TV Episodes You Have Just Watched

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House Of Dragons.
Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman's Butler.
Rick & Morty.
A Crime To Remember.

A couple of episodes of On The Buses from 1969.

This was a British sitcom that ran from 1969 to 1973. It features Reg Varney as Stan, the bus driver, and Bob Grant as his conductor Jack (for whom the term 'Jack The Lad' could have been invented). In the 60s and 70s British buses had a 'conductor' on board, who collected the fares and supervised the passengers. These days the driver is responsible for everything.

The show also featured the miserable Inspector Blake, who is clearly meant to resemble a certain mid-20th Century German dictator, lol.






The episodes on my DVD are in black and white, but I'm fairly sure they were made in colour. Not sure why this is.

On The Buses

An episode from the first series in 1969. Stan brings a girl home late at night, she's a 'clippie' (a conductress from the bus depot), but his mother keeps finding excuses to come into the living room and sabotage any fun and games for the would-be lovebirds. Every bit as sophisticated as it sounds.

Olive Takes A Trip, a 1969 episode of 'On The Buses'

Stan's sister Olive gets a job a a 'clippie', and is assigned to Stan's bus. She turns out to be a complete disaster.

Olive was portrayed in the series as a rather frumpy, underirable woman, but the actress who played her, Anna Karen, was in real life pretty glamorous in the late 60s-early 70s. I find it interesting that Olive, even as she appeared in 'On The Buses', seems quite attractive compared with many 30-something women of the modern era.

Sadly, Anna Karen died in a fire at her house earlier this year, aged 85.

Andor.
Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman's Butler.
A Crime To Remember.

Little Britain, Series 1, Episodes 1 & 2 (2003)

Most of this is extremely good. Funniest stuff I've watched in years.

Real Time With Bill Maher.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
A Crime To Remember.

On The Buses, Series 1, Episodes 3 & 4 (1969)

Stan is worried about failing his medical examination and losing his driver's job, so he goes on a strict dietary regime. He scrapes through the exam, only to learn that the drivers who failed it have been promoted to the rank of inspector.

Stan applies for a job as inspector and is successful. However, he proves to be hopelessly naive and inept in the role, and finds himself dismissed by the end of the episode. There are some really revealing scenes here, and throughout the series, about industrial relations in the UK in the 1960s and 70s.

Little Britain, Series 1, Episodes 3 & 4 (2003).

House Of The Dragon.
Rick & Morty.
A Crime To Remember.
Housing Project C.

The Walking Dead.

Bingeing on Legion.

My attention is held for shallow reasons.

Andor.
Interview With The Vampire.
Archer.

Minder, Series 4, Episode 1

This series ran from 1979 to 1994 in the UK, and starred Arthur Cole as dodgy businessman Arthur Daley and Dennis Waterman as his 'minder', Terry McCann, a former amateur boxer and ex-convict. It's essentially meant to be funny, and it generally is, but it's not a sitcom.

In this episode, Arthur fixes Terry up with an unofficial boxing match against a fighter he lost to seven years earlier: as usual, Arthur seeks to make a profit from the arrangement. It's quite a complex plot, which I won't even attempt to describe here, but suffice it to say that both Arthur and Terry come unstuck in the end, a not uncommon theme in 'Minder'.

I've been bingeing Severance and just watched the season finale last night. I thought it was awesome, best TV show I've seen for a while. Can't wait for season 2.