On the buses
 

Just watching it. I just wondered....

Anybody like it?

Re: On the buses
 

I liked it first time round :sunglasses:

Re: On the buses
 

I sometimes watch it's a load of rubbish but it makes me laugh. :)

Re: On the buses
 

Some of it still makes me laugh but I found it funnier first time around. I enjoy watching re-runs of the old shows ... at least it was family viewing :)

Re: On the buses
 

Yes how true.

It taught that women are stupid & had to be talked down to at every oppertunity.
It taught that women were to be leered at by the stunningly macho drivers/conductor (who looked like Worzel Gummage)

Reminds me of the Classic Crap (opps I mean comedy) that was always seen in the Carry On twaddle.

Re: On the buses
 

These days I see it as very sexist, but it was acceptable at the time.

Re: On the buses
 

exactly, that & Love Thy Neighbour were acceptable & even funny at the time - and can still make me titter

certainly neither would be permitted now - but is that a good thing or a bad thing??

Re: On the buses
 

Well FWIW I think it's bad, very bad, That's why all we have on TV every bloody year is X factor, Britain's got talent, I'm a celeb get me outta here, (which at the moment I actually like) and bloody big brother which I watched once and I think is total crap. I think the first two have burnt themselves out now, they were good first time round.

Where are all the winners of these programs? most seem to come on, win then disappear, I never see new programs such as the Russ Abott show type thing anymore, perhaps with these new entertainers, so where do these winners go? I only ever see them on Cowels shows. It's all only to make that one man rich.

Bring back the likes of Alf Garnet my favourite, and Steptoe and son, Rising damp and that already mentioned above, and what about shows like Benny Hill and Russ Abott?, All harmless fun IMO.

They just don't make them like they used to, and why? because prats think we are racist if we do, funny though don't you think? If we were so bloody racist when we were making these programs why did we still welcome all these foreigners in, Again IMO Racism is just a card to be played when it suits a few.

No one really cares what colour we are, well I never met anyone who did anyway.

Re: On the buses
 

I agree with you about programmes like x-factor and their ilk, total rubbish and not even entertaining.

I'm afraid I can't agree with you about the likes of Benny Hill and Alf Garnet. I hated them the first time round! Lewd smuttiness on one hand and ignorant racism on the other (yes I did think this at the time :) ).

But some good comedy along the lines of Tim Vine or Bill Bailey certainly would not come amiss, and some of the excelelnt drama and documentaries that the BBC is famous for.

On the Buses? Slightly amusing at the time, totally unnacceptable now, imho.

Re: On the buses
 

On the Buses,

Absolute, total dross IMHO of course.

Regarding some of the more entertaining and cleverer sit-coms previously mentioned that some claim to be racist, I would not necessarily agree.

Most of the controversial comments in these progs were obviously very cleverly written so as to deliberately reflect badly only on those making them.

They emphasised and fully exposed the blatant stupidity and ignorance of such apparent racial behaviour, whilst generally not reflecting badly at all on those against whom the comments were directed, in fact in some cases quite the opposite.

Is it not better to fully expose such stupidity and ignorance for what it really is, in an entertaining light hearted manner, rather than try to sweep it all under the carpet often giving unecessary cause for resentment ?

Re: On the buses
 

Not always, they often got the upperhand No foul language and no pc ... just comedy and easy viewing.

Re: On the buses
 

My husband has a similar view to this. I understand what you are saying and you may even be right. :)

Doesn't make me like the programmes any better though!

Re: On the buses
 

A lot of the old programs make up a large percentage of what is now on satellite TV.

I cannot see that in the future they will be rerunning X Shite and Strictly come Prancing etc. over and over again

Re: On the buses
 

:rofl: :p

Re: On the buses
 

We have not seen English TV for more than 5 years recently we looked at the programme lists and were amazed at the old rubbish that is being put out. Made us so glad that we opted out of it, never been huge TV watchers anyway, hate soaps, do not like the celebrity stuff etc so our TV was hardly on in the UK. But we do enjoy good quality drama, good in depth series, films etc so buy DVD´s so that we can watch exactly what we want when we are the mood for it. Most nights we watch an hour or hour and half depending on what we have chosen, therefore every minute spent in front of the box is pure pleasure.

