Only Fools and Horses to return in 2014?

Skid X

Please God, no.

John Sullivan is dead, and the last few episodes were nothing special.
Leave it alone.

Sir David Jason, who played Del Boy in the hit sitcom, has revealed in an interview with The Times that he has been given a new script to read ...

According to today's reports, Sullivan's sons Dan and Jim have turned one of their father's ideas into a script treatment which has been passed to David Jason, but he has not yet made a decision on it. Speaking to The Times, Jason said: "I've had a quick look at the treatment and it's very good, but I'm saving the proper read-through until there are no distractions. It's not the sort of thing you can muck about with."

http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/000001328/only_fools_and_horses_new_episode_in_2014/

Patty O Furniture

How can you improve on classics like below:

Here he is explaining the bar-fall

I even forgot that Still Open All Hours mentioned in that site is on Boxing Day too.

Harry Angstrom

It was seriously running out of steam towards the end. I think it jumped the shark when Del Boy and Rodney became millionaires. It was never the same after that. Bringing it back is madness.

PropJoe10

I thought it was brilliant right up to the last episode they made. But I dont think making new episodes now would work at all, especially without John Sullivan. Time to let it rest now.

syklops

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

It was seriously running out of steam towards the end. I think it jumped the shark when Del Boy and Rodney became millionaires. It was never the same after that. Bringing it back is madness.

If them finding the watch had been the last episode then fine. But then they lost their fortunes and it went on. It is one of the best british comedies of all time, but why do they continue to keep flogging it? David Jason is 73. Nicholas Lyndhurst is 52 and looks more. Guys, you've made your money. Retire.

Mr E

The show got worse the older Sullivan got (it wasn't down to the actors, it was down to the writing).

If two up and coming writers from the same stable as Sullivan want to take a stab at it, who's to say it won't be brilliant? I say give them a shot.

colinod0806

I think people put too much stock in the new episodes. If you don't like them, then fair enough, but it doesnt actually take anything away from the older episodes that the new ones exist.

I'm a little drunk so I hope that makes sense.:(

syklops

colinod0806 wrote: »

I think people put too much stock in the new episodes. If you don't like them, then fair enough, but it doesnt actually take anything away from the older episodes that the new ones exist.

I'm a little drunk so I hope that makes sense.:(

No the new episodes dont take away from the older episodes, but the amount of time I have to watch TV is limited. Given the choice of watching a new Only Fools episode and watching the one where they go on holiday as a result of Rodney winning the art competition, I'll choose the latter because I know I will laugh at the latter. The new one is a bit of a gamble.

Terrontress

I think that once Cassandra and Raquel came onboard it started to go downhill.

PropJoe10

Terrontress wrote: »

I think that once Cassandra and Raquel came onboard it started to go downhill.

I thought it got better. I loved the family element to it, I thought it added greatly to the show. I might be one of the rare people who loved it at the start, but thought it actually got better and matured right up to the final episodes. The last Christmas specials in 2001 were still excellent.

RayM

I'm not a huge fan. I never thought it was that well written - or that John Sullivan was some sort of comic genius. Great cast though. It's a bit like Mrs Brown's Boys, but with people who can actually act. Without David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, it would have been completely forgettable.

Daveysil15

Surely it can't be any worse than Rock & Chips?

Interestingly the guy who played Slater was initially supposed to play the part of Del Boy.

PropJoe10

RayM wrote: »

I'm not a huge fan. I never thought it was that well written - or that John Sullivan was some sort of comic genius. Great cast though. It's a bit like Mrs Brown's Boys, but with people who can actually act. Without David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, it would have been completely forgettable.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

RayM

PropJoe10 wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Imagine Brendan O'Carroll playing the role of Derek Trotter, with the rest of his family playing all the other roles...

I don't think OFAH was bad. I just think it relied far too heavily on perfect casting and great acting (and in the case of Rodney, great reacting - nobody does a double-take like Nicholas Lyndhurst). I got the impression that the last few Christmas specials pretty much wrote themselves. Badly.

PropJoe10

RayM wrote: »

Imagine Brendan O'Carroll playing the role of Derek Trotter, with the rest of his family playing all the other roles...

I don't think OFAH was bad. I just think it relied far too heavily on perfect casting and great acting (and in the case of Rodney, great reacting - nobody does a double-take like Nicholas Lyndhurst). I got the impression that the last few Christmas specials pretty much wrote themselves. Badly.

