Does anyone really care? (Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads)

Member Name: mark-r

Product:	Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads
Date:	16/05/01 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Only half an hour, Good theme tune

Disadvantages: Errm, it's dismal

"Oohh, what happened to you? Whatever happened to me?" runs the theme tune. Well, I don't know about you, but I know what happened to me - I fell asleep half way through the first episode.

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads (WHTTLL) was a followup to a successful sixties comedy, The Likely Lads, starring Rodney Bewes and James Bolam as happy-go-lucky young lads on the prowl. Shot in black and white and requiring a steam powered TV for ideal viewing conditions, this original comedy is rarely seen now. Luckily, no knowledge of the original is required to pick up the general background to WHTTLL.

The series takes up as Terry (James Bolam) returns from a stint in the army. You soon pick up on the fact that both Terry and Bob (Rodney Bewes) joined up, but Bob was rejected for having flat feet. In the intervening years, Bob has matured and is about to marry Thelma, his long standing and slightly classier girlfriend, while Terry has basically not changed and is still a "Likely Lad".

The standard plotline for most episodes is that somehow Terry causes untold hassle for Bob and Thelma, usually by persuading Bob to take part in some crackpot scheme (for example persuading Bob to give a blood sample on his behalf to escape a drink-driving charge) which through a fairly standard set of sitcom blunders and accidents result in disaster.

While the plots themselves are funny enough, if a little unbelievable at times, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. There is little rapid fire humour, one-liners, or slapstick, but often lengthy setup dialogues for what turns out to be a weak gag. What's more Rodney Bewes' Geordie drawl and the regular mushy simpering between Bob and Thelma ("Sorry, my love, it was my fault", "Oh, no I'm as much to blame", etc, etc) make you want to nip into the telly and give one, or both, of them a slap. I call it the "Frank Spencer" effect - when a ch
aracter indulges in such an act of gross stupidity that it ceases to be funny and you just want to climb in and knock some heads together.

To go back to the top, by far the best part of this comedy was the theme tune...

WHHTTLL is dusted off and given an airing by the BBC and UK Gold every now and then, but you should really consider what's on the other side first.

Summary: