There Was A Discussion On Local Radio This Morning About The Proposed Remake Of Dad's Army.

[sandyRoe]

Some of the callers said they'd found the original show hilarious and were sometimes in tears of laughter watching it.
I thought it was amusing but not the funniest thing I'd ever seen. Just a sense of humour failure on my part, or was it not as funny as some seem to remember?

[ludwig]

// Is it just the wilful desire for money, however badly misplaced? I suspect it is. //

I doubt it andy. They're not that stupid. They'd know there was no money in a film like this. I suspect it's a bunch of people, actors included, who are fans of the old series and want to try and replicate it.

[Svejk]

I preferred the Shawshank Redemption to Porridge.

[ludwig]

I don't think this is an attempt at a big budget hollywood blockbuster. I bet all those big names are doing it for virtually nothing because they're fans of the old programs.

[Zeuhl]

it's like a party game with a bunch of film industry people ...

---

if you were to cast DA now who would you have?

Wilson? Bill Nighy: brilliant
Godfrey? Gambon: inspired

what about the younger ones; Pike? what about that fellah from the Inbetweeners? Blake Harrison? Fantastic

-----

Yes; very good

But stop there!

Please

[andy-hughes]

ludwig - "// Is it just the wilful desire for money, however badly misplaced? I suspect it is. //

I doubt it andy. They're not that stupid. They'd know there was no money in a film like this. I suspect it's a bunch of people, actors included, who are fans of the old series and want to try and replicate it."]

Actually, i think they are that stupid.

A combination of too much money, and too many egos is blinding people to the fact that - as ludwig has pointed out, there are a vey few examples of successful film re-boots, the turkeys outweigh the golden geese by miles.

I honestly feel that you can see 'flop' written all over a Dad's Army remake, because some things cannot be replicated, and will not survive a gnerational shift forward.

[andy-hughes]

Zeuhl - "it's like a party game with a bunch of film industry people ...

---

if you were to cast DA now who would you have?

Wilson? Bill Nighy: brilliant
Godfrey? Gambon: inspired

what about the younger ones; Pike? what about that fellah from the Inbetweeners? Blake Harrison? Fantastic

-----

Yes; very good

But stop there!

Please"

Superb! i wish I'd written that!

[Wharton]

Rrrubbish, pure rrrubbish :-)

[ludwig]

^ we're all dooomed!

[Zeuhl]

/They'd know there was no money in a film like this./

ludwig

if that were true it wouldn't get made

even at equity basic rates nothing gets made unless someone is prepared to invest millions

the budget may be under the £10 million band so someone may have calculated dvd and tv rights plus limited cinema release as a reasonable financial return

[Svejk]

^lol wharty. I bet you are him, aint you?

[Zeuhl]

The team's last main outing Mr Bean's Holiday had an estimated budget of $25 million and grossed $32 million

so even with ongoing TV sales, a rather modest yield

[ludwig]

/They'd know there was no money in a film like this./

ludwig

if that were true it wouldn't get made

even at equity basic rates nothing gets made unless someone is prepared to invest millions

the budget may be under the £10 million band so someone may have calculated dvd and tv rights plus limited cinema release as a reasonable financial return //

Totally agree Zeuhl - When I said there was no money I meant there was no BIG MONEY. It'll definitely be a low budget, reasonable return thing. People were talking about it as if it was intended to be a huge blockbuster, which it clearly isn't.

[Wharton]

Svejk - I take that as a compliment. John Laurie was one of the immortals, he's deid noo, mind ye :-)

[Zeuhl]

agreed ludwig

i think the media are getting over-excited by the casting

I can see it now:

(2015) 'Perfect christmas present for granny - Dads Army DVD, only £9.99 at Tesco
(2016) 'Tune in on Christmas Day for the Network Premiere of Dad's Army ...

[Old_Geezer]

I'm unsure why so many are down on this. For sure it is difficult to recreate ir excel on an old favourite, but that doesn't mean it is bound to flop. And I can say I thought the original programmes gave us decent comedy. Mild humour, can not recall a side splitting moment, but plenty of smiles. I hope they make a decent job of it, I look forward to seeing it on Freeview in a couple of decades, if I'm still here.

[ToraToraTora]

funnyness is subjective. There will always be different opinions of what is funny and to what extent. DA was funny enough to enough people to be a very successful show. For example I love the cringe humour of Ricky Gervais but err indoors just does not get it at all.

[Elina]

I agree with janbee & andy!

[Bazile]

It's not bound to fail , however ( and it's a big however ) remakes of popular programmes - comedy or otherwise - are not sucessful ; mainly because the sucess of the original is so inextricably linked to the main original stars .

Can you imagine the following without the original stars - would they still be funny to you , with other actors playing the lead roles ?

Blackadder
Porridge
Only Fools & Horses
Minder
Fawlty Towers

[Elina]

I agree Bazile.

[andy-hughes]

"Bazile - "It's not bound to fail , however ( and it's a big however ) remakes of popular programmes - comedy or otherwise - are not sucessful ; mainly because the sucess of the original is so inextricably linked to the main original stars .

Can you imagine the following without the original stars - would they still be funny to you , with other actors playing the lead roles ?

Blackadder
Porridge
Only Fools & Horses
Minder
Fawlty Towers"

You raise a valid point.

Remember how they tried to carry on with Minder with Gary Webster taking over as Arfur's minder - it was never as successful, the chemistry was simply not there.

As for Fawlty Towers - John Cleese recalls how an American company invited him for talks about a US version of Fawlty Towers.

He was Ok with Manuel being swapped for a Pole to make the character understandable for US audiences, but when they talked about getting rid of Basil altogether, and simply having Sybil run the hotel, he knew it was time to call a halt!