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Conference ljsrv1::tv_chatter

Title:The TV Chatter Notes Conference
Notice:Welcome to TV Chatter :-)
Moderator:PASTA::PIERCE
Created:Wed Dec 16 1992
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:498
Total number of notes:5416

8.0. "British Comedies on PBS!" by --UnknownUser-- () Thu Mar 11 1993 00:48

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8.1Mrs. Slocombe, part 3 last (finally!)MCIS5::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketThu Jul 01 1993 06:51208
    	Notes: D = David Ives, [Chairman?] of WGBH, Channel 2         
               (PBS) in Boston
    	       M = Mollie Sugden
    
    	       [Editorial comments in brackets]
    
    D:	...and I want to say that if you're gonna ask a question 
        you oughta be man or woman enough to come up with a 
        pledge too.  Shouldn't you?
    
    M:	Ooh yes, I'm not answering anything if you haven't put 
        your money where your mouth is.
    
    D:	Well here's one.  Mollie, the Federal Court of Rhode 
        Island watches you so much that all the employees ask the 
        customers "Are you being served?"  Many of the customers 
        answer "Are you free?"  The whole Federal Court is an 
        addicted audience of AYBS.
    
    M:	Oh, well next time I hit a policeman with my handbag I 
        shall expect you to remember how much you *love me...*
    
    D:	Are Mr. Rumbold's ears real?
    
    M:	Yes!  They are!  Yes--"Jug Ears"!
    
    D:	Is there a fan club one can write to, to Mrs. Slocombe 
        and the cast? --Probably not.
    
    M:	[looks perplexed]
    
    D:	You have fan clubs in Britain, don't you?  People who 
        write in, and uh...
    
    M:	No, *I* haven't.
    
    D:	You should have, you deserve one.
    
    M:	The first fan club I had was in Florida, ooh I was so 
        proud!
    
    D:	Here's one: John and Cathy Barton say you're the best 
        thing to happen to British television.
    
    M:	Aw.
    
    D:	And little boy Jimmy Rodriguez thinks your hair is 
        "awesome"!
    
    M:	Oh ha ha ha!  You're so right, Jimmy!
    
    D:	That's just short of saying "wicked awesome," which is 
        what the kids say these days.  Remember folks, we're here 
        not just to entertain you, as Mollie is doing so 
        wonderfully, BUT to get your pledges, so there are a lot 
        of people I can see at that table right now who have 
        nobody calling them, and I wish you'd get them busy right 
        this minute.
    
    M:	Get on with it!  Hurry up!
    
    [pledge tape]
    
    D:	A few more fun words while Mollie reads [some pledgers' 
        names]
    
    M:	Yes and this would you believe is from Sherlock Holmes, 
        and that is for real, and he comes from Woo-sta.  And 
        there's Debbie Murphy from South Boston, and Keith Brown, 
        Quinssy.  And Eleanor Melanson from... Billerica?
    
    D:	Bill-ricka, right, well done.
    
    M:	Alice Hegstrom from Warrick, Jean L. Kestner from 
        Riverside, Cynthia Elno, Somerville and-- hang about, I 
        might be in danger of missing a good one-- Will Fluger 
        from Vineyard Haven.  And Margerie Palleccio from 
        Burlington, Russlyn Malaise from Lynn, Sylvia Settevenio, 
        Ashburnham.
    
    [pledge break]
    
    D:	Tell the audience why you think they ought to contribute 
        to this station and this whole system.
    
    M:	Well, I think because it's a wonderful station in a 
        wonderful town, and I've come specially to ask you!  And 
        if you don't contribute, I'll be a total failure!  So 
        please, please do pick up the phone and make your 
        pledges, and apart from anything else it's lovely for me 
        to be here in the States, especially in Boston.  You've 
        got a great town here!  But please remember you've got a 
        great station, so keep pitching, keep putting in those 
        pledges.  And I'd like to hear more phones ringing behind 
        here.  You can still look at me while you go and pick up 
        the phone, you won't miss anything, I'm not gonna say 
        anything IMPORTANT, so go and pick up the phones now!
    
    D:	I've been doing this for almost 30 years, and I've never 
        heard a better pitch than that.  Incredible.  Now Mollie 
        I've got a question for you.  Somebody says you've 
        lighted up the Colonies--from a transplanted Londoner.  
        Rushes home every night to watch you bring such joy.  Her 
        name is June Moore, lives in Braintree.
    
    M:	Oh June Moore!  D'you know my married name is Moore.
    
    D:	Oh my God!
    
    M:	Yeah, "Don't have any MORE, Mrs. Moore"!
    
    D:	And here's another Brit, just moved from England.  
        Program makes her less homesick.  Did I read this to you?
    
    M:	Yes, that's--
    
    D:	Did we read it on the air?
    
    M:	Read it now, what does it say?
    
    D:	It says the program makes her less homesick.
    
    M:	Oh, that's lovely.
    
    D:	And she says that they were neighbors of old Mr. 
        Grainger.
    
    M:	Oh, were you?  Did you live in Worthing?  Oh it's a 
        lovely place--what made ya leave?
    
    D:	[laughs]  She likes Boston.  And here's one--I don't 
        think this is right, is this right?  "From one Yorkshire 
        girl to another."
    
    M:	Well it could be, yes.
    
    D:	You're Yorkshire, are you?
    
    M:	I am indeed Yorkshire, yes.
    
    D:	All right.  Well, she knows it.
    
    M:	[peeking at the card]  Oh and you're from Hull!  Oh well 
        you know what they say, "Hell, Hull and Halifax"--I know 
        why *you* left!
    
    D:	[laughs]  Keep on calling, folks--you don't get things 
        like that very often!  Deb Clark says you are *so* young, 
        you look *so* beautiful.
    
    M:	[shrugs with hands out]  Say it louder!
    
    D:	And this is one--I don't get this one really.  "Some 
        episodes your name is Betty, and one episode your name is 
        Rachel.  Why is that?"
    
    M:	I dunno!  I was always Betty, and all of a sudden Trevor 
        Bannister when we did Young Mr. Grace's "This is Your 
        Life" suddenly came up with Rachel Yiddel.  But I am here 
        to tell you that in the new series of Are You Being 
        Served *Again*, when I get down to Millstone Manor there 
        is a farm attached to the manor house, and on the farm 
        there is a most *awful* man called Mr. Moleturn...
    
    	[it sounded like she said Mole-turd, but I'll give them 
        the benefit of the doubt! :-} ]
    
    	...and he remembers Mrs. Slocombe way back in the days 
        when she was evacuated to Tiverton in Devon, and then he 
        remembers her as Rachel Yiddel!  She didn't like that at 
        all, and you'll see why when you see Mr. Moleturn.  He is 
        not very nice at all.
    
    D:	OK, that's the answer to that one.  Your neighbors from 
        the Isle of Man called, the Lancasters.
    
    M:	Oh how lovely!  How lovely, hello!  We hope to be going 
        there for a little rest when we get back from here.  An' 
        oh great, how lovely of you to talk.  Isn't Port St. Mary 
        wonderful?
    
    D:	Please say hello to Jen Dickman, she's 5 years old and 
        loves your hair, all of the colors.
    
    M:	Oh Jen, 5 years old, God bless you, pet!
    
    D:	And one last question...: Are you free?!
    
    M:	[slyly]  No but I'm not too expensive....
    
    D:	Mollie, how wonderful of you to be here for this occasion 
        - you've done wonders for us - there've been an awful lot 
        of calls tonight and we're really deeply grateful for all 
        you've done for us, and I hope you'll take back our 
        thanks to every member of the cast.
    
    M:	There's just one more reason why you should all pledge, 
        because all these people around me are giving up their 
        time voluntarily - they're wonderful people, so just make 
        their night and let the phone ring.
    
