Don't Wait Up

This was a very funny sitcom, one of my all-time favourites (on a par with Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, The Likely Lads and others) because it had everything a good sitcom should have.

It was perfectly cast and very well written by talented scriptwriters, including George Layton.

The storyline was great, about a GP in his early thirties who is going through a divorce with his ex-wife, on top of which his father and mother are separating and his father decides to move into his flat, plus he is falling in love with his father's (a doctor in Harley Street) new secretary, Madeleine.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour!

This series was immediately seen as one of the worst sitcoms for many years. Just as TV comedy was becoming gritty and modern, the BBC decided to launch this old fashioned sitcom. Certainly, some of the jokes had seen better days. Blatantly unfunny, it amazingly defied its critics and continued for several years, when one series was more than enough.

Nigel Havers has made a successful career playing likable toff's and this sitcom from the 80's sees him playing that sort of role to perfection.

The premise is very much like the classic play by Neil Simon called 'The Odd Couple', and obviously worked as it ran for 6 series.

Not all of the jokes work, and unlike other sitcoms from the era it feels a little dated in places. But Havers is good at what he does, and even when the plots get a little thin, his charm carries the show.

It's not easy to find this show on TV or on DVD, but it's pleasant enough viewing if you can find it.

Aimed at the bland middle class little Englanders of the 80's and as distant from ground breaking as possible. The toffee nosed protagonists interact in dated even for the 80's "situations". Much hilarity does not ensue.

This sitcom's first season was disappointing, with gags that fell flat or only hit the mark 50% of the time. But during second season, there was a noticeable improvement in characterization and storytelling, and the show became much more watchable. A large part of this was due to the likable and talented cast who perhaps made the material better than it might otherwise have been. Another plus was the writers' decision to let the characters change and develop over the course of the show--they weren't just running in place, and "Don't Wait Up" eventually became more than an intergenerational rip-off of "The Odd Couple". The jokes were still a bit hit-or-miss, but the relationships usually rang true and provided a nice mix of humor and, at times, pathos. The first three seasons aired on my local PBS station in the late '80s. Alas, I never saw the last three, though I managed to piece together the gist of what happened through various synopses. Still, it's not quite as satisfying as actually SEEING the episodes. Maybe someday, this show will be released on video, like some other British sitcoms?