Avaliações de usuários

To begin with, I'm a massive fan of Rising Damp on the small screen and I've watched every episode countless times. When I first saw the movie I was quite eager to see all the original cast reunited (except from Richard Beckinsale who died tragically, he was a great actor).

If you are a big fan of the old TV episodes, then I would genuinely find absolutely nothing new here whatsoever. I was watching this movie with my jaw on the floor because I was stunned at how much of the scripts and scenes have been recycled from the TV series! Virtually everything that occurs in this movie is just re-done. I'm only glad that other writers of classic comedies didn't have this way of getting their shows on the big screen. Maybe if the writers thought of an original story instead of repeating old scripts word for word then this could have been so much better. Don't bother.

"Rising Damp" is now generally regarded as the finest sitcom produced by ITV, the BBC's main commercial rival, during its 50 years on air. Granted, that is not a hard title to win. But the claustrophobic saga of a boarding house where a stingy, nervy, clumsily lecherous landlord, two students and a fluttery but oddly alluring spinster play out an endless round-dance of mutual attraction is one of the perennial, timeless joys of British TV.

Like most hit comedies of the 1970s, "Rising Damp" earned a big-screen adaptation. The main cast stayed intact, except that Christopher Strauli subbed for the late Richard Beckinsale. Unfortunately Joe McGrath, a comedy specialist used to altogether broader material (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, The Goons) directed. Farce is played up at the expense of quieter and subtler pleasures.

McGrath, who helmed "The Magic Christian" and "The Great McGonagall", goes for a quick fire approach which Eric Chappell's screenplay-- like so many of these filmed sitcoms, it smells of three TV episodes scrambled together-- does not inhibit. Feeling one must open up the action and exploit a marginally larger budget, Chappell lets the film slip away too much from the house. To aficionados, even seeing the back garden and the street are a little shocking. However, scenes in pubs and restaurants echo the original, and the chief pleasure, Leonard Rossiter as Rupert Rigsby, is undimmed. Some well-loved schticks, such as Rigsby blowing in Miss Jones's ear after being told it's an erogenous zone, are reprised.

Rossiter broke the rules of modern screen acting. He mugged, twitched, grimaced, muttered semi-audibly and shamelessly hogged the camera, instead of underplaying stone-facedly and letting his confreres share the work. Yet he gets away with it every time, simply because Rigsby is a towering character in the great tradition of British "downer" comedy: the frustrated middle-aged male fantasist who is not quite up to living in the real world. That line began with Will Hay and ran through Hancock, Harold Steptoe, Captain Mainwaring and Basil Fawlty to Rigsby, with Derek Trotter and Victor Meldrew to come.

Guest star Denholm Elliott is a smooth ex-RAF conman after the gorgeous Miss Jones's modest savings. He may seem like another cinematic concession, but he is not unlike Peter Bowles's theatrical charmer of a lodger in the series. Elliott's underplaying is in fitting and masterful contrast to the spluttering sycophantic Rigsby. Don Warrington, the black student "chief's son with ten wives" patronised and envied by Rigsby, is gloriously suave, though victim of a disconcerting plot twist at the end.

This potted version is not the best of its breed, but for condensing Rossiter's tour de force it is worth catching.

RISING DAMP is a classic comedy which starred Leonard Rossiter as a landlord who rented his flat out to three people : Miss Jones a rather plain woman who Rigsby has the hots for and a couple of students Alan and Philip . It should be pointed out that Philip is black and Rigsby is while not exactly racist rather condescending to anyone different from his little Englander mentality .

As with a great number of successful ITV sit-coms RISING DAMP was made into a feature length movie , though it should be pointed out this seems rather belated since it was made in 1980 with most of the other cinema versions of ITV sitcoms being produced in the early 1970s . It should also be mentioned that in the TV series Alan was played by Richard Beckinsale who died before this movie went into production so his role as Alan is played by Christopher Strauli with the other three regular cast members reprising their roles

No attempt is made to change or modify the strong points of the television series and everybody stays in character mainly because much of the screenplay is directly lifted from the TV series , bits like the draught blowing into Miss Jones ear and the love wood which featured in an episode of the TV series . There is a thin plot featuring a guest called Seymour played by Denholm Elliot which does give the opportunity of showing what a sycophantic snob Rigsby really is and for not changing the formula the film version deserves some credit . Check out the film version of GEORGE AND MILDRED to see what a really bad adaptation looks like