    D:	Any last words of encouragement for people before we go 
        on to the program?
    
    M:	I'm sure they don't NEED nay encouragement because you 
        know where the phone is, you know what the number is, and 
        you know there are all these lovely people waiting to 
        take your calls.  God bless you all!
8.2Thanks for entering those, Leslie.LANDO::NIEMIFri Jul 02 1993 06:381
    Leslie - thank you for taking the time to type in the transcript.
8.3Red DwarfMVDS00::BELFORTIMrs. Frank N. FurterTue Jul 20 1993 07:0111
    Has anyone been watching Red Dwarf, on Ch. 11?
    
    I love this show!!!  Cat is so much like the cats I've had... so full
    of himself!!!  Everything is for Cat!
    
    I've been taping it every Sunday night.  Plus they had a marathon a few
    weeks back and I taped all of those as well!!!
    
    Great humor!
    
    M-L
8.4Cat w/vending machine: Fish. Fish. Fish...MCIS5::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketThu Jul 22 1993 08:5211
    Yup, every Sunday *I'm* "shipwrecked and comatose"; not only that, my 8
    year old daughter is mad about RD and MUST see the tape repeatedly
    during the week (I won't let her stay up that late on a school/camp
    night).
    
    I don't have a favorite character--they ALL kill me--but I'm looking
    forward to when they find? create? Kryton.  I intend to get every
    single sm**in' episode on tape (I think there are 5 seasons, and
    Channel 11 [NH] is giving us the first season now).
    
    Leslie
8.5I love Cat!MVDS00::BELFORTIMrs. Frank N. FurterFri Jul 23 1993 15:293
    Hey Leslie...
    
    pist, MINE... pist, MINE...pist, MINE!!!!  Mine... all mine!!!!
8.6Kochanski missed out on a nice guyMCIS5::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketSat Jul 24 1993 06:5437
    YES!!
    
    For the uninitiated, Red Dwarf is a... umm... sci-fi space farce, I
    guess.  The Red Dwarf is a spaceship which functioned as a garbage
    scow, basically, in the "near future" (I get the impression that it was
    before the year 2000).  Dave Lister holds the lowest rank on the ship and 
    is punished, for having smuggled a (pregnant) cat on board, by being
    put in a suspended-animation chamber.  (Oh sm*g, I forgot what it's
    called on the program.)
    
    Meanwhile Arnold Rimmer, second-lowest-ranking person on board, makes a
    mistake in the control room which releases a substance that kills
    everyone on board.  Millions of years pass.
    
    Holly, the on board computer, decides it's safe for Lister to emerge;
    his only companions now are a hologram of Rimmer (unfortunately
    retaining the same obnoxious personality) and a lifeform, "Cat", 
    descended from Lister's contraband kitty.  Cat thinks Rimmer and Lister
    are monkeys, believes in the cat god "Cloister" (evolved from cat
    legends of Lister) and spends all his time preening, complimenting
    himself, eating and sleeping....  The "pist, MINE..." from .15 is when
    Cat is walking around with a spray bottle marking stuff as his
    territory!
    
    Great casting throughout.  Every once in a while there'll be a
    distinctly American accent (1st episode, the captain of the ship; most
    recently, the incarnation of Lister's confidence!), and in one of the
    later seasons' episodes Koo Stark had a role.
    
    I dunno, I *love* Cat (the latest episode had him faking out Rimmer
    repeatedly: Cat was eating, Rimmer wanted him to follow, so Cat would
    just slap the table and pretend to get up, only to dig in again as soon
    as Rimmer turned his back) but Lister, after all, is Our Hero... and
    Holly is very appealing in his/her dim loneliness (Holly changes his
    video image to a female later on in the series)!
    
    Leslie 
8.7I think Lister was in suspended anamation for 3 Billion yearsMVDS00::BELFORTIPoor Ben, has no life!Sat Jul 24 1993 10:1813
    Cat is American, isn't he????  I don't hear the accent at all!

