Camilla Cleese - Sounds Like A Cheese

[Canary42]

Successful comeback, or a flop.

I wonder which it will be.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/fawlty-towers-john-cleese-reboot-183202423.html

[barry1010]

His last sitcom was very poor and his performance was dire. He is a dreadful man with no respect for anybody but is full of his own importance.
Sadly he needs money and is scraping the barrel

[andy-hughes]

This is not a 're-make' which means using the same characters and settings in a disastrous attempt to recapture former glories.

This is a 're-boot' which means using the main character and a load of new add-ons in similar settings in a disastrous attempt to recapture former glories.

The label is hip, the result is the same.

You can call an ass a horse, but it doesn't shorten its ears.

[Patsy33]

I'm expecting to be disappointed. If it turns out I'm wrong, then great.
His earlier FTs, was the funniest thing I have ever watched. Here's hoping...

[jno]

andy, do you think Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads was a disastrous reboot?

[andy-hughes]

jno - // andy, do you think Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads was a disastrous reboot? //

No, but there are exceptions to every rule.

Terminator II is better than the original, but how many times does that happen?

WHTTLL used the same characters, and same interplay between them.

That was the entire premise and strength of the original, so moving them on a few years and pickng up, is a viable way to move forward.

Taking a character from nearly fifty years ago and picking him up, with none of the original set-ups or personalities is a very, very long way from that.

And experience shows, the further away and further out you go, the bigger the disaster.

[jno]

it happened to Mad Max and some (not me) think it happened to Alien.

[naomi24]

Like The Likely Lads, Birds of a Feather was successfully revived years after the original.

[andy-hughes]

There is no comparison with Birds Of A Feather, because the original series was as funny as an abcess and the 'new' version was exactly the same.

[douglas9401]

I suppose we could just wait until it's made and then judge.

Radical and revolutionary but hey, just putting it out there.

[andy-hughes]

douglas - // I suppose we could just wait until it's made and then judge.

Radical and revolutionary but hey, just putting it out there. //

A valid point.

The problem for anyone who creates the ultimate in their chosen field, is that they are doomed to forever have their attempts at anything else being measured against it, and that means advance speculation when anything else is due.

It's entirely unfair to place a burden of expectation on any artist who is simply pursuing his or her craft, and quite possibly not interested in comparisons with what has gone before.

But that is not how the media and the public operate.

Already they 'Not as good as Fawlty Towers ...' comments are being lined up.

But why should it be, and how could it be?

But human nature is what gets the biggest say, and speculation, followed by damnation, are going to follow this project through gestation to delivery.

[goodgoalie]

Amazing to think that Connie Booth - co-writer of Fawlty Towers, and ex-wife of Cleese - is now 82.

[trainboy]

I fear this will be a terrible mistake

[Canary42]

I always thought that one of the strengths of Fawlty Towers was Cleese's decision to limit the number of programmes, thereby less likely to run out of fresh ideas.

It will be interesting to see how he measures up to the fresh challenge he has set himself, and how well his daughter's contributions to the script/ideas enhance it all.

He did say something about the first meeting being "one of the best creative sessions I can remember”. So we will wait and see.

One thing we can probably safely assume is the Marmite Factor, some will love it, some will hate it.

[naomi24]

AH, there is a comparison between The Likely Lads and Birds of a Feather insofar as they were both resurrected - but I think you knew what I meant. I laughed at both.

[douglas9401]

"The ultimate" is a much over and misused phrase.

The creator of the programme is still here and could exceed all expectations, doubtful I know especially with the crows of woke gathered on the back of his office chair, but give a man a chance.