Canned Laughter

I liked this enough back in 1979 to tape it from TV.

I just watched it again, now. (March 2010)

I did laugh at the "Bean-like" character, at first, but the comedy in the restaurant scene looks pretty thin, now.

Perhaps we have seen Rowan Atkinson do much better things, since, and this seems primitive in comparison.

I think that if Rowan Atkinson re-made this, now, the comedy would be much funnier and sharper.

(I don't think I have changed - I'm still a big fan of his - but this now looks like a weak cup of tea compared to his more clever humor that came later.)

Every now and then something comes along which hits you in the face like a wet flannel. I caught 'Canned Laughter' on its original I.T.V. transmission in 1979, following a showing of 'Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes'. Not having heard of Mr.Atkinson, I wasn't sure what to expect. Thirty minutes later, my sides ached from laughing too much. I spent the next few days telling all and sundry about this strange rubber-faced man whom was clearly destined to be the next Peter Sellers. Atkinson played three roles; the nerdy Robert Box, his sinister boss Mr.Marshall, and would-be stand-up comic Dave Perry. Box has somehow gotten the most attractive girl in his office, Lorraine ( played by the lovely Sue Holderness ) to agree to a date, and, being a right twit, messes it up. Box was clearly the inspiration for 'Mr.Bean'. Despite its excellence, 'Canned Laughter' strangely never became a series, leaving Rowan free to do 'Not The 9 O'Clock News' for the B.B.C.