J.A.W. Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) English actress Mollie Sugden died today. She was 86. BBC obit Edited July 1, 2009 by J.A.W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Ouch. Most of my familiarity with Ms. Sugden comes from Served, of course, which has to be one of the finest examples of great comedic actors elevating stale material in the history of television. I'll bet she was a great person, too; and if anyone has evidence against that, I'm just going to ignore it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) Ouch. Most of my familiarity with Ms. Sugden comes from Served, of course, which has to be one of the finest examples of great comedic actors elevating stale material in the history of television. I'll bet she was a great person, too; and if anyone has evidence against that, I'm just going to ignore it! Not many from that comedy are still with us. Of the main characters Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms), Mollie Sugden (Mrs Slocombe) and John Inman (Mr Humphries) are now all gone. Edited July 1, 2009 by J.A.W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Yes, she was wonderful. She showed up here in Dallas a few times to promote our local PBS affiliate and she would tell the funniest stories. Also, there's a wonderful special called something like "The Women (or Queens?) of British Comedy" that's a wonderful tribute as well as a program from about 6 or 7 years ago that was a tribute just to her - both worth seeking out if your local PBS station doesn't play them in the next few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 (edited) Yes, she was wonderful. She showed up here in Dallas a few times to promote our local PBS affiliate and she would tell the funniest stories. Also, there's a wonderful special called something like "The Women (or Queens?) of British Comedy" that's a wonderful tribute as well as a program from about 6 or 7 years ago that was a tribute just to her - both worth seeking out if your local PBS station doesn't play them in the next few weeks. I remember seeing her on a fund raising telethon on PBS about 15 years ago - with John Inman. This was at a time when the 'Served' series was already long gone from UK TV screens - yet in North America it was a cult. Almost like a parallel universe really - same thing happened with Benny Hill. Lots of choking on cups of tea in the UK over the years whever she mentioned her pussy ! RIP. Edited July 2, 2009 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I remember seeing her on a fund raising telethon on PBS about 15 years ago - with John Inman. This was at a time when the 'Served' series was already long gone from UK TV screens - yet in North America it was a cult. Almost like a parallel universe really - same thing happened with Benny Hill. Lots of choking on cups of tea in the UK over the years whever she mentioned her pussy ! RIP. Inman showed up here in Dallas for fund raising and hosted a public dinner that just happened to fall on my birthday. Our Dallas station has the distinction of being the first in the nation to broadcast British comedies. Back in '74, they began with Monty Python and kept adding others as the years went by. They kinda got stuck on the same old ones during the Bush years because of the cutbacks on funding, but they began promising new ones just last month. I remember that they tried to show this really funny show from New Zealand, but they got all kinds of negative feedback from people who wanted only British comedies. ( ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I used to work with a guy in the early 90's who was a big "Are You Being Served" fan. He would rattle off huge chunks of dialog at the drop of a hat. Naturally, people started avoiding him after a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I'm sure that everyone on "Served" was very talented, but I've always thought that show was the worst low-brow-crap masquerading as middle-brow-crap that I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I'm sure that everyone on "Served" was very talented, but I've always thought that show was the worst low-brow-crap masquerading as middle-brow-crap that I've ever seen. I don't think that they were looking at presenting anything much above lowbrow at all. Very frequent stabs at highbrow mentality which according to an interview I saw with Lloyd and Croft is right where they wanted it. Actually, the classes of ridiculous self-importance amongst the characters with their various faux pas puts it precisely in that area of social satire that made it work so well. This comment reminds me of my brother-in-law who said that he hated Rowan Atkinson because "he acts so stupid" - well DUH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Yeah, it was a very British type of humour mocking the many subtleties of class distinctions here and the (often strained) interactions between them. Lloyd and Croft were absolute masters at that genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 No shit. Basically, Alexander, as lowbrow as it was, it went over your head... