Is It Just Me or Is The Green Green Grass awful?

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  • jonno65jonno65 Posts: 188
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    It's just you.

    Not really :) - is it just me or is it hot in here
  • steven1977steven1977 Posts: 3,968
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    I've been watching a few episodes on GOLD lately and it really is dire. Boycie was always someone who was OK in small doses in OFAH but doesn't really work as the central character away from the show. A lot of the acting is shoddy, the jokes are unfunny and the weak supporting cast doesn't help matters. I actually cringed a few times at an episode the other day. Even the theme tune is bad.

    Problem is people expect it to be at the same caliber but it isnt.
  • lundavralundavra Posts: 31,790
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    I have been watching the repeats on GOLD and enjoying them. Can anyone tell what accent Beth has? She is supposed to be Welsh or part Welsh but it is not a Welsh accent - is it Shropshire?
  • AmusedmooseAmusedmoose Posts: 1,188
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    I've been watching a few episodes on GOLD lately and it really is dire. Boycie was always someone who was OK in small doses in OFAH but doesn't really work as the central character away from the show. A lot of the acting is shoddy, the jokes are unfunny and the weak supporting cast doesn't help matters. I actually cringed a few times at an episode the other day. Even the theme tune is bad.

    It's not just you;-). I remember I always used to leave it on to sing along to the theme tune and then immediately turn it over.:D
  • Hollo and GonchHollo and Gonch Posts: 4,109
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    I found it massively disappointing, as I loved OFAH and I loved Boycie and Marlene.

    My feeling is that John Sullivan really "got" life on the tough streets of 1980s Peckham, and that shines through. But he didn't seem to "get" life in the country in quite the same way. The supporting characters in OFAH are diverse and distinctive, whereas those in The Green Green Grass are just boring and annoying.

    OFAH brilliantly evokes a sense of time and place, whilst TGGG evokes... well, nothing really :(
  • Bob PaisleyBob Paisley Posts: 3,617
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    Dreadful. When OFAH fianlly ran out of steam - sadly churning out 'specials' long after the joke had run it's course - Sullivan seems to have been content to resort to reworking his old characters in new situations. But the setting didn't work and thesupporting characters were weak. The whole thing was clumsy, sterertypical, hack stuff. Maybe Sullivan's time had come and gone.

    Yes, sad to say his writing went downhill towards the end of his life. Even the last few years of Only Fools and Horses were pretty poor. Rock and Chips was not up to much either. In his prime, John Sullivan was a great comedy writer - but his prime ended around 1995. It's a shame, because he was on a hot streak in the 80s - OFAH, Just Good Friends, Dear John.
  • Chris1964Chris1964 Posts: 19,726
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    I found it massively disappointing, as I loved OFAH and I loved Boycie and Marlene.

    My feeling is that John Sullivan really "got" life on the tough streets of 1980s Peckham, and that shines through. But he didn't seem to "get" life in the country in quite the same way. The supporting characters in OFAH are diverse and distinctive, whereas those in The Green Green Grass are just boring and annoying.

    OFAH brilliantly evokes a sense of time and place, whilst TGGG evokes... well, nothing really :(

    Agreed. First episode attracted 9 million viewers expectant viewers, less than a third of that were around when it finally bit the dust iirc.
    GGG was an about turn on OFAH, essentially an attempt at a Croft/Perry style ensemble comedy, but the characters, settings and stories were too ridiculous and eventually the audience agreed. Iv rarely been as disappointed in a tv show if Im being honest.
  • Chris1964Chris1964 Posts: 19,726
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    Yes, sad to say his writing went downhill towards the end of his life. Even the last few years of Only Fools and Horses were pretty poor. Rock and Chips was not up to much either. In his prime, John Sullivan was a great comedy writer - but his prime ended around 1995. It's a shame, because he was on a hot streak in the 80s - OFAH, Just Good Friends, Dear John.

    I didn't think Rock and Chips was too bad, but by then the magic had been spread too thin.
    John Sullivan died before his time, it was reported that there would have been a 30th anniversary OFAH. I would have swapped several series of GGG for one final OFAH.
  • Jeannie_WilsonJeannie_Wilson Posts: 1,568
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    I didn't like it either. I found it a chore to sit through and not very funny.

    Now "Only Fools..." is a different story altogether. ;-)
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