I'd like to say it's super, smashing and great but I didn't get where I am today by welcoming the news that the BBC has commissioned a remake of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Iolanthe Perrin. I'm not really a Martin Clunes person but it is he who will be replacing Leonard Rossiter in the starring role.The announcement of the remake was delayed for eleven minutes due to a defective axle at Hampton Wick. The BBC left no worm unturned in their search for an actor to play CJ. Without beating around the mulberry bush, it is safe to say that Alison Janney turned the part down after the BBC failed to understand that it is the early bird that catches the quick brown fox.
I thank you.
Seriously, I just don't see how you can improve on comedy perfection, and the cast of the remake have a huge task on their hands if they want to be funnier than Leonard Rossiter & Co.
* Readers under the age of 40 will not have the faintest idea what this post is on about and will not doubt think I should be carried off to the Sunshine Desserts Retirement Home for the Bewildered.
I'm over 40. And I say get those bags packed. Based on generality of posts, not this one.
ReplyDeleteA remake of 'The Fall and Rise....'?
ReplyDeleteWonderful, CJ!
I'm off for a plate of Ravioli. Or three.
D
Another unnecessary remake. It will be a disaster!
ReplyDeleteI'm under 40. Considerably under 40.
ReplyDeleteAnd I didn't get where I am today without watching Reggie Perrin, either...
I wonder how closely they'll stick to the book? The original adaptation left out many of the darker elements such as Uncle Jimmy having an affair with his niece and a rapist/murderer. It was a LOT darker than the telly version.
ReplyDeleteMartin Freeman could have been good. Nah, good luck to them. As long as it's brought up to date and not a carbon then it's still got things to say. They're quite brave.
ReplyDeleteHigh Society
The Thomas Crown Affair
The Italian Job
3 stupid remakes.
AS long as they retain East Grinstead, my hometown's station and road names ...
ReplyDeleteAlan Douglas
I'd be interested to know who'll play Doc Morrisey. He was in at least two moments that still make me smile.
ReplyDeleteDM: "Do you find you can't finish the crossword like you used to, nasty taste in the mouth in the mornings, can't stop thinking about sex, can't start doing anything about sex, wake up with a sweat in the mornings, keep falling asleep during 'Play For Today'?"
RP: "That's extraordinary, Doc! That's exactly how I've been feeling."
Doc: "So have I. I wonder what it is."
Why do you think Windsor Castle is ringed with Chinese restaurants?
ReplyDeletehttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8nxo0fS2VMM
I like Dick the Pricks list of stupid remakes and this must surely be another one
ReplyDeleteHe says
High Society
The Thomas Crown Affair
The Italian Job
I thought
Get Carter the Stallone horror
Pay Back , Mel Gibsons limp and dreadful insult to the memory of Boorman`s cool tough Classic , Point Blank
Planet of the Apes with Marky Mark ( nasty)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had none of the charm of the origin
Psycho utter utter shite
Alfie , the remake with Jude Law
steaming pile of dung .
I bet no-one can think of a worse remake than those
I am under 40, and this is one of my favourtie TV shows of all time (the original series).
ReplyDeleteI didn't really get the programme when I first watched it as a child, but I caught it by accident after I had started working in London and thought it's observations on the daily grind are fantastic.
It won't get bettered and they should leave it alone. :-/
Surely you mean I should be carried off to the Su shine esse ts R tire ent Ho e fo he Bew lder d...
ReplyDeleteSuper
ReplyDeleteGreat
Sorry I'm eleven minutes late Iain, elephant on the line at Beckenham
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, Machiavelli is much younger than his readers often suppose, and yet he remembers The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin; hilarious it was too.
ReplyDeleteM suspects that Martin Clunes will prove to be woefully mis-cast, and agrees that the original will be difficult to improve on.
Why not some original comedy, anyway? Surely we pay enough in licence fees to buy new jokes rather than rehashed old ones?
P.S. I liked the Thomas Crown Affair remake...
ReplyDeleteWorst remake? How about the Tom Hanks version of 'The Ladykillers'?
ReplyDeleteClams - good shot. Miller's Crossing is one of my favourite films, love the Coen boys, but what the hell was that? Were they drunk, on medication?
ReplyDeleteAlec Guiness
Peter Sellers
Herbert Lom
UUrrggh. I paid good money to see that drivel.
Can't really think of any series though.
High Society
ReplyDeleteThe Thomas Crown Affair
The Italian Job
3 stupid remakes.
Au contraire, all better than the originals.
WV: grabego
Chris, seriously, have you seen the Philadelphia story? It's timeless. Like Cat on a hot tin roof - these things are a tour de force - can't be beaten.
ReplyDeleteArt bud, art - making the imperfect brilliant.
Coming soon, a remake of The Prisoner starring Russell Brand.
ReplyDeleteArrrrrrrgh!
The Penguin
I'm a people person and I didn't get where I am today by watching stupid remakes of comedy classics. Great. Super.
ReplyDeleteChris is insane please help him give him broth!
ReplyDeleteChris you seriously think the remake of the Italian job was better than the original You cannot , this is not an opinion I am stating a cosmic verity .YOU CANNOT
The recent remake of King Kong was pretty dreadful as was the 1970s one .
The attempt to re capture the spirit of the carry-ons was an embarrassing disgrace
Tell you what thought ,Freaky Friday was turned into a silly caper into a neat little comedy when they remade it.
It can work
"You're not losing your drive are you Iain? We're not one of those terrible firms that believe a chap's no good after he's 46."
ReplyDeleteAgree completely that you can't remake comedy perfection. Recently I read David Nobbs' Reggie Perrin novel, which is a lot darker and has Jimmy having an affair with Reggie's daughter and Reggie suffering from impotence as well as all the stuff featured in the TV series.
Where are those men in white coats when you need them? ;-)
ReplyDeleteNo No No No No. Why remake this classic? Just repeat the old ones, perfection indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhat next? Remaking Fawlty Towers with Stephen Fry as Basil Fawlty? Perhaps remaking Benny Hill with Harry Hill as Benny Hill?
Why do they have to do a remake of such a classic? have they run out of ideas?
ReplyDeleteAfter Leonard Rossiter died they tried a follow up series i think a couple of years later, but it was embarrassing, really awful. Remakes rarely succeed. remember Steve Martin in Sergeant Bilko? I think ive proved my point!!
nah ..its not just Perrin ...CJ was a classic monster ....
ReplyDeleteClunes is just plain wrong ..
who for CJ ? ...John Cleese ?
Bit of a cock-up on the casting front, .
ReplyDeleteNo really, why is tv so determined to live in the past ? Why not re-make Dads Army, 2 of the original cast can play themselves ! Why not re-make The Survivors, or another quality 1970s series ? Oh, I see.
How can they remake this, it would make as much sense as making Dad's Army for the present day, the world of business is so different, Sunshine Deserts would be owned by an American / Swiss multinational, and the offices would have been demolished and replaced by executive town houses.
ReplyDeleteThis is Thornhill...on green. Yes.
ReplyDeleteI think you should all calm down and take a seat...
*pfrrrrrrrrp!*
Ha! Like the chairs? Very small. Japanese.
What is it about the egos of people who think they can remake movies and TV shows that were near-perfect to begin with? All they can hope to do is fail as minimally as possible – but they still fail. And I guess it beats having to think of something new. As someone once said: The entertainment industry is full of producers who want to be the second person to do something startling and original.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for the remake is quite simple. It is so that the PC brigade can get in and "clean" the whole thing up.
ReplyDeleteFawlty Towers will be next with all references to Germans, W*gs and C**ns removed, and any other bits which offend the Righteous.
As Michael Caine allegedly said (in reference to Hollyweird remakes of Get Carter and The Italian Job, "Why don't they remake the *bad* ones?"
ReplyDelete