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 No shit. Basically, Alexander, as lowbrow as it was, it went over your head... Shocking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 No shit. Basically, Alexander, as lowbrow as it was, it went over your head... Oh, I knew it was lowbrow crap. Never had any question about that. The "masquerading as middlebrow" part came from the fact that it was shown on PBS in the US and was therefore watched by tons of people who think that British TV is - by definition - more "cultural" than American TV (personally, I don't watch ANY TV these days). The kind of people who disdained "Rosanne" (which actually had an almost identical cultural POV) in favor of "Served." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 (edited) Okay, gotcha; I wasn't thinking about the 'PBS factor'. But I still think you're missing the point of the show if you think the POV to Roseanne is anything like Served. Roseanne featured a family who knew they were poor and basically fucked by life. What made Served funny was the fact that the characters didn't realize this, and although they were wage slaves living out their lives, still had delusions that they were somehow part of the upper crust. Except for Lucas of course; the show lost it's edge when Lucas left, in my opinion. Edited July 3, 2009 by Jazzmoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 No shit. Basically, Alexander, as lowbrow as it was, it went over your head... Oh, I knew it was lowbrow crap. Never had any question about that. The "masquerading as middlebrow" part came from the fact that it was shown on PBS in the US and was therefore watched by tons of people who think that British TV is - by definition - more "cultural" than American TV (personally, I don't watch ANY TV these days). The kind of people who disdained "Rosanne" (which actually had an almost identical cultural POV) in favor of "Served." Wow! Man, did you buy a wide enough brush to spread your assumptions? So, you're telling us (coming from a guy who doesn't "watch ANY TV these days"), that all people who watch a British comedy on PBS are, by your description, snobs that define all (or even most) British programming as refined, cultural erudition? ...and you're trying to tell us that "Rosanne" - the show that was to represent the problems of the American working class - is somehow culturally similar with "Are You Being Served?" You really don't "watch ANY TV these days" do you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 No shit. Basically, Alexander, as lowbrow as it was, it went over your head... Oh, I knew it was lowbrow crap. Never had any question about that. The "masquerading as middlebrow" part came from the fact that it was shown on PBS in the US and was therefore watched by tons of people who think that British TV is - by definition - more "cultural" than American TV (personally, I don't watch ANY TV these days). The kind of people who disdained "Rosanne" (which actually had an almost identical cultural POV) in favor of "Served." Wow! Man, did you buy a wide enough brush to spread your assumptions? So, you're telling us (coming from a guy who doesn't "watch ANY TV these days"), that all people who watch a British comedy on PBS are, by your description, snobs that define all (or even most) British programming as refined, cultural erudition? ...and you're trying to tell us that "Rosanne" - the show that was to represent the problems of the American working class - is somehow culturally similar with "Are You Being Served?" You really don't "watch ANY TV these days" do you? Sigh. Do I really need to point out that "Rosanne" served TWO different viewerships? There were the blue collar workers to saw the show as representative of their day to day lives, and then there was a hip, urban viewership who watched the show in an ironic manner. Just like "Are You Being Served." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Sigh. Do I really need to point out that "Rosanne" served TWO different viewerships? There were the blue collar workers to saw the show as representative of their day to day lives, and then there was a hip, urban viewership who watched the show in an ironic manner. Just like "Are You Being Served." You know, if you'd grow up and get over this "I'm so much hipper than these dumb yokels" schtick, you'd get along in life a lot better. I hate to break it too you, but the vast majority of those blue collar workers got the joke,just as the vast majority of people who watch wrestling really know it's fake. You're not as 'above the masses' as you think you are, you're just young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 Sigh. Do I really need to point out that "Rosanne" served TWO different viewerships? There were the blue collar workers to saw the show as representative of their day to day lives, and then there was a hip, urban viewership who watched the show in an ironic manner. Just like "Are You Being Served." You know, if you'd grow up and get over this "I'm so much hipper than these dumb yokels" schtick, you'd get along in life a lot better. I hate to break it too you, but the vast majority of those blue collar workers got the joke,just as the vast majority of people who watch wrestling really know it's fake. You're not as 'above the masses' as you think you are, you're just young. Wait... Wrestling is FAKE?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Goren. Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 She will always be remembered as Mrs. Slocombe. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 Wrestling is FAKE?! No no no...did I say 'fake'? I meant...uh...farked...yeah, that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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