    (whipping out mirror from pocket)
    Let's see how I look now..... Yup, good, real good!
    (puts mirror back in pocket)

    (takes about 5 steps)
    Now let's see how I look
    (whips mirror out)

    Yup, still looking good

    He is the epitome of every cat I have ever seen!
8.8MCIS5::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketTue Jul 27 1993 06:3311
    You're right about Cat--I never thought about it til last night, when I
    reviewed "The End" (episode 1), and his accent seems to be "jive"
    American...  Also, they do call it suspended animation, but thereafter
    they refer to it as "stasis."  And Holly said 3 *million* years (then
    Lister, stricken, remembers that he still has a library book due!).
    
    I liked Holly's distress call in the opener last night: there is
    sufficient food on board to last 30,000 years, but there's only one
    After Eight and nobody wants to take it  :-)
    
    Leslie
8.9RD broadcast glitches/AYBS treatMCIS5::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketFri Aug 13 1993 06:2917
    Hey M-L, did you see Red Dwarf last Sunday, 8/8?  During the first
    minute or two, I only got static (and it wasn't my cable box, since
    other channels were fine); it came on for a while, then another period
    of static from about the 5-minute to the 8-minute point.  (Sm*g!)  I'll
    have to retape that episode the next time they run the whole 1st
    series.  BTW, due to pledging stuff they (Ch. 11 in NH) won't show the 
    next RD til 9/5.
    
    Speaking of pledging, WGBH next week (I forget which night, but I
    dogeared the TV guide) will be doing another AYBS marathon, and the 
    guest LIVE IN THEIR STUDIOS will be....
      		 			    [drum roll...]
                                        		   Mr. Humphries!!!
    
    I guess that means I just volunteered to type in another transcript :-}
    
    Leslie
8.10Keeping Up AppearancesJUNCO::RUDMANAlways the Black KnightThu Aug 19 1993 09:5136
    Surprised no one's mentioned this one.  When we were in Scotland last 
    year we caught most of the latest set.  Channel 11 (N.H.) began showing 
    it ~ a month ago, Tuesday nights at 9:30.  (11 did a K.U.P. marathon last 
    night as part of this month's fund raiser, so this gives you an idea of 
    how popular it is here as well as in the U.K.)

    Stars Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket ("That's 'Boo-kay', Dear."), 
    a social wanna-be, who drops names found on the social register at every 
    opportunity, and [whats-his-name, the one who played Arthur's foster-father
    in EXCALIBUR] as her long-suffering husband Richard, who manages to get 
    victimized nearly every show.  

    Then there's man-hungry sister Rose, who lives with slovenly sister Daisy
    and unemployed husband Onslow; these three have the knack of showing up 
    during most of Hyacinth's social climbing efforts.  Rounding out the cast 
    is a brother & sister living next door; the former is nervous and all 
    thumbs around Hyacinth, who breaks into song each time she sees the latter
    (the brother is a pianist, you see...).  Generally, both are terrified of 
    their single-minded neighbor.  

    There's yet another sister: Violet, who married well (who's husband Bruce 
    takes very good care of her financially, but has various "quirks", like 
    dressing up in women's clothes, etc.)  Hyacinth manages to speak to 
    Violet on the phone ("Boo-kay residence; lady of the house speaking.") at 
    least once a show, and gets the latest installment of Bruce's adventures.  
    Occaisionally we see Violet and/or Bruce in person, but usually its not 
    a speaking role.

    As you can well imagine, with this cast of supporting characters ranged
    against her, you can almost sympathize with her as you watch Hyacinth's 
    social cons go awry.  But she usually bulls her way through each dilemma, 
    staying true to her upper-class aspirations no matter what; after all,
    you have to persevere when you're keeping up appearances.

     							Don
                
8.11MCIS5::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketFri Aug 20 1993 06:4710
    Yes, I've seen a few episodes of Keeping Up Appearances and it is very
    good.  The neighbor lady was "Mrs. H." in "Shelley".
    
