What are the best ever t.v shows - Page 50

**scoundrel** · February 11th, 2019, 10:23 PM

In order to shamelessly bump this thread I am going to be off topic and admit that Quantum Leap was never one of my top ten, but I would always have given it an honourable mention.

Brecht will probably tell us that I am into this schmaltzy and sentimental stuff because I need to get laid. I certainly don't get laid nearly as much as would be good for me; but that's not quite the reason.

There used to be an American character actor called Charles Rocket, notable for decent supporting parts in films such as Dumb and Dumber. He won a Golden Globe award in 1993 apparently, so he didn't go totally unrecognised. he started out as a news anchorman but apparently got sacked for saying something very naughty on Saturday Night Live in 1975...it could have happened to a bishop. Sadly he died in 2005 aged 56 and I was especially sad to note that he seems to have committed suicide. It's a great pity anyway, and even more so because he was a pretty decent actor.

I happened to notice that Quantum Leap was on his CV and in fact I remembered the episode. It was their Christmas Scrooge-a-like episode and Charles Rocket played the Scrooge character, a corporate raider and somewhat Trump-like property developer called Michael Blake (née Michael Blakowski).

The Scrooge plot is familiar of course, as is the Scrooge character. What I liked about Rocket's take on this character was that he plays Michael Blake as a very gentlemanly person, even though arrogant and pitiless. He has a PA called Max who frequently urges him to sack people and tries on his own behalf to bully the help; we see Mr Blake making full use of Max's efficient services but frequently checking his bullying and underhanded mistreatment of the servants and treating him with mild but unmistakeable disdain. Mr Blake is himself very firm and dictatorial with the servants, especially his manservant (Scott Bakula's leap character); but actually not being mean, allowing quite a bit of dissent and being scrupulously fair towards them.

The problem with the Scrooge character is that he must be nasty enough to be feared and hated, and yet sufficiently human and sufficiently humane to be worth saving, so that the audience can be pleased when he is saved. It is also necessary that his change of heart should come from his better nature, that he should repent rather than merely fear the bleak and unloved death shown to him by The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come - in this case played by the excellent Dean Stockwell is his capacity as Al the Hologram.

It is that context that I really liked the romantic plot in which Michael Blake gradually succombs to the completely ingenuous and wholesome charms of his apparent opponent, Captain Laura Downey of the Salvation Army. She heads the Mission he wants to evict from the semi-derelict building he needs to demolish to delevop a shopping centre and theatre complex. Her mission can't find anywhere else to go (after all, New York isn't the cheapest city to relocate in) and so she beards Mr Blake in the lobby of his apartment partly to remonstrate that he wont acknowledge her letters and partly in a last ditch attempt to beg for pity for her mission and the people she is helping.

Captain Downey is played by a rather ravishing red-headed actress called Melinda McGraw (she was in the typing pool in Madmen among her other credits) and I liked the way Charles Rocket played off her in their scenes together, especially the lobby scene where Michael Blake assumes Captain Downey must be the elderly chap leading the brass band he has just ordered to be silent. Laura fiercely corrects him, pointing out that he should be addressing her as she is Captain Downey and Michael Blake stares for just a second, silently but not at all rudely making clear that he thinks she is drop-dead gorgeous, then recollects himself and very coldly and bluntly, but with strange politeness explains that he has a business to run and is not going to reach out to her mission. Being beautiful has won her only the consolation that he did not directly throw her out and allowed her to say her piece - nothing more. But it is extremely easy to see why Michael Blake instantly remembers Captain Downey in their next meeting and doesn't try to escape from her company, even though he knows she will continue to work on him.

What helps to explain why Mr Blake eventually reaches out to Captain Downey is that she is extremely patient with him and genuinely forgiving, even before he starts to relent. It is clear as well that she is well aware that Mr Blake is a rather well set up man who does not conceal that he likes her as a woman, and yet makes no attempt to take unfair advantage of her need to appeal to him for respite against the eviction. Mr Blake is a very tough and unrelenting character but within certain limits he is honourable and plays fair, even when he sees a woman he likes and who needs a big favour from him.