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

Lord forbid, it doesn't even bear even thinking about.
About the only half decent stuff now are endless repeats of some of the best of the old sit-coms.

......but the thought of endless repeats of Strictly Crap and X :eek:

My Skybox would definitely go in the bin before I turned suicidal.

I tend to watch mostly Spanish now. Their news programmes are far more interesting than ours and theres a few decent documentaries also.
Some of the other stuff is helpful to learn the lingo,..... until they start filling in with that mindless American crap.

I wonder what TV will be like when the Chinese take over the planet ?
Probably 50% political brainwashing, but maybe they'll have something more imaginative than our lot in between.

Re: On the buses
 

I hate all the so called "talent" shows and won't watch anything with Celebrity in the title, don't watch any soaps either. However there is still some good stuff on British TV, I loved Downton Abbey even if it was anything but accurate in the way it portrayed the relationships between the aristocracy and their servants - but Maggie Smith hamming it up as the Dowager Countess was priceless! BBC3 and 4 have some really good documentary series on too, I really enjoyed Indian Hill Railways (which was shown later on BBC2 I think) and they often have good music programmes on Friday nights.

As for On the Buses, I didn't like it first time round either, nor Love Thy Neighbour - not for any pc reasons, it was just c**p. I did like Alf Garnett, though, but I preferred Dandy Nicholls playing Else, what comic timing that woman had! I can still watch endless reruns of Fawlty Towers and find it funny although I've seen it so many times I can almost recite the script word for word. Same with The Good Life.

Re: On the buses
 

Love Maggie Smith so bought Downton Abbey but have not started to watch it yet, am looking forward to it even more now that you have said how good it is. Not heard of Indian Hill Railways, can you tell me a little more about it, please.

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

Yes I agree, even though not accurate it is good escapism:D We went around the place it was filmed and there were hundreds of people there due to it's popularity.

I don't understand the peoples love affair with all the talent shows, even some people I judge to be fairly normal are hooked on the dancing and ice shows etc....and why is there all this crying on TV now:confused: They even cry when they go to view a house...even though they don't buy it:blink: Never watch those old re-runs on Sky, except for the odd Black Adder. Spanish TV is even worse, those stupid quiz shows that go on all night and their versions of talent shows.

There was a really good docu-drama on channel 4 last week about the guy who broke the enigma code, more about his personal life and how badly he was treated by the security authorities.

Here is the link for those who can watch it

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/b...odebreaker/4od

Re: On the buses
 

We don't have much in the way of English TV either, and prefer to watch DVDs. Last winter we watched the entire six series of The Sopranos - kept us going all winter!:rofl::thumbup:

Re: On the buses
 

Anybody watching PanAm on Saturday nights BBC?

Re: On the buses
 

Long running series such as this are our mainstay. Any other recommendations from anyone?

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

We have recorded it on sky+ but not yet watched it...is it good? That channel Atlantic on Sky has some good stuff sometimes.

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Watched the first two episodes but found it slow going so didn't bother again .. has it got any better?

Re: On the buses
 

Can you get Frozen Planet, David Attenborough?

Re: On the buses
 

Well my Skybox and dish were exchanged for €210 this morning.

Without resurrecting an old thread my happiness factor is now 8 ish

Re: On the buses
 

Sky Atlantic has some good stuff on there, Boardwalk Empire is my favourite.

Pan Am is OK the characters are starting to develop so it's getting a bit more interesting. Easy viewing. It's not something I would normally watch but the writer came into my pub about a year ago and told us about it so that's the reason I started to watch it

Re: On the buses
 

Good enough reason :)

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No English TV, no Sky so only if we buy it. Is it good, is it worth buying?

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

Got it :)

Any Attenborough stuff is excellent. We also have all the complete Poirot set (11 series), Ruth Rendell Mysteries boxed set, and various other boxed sets such as Walking with Dinosaurs and the like.

To Rosemary: Yes, we bought them all. (Apart from the complete Inspector Morse set, which we borrowed).

