UK viewers unimpressed with “rubbish” Are You Being Served? remake
Comedy remake is likened to a tribute band as viewers question BBC's wisdom in attempting to nod to the past.
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Reaction to the BBC’s remake of Are You Being Served? to mark 60 years of UK sitcoms has not been good.
Neither critics nor social media has been positive after its airing earlier today.
A review in The Telegraph gave it 2 stars:
It wasn’t so much that the humour was un-PC or especially offensive. It was just tired and limp, like an iceberg lettuce long past-its-sell-by date. There was a lazy reliance on lavatorial humour and casual misogyny: sniggering at Mrs Slocombe’s “intimate lady wipes”, leering at lingerie-clad mannequins, making cheap cracks at nagging wives or battleaxe mothers. There were mothball-worthy gags about bridge clubs, cats called Tiddles, spicy food and sewage. It was presumably aiming for the broad appeal of Mrs Brown, but instead of primetime BBC One, this felt like lunchtime UK Gold. Stalwarts such as Only Fools And Horses’ John Challis, playing pompous floor-walker Captain Peacock, and Coronation Street’s Roy Barraclough, as doddery Mr Grainger, deserved better material to work with.
Digital Spy also questioned why BBC had remade the show:
The cast all give it their all, particular Jason Watkins – who’s arguably got the hardest job, replacing John Inman as the iconic Mr. Humphries. But the experience is still akin to watching a tribute band – entertaining enough, but never coming close to competing with your memories. As a one-off affectionate tribute, Litten’s Are You Being Served? is fine – but there’d be little point in doing something like this week-in, week-out. Much easier (and cheaper) just to repeat the originals.
According to The Mirror:
One person tweeted: “This is why remakes should be banned. Are You Being Served, rubbish. BBC why??”
Another mused: “This new show Are You Being Served? would have been better if they’d made it 40 odd years ago.”
One angry viewer posted: “Just watched 10 mins of the BBC’s revisits ARE YOU BEING SERVED? One word TERRIBLE!! Why do this?? Stupid BBC!!”
And over in The Express:
Sadly it seems the negative comments outweighed the positive, although the programme did manage to trend higher than ITV’s brand new Victoria, which aired in a competing timeslot.
“#AreYouBeingServed this is like some am-dram tribute gone wrong. It doesn’t work on any level and is not funny,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Did I say I don’t like the remake of #AreYouBeingServed? I meant to say I effing hate it. Gods, this is awful. #epicfail.”
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10 Responses
there was noooo wayyyy that remake was going to work, because it was all about the casting in the original that actually made that show work.
It was awful, though the casting was spot on. Wouldn’t want to see anymore though.
Didn’t think Porridge was too bad though I never really watched the original so was somewhat watching it afresh.
I thought it was ok, I enjoyed it, but audiences these days are just used to a different style, so they are missing out because they don’t get the old style of comedy.
I quite enjoyed it. Porridge on the other hand was awful. It wasn’t a remake, but a continuation with Fletcher’s grandson in jail, rather than an additional episode with someone else playing Fletcher.
To be fair, the telegraph review could have been describing an episode of this from 35 years ago
It was pretty much rubbish in the 70s and 80s-no reason to think it would have gotten any better over 3 years later!
That’s 30 years.
Good Grief.
Oh dear…my Father always said…there is no 2nd prize…
Wasn’t that Jimmy Barnes? 😉