I just recently heard there was a Rising Damp movie, and as a fan of the series, I was excited. I'm watching it now, and I find it ridiculous. I've already heard these jokes. Besides, the change of set from old, rundown house to a rather nice rundown house takes away from the atmosphere. Rigsby, Philip and Ruth reprise their roles, but watching this movie is like experiencing summer theater of a play after seeing it on Broadway. A sad, pathetic shadow of itself. I think perhaps if I hadn't seen the series, this would be acceptable. Also, I'm a big fan of Richard Beckinsale, and his absence is felt so deeply. Why did they feel the need to completely replace him? At least they slightly changed the character from a medical student to an art student, but Beckinsale's lines were given to him, making it slightly distasteful.

The history of TV to film adaptations are littered with aberrations which almost conclusively prove that the tradition should never have started in the first place. There are, however, some examples which manage to pull it off, just. Rising Damp would, at first, appear to be the last sitcom suitable for the big screen treatment as this hilarious series was based within the tiny confines of a northern bedsit. Also the writer, Eric Chappell, wasn't being paid enough to spend time crafting an entirely original screenplay so he harvested a batch of TV episodes and stitched them together to form the body of the film. This, in itself, didn't necessarily mean that the script would fail. David Croft and Jimmy Perry did the same thing with their screenplay for Dad's Army and it worked superbly. Although, the early Dad's Army episodes, with their staid pace and over arcing plot, lent themselves far better to film adaptation. The Rising Damp episodes, however, were high energy affairs from the first scene to the breathless climax. As a result, as one story is concluded and another started, the scenes within the film become disjointed. Another pitfall for the movie version of a TV series is the inevitable comparisons that are made. In this respect the film pales in comparison to Rising Damp's brilliant series. Despite all this, Rising Damp the Movie manages to be entertaining and occasionally uproarious. It is perhaps not surprising that the finest moments occur during sequences written specially for the film. This includes a rugby match where Rossiter does a brilliantly timed pratfall. Indeed, while all the cast handle their roles perfectly (bar a sub standard replacement actor for the late and truly great Beckinsale), it is Leonard Rossiter as Rigsby that shines the most. In fact Rising Damp should have been made as a film just so Rossiter could have been eligible for an Oscar, such is the magnificence of his acting talent. Criminally, he wasn't even nominated. Ultimately, the film fails to match the giddy heights of the TV series while managing to hold its own as a comedy in its own right with some beautifully played moments. Recommended viewing.

One last thing: The opening and closing music is by far the worst in film history.

What we have here is a film with a script that lazily restages many of the scenes from the classic tv show and tries to make it hang together coherently.

If you are a fan of the show you will recognise many of the gags being recycled. Whilst not a complete mess the film offers nothing new and wastes it cast. The scriptwriters really should have tried harder and given Rigsby and co a new situation to deal with rather than plundering from the show.

Inevitably the great Lionel Rossiter steals every scene he is in, yet the cast were always the series strong point and both Frances De La Tour and Don Warrington give strong performances. Richard Beckinsale had tragically passed away at the ridiculously young age of 31 so rather than recast his role the producers wisely brought in a new character played by Christopher Strauli. However the opportunity to make an interesting film is let down by the script as it just retreads the tv show when it could have done something new. Yes the film is funny in places but only if you've never seen the entire show, in which case you will see all the jokes coming.

The direction is decent enough considering the limitations of the smallish budget and the amount of location work, the cast are all terrific as we would expect but the opportunity to give the fans a great send off to one of the next British sitcoms is sadly lost.

A wasted opportunity.

Leonard Rossiter and Frances de la Tour carry this film, not without a struggle, as the script was obviously hurriedly cobbled together out of old episodes. When it came out, this must have been a real disappointment as it's also done on a bus ticket budget. Attempts to move it out of the house - which is jarringly unrecognisable, a bad job all round there - with a picnic, fantasy sequences, rugby and a boxing match in the local gym simply don't work. Most of these are just character-light setups for a solitary not-particularly good gag. That said, the interplay of Rossiter and de la Tour (and anybody else with him) is mostly hilarious; they even manage to make a soda syphon gag work, but you can see the struggle with recycling a literally uninspired script that changes plot half way through. Don Warrington has very little to do except 'be black', and due to the random script hacks Christopher Strauli changes character at least twice. And in the end, as he often did in the TV series (though you might not remember - read the scripts), Eric Chappell lets you down with a 'time's up' ending. Were they that cynical, or just too desperate to be in the film business? Rossiter and de la Tour are always funny but as a film, it's a terrible postscript to a fondly remembered TV series. RIP.

