Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The People's Poet is dead!

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  • 81stcolumn,

    Goodbye to one dangerous brother.

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • Gabor Toth,

    Attachment

    Here’s a listing in the Listener for the very first screening of the first episode in NZ;
    Friday 30th August 1985 on TV One followed by a five-minute news catch-up and then Gary McCormick hosting “12 O’Clock Rock” (which IIRC was generally pretty crap). Though I have a lot of respect for Rik Mayall’s subsequent work, nothing quite captured the Zeitgeist as much as The Young Ones did; it was the perfect show for the times.

    I also have Rick to thank for introducing me as a teenager to Trotsky who I had never heard of until then. It sent me first to Encyclopedia Britannica and then to the history books to find out more (but I knew enough about 1930’s history to find Alexei Sayle’s Mussolini impersonations hilarious).

    Sean Plunket gave over virtually his entire show on Radio Live this morning to the passing of Mayall; it made for a great nostalgic radio show.

    Wellington • Since Dec 2006 • 137 posts Report Reply

  • Josh Petyt,

    I was 12 in 1985 and going through Form 2 at primary school. In my class there was (and it still seems pretty surreal) a punk with dyed hair, safety-pins the whole shebang. A 12-year-old punk. Anyway, I don't remember being friends but I'll never forget that she put me on to the Young Ones. The first episode I saw was the University Challenge one. I didn't really understand what was going on but after a few more episodes I was sold.
    I wouldn't mind seeing a few old episodes.
    RIP Rik

    Japan • Since Apr 2014 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Gabor Toth,

    Here’s a listing in the Listener for the very first screening of the first episode in NZ;

    Shot!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Alan Perrott,

    what do you reckon the odds of Cliff singing at the funeral are?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 438 posts Report Reply

  • Blair Rogers,

    Wow first screened on 30th Aug 1985 in NZ despite airing originally on the 9th Nov 1982 in the UK. NZ was so awkwardly behind back then.

    I remember watching that very first show in NZ and I must say that it was very influential to a just turned 15 year old youth that was me then.

    I suspect if my parents had stayed up to watch I would not have been allowed to watch it. Subversive material!!!

    Philly • Since Jul 2013 • 5 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Ah, so I was 10 in 1985. I remember watching the Young Ones involved the ritual of programming our crappy Beta video, so it must have been a Saturday morning treat for my brother and I. Better than What Now!

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome,

    For me Rick Mayall and Ad Edmondson's greatest achievement was "Mr Jolly Lives Next Door", which is what I'm about to watch in remembrance. Everything about it is fried gold, from Nicholas Parsons to Peter Cook.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Alan Perrott,

    Cliff singing at the funeral

    I'd sponsor that

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Gabor Toth,

    semi-bestial?
    #spg

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby, in reply to Gabor Toth,

    gary mccormack hosts a rock special on rick springfield... remember how bleak i said the 80s were?

    some crimes should never be forgotten.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Virginia Brooks, in reply to Alan Perrott,

    'community viewing'

    Absolutely. Genius.

    Since Jun 2008 • 43 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock, in reply to Bevan Shortridge,

    Yeah, all the 'tube ones are geoblocked where I am for some reason.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    I think I first saw the Young Ones at primary school, sometime in the late 1980s - early 1990s, probably about the same time as the the New Statesman. He was a huge early influence on us at school - I think someone taped it on TV and we shared around the tapes as well.

    I blame Rick for me having an aversion to taking sociology at university.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Lyndon Hood,

    out.standing

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    I don’t want to re-watch The Young Ones because I have a sneaking suspicion it’s one of those things that had it’s time and place

    That was my feeling upon fighting my way through a few of them. The golden moments were still golden, but the bits in between dragged on.

    But Rick certainly had the lion's share of those golden moments. Many has been the time I've had to resist hard the urge to mimic him kicking the TV set to death.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Stewart,

    From Kevin Turvey right through to Mr Jolly Lives Next Door

    From a cold flat in Peel, Isle of Man to the Comic Strip box-set just 2m from my shoulder, Rik Mayall has amused me for over 30 years.
    RIP Rik.

    Te Ika A Maui - Whakatane… • Since Oct 2008 • 577 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Gabor Toth,

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Greg Wood,

    Peter Richardson as Mike... I will never watch it the same again. But why am I writing this here, anyway? Nobody ever listens to me. I might as well be a Leonard Cohen record.

    Now back in Aucktown • Since Dec 2006 • 86 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Samuel Scott,

    More Bad News never gets tired.

    And the fact that they actually played Monsters of Rock.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    I found the Bad News CD in Queenstown one summer for a tenner, which was quite a bargain. Dammed if I know what happened to it though

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Young, in reply to Hebe,

    Ah, now this is why his New Statesman episodes were so incisive and spot-on. It's such a damned shame we don't have a political comedy show that similarly skewers the Key regime on the end of a sharp satirical poke.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Craig Young,

    Ah, now this is why his New Statesman episodes were so incisive and spot-on. It’s such a damned shame we don’t have a political comedy show that similarly skewers the Key regime on the end of a sharp satirical poke.

    I'm not even sure there are any for David Cameron, Tony Abbott, or Stephen Harper either.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Craig Young,

    Funny parallel: Twitter feed today shows a pic of John Key with an enormous drill at the Fielddays. Last night I was watching a News Statesman episode that has Alan B'stard pulling out an enormous (very similar drill) to use on Piers. If I had the means I would do a split screen

    At 5m55s:

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Hebe,

    If I had the means I would do a split screen

    I have access to some video editing software, so I might try giving it a crack.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

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