Michael Elphick and Angela Thorne make it worth watching, but Lysette Anthony is dreadful, I'm not surprised that her career flopped, she can't act, and her sulky petulant, one expression face is extremely annoying.
I didn't find it funny either and wouldn't/didn't go out of my way to watch it. However it was nice enough. I preferred the scenes with the younger couple than the older two downstairs.
It would have been unbearable without those two older professional's, they showed the younger couple up as inadequate amateurs, and lousy actors.
Why, because they were real characters with flaws? that is what made them interesting for me.
The younger couple were embarrassingly amateurish.
The trouble is the characters were selfish.
But- even characters with flaws can be likeable, if played correctly.
For a sitcom to work it is essential you care about the characters.
I sat watching it thinking how much better it would have been if Nick Lyndhurst had the part instead of Ray Burdis (although of course N L couldn't be in everything!)
The scripts weren't great- but good casting (people who know how to do comedy) would have made it better.
Never saw it before - so I watched most of this run on BBC2. It started as a sitcom but turned into a soap towards the end. I quite enjoyed it though.....is that it? THE END?
Why, because they were real characters with flaws? that is what made them interesting for me.
The younger couple were embarrassingly amateurish.
It's because although the premise of a working class man living with a snob is a good one, any laughs derived from it in Three Up, Two Down were scarce. Part of the blame of that surely has to go to the script but actors, particularly ones feted as professionals, should be able to work with what they've got. I'm not expecting the greatest comedy ever; just a comedy.
This was the first time I watched Three Up, Two Down as I didn't bother with it when it originally came out. After the first two episodes I wasn't keen on it and left it on Tivo for a while but when I went back to it I really enjoyed it and at the end wanted it to continue.
I liked Sam's character and didn't think he was lecherous. He made jokey comments to Daphne but she was horrible to him early on and wasn't ever going to be interested then. She reminded me of when I stared working in offices in the 80s and I met women like her who weren't that old, 40s and early 50s perhaps, but their manner and dress style was befitting much older ladies.
I didn't realise the whole series was supposed to be set over a one year period only, although I suppose the most obvious sign was that the baby stayed a tiny baby for about 3 series, then he was 1 year old in the last series. I thought about half way Daphne said to Sam she had lived there for about 2 years.
I always thought it was a very odd ending cos it was so abrupt, and was presumably left to everyone's imagination after she kissed him.
So I really enjoyed it but the ending was disappointing.
Agreed. The real comedy would have been with how they coped as a couple, so the ending was very abrupt. If most certainly did not feel like just one year, as the 4 series spanned 4 years. Seeing as Daphne despised Sam for three quarters of the show its hard to imagine her suddenly mellowing and becoming his partner.
Does anyone know how popular the show was at the time ? Cant seem to find anything online regarding viewing figures of 85-89.
Comments
She was truly dreadful.
It would have been unbearable without those two older professional's, they showed the younger couple up as inadequate amateurs, and lousy actors.
They might be professional actors but their characters were dreadful to watch.
Why, because they were real characters with flaws? that is what made them interesting for me.
The younger couple were embarrassingly amateurish.
The trouble is the characters were selfish.
But- even characters with flaws can be likeable, if played correctly.
For a sitcom to work it is essential you care about the characters.
I sat watching it thinking how much better it would have been if Nick Lyndhurst had the part instead of Ray Burdis (although of course N L couldn't be in everything!)
The scripts weren't great- but good casting (people who know how to do comedy) would have made it better.
I thought Michael Elphick was terrible in it.
Well her Son is certianly regarded as a Heart Throb for many women.
It's because although the premise of a working class man living with a snob is a good one, any laughs derived from it in Three Up, Two Down were scarce. Part of the blame of that surely has to go to the script but actors, particularly ones feted as professionals, should be able to work with what they've got. I'm not expecting the greatest comedy ever; just a comedy.
I feel he was better than Angela Thorne, who did a poor impression of Audrey from To The Manor Born.
Not strangely attractive, but extremely attractive.
Now I'm almost the same age as she was in this series.
Total fox!
Are you joking?
It's in tribute to Upstairs Downstairs.
That doesn't surprise me at all, your extensive and degenerate DS history reveals you 'd happily shag a hole in a barber's floor. ;-)
She looked okay to me on Loose Women
Thanks?
I liked Sam's character and didn't think he was lecherous. He made jokey comments to Daphne but she was horrible to him early on and wasn't ever going to be interested then. She reminded me of when I stared working in offices in the 80s and I met women like her who weren't that old, 40s and early 50s perhaps, but their manner and dress style was befitting much older ladies.
I didn't realise the whole series was supposed to be set over a one year period only, although I suppose the most obvious sign was that the baby stayed a tiny baby for about 3 series, then he was 1 year old in the last series. I thought about half way Daphne said to Sam she had lived there for about 2 years.
So I really enjoyed it but the ending was disappointing.
Agreed. The real comedy would have been with how they coped as a couple, so the ending was very abrupt. If most certainly did not feel like just one year, as the 4 series spanned 4 years. Seeing as Daphne despised Sam for three quarters of the show its hard to imagine her suddenly mellowing and becoming his partner.
Does anyone know how popular the show was at the time ? Cant seem to find anything online regarding viewing figures of 85-89.