There is a nicely observed Christmas Eve scene in the Mission, in which Captain Downey leads her mission choir in a very charming performance of The Carol of the Bells and Joy to the World which the lapsed Catholic Michael Blake appreciates both for the quality of the singing and for the childhood memories she is reviving for him. She naively hopes that he has come to the Mission to announce a stay of execution, but when he tells the truth that he came only because he heard the singing and could not resist the lure of it, she gracefully accepts disappointment and even wishes him well - an act of simple forgiveness which impresses the rather unforgiving Michael Blake very much. He doesn't only register that Captain Downey is extremely pretty, but also finds that she improves with greater acquaintance, and is an impressive person. Plus, he isn't stupid and he knows she likes him as a man.

There are natural and wholesome reasons why Michael Blake is drawn to Captain Laura Downey and why, in the moment of his crisis he turns to her for support. Melinda McGraw played her character well also - Captain Downey is a dedicated person who doesn't have spare time for gallivanting after men and when a handsome man starts to orbit in her own world and come tantalisingly within reach, she is clearly not dumb enough to pass the chance by. Joy to the World indeed.

Quantum Leap was a cleverly written series which often borrowed culturally and exploited cultural references. This Christmas episode was fairly typical of how it was done. Sentimental or not, it was a lot better than most of what we see now.

**jomama** · February 12th, 2019, 01:12 AM

not in any order

MASH
Baretta
Good Times
Night Gallery
The Munsters
Gilligans Island
Sanford and Son
The Twilight Zone
The Benny Hill Show
Star Trek: The Next Generation

**onthebusesfan** · May 16th, 2019, 07:06 PM

I Loved Watching The Sitcom On The Buses As A Kid . i still watch it now i still love it and still piss myself laughing some bits . did anyone else like On The Buses?

**Sir Honkers** · May 16th, 2019, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onthebusesfan

I Loved Watching The Sitcom On The Buses As A Kid . i still watch it now i still love it and still piss myself laughing some bits . did anyone else like On The Buses?

Emphatically not! I hated all those 70's British sitcoms. On The Buses, Father Dear Father, Threes Company, The Ropers, Love Thy Neighbour, anything with Barry Evans.

**Meini Again** · May 16th, 2019, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loosegoose

Emphatically not! I hated all those 70's British sitcoms. On The Buses, Father Dear Father, Threes Company, The Ropers, Love Thy Neighbour, anything with Barry Evans.

Us too....

**CARLTON BROWN** · May 16th, 2019, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loosegoose

Emphatically not! I hated all those 70's British sitcoms. On The Buses, Father Dear Father, Threes Company, The Ropers, Love Thy Neighbour, anything with Barry Evans.

Unfortunately (IMHO), very little has improved over the years. Shows I've really disliked include - Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours and Absolutely Fabulous. There has been plenty of other stuff that I just can't remember at the moment. Never mind, the TV news often fills this gap :-)

**Meini Again** · May 16th, 2019, 11:14 PM

Hancock's Half Hour (Radio & TV)

Hancock (ITV)
Monty Python (All)
The Strange World of Gurney Slade ( Anthony Newley)

Phil Silvers Show (Bilko)
The Monroes (Prob Barbara Hershey

)
Columbo ( some, not all)

As we were avalanched with US product, I've tried to keep a balance. mainly with original and innotative. All looking vintage now I've written them down.

More upto date then...

The Bridge (Broen) .... Sofia Helin as "Saga"...

... incredible eccentic character... to die for

The Killing (Forbrydelsen)...Sofie Grabol as "Sarah Lund"....to die for....

Both of these series till about Serie 3/4 when they each became spent moneyspinners.

Spiral (Engrenages).... Audrey Fleurot.... conniving lawyer through all the series..... watched them all, especially after seeing her in a 'Lui' scan, here on VEF

That's me... old comedy and innovation, police-procedurals with originality.

No GoT etc....... or Spartacus etc.....basically NO US TV.....

**CARLTON BROWN** · May 17th, 2019, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meini Again

More upto date then...

