Count Arthur Strong TV sitcom?

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 245
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This might be a long shot but does anyone have any news about the sitcom starring the Radio 4 character, Count Arthur Strong. It was filmed at the beginning of the year and was initially due to air in April. Has it been shelved indefinitely? I've tried looking it up on line but can't find any information. I was in the audience for the filming of episode 5 and I thought it was very funny. I was really looking forward to seeing the finished product.
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  • chuffnobblerchuffnobbler Posts: 10,771
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    I love CAS!

    i thought it was a game show type-o-thing that was happening rather than a sitcom. Anyhow, I didn;t know it had been recorded. Thought it was still in planning/etc.
  • mike65mike65 Posts: 11,386
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    I wondered what happened to this, I love the Count. What is the format?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,075
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    CAS is a marmite issue. You either love him or hate him. Personally, I'd like to punch his face in.
  • Dr.  OtterblandDr. Otterbland Posts: 783
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    CAS is a marmite issue. You either love him or hate him. Personally, I'd like to punch his face in.

    I doubt the sit-com format will work on TV, it's curiously old fashioned and suits radio better. Like John Shuttleworth's outing on TV it didn't QUITE capture John's character.

    A spoof low budget quiz show with Arthur as the bad tempered host may be good though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 245
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    mike65 wrote: »
    I wondered what happened to this, I love the Count. What is the format?

    It also starred Rory Kinnear (sp) as the son of the count' s former partner who after splitting with Arthur went on to have a very successful comedy and acting career. Kinnear' s character comes looking for Arthur because he is writing a biography of his father and wants info on his early years. The episode I watched was mostly set in a cafe which the count frequents a lot and other regular character's include the brother and sister who own the cafe. When a riot ensues the cafe staff and customers hide in a back room, where, despite obvious protests, the count proceeds to keep up everyone's spirits by performing his entire rep which includes whole Shakespeare speeches as well as numerous west end hits. It was a very funny sequence which had the audience in stitches.

    Having said that, I can see why you'd either love him or hate him but despite people's reserve about whether a sit com would actually work, I thought it did work and would be prepared to give it a go if only they'd show it. Maybe they could bring it out on DVD if they've decided to shelve it. I feel a letter to the BBC coming on. after all, if they've already made the entire series it's a complete waste of licence payer' s money to just throw it away.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 245
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    I've edited it now but if you read it before I edited it, you're probably thinking wtf? Of course, I meant Rory Kinnear, I'm always getting them two mixed up.
  • chuffnobblerchuffnobbler Posts: 10,771
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    His facebook page mentions the TV show, but not in any great detail:
    https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Count-Arthur-Strong/146028638840641?fref=ts

    Here's Graham Linehan's twitter:
    http://twitpic.com/cejva0

    Looks like this was only recorded relatively recently, so there's plenty of time to bung it on the telly. British Comedy Guide suggests June. (ooh, it's June now!)
    http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/count_arthur_strong/

    I saw Count Arthur Strong's Commando Performance on stage this time last year, and it's one of the best nights out I have had for a very, very long time. Favourite CAS quote (often used in the Chuff household): "I don't like to blow my own trumpet up myself". :D
  • mw963mw963 Posts: 3,064
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    .... "and if it hadn't been for my bottom of mine I gave it wouldn't have lasted the three nights it did; all the critics said that".

    "It was the worst audience I ever had that, if you leave out the Bradford Alhambra, and that was a geniune misunderstanding so it doesn't count".
  • StaxVoltStaxVolt Posts: 161
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    Another fan of The Count signing in and last I heard,BBC2 had commissioned 6 X 30 min sit-coms.


