Where have all the sit-coms gone?

Not to mention all the dramas and plays.

What has happened to TV in this country? There are 8 prime TV channels, if you include BBC3, BBC4 and ITV2, not to mention countless free-view and satellite channels to choose from but night after night it's a struggle to find anything worth watching!

No wonder more and more people are retreating to channels like ITV3, ITV4 and Drama to watch reruns of reruns of reruns.

Looking back to when there was only two channels and there never seemed to be a lack of programs worth watching then.
 

The highlight of last Monday night's viewing was seeing if I could answer more than 3 questions on University Challenge! What does that say about UK TV? (or possibly of more relevance, my intelligence level).

The BBC don't help themselves! This week a well produced and watchable police drama set in the mid 1950's entitled WPC56, a cross between Heartbeat and The Bill, has been running every day at 2.15pm. How many people can watch that? Why not show at prime time?

Current viewing box technology allows you to watch and/or record up to three programs simultaneously. Why? You are lucky to find one!

Last night was a prime example - saved only by an excellent final episode of the vastly underrated Benidorm. The script writers for this should receive a BAFTA and the brilliant Madge an Oscar.



But, with the probable exception of a re-run of the Christmas Special, it won't be on again until next year.

We used to have a tradition in this country for producing brilliant sit-coms.

The list is impressive:

The Army Game
Till Death Us Do Part
On the Buses
Dad's Army    
The Liver Birds
Please, Sir!
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
The Rag Trade
Steptoe and Son
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
The Likely Lads
Love Thy Neighbour
Only Fools and Horses    
Blackadder    
Vicar of Dibley    
Fawlty Towers    
Yes Minister    
Porridge    
Rising Damp
Open All Hours    
Hi-De-Hi
The Good Life    
One Foot in the Grave    
Father Ted
'Allo 'Allo!
Last of the Summer Wine
Men Behaving Badly
Absolutely Fabulous
The Royle Family
Are You Being Served?
The Young Ones

It goes on and on, but where are they now? With the odd exception like Mrs. Brown's Boys, nowhere in sight.

Are there no good comedy writers out there or are they more interested in writing and performing their own material?  

With the BBC, still trying to recover from the Jimmy Saville and Stuart Hall scandals, and in financial chaos, all they can concentrate on is saving money by making cuts. They have already succeeded in "de-localising" local radio to the extent that it is no longer worth tuning in to and now seem set on the demise of TV.

Very little money is made available for any new productions but surely it can't be that expensive. It's not rocket science - start with a successful formula, say Hi-de-Hi, bring it into the 20th century, assemble a small but top class cast and writing team and bingo - what have you got - Benidorm! It's crude and not very subtle but it makes you laugh.

Thank heavens for Radio 4,enjoy it before they ruin that too!

With four BBC TV channels to chose from and so few programs worth watching the solution to their financial problems seems simple to me. Cherry pick the best of BBC2, 3 and 4 and merge with the news and current affairs of BBC1 and re-market as one channel, BBC TV.  Next, clear out three quarters of the massively top heavy management structure and encourage the creative people to come up with the goods. Then perhaps we can start enjoying TV again. 

Thank goodness for ITV and Benidorm!

If you haven't seen the Christmas Special and you've got 50 minutes to spare:

 

BACK IN THE U.S., BACK IN THE U.S., BACK IN THE U.S.S.R.

Well,  back in the UK actually, but it feels more like Siberia. 

After most of December in Cyprus, a brief return for Christmas and New Year, followed by January in Tenerife we have returned home to the torrential rain and wind of the UK.

And we are NOT liking it!

Whilst in Cyprus Janice celebrated her birthday but before we left we had a pre-birthday outing with the girls:

 

 

The birthday celebrations in Cyprus were much more sedentary:

We had never been to The Canary Islands before but we had a great time in Tenerife. We were staying in an area called Golf del Sur, surprisingly enough surrounded by lush green golf courses running right up to the edge of the cliffs.

Our apartment/hotel overlooked San Miguel Marina and the view from our large balcony was "The B's Knees"! 
 

and we were able to enjoy the sunrise and the sunset everyday:

Ex colleague John Garner and his wife Andea were staying up the road so we had three enjoyable days in their company:

Everywhere was surprisingly inexpensive particularly the beer, as low as 95 cents a pint in some places. 

 

We discovered a proper family run Irish Bar, Aries, a few minutes walk around cliffs which served excellent food and had a "Happy Hour" from 9.00am until 6.00pm! Estrella Special is €1 a pint and Cava is €1.50 a glass. Happy indeed!

 
They had Leapy Lee, of Little Arrows fame, living just up the road and he performed there every Tuesday night:
 


In order to stay"Happy" I always find it advisable to follow the "Happy Hours" and fortunately there was a bar next to the hotel with a 6pm to 8pm happy window. We arrived one evening to find much arguing and shouting. The shop owner next door, an excitable Argentinian lady, had started building a wall between the premises, something that she was not allowed to do. Then it started to get messy! The gardia turned up and attempted to cool down the situation. Eventually, with the block wall still half built, everybody drifted away.That night the waiter from the restaurant on the other side of the shop kicked the blocks down and bricked up the door to the shop!

All in all it was a brilliant three weeks - here are some more of the highlights: 

There were only two major problems - I put on a stone in weight and we definitely weren't ready to come home:

I'll leave you with this:

 

Hey Ho!