I don't care whether people think they were at their best on the Beeb rather than on the "other side", in today's turbulent times, who else could lift your spirits and cheer you up, than the best double act this country has ever produced. Brilliant
My father met Edward Woodward when he was filming an episode of The Equalizer. He told him that I was a big fan of the show (I still am) and Mr. Woodward signed a personal autograph to me which I still have to this day.
Morecambe and Wise NEVER failed to lift the Spirits. Our Spirits ! Some gems of One-liners. NEVER to be Equalled, never to be replaced. RiP, gentlemen and thanks for the Happy memories and moments 🙏 ❤ ♥ 💜 💙 💕
Yes and I think it's an insult to them when they say that those two Geordie wankers are the latter day Morcambe and Wise, they are nowhere near them in any way. The only resemblance is that they are both double acts.
Mr Ewar Woowar, love the way he just stands there with the handbag. Poor ole Ann Hamilton always gets forgotten she was in alot of their shows. How she managed to keep a straight face beats me.
Callan was a roaring success on ITV when it first aired in 1967. It made Edward Woodward a household name and a big celebrity. By September 1969 when this sketch aired, Callan had just finished its successful second series, with the dramatic ending, so Edward was in big demand on television shows in the UK in 1969.
@@colinp2238 It started off as a special for Armchair Theatre and aired on 4th February 1967, it was filmed in the winter of 1966. The episode proved so popular that a full series was fast tracked into production, with series one commencing very quickly on 8th July 1967, five months was fast production back in 1967.
@@colinp2238 Superb series. Originally made by ABC Weekend Television, however they were forced to merge with Rediffusion London and form a new company called Thames Television, who would operate the London weekday franchise of ITV from 1968. Thames management liked the show and decided to keep it. They steered it into colour in 1970.
Eric Morecambe was truly a class act. I really can't understand those who don't find him funny. Or find him tedious and/or irritating. His style is actually quite intellectual, but many people miss that aspect and just think him "idiotic". Totally over their heads. It makes me smile reading comments such as "totally unfunny" or "M & W were just too idiotic" and even: "only now, do I realise, just how irritating eric morecambe is. ater 45 years" (sic). Oh, you poor people. You honestly don't know what you're missing (yes, I know you think you do). Or more accurately: You don't understand what you're missing. No matter.
If you haven't seen this, it's really a great insight into how they came together and their style: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4JmuaxvsX_M.html Worth watching again even if you have seen it. Enjoy.
The unintentional irony in your comment is funnier than anything in the clip. Eric Morecombe is 'quite intellectual'? Compared to whom? My god, you'd have to set the bar at Keith Lemon level for that to make any sense. Eric would be spinning in his grave at that idea that anything he did was intellectual; he would be the first to say that it was straightforward silly stuff, mainly sight gags and charmingly obvious puns, all straight out of music hall (never noted for its intellectual rigour). You still like his schtick - fair enough, good for you - but the argument that anyone who doesn't get it is too stupid is in itself incredibly dull-witted. There, I've pointed out the irony for you, because if you didn't find it funny, obviously you didn't get it.
@@GBR4ME Huh, huh, huh, huh hurr-hurr squashed apricot, nurr hurr hurr. * *Pictures guy labouring over painfully unfunny simile for 10 minutes, brow furrowed, running through several iterations**
Q: What do you call a man with a plank of wood on his head? A: Edward. Q: What do you call a man with three planks of wood on his head? A: Edward Woodward.
Just think, during these times we thought we had real issues, Cold War, 3 day working week on and on but at least we had each other and our pride. What happened.
This aired in Sept 1969; the three day week - caused by the Arab oil producers putting the price of oil up from $3 a barrel to $12, in Oct 1973 - was Q1 1974. Maybe what happened, Moose, is that we now have a confused, constructed but rose-tinted memory of how it was then, and what we see now we don't recognise, though it aint so different.
The grandfather reference is to his role as Doctor Who in the film (1964?) The Doctor's granddaughter Susan appeared in the film and would also appear in a number of TV episodes as Susan Foreman.
This was from their second series on the BBC and the first series to be written by Eddie Braben. It aired on Sunday 7th September 1969 on BBC Two. It wasn't until 1971 that the BBC moved the Morecambe and Wise Show to BBC One. However from 1969-1971 their new BBC Two shows were always shown a few weeks later on BBC One, for those who could not receive BBC Two.
Thanks for the info. I was trying to place it myself. It seemed like part of the Braben inspired BBC era, but Eric still looked relatively young, as did Edward Woodward and Peter Cushing. I suppose Ernie did as well, but he was already going grey.
@@moosburger1 yes indeed. I believe that their return to the BBC with Eddie Braben as the new script-writer, first aired on BBC 2, which was the first station to have colour. And, as you rightly say, this was in the late 1960's, and decimal coinage did not come in until 1971. (15 February 1971 to be exact. I always remember that as it was the day I passed my driving test. Second attempt, but I was still seventeen, just. Which I was, I confess, rather chuffed about.)
Well, I still had a bit of time left before I was 18, but probably not enough to book another test. A lot of my mates were passing first time, but some of them were 18! 🙂
@@synthonaplinth5980 lol Yes, but not until the early eighties when they were back on ITV, this time Thames TV. They kept that joke running for a very long time. link here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RZGVHaEFpUY.html
@@Trev359 Thank you! For a long time, my only experience with Peter Cushing was like many other Americans, in the first Star Wars movie (there was the Biggles movie, but that's better left alone). While people say that the internet is bad for many things, it does give us a glimpse into the world.
@@synthonaplinth5980 yeah, I remembered this sketch where he was paid but couldn't remember what happened. I have always been a fan of Peter Cushing from the Hammer Horror movies of the 1960s and 1970s. As well, of course, as Star Wars, and the Dr Who movies.
@@Trev359 Judging by your screen name, you're also a fan of 'Only Fools and Horses', too....people have made the comment that American movies use English actors as villains a lot of the time. Cushing in Star Wars, Stamp and Douglas in Superman II, etc. etc.
Ah - yes. Ant and Dec have an almost uncanny physical resemblance to Morecambe and Wise. I suspect that this accounts for much of their popularity. You might think that there was too great a time-lapse between the two for this to appy, but of course Morecambe and Wise are so legendary that their faces have never left the public consciousness.
Eric could become very tedious at times, but Morecambe and Wise were very good most of the time. For me, their career took a nose dive in 1978 when they moved to Thames. In fact from 1980-1983 my family stopped watching them when they were on Thames Television.
I don’t see how you can compare a series like Are you being served with Morecambe and Wise, 2 totally different comedy formats. Morecambe and Wise is my childhood and growing up. It is difficult now to imagine now how anticipated their shows, particularly their Christmas specials were. 20 million viewers was not uncommon for those specials, and not all of those viewers could be wrong. Broadcasting companies would kill for the viewing figures they had. They have given me some of my fondest and funniest memories from TV, and I thank them for it.