Spiral (Engrenages).... Audrey Fleurot.... conniving lawyer through all the series..... watched them all, especially after seeing her in a 'Lui' scan

I've been in love with Audrey Fleurot from the moment I first saw her :-)

**Sir Honkers** · May 17th, 2019, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CARLTON BROWN

Unfortunately (IMHO), very little has improved over the years. Shows I've really disliked include - Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours and Absolutely Fabulous. There has been plenty of other stuff that I just can't remember at the moment. Never mind, the TV news often fills this gap :-)

I hope you won't hold it against me Carlton, but if we ever meet in real life, I'll have to kill you

**CARLTON BROWN** · May 18th, 2019, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loosegoose

I hope you won't hold it against me Carlton, but if we ever meet in real life, I'll have to kill you

Oh God, I'm very sorry then. My mistake (whatever it is!). Please tell me what I need to do to put things right.

February 11th, 2019, 10:23 PM	#491
scoundrel Super Moderator Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: England Posts: 26,239 Thanks: 162,401 Thanked 278,546 Times in 26,184 Posts	Yes - I said Quantum Leap In order to shamelessly bump this thread I am going to be off topic and admit that Quantum Leap was never one of my top ten, but I would always have given it an honourable mention. Brecht will probably tell us that I am into this schmaltzy and sentimental stuff because I need to get laid. I certainly don't get laid nearly as much as would be good for me; but that's not quite the reason. There used to be an American character actor called Charles Rocket, notable for decent supporting parts in films such as Dumb and Dumber. He won a Golden Globe award in 1993 apparently, so he didn't go totally unrecognised. he started out as a news anchorman but apparently got sacked for saying something very naughty on Saturday Night Live in 1975...it could have happened to a bishop. Sadly he died in 2005 aged 56 and I was especially sad to note that he seems to have committed suicide. It's a great pity anyway, and even more so because he was a pretty decent actor. I happened to notice that Quantum Leap was on his CV and in fact I remembered the episode. It was their Christmas Scrooge-a-like episode and Charles Rocket played the Scrooge character, a corporate raider and somewhat Trump-like property developer called Michael Blake (née Michael Blakowski). The Scrooge plot is familiar of course, as is the Scrooge character. What I liked about Rocket's take on this character was that he plays Michael Blake as a very gentlemanly person, even though arrogant and pitiless. He has a PA called Max who frequently urges him to sack people and tries on his own behalf to bully the help; we see Mr Blake making full use of Max's efficient services but frequently checking his bullying and underhanded mistreatment of the servants and treating him with mild but unmistakeable disdain. Mr Blake is himself very firm and dictatorial with the servants, especially his manservant (Scott Bakula's leap character); but actually not being mean, allowing quite a bit of dissent and being scrupulously fair towards them. The problem with the Scrooge character is that he must be nasty enough to be feared and hated, and yet sufficiently human and sufficiently humane to be worth saving, so that the audience can be pleased when he is saved. It is also necessary that his change of heart should come from his better nature, that he should repent rather than merely fear the bleak and unloved death shown to him by The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come - in this case played by the excellent Dean Stockwell is his capacity as Al the Hologram. It is that context that I really liked the romantic plot in which Michael Blake gradually succombs to the completely ingenuous and wholesome charms of his apparent opponent, Captain Laura Downey of the Salvation Army. She heads the Mission he wants to evict from the semi-derelict building he needs to demolish to delevop a shopping centre and theatre complex. Her mission can't find anywhere else to go (after all, New York isn't the cheapest city to relocate in) and so she beards Mr Blake in the lobby of his apartment partly to remonstrate that he wont acknowledge her letters and partly in a last ditch attempt to beg for pity for her mission and the people she is helping. Captain Downey is played by a rather ravishing red-headed actress called Melinda McGraw (she was in the typing pool in Madmen among her other credits) and I liked the way Charles Rocket played off her in their scenes together, especially the lobby scene where Michael Blake assumes Captain Downey must be the elderly chap leading the brass band he has just ordered to be silent. Laura fiercely corrects him, pointing out that he should be addressing her as she is Captain Downey and Michael Blake stares for just a second, silently but not at all rudely making clear that he thinks she is drop-dead gorgeous, then recollects himself and very coldly and bluntly, but with strange politeness explains that he has a business to run and is not going to reach out to her mission. Being beautiful has won her only the consolation that he did not directly throw her out and allowed her to say her piece - nothing more. But it is extremely easy to see why Michael Blake instantly remembers Captain Downey in their next meeting and doesn't try to escape from her company, even though he knows she will continue to work on him. What helps to explain why Mr Blake eventually reaches out to Captain Downey is that she is extremely patient with him and genuinely forgiving, even before he starts to relent. It is clear as well that she is well aware that Mr Blake is a rather well set up man who does not conceal that he likes her as a woman, and yet makes no attempt to take unfair advantage of her need to appeal to him for respite against the eviction. Mr Blake is a very tough and unrelenting character but within certain limits he is honourable and plays fair, even when he sees a woman he likes and who needs a big favour from him. There is a nicely observed Christmas Eve scene in the Mission, in which Captain Downey leads her mission choir in a very charming performance of The Carol of the Bells and Joy to the World which the lapsed Catholic Michael Blake appreciates both for the quality of the singing and for the childhood memories she is reviving for him. She naively hopes that he has come to the Mission to announce a stay of execution, but when he tells the truth that he came only because he heard the singing and could not resist the lure of it, she gracefully accepts disappointment and even wishes him well - an act of simple forgiveness which impresses the rather unforgiving Michael Blake very much. He doesn't only register that Captain Downey is extremely pretty, but also finds that she improves with greater acquaintance, and is an impressive person. Plus, he isn't stupid and he knows she likes him as a man. There are natural and wholesome reasons why Michael Blake is drawn to Captain Laura Downey and why, in the moment of his crisis he turns to her for support. Melinda McGraw played her character well also - Captain Downey is a dedicated person who doesn't have spare time for gallivanting after men and when a handsome man starts to orbit in her own world and come tantalisingly within reach, she is clearly not dumb enough to pass the chance by. Joy to the World indeed. Quantum Leap was a cleverly written series which often borrowed culturally and exploited cultural references. This Christmas episode was fairly typical of how it was done. Sentimental or not, it was a lot better than most of what we see now. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