So, Americans make t.v. series based on movies, whilst us Brits make films based on t.v. shows.It should never work, but on this occasion it does because of a sublime meeting of character and actor. Cliches are sometimes justly so, and Leonard Rossiter was BORN to play Rigsby.This is one of the great comic creations, kind of how Norman Bates would have turned out if he'd been melancholic instead if murderous.

Not as funny as the TV series, but still has plenty of laughs.

The movie is centred around Rigsby ( Leonard Rossiter ), and it seems to have taken some of the sketches from the original TV series and put them together to make a movie version.

Sadly, for me, it was missing the presence of the brilliant Richard Beckinsale who sadly passed away the year before the movie was made, but it starred the other usual suspects, Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington, and Frances de la Tour. Replacing Beckinsale was actor Christopher Strauli, who was never going to cut the mustard as a replacement, he was OK though. Then there was Denholm Ellliot as Charles Seymour, who put in another great performance, just as he always does.

The story line is pretty much centred around Rigsby chasing after the woman of his dreams, a con man (Denholm Elliot) and an art student named John (Christopher Strauli) with a complicated love life and a will to wind up Rigsby.

Summing it up, a very watchable Movie, lots of laughs, a cast that seemed to gel together well, but sadly lacked the same punch as the TV series, but that might be down to the fact Richard Beckinsale wasn't there.

Doesn't this seem somewhat familiar? Oh wait, that's right.. 90% of the jokes in this movie have already been done in the TV series. What's the point in repeating yourself, you may ask? Is it for the benefit of the Americans who haven't seen the programme? Did the scriptwriters run out of inspiration? Or maybe everyone on set suffered a sudden attack of amnesia, and forgot they'd covered this ground already? Either way, for someone who has sat through the first three series, this was just really boring. I had to turn it off during the 'tablets that turn your water green' part.. yes it is very funny, but give us something original for goodness sake! Actually, if the best new stuff you can come up with is Leonard Rossiter's take on Saturday Night Fever, you can forget it.

The guy they got to replace the late Richard Beckinsale is a lookalike alright, but not half the actor. Personally I would exorcised the role, as a mark of respect to him. Or better yet, not bothered making the film at all, and just let the hilarity of the TV series speak for itself. But no, they couldn't do that.. not as long as there was money to be made. Sad, really. 4/10

TV to Film adaptations are notorious for their failure to transfer any of the winning elements that made the show popular. I can't think of a worse proposition than to make a motion picture of the great sitcom Rising Damp. A sublime series that worked for it's performers, scripts and just as importantly it's claustrophobic setting. Even episodes that ventured outside the dingy house in which the characters share, it was often to a single set location for the whole of the second act. In a twenty five minute sitcom, those restrictions can be played up to create some magnificent comedy. On film however, the effect is quite the reverse.

Also Richard Berkinsale had tragically passed away by the time came to make the movie. The fourth and final series had been without him due to contractual obligations elsewhere and it left the final run of episodes wanting (though two or three shows still managed to be perfect).

Yet despite this Rising Damp the movie was by far and away the finest film adaptation of all time. While not capturing the sheer brilliance of the series, there were plenty of hysterical moments littered throughout the film.

First off the three remaining performers are in perfect form. Infact the film was worth making simply as a reason for Lennerd Rossiter to be given an Oscar. Something he was inexplicably denied! His total mastery of the screen as Rigsby is breathtaking.

The script is mostly TV episodes mashed together into an episodic structure. Considering the enormous success of these scripts, it would seem a perfectly good idea. However, anyone familiar with the series will notice how must funnier it was on TV and will be wanting to see something new. Eric Chappell's scripts does contain some new material and it is these moments that distinguish the film as superior to other adaptations. The Rugby scene is a particularly brilliant example.

10/10

The fag end of the seemingly endless succession of seventies TV spin-offs that was yet another reason why British films were such a depressing feature of the 1970s.

But unnecessary as it is (especially since it lacks the late Richard Beckinsale), it still has Eric Chappell's writing and the acting of the rest of the regulars Leonard Rossiter (also soon claimed by the Grim Reaper), Frances de la Tour and Don Warrington; and after the appalling title song - which probably prejudices most viewers even before the credits are over - it can only get better (although at 98 minutes it goes on far too long).