Re: On the buses
 

I'd say NO. There's nothing new, same old penguins shivering, a polar bear starving to death then miraculously the ice breaks. The odd cub dies, survival of the fittest etc. A few whales hunt a seal.

Save your money

Re: On the buses
 

I suspect that you are like me and find that the boxed sets are excellent value for money, many hours involved so works out resonably priced viewing.

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

Think that this will be the next series for us to buy. Sounds very involved and very engrossing.

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

Indian Hill Railways was (as the name suggests, funnily enough!:)) a documentary series about some of the narrow gauge railway lines built during the days of the British Raj in India which run to places like Darjeeling and Shimla, and about the people who work and travel on them. It was really well done, and there were some memorable characters on it such as the widow who worked as a railway porter (carrying a stack of suitcases on her head) and succeeded in getting a place at a top private school for her son, and an old chap of over 90 who had been a porter and still working as a kind of domestic servant for a stationmaster. I found it fascinating and friends I recommended it to also enjoyed it.

There was also a v. good series a while back called Chinese School - when you watched it you could understand why they seem to be taking over the world now!

I like programmes like that about other countries and people's lives, they may only gloss over things but a lot more interesting than most of the dross that's on!

Re: On the buses
 

Did you see The West Wing when that was originally shown? If not I would recommend the boxed set, I think there were about 4 series. Martin Sheen played a US President and the programme revolved around his family and staff and the way they handled events during his time in the White House. I really liked it, but anyone who isn't interested in politics might not find it so enjoyable!

Re: On the buses
 

West Wing is one of our current favourites.

The reason that I asked you to give me some info on the Indian Hill Railways was to see whether there was "human interest" as well as other factors. i enjoy progs that emphasize the different charactaristics of people rather than just dry facts. Thanks for the info it sounds great, also the Chinese school sounds up my street too.

Thanks again

Rosemary

Re: On the buses
 

There's not much new on TV at all now.

I like all the news channels though, I can see the other side of the stories on channels like Aljazeera tv and Press tv, where George Gallaway has a phone in.

Anyone interested in watching good films or documentaries take a look here

http://fastpasstv.ms/tv/the-vampire-diaries/

Click on channels at the top.

Hope it's ok to post that?

Re: On the buses
 

There are no better wildlife documentary's than what the BBC produce (period)
Frozen Planet is a stunning production that has just the right background music when required, at just the right level so you can still easily hear the wildlife noises.
The camera work/photography is without doubt world class & in many shots a world first & of course the great commentary from David Attenbourgh just makes the whole thing a great pleasure to watch.
Last weeks episode had a remarkable piece about the struggle for survival between a huge Bison (?) and a female wolf & the story was told without the need to show the violent end that was inevitable.

You Tube will no doubt soon have this listed as it does for many past UK programs so that will cost you nothing, as will a dish & receiver to view freesat after the initial purchase.

Re: On the buses
 

Yes I often view these two to get a better view of things & I like watching Max Kieser (press TV) giving the wall street shysters a hard time. :rofl:

Re: On the buses
 

I quite like British comedies, but always placing them in their own time, just as anything. Society has changed enormously, so we cannot really criticize a show for something that was normal at its time. It's actually good to see the changes and differences.

Anyway I prefer comedies such as Black Adder, where the main topic is not the society but a histrionic character per se, in any time.

As per Spanish TV... I never really liked it in general. I get mad at all the stupid "marujeo" (marujas y marujos!) (=gossip) that almost monopolizes the main channels at certain times. I'm actually quite proud of not knowing most of the stupid "famosillos" (= celebrities). Can you really call somebody a celebrity simply because they f***ed somebody else?).

The "concursos" (= game shows) trend is quite normal specially in times of crisis, people try to get extra money. I don't like how little they pay here... "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" paid only €250K or so... "Deal or no Deal" pays something silly too. Game shows are very cheap to make even if the maximum price is won and get a lot of audience, so it's normal that they show everywhere. Have you seen "Ahora Caigo"? It lasts for maybe 2 hours and a half and the maximum price is €100K.