harry Potter it would have been a modern equivalent of 1971.
Like everybody else, I think Porridge is the clear winner.
I've also got a sneaking admiration for the Alf Garnett films (Til death do us part + The Alf Garnett saga) because they tried to expand the character and give him some history.
I was never really a fan of the Likely Lads, but I can appreciate that the film was well done.
TBH though, I think it's easier to come up with the really bad films, as oppose to the good ones
Apart from the On the Buses trilogy, the others that come immediately to mind as being outstandingly appalling are;
Are you being served?
Love Thy Neighbour
Please Sir
Man about the House.
Oh gawd! I can't believe I sat through that. The standard 'holiday to Spain' set up and ''ere aren't foreigners peculiar' humour if I remember rightly. Bloody awful.
The Rising Damp movie deserves special mention if only for the bizarre and awful disco theme song. Anyone remember that?
What's the Steptoe and Son film that has them faking the Dad's death for the life insurance?
Love all those whole wake and funeral scenes. Harold throwing himeself on the coffin trying to wake his dad up, the drunk doctor examining the shop dummy.
And what a cast.
Yootha Joyce as the sympathetic aunt(?) in particular.:D
Dads Army is a good film version, all the characters are just as they would be on TV, hate it when they take the situation and characters out of what we are used to. The Likely Lads, and Porridge are also very good. Loved that bit in Porridge, when Fletch and Godber are trying to get back to prison after accidentally escaping(!), and see a member of the opposite sex, "Look Fletch a woman!":D
The Rising Damp movie deserves special mention if only for the bizarre and awful disco theme song. Anyone remember that?
"Rising Damp ..
It's rising up the wall.
Rising Damp.
It's gonna get us all!"
Something like that wasn't it :D :rolleyes:
I actually saw the film in a small local cinema in a double bill with Porridge. Double bills ... remember those?
I don't actually mind it, but it terribly misses the presence of Richard Beckinsale.
Love the Rigsby picnic scene though...
I'd quite forgotten about Dad's Army. That acts almost as an "origin" story! Good stuff.
I still can't believe there's a film version of George and Mildred. In a way, it's good that it was released some months after Yootha Joyce's death.
The worst? Has to be Guest House Paradiso with the guys from Bottom. But some friends really loved it. Odd.
Guest House Paradiso was probably the best outside of the obvious On The Buses. Simply a movie that wasn't supposed to be taken too seriously, just like Bottom itself. Some brilliant laughs and as per usual a fantastic job from both Ade and Rik.
I'd quite forgotten about Dad's Army. That acts almost as an "origin" story! Good stuff.
Dad's Army didn't need an 'origin story' - all of that was covered in the first television series, if anything the film is a remake/expansion in the same way that the Rising Damp film was.
The Likely Lads and Till Death... are the clear winners for me, in that the former is a proper continuation of the television series and the latter is much more ambitious than most films of this type. Porridge is ok but kind of works against the strengths of the television series which was at it's finest when played and written like theatre. The first Steptoe film is great until they go on the honeymoon when it falls apart completely.
Love Thy Neighbour deserves a mention, only ever seen the film once and recall it was pretty good and on par with the series (assuming the dated racism tickles your funny bone).
Keep those fingers crossed for a daytime showing on ITV4.
Comments
I've also got a sneaking admiration for the Alf Garnett films (Til death do us part + The Alf Garnett saga) because they tried to expand the character and give him some history.
I was never really a fan of the Likely Lads, but I can appreciate that the film was well done.
TBH though, I think it's easier to come up with the really bad films, as oppose to the good ones
Apart from the On the Buses trilogy, the others that come immediately to mind as being outstandingly appalling are;
Are you being served?
Love Thy Neighbour
Please Sir
Man about the House.
Stinkers! All of 'em. IMHO of course...
Oh gawd! I can't believe I sat through that. The standard 'holiday to Spain' set up and ''ere aren't foreigners peculiar' humour if I remember rightly. Bloody awful.
The Rising Damp movie deserves special mention if only for the bizarre and awful disco theme song. Anyone remember that?
Love all those whole wake and funeral scenes. Harold throwing himeself on the coffin trying to wake his dad up, the drunk doctor examining the shop dummy.
And what a cast.
Yootha Joyce as the sympathetic aunt(?) in particular.:D
I like Porridge,Steptoe & Son Ride Again & Dad's Army.I don't mind the Are You Being Served film.
I still can't believe there's a film version of George and Mildred. In a way, it's good that it was released some months after Yootha Joyce's death.
The worst? Has to be Guest House Paradiso with the guys from Bottom. But some friends really loved it. Odd.
some good jokes. and quite cinematic. the narrative is "taken from" a few of the tv episodes but gets treated differently for the big screen.
"Rising Damp ..
It's rising up the wall.
Rising Damp.
It's gonna get us all!"
Something like that wasn't it :D :rolleyes:
I actually saw the film in a small local cinema in a double bill with Porridge. Double bills ... remember those?
I don't actually mind it, but it terribly misses the presence of Richard Beckinsale.
Love the Rigsby picnic scene though...
I'd quite forgotten about Dad's Army. That acts almost as an "origin" story! Good stuff.
Guest House Paradiso was probably the best outside of the obvious On The Buses. Simply a movie that wasn't supposed to be taken too seriously, just like Bottom itself. Some brilliant laughs and as per usual a fantastic job from both Ade and Rik.
Dad's Army didn't need an 'origin story' - all of that was covered in the first television series, if anything the film is a remake/expansion in the same way that the Rising Damp film was.
The Likely Lads and Till Death... are the clear winners for me, in that the former is a proper continuation of the television series and the latter is much more ambitious than most films of this type. Porridge is ok but kind of works against the strengths of the television series which was at it's finest when played and written like theatre. The first Steptoe film is great until they go on the honeymoon when it falls apart completely.
Keep those fingers crossed for a daytime showing on ITV4.