Christopher Strauli (himself a familiar face at the time from 'Only When I Laugh') is actually a perfectly adequate substitute for Beckinsale; while 'Guest Star' Denholm Elliott makes the lesser impression because of the brevity of his role (his presence counts for much more in the recent 'Sweeney 2').

Shot in drab colour on actual locations, it's now nearly forty years old and a period piece itself; with it's payphone in the hall, Rigsby collecting milk bottles off the doorstep and the Battle of Britain still sufficiently recent for Elliott to be able to pass himself off as a veteran.

Caught this on ITV Player with <6d to go, I guess, a left over from Christmas. I am a fan of sitcoms (especially anything from the 70's, 80's and 90's).

This movie plays on the main thrust of the plot from the sitcom series, arguably it worked better as a sitcom rather than a film. However, with Richard Beckinsale unfortunately passed away, Chris Strueli provides a sterling performance as 'Alan'. 'Rigsby', 'Miss Jones' and 'Phillip' segue effortlessly into their roles to make for an entertaining (albeit familiar) visit to Rigsby's abode.

I would recommend for the period features of 80's Britan (attitudes left-over from eariler decades) and just all round easy entertainment.

The TV series of Rising Damp had ended in 1978 and two years later it made it to the big screen as many great - and some not so great - TV sitcoms did. This is of a better standard than many of the other adaptations but that's more a reflection of the quality of the original show than its own merits. While the filmed version is a fair piece of entertainment it's a pale reflection of the original exceptional series and not a fitting finale as might have been hoped.

The biggest problem has been highlighted by most reviewers - the film largely reuses storylines and dialogue from the episodes. It's not quite right to say it's like three or even four episodes edited together but more a case of short sections from various ones being stitched together almost in a sketch-like way. As such there's no overall storyline as did at least occur in those film versions that largely or wholly used original material. There's nothing wrong with the material "borrowed" from the episodes but perhaps because it's so obviously reused it just falls flat. It just seems unadventurous and unimaginative, especially with those episodes still fresh in the memory in 1980 and since then reseen by most fans many, many times. Apparently writer Eric Chappell and Leonard Rossiter both favoured this approach which clearly cut down on writing and performance time as well as giving them confidence given the previous success of the material. By contrast director Joe McGrath would have preferred more use of new input and guest star Denholm Elliott also wanted to improvise on set. Most of all though the great majority of viewers both then and now would want to see more that was new and it's surprising that wasn't appreciated more.

Repetition in itself is not an issue in comedy. Fans can watch the same original episode on TV many times and still find it very funny but the circumstances then are very different. When we watch a repeat we know what we are getting and there can be delight in knowing what's coming next and seeing it in its original form. However that's quite different to watching what is supposed to a new episode or film version expecting something new and then finding it to be a repeat. Also the same dialogue and scenario in a TV sitcom is played quite differently than within a film. TV sitcoms then were played in front of a studio audience and the actors would respond to that audience and leave pauses to allow certain lines to generate laughs. By contrast in a film there is no studio audience or laughter so the lines are delivered quite differently. This isn't to say that comedy needs studio audiences and laughter. Modern sitcoms are commonly played with no studio audience and can still work brilliantly well, as do comic films which don't have sitcom roots. The problem really comes with taking lines and set-ups that were designed for a studio audience and which viewers remember enjoying in that context and then putting them on film. The same could happen in reverse in reusing sections from a comic film and trying to do them within a TV sitcom in front of an audience. The two are equally valid but very different and shouldn't be mixed. It's a little depressing to hear lines that worked so brilliantly in an episode and which barely raise a smile translated to the big screen. Maybe this would all be less of an issue for any viewers watching the film who had never seen the TV version but I'm not sure how many would fall into that category as these film adaptations traded on familiarity with the original show.

Of course there is some new material within the film but it has to be said this doesn't lift proceedings very much. Some of these are fantasy sequences which were achievable within a film budget compared to TV but to be frank these don't work well as they are out of keeping with the original style of the show. There are a few interesting variations. The character of Seymour was taken from the original series and is still an upmarket conman but here - played by Denholm Elliott - he is played quite convincingly as something of a ladies man as well as someone who is able to spot the cons of others. The ending also offers a variation on a similar scenario in the series which works okay and is probably better than just rehashing earlier events. However on the whole this new material is well below the standard of what had featured on TV and maybe gives the impression of being rushed off just to link together the older and seemingly proven sections. It's possible that if there had been a requirement for a mostly or wholly new script the film would never have been made because either Eric Chappell or Leonard Rossiter or both wouldn't have wanted to do it and they were clearly the key players. It's also possible an original script would have been worse than what did end up on screen. Maybe that wouldn't have been the case if that approach had been tried a few years later or even a few years earlier while the TV show was still in production and at its peak.

