Last of the Summer Wine

My father got me hooked on this series, after he mentioned how much he enjoyed it. A local PBS station was running it, and I just fell in love with the three old men and their antics. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Peter Sallis is also the voice of Wallace, as in "Wallace & Grommit" -- another personal favorite. My biggest frustration is that our PBS station stopped running it, the BBC has only released one set of tapes, and that is criminal for a show that's been on the air for 30 years! For gentle, character driven comedies, this show cannot be beat. Also, the scenery is beautiful. All those rural, rustic shots of the English countryside are gorgeous.

The quality of 'Summer Wine' is reflected in its longevity and ongoing popularity.I consider myself fortunate that, having once lived near Holmfirth, the small Yorkshire town where the action was set, during the 1980's,I had the opportunity to sample at first hand, the various locations and was fortunate in seeing the filming of some of the earlier episodes. There may be some support for my view that the earlier episodes, which featured 'Blamire'( Michael Bates)as one of the three leading characters, were characterised by the interplay between these three characters,expressed in terms of dialogue rather than the 'comic' situations which became a feature of later episodes, coupled with the development of other characters who played little or no part in the first series. I consider that the quality of the scripwriting suffered as a result of the changes, particularly when the focus moved away from the central trio. Nevertheless, the programme maintained its popularity over many years and developed almost a cult following. Curiously, though, this popularity was not wholly shared by the population of Holmfirth, who saw the programme as a mixed blessing when the interest generated by the programme resulted in an influx of sightseers into their small, quiet narrow streeted town, with predictable results. Suffice it to say that while one or two enterprising people benefitted from the publicity, the sightseer were, it must be said, disappointed with the fact that there was very little to see of real interest and, of course, the 'characters' were nowhere to be seen. That the programme retained its popularity for so long can only be explained by how well the characters created the illusion of three eccentric old men enjoying their freedom in nostalgic adventures in beautiful surroundings where the sun always appeared to smile on them (the grim reality of the harsh Holmfirth climate being conspicuous by its absence) The secondary characters were always believable and the humour was, by and large, unsophisticated and free from innuendo, reasons, perhaps, for its acceptance in the context it was presented. It may be that the reason for the success of the programme is that it presents a world that no longer exists, a set of endearing characters,lost in their own little world, steeped in a kind of rural simplicity from which the harsh values and events of the real world are permanently excluded,playing the sort of schoolboy adventures in which we may, at one time, have all shared. Their hopes and doubts, dreams and uncertainties running through the tapestry of their lives, played out for us with a skill which belies the simplicity of the message that the programme conveys.

When we first started to watch this show we were in our 30's which put the actors at around 50 years of age, As I am sure most of you "younguns" out there of 30 or under will testify, 50 is an age you yourselves will never be, just as we thought then, how wrong we were, Time shoots by so very quickly that here we are 30 odd years later and still avid fans. Last of the Summer Wine was and still is wonderful viewing if you prefer your television to not be peppered with unnecessary expletives nor have endless closeups of moving bed-clothes and sundry body parts. This was a story of 3 middle-aged men who still had their wits and humour about them and most of all loved to laugh. The fact that you knew in advance the slide down the hill on a tray or running with a kite being pulled by Wesleys "jeep" would always end in disaster for one or the other of the trio was part of the attraction and still is. Viewing the programme now with many new actors in the cast, due mainly to the demise of the original cast members, is just a reflection of life and death but the humour, fun and sheer joy of living is still there despite the fact that Norman Clegg still professes to find it difficult to talk to women or for that matter anyone except his close compatriots. Now in our mid 60's my husband and I still love this programme and will always watch the repeats which are, fortunately for us, now running on cable TV. A toast to the Summer Wine-- Long may it Last-.

This is by far the best British comedy ever shown in the US. The relationships between the characters are real and the humor of the show comes from this fact. The idea of a show about three old men who come up with such outrageous things to do with their time is pure genius. No wonder it's lasted so long.

The best sitcom ever.

I said that several years ago and nothing that has happened to it, or to other sitcoms, has changed my view.

The scripts are funny in themselves. Add a perfect ensemble of actors, faultless direction and wonderful background music and one gets, quite simply, the best ever.

Some of the situations are predictable, some slight, some bizarre. But that is life as we know it, and is all lends to the strength of the series. And it is to reasurring to know I cannot be alone, just look at the dates!