MovieChat Forums > Only Fools and Horses (1981) Discussion > The 50 minute Episodes

The 50 minute Episodes

posted 8 years ago by rjstephen
3 replies | jump to latest

The 50 minute episodes only really work for the first series in which they did them (Series 6). All 6 episodes are great and classics (sickness and wealth is probably the weakest of the 6 and feels the most protracted, but is still a good episode)

Series 7 fails to be as successful in the 50 minute format, its far more hit and miss. While i thought Stage Fright and the episode of Damian's birth were classic episodes, the other 4 are far too bloated and padded out for the 50 minute slot and could have been easily done in 30 mins.

''The chance of a lunchtime'' is like a filler episode, nothing special happens for 50 mins, the part where Raqual tells Del she is pregnant is sweet but not enough to justify a 50 minute running time. The episode with Alberts ''mugging'' again had some sweet moments with Del and Rodney talking to him at the docks, but again its too long and the class reunion episode with Slater is like a drama/soap opera episode with one or two funny lines thrown in. The episode is fine as a 50 minute drama/soap but it is short on laughs and not really a sitcom episode.

The episode with the satellite dish is OTT and somewhat pretentious

[–] FootOfDavros (8172) 5 years ago

The bit with Albert talking to the boys down the docks may well be the most profound moment of the entire show.

[–] fawltybasil (249) 2 years ago

I somewhat agree but I do really like Stage Fright, The Class Of 62, and He Ain't Heavy He's My Uncle.

The Class Of 62 is ridiculous really. The idea that the woman who Del has settled down and is having a baby with, turns out to be the ex-wife of Slater, is contrived nonsense, and felt as if John Sullivan was running out of ideas.

But I still really like it partly just because I find it entertaining, and partly because you don't often see Boycie, Denzil, Trigger, Mike, and Denzil all together in the same episode. The banter at the reunion before and after Slater walks through the door is brilliant.

The Sky's The Limit and Chance Of A Lunchtime are a bit boring and tedious, and didn't need to be longer than 30 minutes.

[–] HellFire (561) 3 months ago

I could watch all six episodes of series 6 in a marathon but I don't think I could do that with Series 7, certainly not without skipping a lot of it.

It was probably fine watching one episode a week of Rodney been hungover and moaning about Cassandra, but in a marathon it would just get tiresome. He can be a right pain in the arse at times in series 7. There's still some quality in that series though.