Post by The Collector on Oct 24, 2006 16:53:07 GMT
Another 70's sitcom in my collection (I've series 1), We've already mentioned it's spin off (George and Mildred) so it's about time i put this in!
Chrissy (the dark-haired one) and Jo (the blonde one, prone to rambling illogicalities) share a bedsit flat at 6 Myddleton Terrace in the Earls Court district of London. The morning after a farewell party for a third (female) flatmate, and in sore need of the extra financial contribution, they prepare to start looking for her replacement. Unbeknownst to them, asleep in the bath after drinking too much of an appalling concoction they called punch, is Robin Tripp, the friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, and a catering student to boot. Since he can cook, they invite him to become the third flatmate, offering him the spare bedroom and warning him to keep out of theirs.
So began this enormously successful ITV sitcom, popular throughout the early 1970s and precursor of two direct sequels, George And Mildred and Robin's Nest. The first of these featured the Man About The House husband-and-wife landlords, who began this original series as very much the lesser characters and wound up as arguably the most popular. Their roles here set the moulds: Mildred is all for permitting the permissive society, especially if it will improve her social standing and allow her to flirt; George is petty-minded and as mean with his money as he is with his sexuality (which is dormant) - although he remains lecherous with women other than his wife.
Despite the ménage-a-trois situation there was very little overt naughtiness in Man About The House; rather, in the ribald manner of British humour, most of the jokes centred on parents' misunderstandings, friends' misunderstandings, girlfriends' misunderstandings, boyfriends' misunderstandings, ill-timed interruptions, wrong bedrooms, smalls hanging on the line, people seeing the smalls hanging on the line, and many other 'embarrassing' situations. That said, there were some good lines and very funny situations, and a consistently high standard was maintained throughout.
Busy scripting the two sequels, writers Cooke and Mortimer seemed to hasten the demise of Man About The House - three episodes from the end of what turned out to be the last series, viewers were suddenly introduced to Robin's brother, Norman. Having unsuccessfully chased Chrissy's affections for three years, and had all his advances spurned, coyly or firmly, Robin was upset to see Norman join the pursuit. Norman won, with rapid results: in the final programme he and Chrissy were married, and Robin, the groom's best man, had to be content with an affection-riven, smouldering kiss with the bride.
Man About The House by-products were many. First there was the feature film for cinemas, made by Hammer in 1974 (director John Robins) with the usual cast supported by a wealth of familiar faces (including Spike Milligan and Arthur Lowe). Then there were the two UK TV sequels, as mentioned above. Then the format was also sold to America, surfacing there as Three's Company which ran for 169 episodes from 1977 to 1984. (Here the flatmates were Jack Tripper, Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow and the Ropers were Helen and Stanley.) It gets confusing, but Three's Company itself then had two sequels: The Ropers, which was the US version of George And Mildred, and Three's A Crowd the US adaptation of Robin's Nest.
Researched and written by Mark Lewisohn.
Cast
Richard O'Sullivan - Robin Tripp
Paula Wilcox - Chrissy Plummer
Sally Thomsett - Jo
Yootha Joyce - Mildred Roper
Brian Murphy - George Roper
Transmission Details
Number of episodes: 40 Length: 39 x 30 mins · 1 x short special
Series One (7) 15 Aug-26 Sep 1973 Wed 8.30pm
Short special part of All-Star Comedy Carnival 25 Dec 1973 · Tue 6.30pm
Series Two (6) 9 Jan-13 Feb 1974 · Wed 8pm
Series Three (7) 9 Oct-20 Nov 1974 · Wed 8pm
Series Four (6) 6 Mar-10 Apr 1975 · Thu 8pm
Series Five (6) 4 Sep-9 Oct 1975 · Thu 8.30pm
Series Six (7) 25 Feb-7 Apr 1976
Chrissy (the dark-haired one) and Jo (the blonde one, prone to rambling illogicalities) share a bedsit flat at 6 Myddleton Terrace in the Earls Court district of London. The morning after a farewell party for a third (female) flatmate, and in sore need of the extra financial contribution, they prepare to start looking for her replacement. Unbeknownst to them, asleep in the bath after drinking too much of an appalling concoction they called punch, is Robin Tripp, the friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, and a catering student to boot. Since he can cook, they invite him to become the third flatmate, offering him the spare bedroom and warning him to keep out of theirs.
So began this enormously successful ITV sitcom, popular throughout the early 1970s and precursor of two direct sequels, George And Mildred and Robin's Nest. The first of these featured the Man About The House husband-and-wife landlords, who began this original series as very much the lesser characters and wound up as arguably the most popular. Their roles here set the moulds: Mildred is all for permitting the permissive society, especially if it will improve her social standing and allow her to flirt; George is petty-minded and as mean with his money as he is with his sexuality (which is dormant) - although he remains lecherous with women other than his wife.
Despite the ménage-a-trois situation there was very little overt naughtiness in Man About The House; rather, in the ribald manner of British humour, most of the jokes centred on parents' misunderstandings, friends' misunderstandings, girlfriends' misunderstandings, boyfriends' misunderstandings, ill-timed interruptions, wrong bedrooms, smalls hanging on the line, people seeing the smalls hanging on the line, and many other 'embarrassing' situations. That said, there were some good lines and very funny situations, and a consistently high standard was maintained throughout.
Busy scripting the two sequels, writers Cooke and Mortimer seemed to hasten the demise of Man About The House - three episodes from the end of what turned out to be the last series, viewers were suddenly introduced to Robin's brother, Norman. Having unsuccessfully chased Chrissy's affections for three years, and had all his advances spurned, coyly or firmly, Robin was upset to see Norman join the pursuit. Norman won, with rapid results: in the final programme he and Chrissy were married, and Robin, the groom's best man, had to be content with an affection-riven, smouldering kiss with the bride.
Man About The House by-products were many. First there was the feature film for cinemas, made by Hammer in 1974 (director John Robins) with the usual cast supported by a wealth of familiar faces (including Spike Milligan and Arthur Lowe). Then there were the two UK TV sequels, as mentioned above. Then the format was also sold to America, surfacing there as Three's Company which ran for 169 episodes from 1977 to 1984. (Here the flatmates were Jack Tripper, Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow and the Ropers were Helen and Stanley.) It gets confusing, but Three's Company itself then had two sequels: The Ropers, which was the US version of George And Mildred, and Three's A Crowd the US adaptation of Robin's Nest.
Researched and written by Mark Lewisohn.
Cast
Richard O'Sullivan - Robin Tripp
Paula Wilcox - Chrissy Plummer
Sally Thomsett - Jo
Yootha Joyce - Mildred Roper
Brian Murphy - George Roper
Transmission Details
Number of episodes: 40 Length: 39 x 30 mins · 1 x short special
Series One (7) 15 Aug-26 Sep 1973 Wed 8.30pm
Short special part of All-Star Comedy Carnival 25 Dec 1973 · Tue 6.30pm
Series Two (6) 9 Jan-13 Feb 1974 · Wed 8pm
Series Three (7) 9 Oct-20 Nov 1974 · Wed 8pm
Series Four (6) 6 Mar-10 Apr 1975 · Thu 8pm
Series Five (6) 4 Sep-9 Oct 1975 · Thu 8.30pm
Series Six (7) 25 Feb-7 Apr 1976
