Firstly, apologies. I’ve been busy with Big Brother and The X Factor so I have posted to my blog for a few days. Regular readers will know that I’m rather partial to TV programmes of yesteryear. In addition to checking out the likes of The Professionals, The Sweeney, Minder, Dempsey & Makepeace and more on ITV3 and ITV4, I’ve been watching 70s sitcom On The Buses. I’ve even found myself laughing a couple of times. Yes, it’s cheap, vulgar and misogynistic but its saucy seaside postcard humour is almost refreshing in these politically correct noughties days. Besides, it’s sooooo British, it should be sponsored by an old school greasy spoon. Nothing remotely American or American-influenced here.
First things first, it hasn’t dated well. It was aging even as it was broadcast during its original 1969-1973 run. But it’s hard to dislike bus driver Stan Butler (played by the 50ish Reg Varney – yes that’s right – 50ish!). Stan is characterised by his horniness: desperate for the mini-skirted, busty, nubile women working in the depot (who always fancy him for some bizarre reason), it’s not unusual to find him clocking off and keeping the passengers waiting while he has a bit of ‘ow’s yer father’ with the chosen wench. The series made Reg Varney an unlikely sex symbol – only in this country could a man like Reg become an object of desire.
Makes yer proud to be British, doesn’t it? Sod the PC/Health & Safety crowd; hoist yer Union Jack and cue the national anthem for dirty old Stan Butler!
Stan’s best mate is his conductor, a right jack-the-lad (called Jack, funnily enough) with a hugely infectious laugh who says "Cor blimey" more times than Jodie Marsh has been Tangoed. Our horny bus driver lives with his bingo-obsessed mum who loves him to death. In the same house resides plain sister Olive and her layabout, sponging husband Ar’fur. One character who must be mentioned is long-suffering bus Inspector ‘Blakey’ Blake; Stan and Jack delighted in making his life a misery, prompting weekly lip-quivering exclamations of "I’ll get you Butler!" and "I ‘ate you, Butler!"
I think the very absurdity of On The Buses is what tickles me the most. The humour is extremely obvious – don’t expect Oscar-winning scripts if you tune in. What’s more, the very idea of two middle-aged skirt-chasers (one with teeth Austin Powers would envy) bagging the kind of women most men their age can’t even dream of is hilarious in itself. On The Buses will never make a list of the best sitcoms we’ve ever made. However, thanks to its timeless comedy creations, it’s far from being the most minging. I’ve listed the likes of ‘Orrible and Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps in my gallery of the UK’s Worst Sitcoms. Feel free to nominate your choices.
Today I am mostly lovin’ – The Olympics. It truly is the greatest show on Earth. I just love the idealism of it all. Am I the only person whose favourite bit is the Parade Of Nations?
Today I am mostly hatin’ – The Sky v Virgin Media debacle. We customers have been without Sky News and Sky One for long enough.
MSN Editor Coops
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MSN TV Blog: The Remote Control 
On the buses are good ma ma watches on the buses all the timee. I like Stan he is funny and olive i thinkk she is a kind person. People that have not watched it. You should watch it because it is so funny in a way. So that is all a have to say so bye.From jayde webster
I really love On the Buses, it has been showing on ITV 3 Tuesday too Friday in blocks of two for the past two months and is about to come to the end of its run. I am hoping that Please Sir, Bless this house, Man about the house and the truly wonderful Liver Birds will also be shown as they have been on Paramount 2. For some reason 70\’s comedy is a true representation of the times, one comedy I really wish would be shown is Love thy Neighbour, but it seems unlikely that it ever will be.
Many Magical Blessings
Wiseman
Wiseman, You can buy Love Thy Neighbour here in MSN Shopping. It\’s unlikely that it will ever be shown again unless there\’s a sociological reason behind its airing. BBC4 was the last channel to air the controversial sitcom as part of their 2005 TV On Trial season. Unlike On The Buses or The Liver Birds, every single aspect of Love Thy Neighbour revolved around race; It was its raison d\’être and that\’s why airings will remain limited.
