Robert Cook

The downward spiral charted by many reviewers has continued and now news on the net is that both this and antiques road trip have been cancelled. Maybe a long standing threat of this explains why the show has turned into a cavalcade of clowns, people shrieking and doing the cancan, with untalented old blokes like Tim and Charlie getting more and more intrusive and offensive by their presence. There is obviously an unplummable interest in the subject in the bbc audience; let;s hope the beeb can produce something entertaining and educational instead. I have my doubts.

Only very good comedies endure and Frasier, currently (2021) being rerun by 4 in the Uk is one; I'd vote also for the Golden Girls, near perfect. What seemed once so funny, like the obesity in Mike and Molly or Sheldon's obnoxious characteristics in the Big Bang Theory quickly pall, I find; I now find these things disgusting and unwatchable. But the delicacy of Frasier and the GG endure, and what stand out are immaculate timing and fabulous writing that pack the shows while lesser ones, especially the BB, are so often padded with unfunny ideas that feel merely a desperate ploy to keep the show running kerching. The single misstep, for me, in Frasier is the casting and presentation of Daphne Moon's extended family who visit from Britain. Millicent Martin's character is unpleasant and her accent so very peculiar; I cannot think why it was that the brits in these shows are so vile and crass. Special mention should be reserved for Anthony LaPaglia, an australian actor who is cast as Daphne's brother; it's surely not his fault that he is unwatchably horrible, as it's clear from context that the writers/directors chose to portray the family in this way, but the stupidity of casting an australian to play a working class brit takes some beating. I cant understand it and cant watch it and for me is the single flaw in this otherwise classic ensemble piece.