February 12th, 2019, 01:12 AM	#492
jomama Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Living in Silliness Posts: 29,758 Thanks: 3,493,497 Thanked 344,288 Times in 29,872 Posts	not in any order MASH Baretta Good Times Night Gallery The Munsters Gilligans Island Sanford and Son The Twilight Zone The Benny Hill Show Star Trek: The Next Generation __________________ all the credit goes to original posters Avatar is Smeagol My Precious with Toilet Paper Last edited by jomama; February 15th, 2019 at 12:23 AM..

May 16th, 2019, 07:06 PM	#493
onthebusesfan Vintage Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: East Anglia Posts: 8,986 Thanks: 46,886 Thanked 124,357 Times in 8,816 Posts	I Loved Watching The Sitcom On The Buses As A Kid . i still watch it now i still love it and still piss myself laughing some bits . did anyone else like On The Buses? __________________ Mary Millington I Love You To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mary Millington is always a wonderful woman to me in my eyes.

May 16th, 2019, 11:14 PM	#497
Meini Again Vintage Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: North Wales Posts: 3,637 Thanks: 32,358 Thanked 31,826 Times in 3,566 Posts	Hancock's Half Hour (Radio & TV) Hancock (ITV) Monty Python (All) The Strange World of Gurney Slade ( Anthony Newley) Phil Silvers Show (Bilko) The Monroes (Prob Barbara Hershey ) Columbo ( some, not all) As we were avalanched with US product, I've tried to keep a balance. mainly with original and innotative. All looking vintage now I've written them down. More upto date then... The Bridge (Broen) .... Sofia Helin as "Saga"... ... incredible eccentic character... to die for The Killing (Forbrydelsen)...Sofie Grabol as "Sarah Lund"....to die for.... Both of these series till about Serie 3/4 when they each became spent moneyspinners. Spiral (Engrenages).... Audrey Fleurot.... conniving lawyer through all the series..... watched them all, especially after seeing her in a 'Lui' scan, here on VEF That's me... old comedy and innovation, police-procedurals with originality. No GoT etc....... or Spartacus etc.....basically NO US TV.....