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Storyline
Long running BBC comedy show consisting of sketches and humourous musical routines involving the large Ronnie Barker and the small Ronnie Corbett. Most sketches involved both men, but occasionally only the one. Barker was excellent at fast talking and complicated dialog. Each week Corbett would tell a short joke and in doing so he'd digress and tell a dozen or more unrelated jokes on his way to the main punch line. Each series contained a mini comedy series as well as characters that'd return weekly. Also on the bill would be a musical piece from a well known singer/group. Written by
Rob Hartill
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Trivia
Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett never considered giving their popular recurring characters Charley Farley and Piggy Malone their own spin-off show.
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Quotes
Ronnie Barker:
And Solomon F. Potts, America's most persistent practical joker, was buried today. He's not dead, it's just the neighbours getting their own back.
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Connections
Featured in
The Age of the Train (2012)
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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.