On the Buses

A huge cult like following way back then. In the days when there was only three TV channels "on the buses" was a gimmie when up against "Songs with praise" and some 1940's movie on BBC 2. Despite it being over 30 years old the last time I saw it a couple of years back I still found it reasonably amusing , although very dated and obviously politically incorrect. If you love political incorrectness this is the stuff for you! Let's just add it all up.

The flirting and groping of mini skirted female staff, (who for what ever reason were labeled as 'clippy's), the endless helpings of cholesterol laden food in the form of chips, eggs, bacon, meat pies and sausages in the canteen. Smoking cigarettes, no female bus drivers, a west Indian employee called 'Chalky' .( I cringe when you think that people were still laughing at the gag "I hope your head get's better" to an Indian employee wearing a turban). Lastly, Butlers tormentor Inspector Blakey who they insulted all the time, whose image was obviously based on Adolf Hitler with his mustache. I tell you it does not get any better than this.

It's hard to imagine today a comedy series being made about bus conductors in general let alone two homely looking middle aged men flirting with young women. In addition the average age of the cast in this series was probably 45 you would never get that nowadays! Yet it has to be said that there have been a number of comedy duffers that have long since come and gone that in no way can stand up to this one.

Memorable episodes, well, Stans new uniform getting ruined, getting radios for the buses that interfered with the airlines, Stan getting drunk on his home brew and Jack and Stan trying to impress the birds with their snazzy new uniforms claiming they were airline pilots. It's a credit to the writers that it is still watchable today!

I can just imagine everyone sitting by the telly watching this first run then. Decades later, its amusing, but not a revelation. The characters are good, Reg Varney was a class comic actor and the supporting characters are fine. A few things do grate on you when you listen to more than 2 episodes at a time, namely Mum's piercing scream "Stan!" and the constant put downs about Olive. If memory serves, they tried to adapt this show for American television, a short lived series called "Lotsa Luck" starring Dom Deluise. I liked the show,but my context is not nostalgic, since they did not run this series in America. For many, this is revisiting an old friend. I especially liked that Bob Grant (Jack) and Stephen Lewis (Inspector Blake) co-wrote a number of the episodes, their episodes were some of the best later ones. So, in a nutshell, if you're watching for the first time, watch two episodes at a time and you'll enjoy it. For those who grew up with the show, add a grade or two from mine and enjoy watching the show again.

Back in the early seventies, when I was a very small child, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) ran On The Buses on Sundays in the late evening. During holidays (Christmas, the summer) I would be allowed to stay up and watch. I loved the show, even though most of the jokes went right over my head; there was, despite the jibes, a sense of family and community, and a complete lack of airs and graces (this was no Masterpiece Theatre presentation).

There was something warm and fuzzy about the show; it captured the ramshackle coziness of mid-twentieth century English working class life so often depicted on television, in the movies and literature (maybe more a folksy ideal than actual reality). And for Anglophiles, shows like On The Buses provided THE lexicon - Gordon Bennet, a good cuppa, blimey, a bit of how's your father. Many British comedies followed in Buses' footsteps - most notably Are You Being Served and Only Fools and Horses- and were better produced, better acted, and longer lived, but this was one of the first great iconic English working class comedies.

Before the arrival of VCRs I would often wish for another viewing of On The Buses, but it never came - first, there were waves of British TV programs washing up on North American shores, and so there was no looking back, then the flood of VHS, then DVD, releases made an actual TV run unnecessary. However, a specialty channel in Canada began televising the show again, and I was pleased to see that the magic is still there.

Go on, put the kettle on, and let's have a butcher's.

British working class sitcoms were in vogue in the late '60's and early '70's, such as 'Steptoe & Son', 'Till Death Us Do Part', and, of course, this. Incredibly, the B.B.C. turned 'On The Buses' down even though the writers had devised the highly popular 'The Rag Trade'. London Weekend Television profited by their mistake.

'On The Buses' boasted a terrific cast and ( for the most part ) very funny scripts. Viewers cheered as driver Stan Butler and conductor Jack Harper frequently got one over the pompous Inspector 'Blakey' Blake. All over the country, his catchphrase "I 'ate you, Butler" could be heard in workplaces and playgrounds. And as for the sexy 'clippies'...sorry, feminists, but they really did exist, I'm afraid.

My favourite characters were the dowdy Olive and her grumpy husband Arthur. Even when the punchlines could be seen coming a mile off, they were usually delivered with panache and immaculate comic timing. Three movies were made, none as funny as the original, and a stage version in Canada in the late '80's. Its impossible to explain the show's appeal to young people, but it struck a chord with millions of viewers, and should not be dismissed lightly.

A real good old fashion bus movie. Much better than that bus movie speed