Laurel and Hardy

The Golden Miller · 14-01-2016 02:49AM #1

Obviously two of the funniest men to ever exist. Nearly 100 years later and they are still genuinely hilarious. There hasn't been many comedy acts, if any, to top them. I grew up with their repeats on the BBC in the 90's. Used to always pretend that I was sick in school so I could get home to watch them at 2 o'clock on BBC 2 during weekdays. Were on Saturday mornings along with Charlie Chaplin too.

But they haven't been on TV on any channel for nearly 15 years at this stage. What's going on? They just suddenly disappeared from mainstream TV. They'll be forgotten about in a generation at this rate. Anytime I've asked a younger person did they ever see them their response is usually that they haven't even heard of them, which I find baffling. These were MASSIVE household names. They still are for anyone born before 1990, but for anyone born after they don't seem to have a clue who they are. The reason being, they simply aren't on TV anymore. But why? Black and white TV can be hard to watch for some, myself included, but Laurel and Hardy were always an exception to this and young kids who are exposed to them really do love watching them.

Just about every successful comedy act to this day cites them as a major influence. They are simply too funny and pivotal for their legacy to be forgotten, but sadly this seems to be the case with the current generation and will continue to happen until they are put back on TV. I was always moreso a fan of their talkies but this silent was brilliant:

A talkie this time. Not their best by any means but the first one to pop up on youtube. Another fine muddle they are in:

jimmycrackcorm · 14-01-2016 03:11AM

Back in their days, it would have been utterly scandalous to get lost in a lingerie section.

Lemsiper · 14-01-2016 04:29AM

I dunno, but paragraphs.

JupiterKid · 14-01-2016 05:00AM

Yep, Laurel and Hardy were hilarious. "That's another fine mess you've gotten us into" as Ollie Hardy used to say. They must have been groundbreaking in their heyday back in the '30s.

I'd love to see them on the box again.

The Golden Miller · 14-01-2016 06:01AM

Lemsiper wrote: »

I dunno, but paragraphs.

Happy now?

Muirshin Durkin · 14-01-2016 06:10AM

Never got into them growing up in the 90s, i preferred X-Men, Biker Mice From Mars and that.

14-01-2016 06:29AM

Hate slapstick, but they were good at it.

The guy from Only Fools and Horses fell through a bar hatch and people tell me it's funny, so you'd think there'd still be a market for it...

Montgolfier · 14-01-2016 06:50AM

You can buy the dvd collection I bought it for the auld fella.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laurel-Hardy-The-Collection-21-disc/dp/B0001K2KE8

uck51js9zml2yt · 14-01-2016 07:12AM

Abbott and Costello were another great duo.

speedboatchase · 14-01-2016 07:35AM

The majority of people aren't interested in that kind of comedy anymore. The Three Stooges movie a few years ago died at the box office and got terrible reviews. And personally, I find Laurel and Hardy's stuff irritating. I probably would've enjoyed it at the time, but it hasn't aged very well.

murpho999 · 14-01-2016 08:45AM

speedboatchase wrote: »

The majority of people aren't interested in that kind of comedy anymore. The Three Stooges movie a few years ago died at the box office and got terrible reviews. And personally, I find Laurel and Hardy's stuff irritating. I probably would've enjoyed it at the time, but it hasn't aged very well.

Disagree with everything on this.

The Three Stooges movie recently was just a bad film, full stop, nothing to do with the genre.

Of course its from a different era but if you look at their films now, they are still funny.
Often find myself watching them and still laughing, also introducing them to my 12 year old nephew and he loves them too.

Their comedy was more than slapstick too, good characters and good scripts.

I find them funnier than Will Ferrel, that's for sure.

iDave · 14-01-2016 09:00AM

Better than that Mrs Browns Boys amirite!

Menas · 14-01-2016 09:16AM

They were a rich mans Harold Lloyd.

Conall Cernach · 14-01-2016 09:18AM

Ah boys, even to mention the likes of Abbot and Costello and the Three Stooges in the same thread as the magnificent Laurel and Hardy is doing them a huge disservice. They were fantastic and much more than the usual run of the mill slapstick.

Here are some of my favourite moments from them:

Duggy747 · 14-01-2016 09:21AM

Yea loved watching them, Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry growing up. Haven't watched an episode in a long time but I remember some of their special effects would end up looking really creepy like Laurel pulling on Hardy's head and ending up stretching his neck to a horrible length :pac:

Steve F · 14-01-2016 09:24AM

In England there is a group of enthusiasts that have got together and persuaded cinemas to start showing L&H films again.I see their posts on Twitter a lot.The showings have large attendances.It all came about after they asked the BBC to start showing them again and nothing happened

The Golden Miller · 14-01-2016 02:05PM

speedboatchase wrote: »

The majority of people aren't interested in that kind of comedy anymore. The Three Stooges movie a few years ago died at the box office and got terrible reviews. And personally, I find Laurel and Hardy's stuff irritating. I probably would've enjoyed it at the time, but it hasn't aged very well.