If a film version had been made a few years earlier it may well have included Richard Beckinsale as the character of Alan and that leads on to the other most commonly cited complaint - the absence of Richard who tragically had died early in 1979. It's easy to overlook that he didn't appear in the final series of the show in 1978 as he was working on other projects but his death casts a long shadow over this film version unlike in Series 4. The producers understandably didn't want to recast the part of Alan and maybe felt they needed a regular third tenant in the film rather than the array of guest tenants / characters who had featured in Series 4. Maybe the mistake they made was to cast essentially an "Alan-replacement" in the film and this made comparisons inevitable and invidious. While the new character of "John" (played by Christopher Strauli) is different in small ways from Alan - most notably in being an art rather than medical student - he has a largely identical personality and most tellingly just inherits so many of Alan's lines from the series. Chris Strauli gets criticism for his performance which is rather unfair as he was in such a difficult position. It would have been hard enough to play essentially the same character even if Richard Beckinsale had been alive but simply unavailable but his loss meant that whoever played this role was bound to suffer by comparison. It maybe also didn't help that apparently Leonard Rossiter gave Chris a difficult time, perhaps because he found it hard to accept a new actor playing such a similar part. Any actor who replaces (or is deemed to be replacing) a much-loved actor and central member of cast faces this problem. Perhaps it would have been better to just write a very different character to play a new regular tenant. This had actually been done - admittedly briefly - in Series 2 when Frances De La Tour was absent from its final episodes and Gay Rose came in to play the very different character of Brenda who was certainly no clone of Miss Jones. Casting an actor who was also radically different from Richard Beckinsale may also have helped to deter the comparisons. However the reliance on so much material from the TV show probably made this impossible.

The absence of Richard also meant one or two other minor changes. In this film version Philip inherits Alan's role as a medical student but this only receives a passing mention unlike the attention to Alan's medical aspirations on the small screen. Perhaps Philip could have been the art student but maybe it was felt that fitted better with the guise of John, giving him reason to try to paint his girlfriend undressed and playing to his sexual inexperience which wouldn't have worked with the very worldly and confident Philip who didn't need that justification to encounter women.

A typical feature of the big screen versions is seeing the sitcom home transformed into literally a new setting. This always looked a bit odd and so it does here. Rigsby's house seems to have relocated to London whereas his original base was never pinned down but seemed to be in a university town, probably in the same Yorkshire region as its producers. As others have noted his house also seems rather brighter and better-appointed than its "predecessor". The small TV sets and the grottiness of the rooms certainly added to the comedy in the TV version. There is some location filming for the big screen but the lack of any action outside the studio was no drawback on TV. The location work was inevitable on film but was never likely to enhance the end result.

Overall there will always be interest when a TV show makes in on to film and fans of the TV show are bound to be curious about the results. Rising Damp was such a supreme sitcom it was always going to face exceptionally high expectations and unfortunately that proved to be too much. Fortunately though the original episodes can be readily seen on archive TV channels or streaming (sometimes cut) and wholly intact on DVD. The best advice for any viewer would be to watch several episodes and see the show at its best and that will never disappoint.

This film derives from a Long Running ITV sitcom by the same name.The Sitcom lasted for half a decade roughly and brought to our screens Rigsby,Phillip,Alan,Mrs Jones & Vienna.

Then in 1980 The film version hit the Cinemas.Now when it did,sadly Richard Beckinsale had passed away & was replaced by Only when i laugh actor Chris Strauli.

I myself felt this gave the film a different feel.I would have preferred if it wasn't shot as Richard was a key character.Thats like having the porridge film without Godber or Mackay!

The Film did have some classics moments definitely but it felt a bit De-Ja-Vu! Many parts were seen before in the TV Series. Now if you saw the movie first rather than the Series you would get a different feeling about it then the series fan!

Saying that Leonard is definitely on top form and makes the movie,just like in the TV series.The Film has recently had a new lease of life on DVD and is usually on Terrestrial over a quiet weekend.It is a cracking good film,but for Rigsby fans you may feel that youv'e seen it similarly before.

