Rutland Weekend Television: Series 2 Episode 4
Rutland Weekend Television appeared briefly on this blog's blogspot predecessor in a series of posts about TV shows using the famous White Jaguar footage, but it's high time we had some more.
The show was a sketch show parodying all sorts of things from the independent television of the time (1975 to 1976) and named after the smallest county in England, which at no time would have been in a position to support its own television station. I commented on my last post about it that if you like Monty Python you will like Rutland Weekend Television, and in fact I would put it among my holy trinity of underrated comedy shows with End of Part One and The Steam Video Company. The only reason it doesn't appear here more often is simply that comedy shows tend to invite posts involving more description and less opining than I'm usually aiming for her.
Perhaps I should also just say that the production of Rutland Weekend Television was beset with problems. One of them was that they got the wrong budget which compromised much of their ability to do the show. I'm not going to lie, the budget may be partly responsible for it but it results in a show which I think can be somewhat patchy. It is absolutely brilliant when it is, and has the dazzling humour and intelligence of Monty Python, but just doesn't have the consistency. I think this episode is one of the better ones. In fact it's brilliant, and this is one of those shows where you and I would both be much happier if you sought it out online and watched it rather than wasting your life reading my witterings.
I have picked this episode because it is one of the best ones, it's absolutely superb, and also it's quite heavily about televisual things, so may appeal to both the readers of this blog.
For a start the episode, as a result of an administrative error on the part of Rutland Weekend Television, has more than one presenter. Rather than having some of them go home this culminates in the show's five presenters all sitting in a row making the announcements in unison.
Then it goes straight to the Rutland Play set in an ill health food store.
Then Neil Innes sings the Hard to Get song, followed by a less successfil sketch in which the word sex is replaced by sprimpo.
There is an extended sequence about a woman with bad continuity illness. Of course as a television show it's a bit postmodern being about bad continuity, and of course the continuity is deliberately bad. This sequence is incredibly effective, changes in clothing and scene meaning that it moves very fast and remains interesting. It also plays with time because of its relationship to continuity. This is an example of the sort of brilliance which means this show can genuinely compare to Monty Python. Mildred, the lady with bad continuity, looks at some of her rushes to make a diagnosis. I particularly like this sequence and so you get to see it here:
The same lady goes on to reminisce about her student days before a further reminiscence about her childhood which ends with her trapped in a flashback. In fact in her mother's womb.
This is followed by a series of Classically Bad American Films with everything going wrong with them that possibly could. Once again it's about things going wrong with the production and broadcast. The next film is about Hamlet filmed in a village called Great Length.
The next film is Twenty Four Hours in Tunbridge Wells which is a musical about some American sailors in Tunbridge Wells on early closing day.
The final programme on this evenings programme on Rutland Weekend Television is Expose about the massed flashers of Reigate. The police can't investigate because they're all working in a supermarket and other normal jobs.
Now I know that everyone reading this will instantly recognise the family resemblance to Monty Python's Flying Circus. This is why it leaves me mystified that this show isn't better known. You would think the fans would be all over it!
You no doubt want me to at least have a go at criticising it, and my only criticism is of the series rather than this episode, which I can watch endlessly. It's the one I've already mentioned that the series tends to be rather patchy.
I think if you like the sort of TV that I write about on this blog you are likely to like this show.
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