Still no reason not to have it on during the days at 1 or 2. It can work as kids TV too, as they find the slapstick and their expressions funny and it means another generation will grow up with them

SEPT 23 1989 · 14-01-2016 02:08PM

their movies are available in Power City for a fiver

The Golden Miller · 14-01-2016 02:11PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

their movies are available in Power City for a fiver

Ye I know you can get them on DVD, but the only people who buy them DVD's are people who already know them, and even then DVD's don't sell well anymore.

fiachr_a · 14-01-2016 06:27PM

I used to think Laurel and Hardy made great films until I got the WC Fields DVD box set. He was the best screen comedian of the 1930s.

Grandeeod · 15-01-2016 10:22AM

Apparently the BBC said if the petition gets 20,000 signatures they will listen to the pitch to screen Laurel and Hardy films again.

Around 1990 or so a lot of their films were reissued on VHS, including colourized versions and they weren't cheap either. Around the same period, there was a decline in the amount of their films being screened on TV. I assumed this was a decision by the distributor in order to drive sales of the VHS collection.

I'm not completely convinced that todays generation wouldn't find them funny. They were pioneers in film comedy and have indeed inspired a lot of comedy writers/performers.

During the Seventies, Laurel and Hardy short films were still regularly shown on BBC2 (usually at 6pm) and the comedians they inspired make an impressive roll call. Matt Lucas ("I always thought of them as friends"), John Cleese ("they're wonderfully, wonderfully funny"), Steve Martin ("they are hard to top"), Steve Coogan ("they were geniuses of comedy") and Stephen Fry ("a constant joy") are among the Laurel and Hardy devotees. Graham Linehan, who co-wrote Father Ted, said: "Ardal O Hanlon partly based Dougal on Stan Laurel."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/comedians/laurel-and-hardy-its-still-comedy-genius/

Gwynplaine · 15-01-2016 11:00AM

iDave wrote: »

Better than that Mrs Browns Boys amirite!

Oireachtas Report is better than that tripe.

WoollyRedHat · 15-01-2016 11:42AM

Are they doing a new series? Got to stay relevant

Yamanoto · 15-01-2016 12:35PM

My Dad recalls being completely star-struck as a kid, on spotting Stan & Ollie strolling along on O'Connell St. during their long visit to Dublin in the early 1950's.

Bit of background here:

http://www.broadsheet.ie/tag/laurel-and-hardy/

The Golden Miller · 15-01-2016 10:47PM

Yamanoto wrote: »

My Dad recalls being completely star-struck as a kid, on spotting Stan & Ollie strolling along on O'Connell St. during their long visit to Dublin in the early 1950's.

Bit of background here:

http://www.broadsheet.ie/tag/laurel-and-hardy/

That's quite interesting. Apparently in Cork thousands lined out to meet them one year and there was massive hysteria

The Golden Miller · 15-01-2016 10:49PM

Grandeeod wrote: »

Apparently the BBC said if the petition gets 20,000 signatures they will listen to the pitch to screen Laurel and Hardy films again.

Around 1990 or so a lot of their films were reissued on VHS, including colourized versions and they weren't cheap either. Around the same period, there was a decline in the amount of their films being screened on TV. I assumed this was a decision by the distributor in order to drive sales of the VHS collection.

I'm not completely convinced that todays generation wouldn't find them funny. They were pioneers in film comedy and have indeed inspired a lot of comedy writers/performers.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/comedians/laurel-and-hardy-its-still-comedy-genius/

You'd wonder why they took them off for good to begin with when you consider some of the other sh1te they play. I can't speak for anyone else, but as a kid I found Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin silents far funnier than anything else on. As you point out, I don't see why it would be any different for young kids today, and indeed even adults

Yamanoto · 16-01-2016 12:07AM

The Golden Miller wrote: »

That's quite interesting. Apparently in Cork thousands lined out to meet them one year and there was massive hysteria

Yeah, it was on the same visit - they arrived in Cobh by ship and apparently were hugely moved not only by the fact crowds turned out in such numbers to greet them, but also by the carillon in St. Colman's cathedral sounding out their theme tune all across the town.

mickrock · 16-01-2016 02:43AM

Laurel and Hardy dance to "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qgoWYUS4eM

Riddle101 · 16-01-2016 03:32AM

When I was a kid my granddad had old videos like the Carry On Movies, Benny Hill, and Monty Python, but he also had Laurel and Hardy videos as well. I remember I borrowed them once and enjoyed watching them as a kid. But I don't think I would enjoy them now tbh. I guess it's a matter of taste really. I would like something like that as a kid, like I would enjoy Carry On movies, but not anymore. Not that i'm saying you have to be a kid to enjoy them, but as I got older my taste changed.

16-01-2016 03:46AM

I wondered a couple of years ago if there's some kind of dispute going on with whoever holds the rights because I must've been 8 last time I saw any of them on telly outside of clips from a certain Paul Merton show. Same with Chaplin.

More or less all on youtube though. It's one of those things that I'd say you should watch on your own without people around and see if you don't laugh/smile at it. They were brilliant at what they did.

AllGunsBlazing · 16-01-2016 04:32AM

Faye Ripe Stork wrote: »

Abbott and Costello were another great duo.

My own personal favourite.

Laurel and Hardy

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