    I like the subplot about slightly daft, tippling Dad of the 4 sisters
    living upstairs in Rose, Daisy and Onslow's house - he's always
    escaping, streaking the neighborhood, proposing marriage to strangers,
    etc.  Of course Hyacinth always shows up at the nadir of his
    shenanigans!
    
    Leslie
8.12MVDS00::BELFORTIFerroequinologists Unite!Fri Aug 20 1993 08:3523
    Yup.... I have seen KUA... funny show.  Unfortunately I know too many
    people like that.. including my MIL.

    RD, I taped the last episode, but missed the first few minutes (forgot
    it was on, thought it was a pledge night) but haven't seen it yet...

    AYBS... Steven, my husband, finally got the rotor put on the new
    antenna, so now we can get Boston's PBS station... and I have finally
    been able to see this show.  A friend of mine is ALWAYS telling me
    about it... it is GREAT!!!!!  Soooooo, where are the transcripts??? 
    (Just kidding)

    I have started saying "And I am unanimous in this" to my family.... I
    think they are getting ready to drown me.  At least my hair isn't
    purple, or yellow (not blond.. YELLOW), or green, or blue, or orange...
    it's just plain ol' mousy brown and gray!!!  And I don't go round
    talking about my........ um, my...... cat!

    (BTW, I have been out of most of the files lately.. sorry for not
    responding sooner... I am in the process of cleaning out offices from
    people who either went to other jobs or were TFSOed, and what a time I
    am having... I've come across paperwork from 1974, and some earlier
    too.....  this is not my idea of fun, And I am unanimous in this!
8.13Are You Being Served? Again! Boston 12/6, 7pm LANDO::NIEMISat Dec 04 1993 04:1711
    Boston's 'GBH Magazine has an announcement that Are You Being Served?
    Again! will begin on December 6th at 7:00 pm on Channel 2.  "When
    Grace Brothers department store closes, the staff discovers their
    pension funds have been invested in a Tudor manor that's been turned
    into a hotel.  Realizing that the house is their only source of income,
    Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. Humphries, Captain Peacock, and Miss Brahms decide
    to settle in an permanent guests.  The fun begins, in 12 all-new
    episodes."  Mr. Rumbold is in the photo, so apparently he's in the
    series also.
    
    
8.14MulberryDOCTP::GRAVEScrafters do it with styleFri Mar 03 1995 10:1726
    A usual "read-only" noter here, but I have a question so I will bite
    the bullet and enter a note.
    
    This topic hasn't been written in for a long time. But my question
    belongs here I believe.
    
    Has anyone been watching "Mulberry" on PBS lately? I'm not sure if it
    has been on CH 2 (Boston) or CH 11 (NH). I catch it on Tuesday night at
    10, I think right before Red Dwarf. It was on before and I only caught a
    couple of episodes. I like it! 
    
    Finally my question...are we suppose to know who the person is that 
    keeps visiting Mulberry once an episode? If so I missed that part. Can
    someone fill me in? Or does it all become clear in the end. My husband
    and I have some guesses on who the stranger is.
    
    Another question is the cook on Mulberry the same actress who is
    Onslow's wife on Keeping up Appearances?
    
    Mulberry is not going to be on for the next couple of weeks because of
    "special programming" hope I remember to start watching it again.
     
    I really enjoy all the shows that have been mentioned in this topic.
    
    Thanks!
    Betsy
8.15Mulberry NoteBRAT::SCHULTZSat Mar 04 1995 06:098
    If you haven't already got the UK TV conference in your notebook, add:
    
    		ROCKS::UK_TV
    
    The Mulberry note is #519.
    
    Linda
    
8.16yDOCTP::GRAVEScrafters do it with styleSat Mar 04 1995 06:225
    Thanks Linda! 
    
    I've added it and will definitely check it out!
    
    Betsy