Saying that though its worth a buying/watching

7.8/10

Obviously, the the responses here were written many years after the film was released and cannot be taken in context. Back in 1980 in post labour England, this film was bloody funny. We were glad of something to laugh about and Rising Damp, with its sympathetic mockery of a complete social strata, was one of the best British sitcoms of its period, if not ever. It struck a chord in almost everybody and in true British fashion, we laughed at the Rigsby in ourselves. America had nothing to touch this type of humour because self debasement was not amusing to our overseas cousins. Leonard Rossiter was one of Englands finest actors, on stage, on TV and in Movies. His commitment and professionalism were second to none. Richard Beckinsale was, although young, a perfect comedic foil to Rossiter and should, by all rights, be classed as an all time great. Had he not been taken so young, I feel sure he would, by now, be classified as one of Britains greatest comedy actors. Frances De la Tour found her finest television moment in Rising Damp and, for me, never quantified her undoubted ability with further roles. If you did not see the film at the time of its release, you are not qualified to comment, simply because you cannot understand why it was funny, the humour of the moment.

This is really just a rehash of jokes and scenes from the series. Anyway, it's still Rising Damp and it's worth a watch.

Rising Damp has always been regarded one of ITVs better sitcoms of the 1970s even though the series was full of casual racism.

As soon as the series ended, work started on a feature film spin off and this is the dismal effort.

Of course the producers were not helped by the premature death of actor Richard Beckinsale who played one of the main characters. He is replaced by Christopher Strauli who plays a new character, art student Alan and a new tenant in Rigsby's house.

The main part of the film is seedy Rigsby attempting to keep fit as he is envious of African chief Philip's success at the rugby field. Rigsby hopes if he can beat Philip at boxing he can win the affections of Miss Jones. (Ironically Leonard Rossiter who died at a relatively young aged was a top ranked amateur squash player.)

The final part of the movie is Denholm Elliott playing suave new tenant Seymour who may be not all he seems to be but Rigsby thinks he is a gent because Seymour went to public school. Then Seymour starts to woo Miss Jones much to Rigsby's chagrin.

The film is episodic because it is three episodes stitched together. I think Henry McGee played the part in the television show better than Elliott here because his character revealed a nasty vile side, especially when he talked to Philip.

The film has several dream sequences including a Grease pastiche and a reference to the Cinzano ads which Leonard Rossiter was famous for at the time with Joan Collins.

The film just fails to capture the essence of the television sitcom, it comes across as crass and unfunny. Despite Rossiter doing sterling work as Rigsby, the script and direction were poor.

Rigsby rents rooms in his house to Miss Jones and African chief Philip. When a room becomes available in his house he gets art student Alan to share Philip's room. This causes tension in the house as Rigsby continues to compete for Miss Jones' affections. When they see Philip on the rugby field a fitness craze goes through the house leading to a boxing match between Rigsby and Philip. With Philip and Alan sharing the upper room Rigsby rents the middle room out to English gentleman Seymour who may or may not be who he claims, leading to more tension as Miss Jones begins to fall under Seymour's spell.

This is essentially three episodes worth of stories rolled into a film - the first episode is the new tenant moving into the house, the second episode is the all the fitness thing leading to the boxing match, the third episode is the Seymour incident. In fact each lasts about 30 minutes, although they are nicely rolled into each other so it's not as clear cut as three separate strands. The stories are about as good as the TV show was - so if you like that then you'll probably like this. The best bit is really the final 30 minutes due to Denholm Elliott's presence but there is 1970's style fun to be had with the other sections.

From the horribly disco theme song, you know where you are - happily the racist jokes aren't as bad as other 70's sitcoms but it's still there. It's not too offensive because Philip is allowed to rise above the stereotypes and only Rigsby is the one who makes the jokes (and he's made to look stupid and backward). It's not really funny but it's quite amusing. The saving grace is Rossiter as Rigsby - he really is so good in the role to the extent that he rises above the material and makes it better than it is. De la Tour is also good in her well rehearsed role and Don Warrington brings a lot of dignity to the black character who could easily just have been a punching bag for racist jokes. "Only When I Laugh's" Christopher Strauli makes a good addition to the house and Elliot brings a great deal of class to what is essentially a sitcom.

Overall this isn't fantastic but it's amusing and entertaining. It does feel like three episodes rolled together but if you're a fan of the series then I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing.