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Couple of lost 'classics' were mentioned this lunchtime, TV shows that were banned after multiple complaints.

A Small Problem is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC2 in 1987. Intended as a satire on prejudice, the show was set in a Britain with a form of apartheid based on people's height. Anyone below 5ft tall was forced to live in tower-block ghettos south of the River Thames. However, many viewers appeared not to understand the satirical aspect of the show, and the BBC was flooded with complaints.

Hardwicke House was a 1987 seven-episode sitcom produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network. It was so negatively received that only the first two episodes were transmitted. The series was set in the large comprehensive school of the title, the staff of which were as dysfunctional as the pupils. One teacher was a multiple murderer, while the deputy headmaster lusted after male pupils. One teacher, Moose Magnusson, was on an extended exchange placement, as his own school in Iceland refused to have him back.

I remember seeing A Small Problem at the time. It was awful, starred Cool Guy Mike from the Young Ones, and made no sense at all.

The second starred Roy Kinnear and can be seen on Youtube and is clearly even worse.

Looking back 1987 was obviously a crazy year for comedy.

Any more banned TV shows?

In Harry Fowler's obituary last week, I noticed that he'd co-starred in a Spike Milligan sitcom the Melting Pot in 1975 as "a Chinese Cockney spiv" (he wasn't Chinese). The BBC cancelled the show after broadcasting one episode after the complaints flooded in.

This also reminds me of Spike Milligan's Curry and Chips (1969) in which he blacks up as an Asian immigrant called Kevin O'Grady (it was dropped by ITV after 6 episodes) - but this one came out on DVD eventually.

Never seen either but you can see his infamous "Pakistani Daleks" on YouTube...

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I thought you were actually joking until I googled the names. Anyway i'm 5ft 7 inches and I had to live in a ghetto tower block south of the Thames for nine years and there was nothing funny about it I can tell you.

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Cavey Cocker, Cup Cake Queen, Saint Thomas.

Yeah it all sounds like something Charlier Brooker would make up.

Hadn't heard of the two Spike Milligan sitcoms. Classic stuff. I'm amazed Milligan had any work post-the Goons (other than book writing). His Q sketch shows were abysmal.

I find it interesting that of 2 very similar shows from a similar era - with similar levels of popularity at the time - we get constant repeats of Dad's Army but I don't think I've seen an episode of It Ain't Half Hot Mum since I was a small child. I'd guess that show is the equivalent of banned now.

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It was certainly the equivalent of shite.

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I loved Q growing up - it has dated very badly, but the same is goes (I think) for Monty Python, most of which is pretty unwatchable now. Just wait: people will be saying exactly the same thing about The Mighty Boosh in 30 years' time.

And it's hard now to recall what a joy it was to have ANY sort of anarchic or alternative comedy on TV during that period. Spike's sketches were certainly hit and miss (more miss than hit, probably) but there was a genuine weirdness and "I-don't-give-a-fuck-ness" about them that was very appealing to me as a 13 year-old.

Also, it had one of the all-time great theme tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWureyryhQ

What are we going to do now?
What are we going to do now?
What are we going to do now?

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Nah I disagree there.

A lot of Monty Python is very, very dated, but the quality of the comedy is still apparent! A lot of Python sketches are still unbelievably funny. However, I will concede they do look dated. I wouldn't be surprised if a modern younger audience would find them poor...

How do, Mrs Ray, long time no hear. Enjoyed the clip of the Milligan theme tune - forgotten that one. Sounds great. I think a lot of traditional comedy quickly looks dated - watch Fawlty Towers now and you can almost smell the Findus crispy pancakes, but quality still wins through.

And anyone who watched the new Noel Fielding show on Thursday night will wonder whether he has any future beyond being the cheeky chappy on panel shows.

I think they'd certainly find them a bit creaky. Python blazed a trail, but we've had forty years of "alternative" comedy since then and it's all got a lot slicker. Of course that's by no means always a good thing; it flows, it entertains, it amuses, it makes all the right noises, but it's a bit mechanical and insubstantial. Rather like indie music, wouldn't you say?

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To tell you the truth, I never really bought into the Boosh. The Franz Ferdinand of alternative comedy...

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Outside. Now.



Why aren't you a TV critic?

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Cavey Cocker, Cup Cake Queen, Saint Thomas.

Agree!

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I was neither here nor there with it really. Quite nice to watch but I didn't make a point of tuning in to it.

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