I couldnt disagree with you more.I can understand it if OFAH isnt your thing but to compare it to Mrs Browns Boys, I just cant get my head around that. Fools and Horses is proper comedy, with great characters, and its clean comedy, it doesnt have to resort to coarse themes or bad language to get a laugh from the audience. But each to their own, I guess. If we all liked the same stuff, the world would be pretty dull!

OU812

Daveysil15 wrote: »

Surely it can't be any worse than Rock & Chips?

I actually enjoyed that & the follow up. Would have loved to see it continue.

Skid X

RayM wrote: »

Imagine Brendan O'Carroll playing the role of Derek Trotter, with the rest of his family playing all the other roles...

I'd have to disagree. Mrs Brown is like bad Panto with stupid Innuendo jokes which make no sense.

Only Fools and Horses was almost always terrifically scripted and acted.

Its All Wright

Should have ended the show as originally planned, when they finally became millionaires & walked off into the sunset. Anything after that was really poor & to even consider bringing back now is an insult to its legacy

RayM

Skid X wrote: »

I'd have to disagree. Mrs Brown is like bad Panto with stupid Innuendo jokes which make no sense.

Only Fools and Horses was almost always terrifically scripted and acted.

I always thought the scripts were the weakest part of OFAH. In the later years (from the late '80s onwards), it relied far too heavily on malapropisms, catchphrases and running jokes - and also on the sheer goodwill that most viewers felt towards it. Unlike Mrs Brown, it was always well produced and acted, but I still think there are some similarities between the two series (not least the jokes that Brendan O'Carroll lifted directly from OFAH).

syklops

RayM wrote: »

I always thought the scripts were the weakest part of OFAH. In the later years (from the late '80s onwards), it relied far too heavily on malapropisms, catchphrases and running jokes - and also on the sheer goodwill that most viewers felt towards it. Unlike Mrs Brown, it was always well produced and acted, but I still think there are some similarities between the two series (not least the jokes that Brendan O'Carroll lifted directly from OFAH).

Garry?

PropJoe10

syklops wrote: »

Garry?

I loved that episode with Gary the illegal immigrant. Brilliant it was :cool:

windy shepard henderson

Fromage frais!!!!

Sam Kade

Skid X wrote: »

Please God, no.

John Sullivan is dead, and the last few episodes were nothing special.
Leave it alone.



http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/000001328/only_fools_and_horses_new_episode_in_2014/

Is there someone going to tie you down and going to force you to watch it? If you don't like it don't watch it

Dman001

People give the newer episodes a lot of stick. Admittedly they weren't as good as the older episodes, but they are much, much better than the majority of the modern sitcoms coming out of the BBC.

However, a lot off the magic of the show came from the wheeling and dealing in the market, Rodney's general adolescent awkwardness and the generation it was set in. It's these sort of aspects of the show that cannot be recaptured or remade today sadly.

windy shepard henderson

Dman001 wrote: »

People give the newer episodes a lot of stick. Admittedly they weren't as good as the older episodes, but they are much, much better than the majority of the modern sitcoms coming out of the BBC.

However, a lot off the magic of the show came from the wheeling and dealing in the market, Rodney's general adolescent awkwardness and the generation it was set in. It's these sort of aspects of the show that cannot be recaptured or remade today sadly.

agreed i would like to see some form of a spin off/remake as long as its in line with the older ones , as it stands there is a tv market crying out for a descent sitcom

PropJoe10

It was never the same after Uncle Albert died either. I really loved him, great character. But as someone said before, maybe a new writer (Sullivan's sons) would breath new life into it. New ideas might be good, because the characters are all there and are all amazing. I have mixed views on this but it might be cool.

Dman001

Weird to think David Jason is now older than Grandad was when OFAH began, and Damien is now be older than Rodney was when it began.

take everything

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

It was seriously running out of steam towards the end. I think it jumped the shark when Del Boy and Rodney became millionaires. It was never the same after that. Bringing it back is madness.

Yeah.
The whole premise (and basis for the humour) was the brothers' perpetual striving to make something of themselves.
Should've ended then.

take everything

Del boy is such an iconic and singular character when you think about it.
David Jason embodied him.
Great actor.

Pang

They should leave it alone. All these crappy remakes/reboots just sully the good memories of old.

Go Harvey Go

Sam Kade wrote: »

Is there someone going to tie you down and going to force you to watch it? If you don't like it don't watch it

Skid's perfectly entitled to express his view... you plonker.

And I have to agree that bringing OFAH back (again) is not a good idea.

As has already been said, its creator is dead, David and Nicholas are only getting older, the Trotters becoming millionaires should have been the absolute end as originally intended, and such a show really wouldn't work as well today as it did thirty years ago.

A spin-off probably wouldn't work too well either, IMHO.