As soon as I saw this was to be made, I cringed. Not even the fact it was to star the usually entertaining Martin Clunes got my hopes up. All the same, I was determined to sit down and try to judge it at face value. Sadly, I was still disappointed.
I watched the original as a child and I suppose, on looking back, that maybe I appreciated it for a similar reason without knowing it. It has remained in my heart since then as a classic piece of television - not just of situation comedy, which is almost a degrading term for such wonderful television. It is also a prized possession in my DVD collection.
On watching this version, I nearly laughed. Nearly. Once.
I did appreciate the nod to the original with Sunshine Desserts being shown but the updating of several elements left me cold. Some examples: 1) Much as I love Martin Clunes (and Men Behaving Badly, even the rickety Is It Legal, both by Simon Nye), he is not truly suited to the role. Leonard Rossiter could play world-weary but with the ability to instantly demonstrate it with a sharp wit that was at odds with his demeanor. Yet it worked because he was so good at that style of acting. That's something Martin Clunes doesn't have, nor do the vast majority of comic actors.
2) His object of affection. Sue Nichols, in my opinion, has never been the most obvious glamour figure, and that's what worked. Reggie was used to her, but suddenly his frustration with his life drove him to quite ridiculous fantasies revolving around her. That was what was funny - he didn't go for the glamour, he went for the safest risky option he could think of, his rather ordinary looking secretary.
There's no doubting Lucy Liemann is far more pleasing on the eye but it's just too easy to have him fall for a beautiful (and crucially NEW) girl on the block. With Rossiter's Perrin, he went for the stability of a known woman, which was at odds with wanting to change his whole existence.
3) The train journeys. The humour was in Perrin always being in the same coach, with the same passengers and the same dull (non) conversation. That's been lost.
4) "Great!", "Super!" has been replaced by 2 horrendously tedious nerds who offer nothing to the humour.
5) CJ. I didn't get where I am today by thinking a younger CJ with more arrogance than pomposity or childish humour (whooppee chairs) would be funny. Yes, the chairs were a nod to the more basic concept of humour but they worked! I presume they intend giving this a 2 or 3 series run but on the basis of this first of 6 episodes, I really can't see a recommissioning being a good idea.
2 stars. It's not worthy of just one because there are so many "comedy" shows out there nowadays that are far worse, but not worthy of more than 2 because it's messing with an original classic. Were it an original itself, it may have made 3 stars.
I watched the original as a child and I suppose, on looking back, that maybe I appreciated it for a similar reason without knowing it. It has remained in my heart since then as a classic piece of television - not just of situation comedy, which is almost a degrading term for such wonderful television. It is also a prized possession in my DVD collection.
On watching this version, I nearly laughed. Nearly. Once.
I did appreciate the nod to the original with Sunshine Desserts being shown but the updating of several elements left me cold. Some examples: 1) Much as I love Martin Clunes (and Men Behaving Badly, even the rickety Is It Legal, both by Simon Nye), he is not truly suited to the role. Leonard Rossiter could play world-weary but with the ability to instantly demonstrate it with a sharp wit that was at odds with his demeanor. Yet it worked because he was so good at that style of acting. That's something Martin Clunes doesn't have, nor do the vast majority of comic actors.
2) His object of affection. Sue Nichols, in my opinion, has never been the most obvious glamour figure, and that's what worked. Reggie was used to her, but suddenly his frustration with his life drove him to quite ridiculous fantasies revolving around her. That was what was funny - he didn't go for the glamour, he went for the safest risky option he could think of, his rather ordinary looking secretary.
There's no doubting Lucy Liemann is far more pleasing on the eye but it's just too easy to have him fall for a beautiful (and crucially NEW) girl on the block. With Rossiter's Perrin, he went for the stability of a known woman, which was at odds with wanting to change his whole existence.
3) The train journeys. The humour was in Perrin always being in the same coach, with the same passengers and the same dull (non) conversation. That's been lost.
4) "Great!", "Super!" has been replaced by 2 horrendously tedious nerds who offer nothing to the humour.
5) CJ. I didn't get where I am today by thinking a younger CJ with more arrogance than pomposity or childish humour (whooppee chairs) would be funny. Yes, the chairs were a nod to the more basic concept of humour but they worked! I presume they intend giving this a 2 or 3 series run but on the basis of this first of 6 episodes, I really can't see a recommissioning being a good idea.
2 stars. It's not worthy of just one because there are so many "comedy" shows out there nowadays that are far worse, but not worthy of more than 2 because it's messing with an original classic. Were it an original itself, it may have made 3 stars.