Rudolph Walker has always defended his show, asserting that it challenged racism rather than reinforced it. Funnily enough, Johnny Speight said the same thing about his masterpiece Till Death Do Us Part. But unlike Love Thy Neighbours\’ Eddie Booth, his bigoted creation Alf Garnett has grown into a bona fide British icon. In truth, the latter is a more fully realised character which is why his rants about race, the Labour Party, class etc etc are so hilarious. Not something I\’d ever really say about Booth I\’m afraid.
Still, when it comes to TV shows of yesteryear, I do believe that context is key in some respects. Personally, when I watch the likes of The Professionals, The Sweeney or Porridge, I expect to hear black people referred to as \’coloured\’ or gays referred to as \’poofs\’ or \’shirt lifters\’. That\’s how it was back then and although it\’s not nice to hear, it\’s understandable.
I love all the old sit-coms from the 70\’s and thereabouts, On the Buses, Steptoe and Son, Until death us do Part, Please Sir, Liver Birds, Love Thy Neighbour, some Mothers Do \’ave \’em…to name but a few. No they weren\’t politically correct, but they were FUNNY and they didn\’t do the actors and actresses any harm. Rudolph Walker, who played Bill in Love Thy Neighbour, now plays Patrick Trueman in Eastenders. The ginger girl from Liver Birds is now Diane Sugden in Emmerdale. Olive, from On the Buses is now Peggy\’s sister in Eastenders…I could go on. Most of the so-called sit-coms nowadays are so bland that you don\’t need sleeping pills if you can\’t sleep. just put the tv on (with the exception of Two Pints, now THAT is comedy)
I agree, On The Buses was a great sitcom of it\’s time. I am surprised though that a few others have slipped past digital TV channels. Sharon and Elsie, You\’re only young twice, Fresh Fields and others just seem to have vanished into the archives. I\’m sure that LWT and Co (as it was) could find a spot for these and reduce for example repeats of Friends!
Thinking of American sitcoms, does anyone recall Channel 4s very first import – Alice? It was all about an American diner and was hugely popular in the days of a fresh faced Richard Whitely on Countdown!
Finally, what about lost gems such as HiDeHi, Allo Allo and May to December? I would bet that BBC3 would acquire a whole new audience running those from the beginning.
\’On the Buses\’ was of it\’s time and reflected the life fairly well of not so well off working class people in the UK in the 60\’s. It\’s not exactly ground breaking stuff or even particularily well written or performed. However it did have something,and the characterisation seemed pretty good. There is a gentleness about it and also an affection for family [no matter how awful they are]. Yep it was sexist and is dated but is also kind of fun and was much loved,to the extent that all the characters,30 years on,are still well remembered by people who saw the series. I actually think I would like to see more stuff like this,gentle,human,silly and gaffe based sitcoms. In a way,\’On the Buses\’ kind of harks back to Noel Cowards\’ \’This happy Breed\’,but that really was art.
Hi Coops.
I really have to disagree with your list of poor sitcoms. I\’m only 23 years old but watch an appalling amount of television and consider myself to be a bit of a knowledge on TV, especially comedy.
I do have to take exception with some of your choices; Orrible was funny, it was a slapstick look at crime written by Johnny Vaughn who also wrote Top Buzzer, the bloke has been in the nick and he writes criminal comedies better than anyone. It was aimed at the edgier side of socioty and I\’m sure they loved it.
My Family was great. The 1st 3 series were genius, I agree with you that the rest is semi-tosh. The only decent thing about it now is Robert Lindsay, and its only because I think its like citizen \’wolfy\’ smith has grown up and become cynical.
2 pints of lager and a packet of Crisps is incredibly funny; such as when Gaz was overweight and wanked himself thin, perhaps its only funny to us northerners who like our comedy filthy sometimes. Also the live episode was f*ckin\’ genius.
