A Particularly Luminous GIP Sort of Post.

OK. I've been threatening to do this for awhile... since, in fact, a conversation about War of the Worlds between logansrogue and I that revolved almost entirely around the beautiful way in which Richard Burton says 'luminous' and the number of syllables he manages to wrangle out of it. And so, we have this GIP.

I couldn't have managed it without logansrogue's help, for she is the Icon Diva and also, incidentally, Queen of the Funk.

And while I'm here, so it's not totally gratuitous adoration of a dead Welsh bloke, I typed up twenty or so pages of screenplay today and now my hands are rather claw-like. Bleh.

And also while I'm here, hugs to calliope14 for her help earlier. You rock matey!

A Particularly Luminous GIP Sort of Post.

OK. I've been threatening to do this for awhile... since, in fact, a conversation about War of the Worlds between logansrogue and I that revolved almost entirely around the beautiful way in which Richard Burton says 'luminous' and the number of syllables he manages to wrangle out of it. And so, we have this GIP.

I couldn't have managed it without logansrogue's help, for she is the Icon Diva and also, incidentally, Queen of the Funk.

And while I'm here, so it's not totally gratuitous adoration of a dead Welsh bloke, I typed up twenty or so pages of screenplay today and now my hands are rather claw-like. Bleh.

And also while I'm here, hugs to calliope14 for her help earlier. You rock matey!

A love of Porridge. And also a writing site at the BBC.

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time now. It really all started sometime in Lancaster when I bought Porridge DVDs at HMV. But really it started a long time before that (1974 if you want to be really specific). Basically, Porridge is one of the greatest comedies ever and transcends mere comedy. Who thought putting a comedy in a prison could actually work?

I'm aware that most of you on this list either haven't ever seen Porridge or don't care, which is why I've never made this post before. But after seeing the hour-long program for Britain's Best Sitcom which was this week about said program, I can't stay quiet anymore.

I love it. I love everything about it. I love the fact that Norman Stanley Fletcher should be a really odious, horrible sort of bloke, but that he's really endearing and at heart, I think, a good man. I love that Ronnie Barker (AKA The Funniest Man In the World... Ever!) plays him so that we love Fletch far more than he has a right. I love the fact that the show invented a whole slew of new swearing, a lot of which has made its way irretrievably into my own vocabulary (see: Naff Off and nurk). I love that somehow it's a sitcom that can make you want to cry as well. I love that it's the only sitcom I've ever loved more than Only Fools And Horses, the only sitcom that can possibly top that particular comedic achievement. I love that Ronnie Barker is the kind of comedian and character actor that it's hard to believe Fletch and Open All Hours' Wainwright are acted by the same man.

I love that in the middle of the 1970s the show managed to get homosexuality, drugs and race onto television without being derogatory or making them issues. I love that Fletch, for all his faults, at least takes everyone as they come- he doesn't care that McLaren is black and Glaswegian or that Lukewarm is as gay as the day is long. I love that Mr McKay should be one of the nastiest characters on telly, but even he can't be hated, even I think by Fletch himself.

I love that there was enough of a spinoff (Going Straight) so that we know that Godber and Ingrid got married and lived happily ever after. I hate that Richard Beckinsale died so very young and so very suddenly, not only for the sake of his very young children (Samantha and Kate. Yes, that Kate.) but for ours. Like The Great Ronnie Barker himself said earlier: he would've become a huge star, even across the water. A marvellous straight man and comedian, he was also the most handsome, most charming man in sitcoms ever. And I'm not even the one who said that- Ronnie did.

To sum up: when they showed a new-ish thing about it at Christmas, I did cry (me crying, I know) when they told us that 'afterwards' Fletch did go straight, did find happiness, did keep singing his old songs and that Ingrid and Godber stayed together. :D And if you happen upon Porridge on BBCAmerica or whatever channel you might find British sitcoms on, give it a shot: you might love it as much as I do.

OH! AND! I was tooling around on BBCi after voting (again) for Porridge and found Get Writing! which might be of interest to a lot of you, being that it's a writing advice/interaction sort of thing. You can find it here: Get Writing

A love of Porridge. And also a writing site at the BBC.

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time now. It really all started sometime in Lancaster when I bought Porridge DVDs at HMV. But really it started a long time before that (1974 if you want to be really specific). Basically, Porridge is one of the greatest comedies ever and transcends mere comedy. Who thought putting a comedy in a prison could actually work?

I'm aware that most of you on this list either haven't ever seen Porridge or don't care, which is why I've never made this post before. But after seeing the hour-long program for Britain's Best Sitcom which was this week about said program, I can't stay quiet anymore.

I love it. I love everything about it. I love the fact that Norman Stanley Fletcher should be a really odious, horrible sort of bloke, but that he's really endearing and at heart, I think, a good man. I love that Ronnie Barker (AKA The Funniest Man In the World... Ever!) plays him so that we love Fletch far more than he has a right. I love the fact that the show invented a whole slew of new swearing, a lot of which has made its way irretrievably into my own vocabulary (see: Naff Off and nurk). I love that somehow it's a sitcom that can make you want to cry as well. I love that it's the only sitcom I've ever loved more than Only Fools And Horses, the only sitcom that can possibly top that particular comedic achievement. I love that Ronnie Barker is the kind of comedian and character actor that it's hard to believe Fletch and Open All Hours' Wainwright are acted by the same man.

I love that in the middle of the 1970s the show managed to get homosexuality, drugs and race onto television without being derogatory or making them issues. I love that Fletch, for all his faults, at least takes everyone as they come- he doesn't care that McLaren is black and Glaswegian or that Lukewarm is as gay as the day is long. I love that Mr McKay should be one of the nastiest characters on telly, but even he can't be hated, even I think by Fletch himself.

I love that there was enough of a spinoff (Going Straight) so that we know that Godber and Ingrid got married and lived happily ever after. I hate that Richard Beckinsale died so very young and so very suddenly, not only for the sake of his very young children (Samantha and Kate. Yes, that Kate.) but for ours. Like The Great Ronnie Barker himself said earlier: he would've become a huge star, even across the water. A marvellous straight man and comedian, he was also the most handsome, most charming man in sitcoms ever. And I'm not even the one who said that- Ronnie did.

To sum up: when they showed a new-ish thing about it at Christmas, I did cry (me crying, I know) when they told us that 'afterwards' Fletch did go straight, did find happiness, did keep singing his old songs and that Ingrid and Godber stayed together. :D And if you happen upon Porridge on BBCAmerica or whatever channel you might find British sitcoms on, give it a shot: you might love it as much as I do.

OH! AND! I was tooling around on BBCi after voting (again) for Porridge and found Get Writing! which might be of interest to a lot of you, being that it's a writing advice/interaction sort of thing. You can find it here: Get Writing