I don't get why Arthur Askey was so huge.
As stated above. His act this week was pretty much identical to when he was on a couple of months ago.
Waddle on. Sing a couple of childish songs. Waddle off.
Baffling.


And the ventriloquist this week was bloody awful. His mouth moved more than the dummys.

Lol. Yes I have to say I agree with you on both accounts there. That sums it up well.

I suppose back then there were still an awful lot of people who remembered Arthur Askey from his heyday during the war and he still had an enormous following. Bit like Ken Dodd or Bruce Forsyth nowadays perhaps.

In his prime Arthur Askey was a dynamo on stage, radio and on screen. You only have to look at "The Ghost Train" movie to see him firing on all cylinders.

By the 70's he was probably one of the few wartime comics still performing (or alive) and it is clear he is coasting on the nostalgia of the two generations who knew him (the people who fought in a world war and the people who grew up with him).

Even coasting though, he was still funnier than a bloody awful vent act using jokes I wouldn't use when I was 6 years old.

The vent act that you mention was called Arthur Worsley and he had huge success not only in Britain but also in America. Ed Sullivan regarded him as the best ever ventriloquist. (I personally think Ray Alan should have got that title..) Arthur retired in 1983 and has since sadly passed away. He was unusual in that unlike most vent acts he never spoke to the 'dummy.' . Usually one of the things about these acts was the contrast between the voice of the 'dummy' and the voice of the man/woman working the 'dummy.'

Thanks for that Ian. I didn't realise. Some good information there. I probably should have googled.

Nearly time for another show tonight at 8pm. From January 1976 this time featuring Moira Anderson.

Well that was a surprise! Tessie O'Shea stealing the show there.

I was in a hotel over the weekend so looking forward to catching up with this later.

I always liked 'Two Ton' Tessie O'Shea so that'll be a treat for later.

Agony, with Maureen Lipman. Used to love the theme tune.


I'm sixteen and feeling kinda on the shelf
Sometimes I get a funny pain
My boyfriend loves my girlfriend
and I cry for days.

Yes we used to like it. So that was sung by two ton Tessie was it, is that what you meant?

Such a shame it seems to have finished the run. I hope the Beeb repeat them at some point.

It's back on Friday 4th November. It sometimes takes a week off when they've got something else to put on, otherwise they now seem to working their way through chronologically, with the odd one missed out here and there.

No sorry, I mis-threaded, if that's the right word, that posting. Should have been in the forgotten TV Comedies thread. Don't know how it got in this one.

Still not seen Fridays 's episode yet. Hopefully will watch tonight.

Had spotted that The Good Old Days wasn't on this week, glad to hear it's only a one week absence.

I think that in the first half of the 20th Century music hall type acts like Askey were based more on charisma, than talent as we see it today. Often acts like Gracie Fields etc were based around relatable working class types, in the days when the working class would gather together to unite in singing and cammaraderie. This community spirit doesn't really exist anymore, and those kinds of acts are no longer fashionable. To us they seem very dubious, but at the time I guess people would relate to them, and laugh at their large personalities.

Quite a variety week this one just gone.

Danny LaRue was excellent. Ventriloquist awful (as per usual). The shadow puppeteer was bizarre but quite good. Fiddle bloke was psss poor. And the opera singer type bloody earsplitting.

I saw last week's episode briefly on fast forward. That shadow puppet bloke was excellent. I really enjoyed that.

Need to watch the episode properly though still. Might do that now as there's no show on tonight.

Danny La Rue. I was never a fan myself even at the time but again, he was immensly popular.

Well we're back on again tonight. Not sure what the year is but a rather grey and middle aged looking Roy Castle is just doing a turn with the bag pipes so I would guess maybe about 1980 or so?

Oh and what A TREAT! Hinge and bracket doing a stint earlier on the show back in their heyday! Great to see them again with a little more of the adult insight in my middle age. Doing a G&S number too.

Tonight's show, from 1976, was really enjoyable with the highlight, for me, being the marvellous Eartha Kitt.

Yep. She did three numbers and was just as saltry as she always was.

I've come to realise. I love the little support act Leonard Sax does as the casual spectator getting involved when he gives the guests a hand down the stairs to stop them stumbling or returns a reaction as they catch his eyen on passing. I think this works really well and is obviously rehearsed otherwise it would look too awkward and un co-ordinated. He really was quite a professional in his own right.

Back to 1976 again tonight - the month of March in fact, just before that hot summer. Guests include Ken Dodd and Sheila Steafel among others.

consummate gent, sachs holds it together, without him it would be just a variety show, he certainly slips in a few ad libs as well..

i get a bit misty eyed watching all these ordinary folk having a good time, dressed up in finery and ever since regaling all who would listen [ again ] forever about that day in leeds when they appeared in the audience for a recording of TGODs. i would think a lot of them have passed on, but there they are preserved forever, ever young and vibrant in the electronic amber of vido .

oh hark at me, i can go all a bit sylvia plath at times

God Ken Dodd is on form tonight! Helped I think by such an incredibley lively audience. They've been like that since the start. I think they must have been well and truly warmed up beforehand.

I'm glad it's back. It would have been typical to stop just as I found it. I haven't had a chance to see last week or tonight's yet due to work but plan to over the weekend. ☺

Been away and watched three episodes back to back, albeit with a little fast forwarding,but thoroughly enjoyed it all, especially Ken Dodd and Eartha Kitt, although she didn't seem to know all the words to Down At The Old Bull and Bush.

Still I enjoyed my evening watching this with a few glasses of wine.

Welcome back Dave. Yes they were very good episodes as you say.

13th January 1977 tonight!
Featuring Bernard Cribbins and Patricia Brake. Be good to see Patricia Brake again, she was a very popular charactor actress at the time.

I've missed a few of these recently, but John Inman made up for it tonight. That innuendo-packed song and his 'business' had me chortling merrily. A master at work.