The Two Ronnies

I love Ronnie Barker, he is one of my favourite actors/comedians in sitcoms such as Porridge and Going Straight, but I don't find The Two Ronnies as funny as I hoped I would. I was desperate to enjoy it, but I found myself forcing a laugh at jokes that just weren't funny to me. Ronnie Corbett's style of comedy has never really been my cup of tea, I find it rather dry and predictable, but Ronnie Barker usually says some unexpected things off-script that work brilliantly and give a sense of natural genuine comedy, and unfortunately he just doesn't do that in The Two Ronnies.

Even though this comedy isn't my cup of tea, I've rated it 7/10 because there are some classic comedy sketches in here such as the "four candles / fork handles" sketch.

I have just spent an evening watching a selection of this marvellous television series and I can honestly say I haven't laughed so much in years. Right from "And Here is the news" to "and it's goodnight from him" I don't think I stopped laughing in every episode I watched. And what is more is that both Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett actually looked as though they were enjoying themselves (as I am sure they were), as they presented their show. When you compare the brilliance of this pair to the modern day comedians (if I may call them comedians), there is just no comparison. Theirs is a magic we may never see again.

As for many Brits of my age, they were the standard Saturday night fare of my teens, and the show produced some of the classic sketches listed by others - although I noticed that nobody mentioned the recurring "Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town", including the delectably-endowed Maddy Smith and written by Spike Milligan.

The format was slick, predictable, and gave both performers the chance to exercise their differing talents (I recently watched a couple of episodes and was surprised to find that Corbett's "sit-down chat" seems to have dated the least). As with all sketch shows though, the quality varied, and some of the later editions strained for laughs a bit. Luckily for you young 'uns, you don't have to plough through the dross to get to the gems, because they *are* memorable. All you have to do is say "Four candles" to someone of my generation, and they know what you're talking about.

I'd put it in the second rank of British comedy - in the mix with Dave Allen and Benny Hill and just a smidge behind Morecambe and Wise. Not quite up there with Python or Blackadder, but good wholesome fare done by a couple of real old pros.

For sixteen years, big Ronnie Barker and little Ronnie Corbett hit hard on the nation's funny bone with their gently subversive, often wonderfully rude comedy routines, which lampooned countless aspects of British life - pompous authority figures, eccentric middle class guests at dreary cocktail parties, shabby men (with distinctly surreal private lives) putting the world to rights over a beer or ten, ghastly restaurants with rude waiters and incompetent chefs, bumptious politicians, leery rock stars and deeply suspicious doctors. Although often regarded as a "safe" series, The Two Ronnies' best sketches often strayed toward decidedly bizarre and ridiculous Monty Python territory, which isn't surprising as several of the Pythons (together with genius upstarts like Marshall and Renwick) wrote for the series - that's when the great Ronnie Barker wasn't providing the bulk of the material himself under a number of unlikely pseudonyms! (Remember Gerald Wiley? That was him.) The musical numbers can seem dated to modern eyes, but the country and western parodies from 'Big Jim Jehosophat'(Corbett) and 'Fatbelly Jones'(Barker) were always a joy, wrapping dozens of double-entendres around some genuinely catchy tunes, as were the lesser-seen spoofs of Chas and Dave, Status Quo and even Kid Creole and the Coconuts! As with many of the 'old school' comedians, the Two Ronnies' work has endured far better than many of the 'alternative' comedians who tried to push them aside - not only that, they're still being repeated. So where's Ben Elton now?

Between 1971 and 1987,the brilliant Ronnie Barker,and his diminutive but equally talented partner Ronnie Corbett,produced and performed arguably the perfect peak-time family sketch show in the UK.THE TWO RONNIES lacked the long lasting influence and greater World-wide success of MONTY PYTHON,and the more savage,cutting-edge style of NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS,but their most memorable sketches can still compete with the best of them,and as far as sketch humour for the whole family is concerned(albeit often laced with smut and innuendo),no programme has ever properly replaced it since it's departure.

To the unfamiliar,virtually every TWO RONNIES show consisted of the following format:Messurs Barker and Corbett would start the programme,sat behind a desk together,starting with usually corny but undeniably funny fake news items,leading on to a solo turn by Barker,with assorted duologue's (often in pubs or drawing room parties) and sketches,Corbett performing a monologue from a comfortable armchair(usually rather bigger than him),an elaborate filmed sketch,usually musical,or sometimes a serial,then ending with more fake news before ending with "It's a good night from me.." (Corbett),"...and a good night from him" (Barker).Over it's long run,the show kept a remarkable comic consistency,only very occasionally being over-stretched,weak,repetitive or misjudged.The main reason for this was perhaps the large number of writers involved,the most notable being perhaps Barker himself,who sent in sketches under various moniker's (Gerald Wiley the best known) before being found out.

With the show's peak years being the 1970's,there was of course much non-PC material which would be difficult to repeat three decades later,and in the compilation programme THE TWO RONNIES SKETCHBOOK (2005),it was obvious that certain modifications had to be made for more modern TV audiences.Despite this,the high comedic quality of the material was still readily apparent,as was the enormous affection for the Ronnies themselves.It was a great joy to see Ronnie Barker on British TV screens again,but it was a greater sadness when Barker sadly died later in the year.The British public were deeply moved by his passing,maybe because in one sense it truly meant the end of an era.An era when TV bosses let such great talents as the Two Ronnies,Morecambe and Wise,Frankie Howerd,Tommy Cooper,Les Dawson,et al entertain and amuse us on peak-time British TV in the 70's,whereas now execs seem to think that infesting our screens with tedious,banal,dreary and mostly pathetic 'reality' shows with such non-talents as Jordan,Sophie Anderton,Kerry Katona and Paul Burrell are what the public wants, when the fact is they actually don't.There are still talented actors,writers,singers and comedians out there.All the execs have to do is use them like before several decades ago.

RATING- 9 out of 10.