Lee Evans show was the 1st time I saw him. I\’m not a big fan of his standup, but this was tops. It was basically a rip off of Mr Bean and The Baldy Man and some mothers do ave em, but it worked well for him…. and me. I was very young at the time though so that may have something to do with it.
What I dont understand is how the following British comedies were not in your list; and I have seen all of these, at least 4 or 5 episodes of each before making my list if you would like to read.
As Time Goes By – Just not funny, typical grumpy old man who like nothing *Yawn*
are you being served – mrs slocombs pussy wasnt funny, i heard funnier jokes when i was in primary school
Birds of a Feather – Geniunely just didnt have any comedy in it.
Bob and Margeret – tripe
Bread – Where was this?
Lab Rats – I work in a laboratory actually, this is utter sh*te. Chris Addison is top in the thick of it though.
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie – Just in your face stereotypical crap. Also worst theme song ever.
The Inbetweeners – People under the age of 20 are not funny; no life experience; no sense of humour
It Aint Half hot mum – was this a comedy?
Keeping Up Appearences – How did this run so long? seriously? who thought this was good? Please tell me, and tell me why because I think this may be the worst sitcom ever.
The good life – this went out with white dog sh*t; thankfully.
Love thy Neighbour – Racist drivel. Rising Damp and Alf Garnett were clever. Love thy neighbour is just offensive.
May To December – poor, very poor, very very poor
On the Buses – Sorry everyone but it was NOT funny. NOT even Blakey.
The Office – Now i saw this 1st time round on BBC2, and was a massive Gervais fan before and after it. But it was cringeworthy comedy focusing on making you wince. The 1st time through was like watching Fawlty Towers for the 5th time. Everything in it was to be expected. I was really suprised how much the nation loved it, but then again like on the buses it requires no thought.
Pulling – to be fair smack the pony wasn\’t funny so how these kept getting shows on TV I\’ll never know.
Robins Nest – C\’mon this should have been on your list.
Waiting for God – One word…. toss.
So if you disagree let me know. And to give you an insight into my fave British comedies, some of them are: 15 Storeys High, Yes Minister, The Young Ones, Whatever happened to the likely lads, The thick of it, Time Gentlemen Please, Saxondale, The Smoking Room, stella street, steptoe and son, still game, Rab C Nesbitt, Red Dwarf, Rich Hall\’s cattle drive, peep show, people like us, perfect world, believe nothing, Phoenix Nights, Porridge, Orrible, Top Buzzer, Open all hours, operation good guys, Nathan Barley, The New Statesmen, Sunnyside Farm, Not Going out, Max and Paddy, Men Behaving Badly, THE MIGHTY BOOSH, last of the summer wine, the league of gentlemen, the likely lads, ideal, I\’m Alan Partridge, hancocks half hour, Happiness, Hardware, Game On, Garth Marenghi\’s Darkplace, Grass, The Grimleys, Father Ted, Early Doors, Dads Army, Desmonds, The Detectives, Drop the dead donkey, Catterick, Chambers, Citizrn Smith, Chef!, Coupling, Beast, Blackadder, Black Books, Bottom, Allo Allo.
Thanks
Oliver Watton
Hello Oliver, thanks for taking the time to give me feedback and, in addition, your own views. Very interesting reading. In my defence, my feature on \’Worst Sitcoms Ever\’ is an opinion piece. But I welcomed suggestions by inviting users to list their own examples of terrible comedies. Secondly, list-based content is always subjective. One man\’s meat is another (wo)man\’s poison etc. Therefore, no list can possibly ever be definitive. However, I took into account factors such as air-dates, running times, longevity etc. The likes of My Family are acknowledged as ratings winners, but that doesn\’t make them of the calibre of the likes of Fawlty Towers or Porridge etc in my opinion. In this instance, nobody is right and nobody is wrong – but it\’s fun to debate.
Your right Coops, its lots of fun to debate. TV is top banana. Thanks for acknowledging my comment.
Oliver
I liked OTB, as I liked most of the 70\’s comedy shows, a little bit of sauce, clever wit and comedy for comedy\’s sake and not at the expense of stereotypes that modern rubbish seems to move towards in British TV today.
I am a great fan of the BBC cult\’s and classics, wasn\’t overly fond of much of Monty Python as it was trying too hard and immensely unfunny in some parts, others like Fawlty Towers, OFaH, Open all hours, Blackadder to name a few were a class of their own and unlikely to be ever matched for the future.
A mention also for the alternative scene, Kevin Turvey, Young Ones, Filthy, Rich & Catflap, the Ben Elton era should we say helped bring some immensely funny comedy our way, inspiring others such as Red Dwarf which without the doors being opened by Messr\’s Elton, Sayle, Edmonson and Mayall, would not have made it past the planning stage…
I must admit I didn\’t like Alf Garnett but I thought the madness of Spike Milligans Q8 immensely funny but now its viewed as racism so can\’t get a damned DVD of it 😦
And a mention please for the film of the era… Whoops Apocalypse, an hour and a half distillation of British comedy at its best lol
There are far too many 60\’s,70\’s and early 80\’s comdey skits to list, but for people that prefer to watch vintage things On the Buses is a fair start. Oliver I must say yur comments are irrelevant, like Coops says no two people will ever agree and he was just offering an editorial piece. However you seriously need to go back to school and learn to spell, society isn\’t exactly a difficult word to spell yet you manage to spell it so badly even a 2 year old could get it right.
I also object to your comment on as you put it "us northerners" I hate being grouped into a steryotypical viewpoint of someone who is from the north thinks that anyone from the Derby boundary upwards is a northerner, we are not all northerners, my City has been moved many times backwards and forwards yet we are continually grouped in with the Manchester cr*p and we are not. Anyway I digress, but I do not share your viewpoint and many people from my City fail to see your view at all, some people just don\’t have filth on their minds at every moment of the day, or even when they are watching television, whether it be modern comedies or vintage.
This vintage comedy is innocent, and because of it\’s innocense it makes it watchable by any age group, why is it necessary to have F words or stronger or sexual innuendo\’s or full blown sex in a comedy? to make it watchable, only gutter minded individuals or poorly educated individuals prefer this type of comedy or television because it needs no explanation or thinking required to understand the story or what is going on.
I am not a prude and what people do behind their closed doors is their business, but todays programmes contain way too much offensive language and sex, that the older programmes are preferred by many because they don\’t ram these too offenses down your throat. I also abhore the fact that very few people today are able to correctly use the english language, now it\’s either a weird form of American/Jamaican/Alien language and this is disgusting as we should be proud to have a language so easily understandable in any country and so widely used. The same can be said for spelling, this text typing talk just has to stop!
The lady of the lake, thanks for your comment. Just one small thing – I\’m female. 🙂
On the buses, what a laugh that was in the early seventies still even no as dated as it is, it may try to raise a laugh from chasing mini skirt conductresses, Well at least it not rely on the f word to get a laugh, the other favorit of mine that i can watch again and againis rising damp, with old rigby trying to bed miss jones on every occasion, the one program i supposed would never get a airing for not being political correct would be love thy nieghbour, what a laugh….
What\’s all this about Ar\’fur being Olive\’s "layout sponging husband"? As far as I remember, the series revolves round Stan\’s job and we don\’t hear much about what anyone else may or may not do. Anyway, the period that On The Buses was first shown was a time of "full employment". I don\’t expect to read government propaganda about how people who aren\’t working are lazy in MSN articles about sitcoms of all places!
(no name), I think you\’re reading waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much into what I\’ve said. Government propaganda? Puhleeeeez.
Heres my top ten of great all time comedys
no. 10 love thy neighbour.
no.9 bless this house.
no.8 till death us do part.
no.7 keeping up apperances.
no.6 the good life.
no.5 birds of a feather.
no.4 fawty towers.
no.3 some mothers do ave em.
no.2 open all hours
no.1 steptoe and son.
my worst all time sit com is black adder sorry peeps it was just not funny it was toilet humor.
Full of s***e.
I have to agree with the like of Love thy neighbour and fawlty towers, but who remembers classics like Get some in – with Corporal Marsh ( that was spelt B A S ****D Marsh ) – that was a fantastic comedy.Then we had The Brittas Empire with Gordon Brittas as the owner of an ever ill fated leisure centre We dont seem to have such classics today, only repeats of only fools – as good as they are, once you have watched them for the tenth time, they do tend to bore you just a little.So listen up you bosses in TV land – we the viewing public demand some more comedy – and decent clean comedy if you please
I agree with previous writers that the old sitcoms were the best, particularly The Brittas Empire and Some Mothers Do Have \’Em. It\’s a joy watching repeats of On The Buses, but why keep bringing up the business of political correctness. This started as a joke in America, now we have everybody hanging on every word and scene looking for something that they can complain about and that they think they should be annoyed about. Also, how can anybody include My Family in the list of funny sitcoms. In my office of 125 people, not one person watches it. The couple of times I\’ve watched it (purely because my daughter had it on), I found nothing remotely funny in it and the canned laughter is way, way overdone. How it supposedly ever gets in the ratings charts, I\’ve no idea. Bring back Alf Garnett!!!!!
"On The Buses will never make a list of the best sitcoms we\’ve ever made …………it\’s far from being the most minging". These comments are just rubbish as the series was very popular in the 1970s because it was topical as people travelled on the buses more and characters like this worked on them. The three films made from the series were box office successes too. And as for the word minging being used in respect of this great sitcom, I doubt you "coops" could write anything as brilliant.
John Healy
My exact words were: "On The Buses will never make a list of the best sitcoms we\’ve ever made. However, thanks to its timeless comedy creations, it\’s far from being the most minging." I think that\’s a pretty balanced summation. If you\’re going to quote someone Mr Healy, do yourself, and them, a favour and quote in full.
Someone listed their top ten of great all time comedys but astonishingly, in my opinion, failed to include "Dad\’s Army". So it really does go show that this topic is a highly subjective one. For me OTB was probably not the cleverest comedy around but it does seem to have an endearing quality that\’s hard to define. Maybe it\’s "the sum of the parts being greater than the whole" principle applying here. Perhaps it evokes memories of time when life seem more fun and less tedious than it s now?
Well Coops I think you obviously cannot see that I did quote you in full because employing my knowledge of correct grammar as a scholar, I used the start of your quote and dots to show continuation and the end so what you are saying is wrong just like what you say in your article about "On The Buses". Let us go further and take your quote in small doses shall we. "On the Buses will never make a list of the best sitcoms". This is utter nonsense as it was extremely popular of its day and still is. Secondly if you check your facts you will find that the film On The Buses of 1971 actually outdid the box office sales for the James Bond film of that year. And as for saying it was "far from the most minging" well that appalling slang word does not belong in any sentence when refering to "On The Buses". Finally just what qualifications do you have for being an entertainment critic on MSN and what sitcoms have you written may I ask?
John Healy (B.A.Hons, FRSA, FinstSMM)
Mr Healy, I really don\’t know what your problem is here. I gave what I consider to be a balanced summation of On The Buses and I stand by it: use of the word "minging" (listed in the OED, by the way), an\’ all. By the way, you\’ll be pleased to hear that I am well aware of how one uses ellipses. As I stated above, I like watching On The Buses but even I\’m first to admit that it is not the greatest sitcom we\’ve ever produced. It\’s not even in the top 20, in my opinion. Yes, out-performing Connery\’s Diamonds Are Forever back in \’71 was a fantastic cinematic feat – but that is a testatment to its popularity, not its quality. A couple of years ago Channel 4 polled a selection of writers and performers on both sides of the Atlantic to find the ultimate sitcom. The resulting top 20 comprised numerous British shows but there was no room at the inn for On The Buses. Here\’s the link. As for my qualifications, I studied history at UNL before working in radio at Kiss 100 and the BBC\’s GLR (as it was called back then) and my Emmy award-winning sitcom is in development as we speak…
What am I missing here? I don\’t get it. The editor coops said that On The Buses is good but not great and the no name person who is Mr Healy is carrying on like she\’s dissed it. Mr Healy, if she wasn\’t qualified, she wouldn\’t be a TV editor. Are you qualified to say who is suitable for her job?
Well Buxxy you are absolutely right about my feeling that the comedy "On The Buses" has been dissed by coops. Sadly she has done this as even though it was not the greatest sitcom on earth, she fails to give it proper recognition for its achievements and greatness but instead offers it faint praise. As for you calling me a no name, well not only have I written and had fourteen books published which have sold in many large chain stores but also I have a fairly illustrious family. As to whether I am qualified to say who is suitable for her job, well I would say yes as it is not difficult to see that we need to have an editor here that researches their material better and has a much wider experience of the field they are writing about.
As for you coops, I do not have a problem. Your summation is not as balanced at it seems as you do not give On The Buses the credit that it really deserves. Then, I should point out that blatently indulging your personal opinion and using the word "minging" which although in the OED is dialectical and coarse slang are things that a professional writer should not be doing. I am glad that you recognised the cinematic feat of On The Buses but to say something that is very popular is not quality is ridiculous. Large numbers of people would not have paid good money to watch rubbish. In terms of the Channel 4 poll I thank you for the link but although interesting it is only the opinion of a select few in the TV industry and does not include the views of a wide audience. Hopefully, a wide audience is what you will get when you complete your sitcom and I look forward to that.
John Healy
Mr Healy, there is a disclaimer on this blog which points out that opinion expressed here is mine and mine alone. In other words, "blatently [sic] indulging [my] personal opinion" is part of my remit. It\’s what I\’m paid to do. As for the use of slang, let\’s get this in context and perspective. I am not reporting on financial issues or heavyweight political discourse. I am talking about the world of TV as *I* see it. As such, I prefer to adopt a conversational tone and, on occasion, employ the use of slang and colloquialisms. That\’s par for the course with numerous blogs.You contend: "to say something that is very popular is not quality is ridiculous" – oh yeah? I can list numerous examples to support my view that popularity doesn\’t always equal quality: the success of Westlife (let\’s see them make a Rolling Stone list of \’Best Ever\’ with all those cover versions comprising their career); the box office failure of the excellent The Shawshank Redemption on its 1994 release (recognised by the Academy at the time, it took years for the movie to become the phenomenon it is today); the cancellation of critically-acclaimed TV shows such as My So-Called Life, Arrested Development, Jericho et al; the likes of Pat Boone having bigger hits with covers of rock \’n\’ roll classics than the original artists….I could go on but you get my drift. Finally, I thank you for your contribution and for casting aspersion on my professional abilities. We will have to agree to disagree on this subject. In the words of a famous Prime Minister: "the lady\’s not for turning".
On The Buses isn\’t as good as Blackadder. That\’s one of the best comedies ever. I think this Healy bloke has been very rude. At the end of the day, it\’s only an opinion that\’s been expressed by the editor. It\’s OK to disagree with her opinion without rubbishing her employer\’s for hiring her and making out that she\’s not fit to do the job.
Fleur please do not refer to me as a "bloke" or call me "rude" as I certainly am not either. I am a gentleman and often told so and being a Yorkshireman to boot, if I think that someone has overstepped the mark, I am not afraid to say so. In this case the editor "Coops" did just that in using a coarse word which is unprofessional and suggesting that she is perhaps not fit for the job and thus it may suggest her bosses do not mind who they let loose on these columns. Once again is it really fitting to use foul language when children could be reading these reviews. For these reasons it is right for me and others to speak out strongly. Standards are very important you know otherwise if we did not have standards where would we be!
As for you "Coops", we do not want to hear a biased opinion which is yours and yours alone. We want a fair and unbiased piece untainted by personal feelings which is what good reporters or column writers should be able to give. Nobody is asking you to treat your work as if it is financial or political issues that you are writing about or to give it a sombre tone just to avoid using foul language. Then there is your remark about popularity not going hand in hand with quality. Well they are actually synonomous with one another as in the case of the "On The Buses" feature films the latter had a certain special quality to be able to draw the large audiences into the cinema. I thank you for all the examples you have quoted but I think they only go to prove my point that unless quality and popularity are together, then a film etc may not work. I am glad you are thanking me for my contribution and I hope you understand why I am casting aspersions on your professional ability here. I never believed for one minute that you would alter your view as "Leopards Never Change Their Spots". Emulating that remark made by that great former Prime Minister, who I have a strange link with, is only something that should be done by people of equal standing – so hurry up and write that Emmy award winning comedy and then you can say it.
If you don\’t want to hear her opinion (no name), why are you reading her blog? I don\’t always agree with Coops but I like the fact that she speaks her mind. She can be a right opinionated cow at times (I mean that in the nicest way Coops) but you\’re out of order for implying that she\’s not fit to do her job simply because you don\’t agree with her opinion about On The Buses. You got shares in On The Buses or something? In any case, I do agree wiht Coops on this one. It\’s not a bad show, but it\’s not Blackadder. Now that\’s a comedy great.
Yes I will refer to you as a \’bloke\’ and yes I will call you \’rude\’ because that\’s what you are. The editor has expressed an opinion and you don\’t like it so you\’ve rubbished her abilities. I went too far calling you a bloke, I should\’ve called you a baby. I\’ve never seen anything so childish in my life!!! And I\’ve got a 3 year old. "we do not want to hear a biased opinion which is yours and yours alone. We want a fair and unbiased piece untainted by personal feelings which is what good reporters or column writers should be able to give." Errrrr..ummm…who\’s this \’we\’? You\’re not speaking for me, that\’s for damn sure. Please don\’t presume to include me.
Fleur, just because I stood up and defended something I did not agree with and made some comments on the language and the professionalism used by "Coops" based on solid evidence, you seem to think you can make a personal attack on me. That is just resorting to unacceptable tactics to force your views on someone which is something I, as an author of fourteen books, would never do. Finally as one of the main stars Reg Varney has died recently we should be grateful for all the happiness he brought us and the contribution he made to the entertainment world.John Healy
Ah Mr Healy, lovely to see you here again. A sad day indeed when we lost Reg Varney – but he\’ll live on thanks to Stan Butler.
Coops, I agree with you, OTB was good, but it was by no means the best. I think Mr Healy is being terribly rude to you, I think you are perfectly fit to do your job, and you do it so well, I wish I could do the same job as you! Mr Healy, yes we DO want to hear Coops\’ opinion, we do NOT want an unbiased one, this is why we are reading Coops\’ posts which contain her personal opinions, and doing so being fully aware of the disclaimer attached fully stating her opinions are those of her alone. Please do not assume that you can speak for me either. I, like many others, am here because I want to hear what Coops\’ has to say. I think she\’s a superb writer, she does her job very well, and clearly MSN think the same to keep paying her! I think, with no disrespect meant, that you really do need to let your hair down. You sound way too strict abou tthings. Life is for living. We do not want seriousness all the time, as you seem to think we do. I study some pretty heavy subjects and work in a physically and mentally demanding job, it\’s very refreshing for me to kick back when I get a free moment or two to read Coops\’ very light hearted and often oh so funny comments. Stress is not good for the body as everyone knows, reading the way Coops writes helps me to relax, and that is what I like about it.You\’ve got your right to your opinion on OTB, but just remember, so does she, and everyone else. And not all of us are going to love it. At least Coops is saying she DOES like it. She could have completely trashed it for no good reason! I think that\’s pretty fair, what she\’s said about it, don\’t you?