    The following extract came from this page - http://www.countarthurstrong.com/bbbc/


    In 2012 production began on the TV sitcom ‘Count Arthur Strong’ for BBC 2. The series has been written by Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan and features Rory Kinnear performing alongside Arthur as Michael Baker. The Komedia Entertainment, Delightful Industries and Retort TV Production is directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Richard Boden with Executive Producers Richard Daws, Jon Rolph and Gregor Sharp for the BBC. Count Arthur Strong was produced throughout the Winter 2012/13, recorded in front of a live audience at Pinewood Studios. It is planned to be aired on BBC2 in the Summer of 2013 and transmission dates will be announced on this site soon.
  • kryskryskryskrys Posts: 3,322
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    July, according to Graham Linehan yesterday on Twitter.
  • Dr.  OtterblandDr. Otterbland Posts: 783
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    Sounds good, amazingly Arthur's TV career hasn't really taken off, his last outing being on Juliet Bravo, before that an episode of Bootsie and Snudge, which he only got because Rodney Bewes took ill after eating tuna paste ice cream.
  • chuffnobblerchuffnobbler Posts: 10,771
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    Juliet Bravo. I've worked with her. I've sat in a car with her.
  • Me-CheetahMe-Cheetah Posts: 599
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    I really do love Count Arthur Strong on the radio - one of the very few things that makes me laugh.

    Not sure how it'll work on TV as, for me, these shows lose something when you have got used to them being a purely aural thing. I have a vivid idea of what CAS looks like ( from the radio show)- and it's not like JS plays him.

    I'll give it a go though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,075
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    striing wrote: »
    I used to hate him (because the voice reminded me of John Shuttleworth who I also can't stand) but I ended up listening to an episode of CAS by chance a couple of years ago and found myself laughing.

    I can't imagine it working on TV though.

    That's weird - I like John Shuttleworth! :confused:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,075
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    striing wrote: »
    That's kind of my point I think - once I listened properly I found CAS isn't like John Shuttleworth. He's funny. ;)

    Bloody comedy eh? Nothing to laugh about there! ;)
  • chuffnobblerchuffnobbler Posts: 10,771
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    Monday 8th July, BBC2!

    HOORAY! :D
  • Blockz99Blockz99 Posts: 5,045
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    striing wrote: »
    That's kind of my point I think - once I listened properly I found CAS isn't like John Shuttleworth. He's funny. ;)

    Totally agree.....:)
  • chuffnobblerchuffnobbler Posts: 10,771
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    Trailer and photos on the Count's FB page!
  • AZZURRI 06AZZURRI 06 Posts: 11,173
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    John Shuttleworth is brilliant!!!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 304
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    striing wrote: »
    I used to hate him (because the voice reminded me of John Shuttleworth who I also can't stand) but I ended up listening to an episode of CAS by chance a couple of years ago and found myself laughing.

    I can't imagine it working on TV though.

    Same here, like the radio show, but not sure about TV, I didn't apply for tickets for that reason, I remember laughing so much at the grumbleweeds show on radio many years ago, after several series they then moved to TV and that was it, they didn't last if you know what I mean, but who knows....
  • Trsvis_BickleTrsvis_Bickle Posts: 9,202
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    striing wrote: »
    I used to hate him (because the voice reminded me of John Shuttleworth who I also can't stand) but I ended up listening to an episode of CAS by chance a couple of years ago and found myself laughing.

    I can't imagine it working on TV though.

    No, me neither. There are some marvellous comedies on Radio 4 (anyone else loving the current series of The Castle?) but the track record of successfully transferring them to TV is patchy at best. Fingers crossed.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,075
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    pnp63 wrote: »
    Same here, like the radio show, but not sure about TV, I didn't apply for tickets for that reason, I remember laughing so much at the grumbleweeds show on radio many years ago, after several series they then moved to TV and that was it, they didn't last if you know what I mean, but who knows....

    Aaahhhhh The Grumbleweeds..... Uncle Rubbish and his teatime toytime time slot. :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,075
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    Deleted.
  • chuffnobblerchuffnobbler Posts: 10,771
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    Transferring from radio to TV is always a worry. It was the death of the excellent Dead Ringers ... but I have high hopes for the Count. I don't think the character was specifically created for radio, and his stage show (Commando Performance) was one of the highlights of 2012 for me.

    Fingers crossed that this doesn't fall flat, and scupper future radio shows while he's at it ... :(
  • TheGrumpWizardTheGrumpWizard Posts: 1,547
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    Came across this by accident on Radio Four Extra and thought it was one of their repeats of a 60's programme. It's certainly an acquired taste shall we say. Like others I struggle to see it making the transition to tv.
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