Here's something that you may have missed - the BBc is resurrecting probably the best sitcom of all time - "The Fall & Rise Of Reginald Perrin". According to the link below;

"The series will adopt a more traditional studio sitcom format than the original, with storylines played out in a single episode rather than over the whole series. Reginald Perrin creator David Nobbs has co-written six new 30-minute episodes with Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye.

Executive producer Phil Clarke told Broadcast magazine that this project, Objective's first studio sitcom and its first comedy commission for BBC1, is aiming to deliver an accessible family show for a pre-watershed slot.

Martin Clunes has been signed up to play Perrin. The rest of the cast has yet to be named, but Clarke said the show would not directly revive iconic characters such as Perrin's boss CJ or his brother-in-law Jimmy Anderson.

Clarke says: "Reggie's still a man in crisis with the modern world, but what's interesting is to look at where the world has changed since the 1970s and where it hasn't. He won't, for example, dictate memos to his secretary and he'll be using email. It's an opportunity to comment on the modern world without being heavy-handed."

Well, call me a traditionalist, but how can they remake something as iconic as this without ruining memories of the original? Leonard Rossiter is of course long dead, but perhaps no comedy character is more synonymous with the actor who played him than Reggie & Rossiter. Martin Clunes, having spent his post Men Behaving Badly years doing cosy ITV drama, will probably be way out of his depth in such a role.

I suspect the whole thing will be dumbed down, family-friendly and a complete waste of time. I didn't get where I am today by resurrecting classic comedy!

It's all wrong, they'd be better off just repeating the original series (again).

[I]"The series will adopt a more traditional studio sitcom format than the original, with storylines played out in a single episode rather than over the whole series. Reginald Perrin creator David Nobbs has co-written six new 30-minute episodes with Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye.

Was that Leonard Rossiter I just heard turning in his grave?

Martin Clunes has been signed up to play Perrin.

This is where I lost whatever interest I may have had left.

Was that Leonard Rossiter I just heard turning in his grave?

He's been spinning since The Legacy of Reginald Perrin came out in the '90s.

Classic program. I would rather watch a re-run of the complete original series than put up with a modernised re-hash.

I thought Reggie Perrin was great in 2001

oh no. put the original on. don`t mess with it.

I didn't get where I am today by making Martin Clunes play Reggie .....

This makes about as much sense as a Sgt. Bilko movie with Steve Martin or a remake of the Italian Job or The Wicker Man. :loopy:

Leonard Rossiter was a one-off. An underrated genius and there is no way you can revisit this ahead of it's time series three decades later.

Well it starts this coming Friday and, if the preview ads on the BBC are anything to go by, I fear the worst. Even the title's been dumbed down to just "Reggie Perrin", as it seems the modern generation are unable to cope with words of more than two syllables.

Also - and this may of course just be me - all the actors appear to be about 20 years younger than the characters they're supposed to be playing.

I shan't be watching it. I prefer to remember Sunshine Desserts as it was in 1976.. Anyway, I'm in Nantwich watching Dave Berry and the Cruisers this coming weekend.

He's been spinning since The Legacy of Reginald Perrin came out in the '90s.

David Nobbs admits that making "the legacy" was probably a mistake but he had fun making it.

I think the remake could work if Martin Clunes plays it his way and doesn't try too hard to be Rossiter

This "thing" is on in half an hour. Seeing as there isn't anything else on I'll watch it in the same spirit as I might watch a car crash, or tomorrow's "Britain's Got Talent"

Well I didn't find it funny but I must have been a minority of one because the canned laughter studio audience found it hilarious

Reginald Perrin? Begger that, I'm more looking forward to the re-launch of Fawlty Towers for the 30th anniversary! John Cleese is GOD!

Well I didn't find it funny but I must have been a minority of one because the canned laughter studio audience found it hilarious

I stopped watching halfway through. Much as I like Martin Clunes, it just didn't work IMO.

I was rather sceptical because the Guardian TV Guide didn't give it a good review, but I thought it was ok. I think you have to forget the original and try to see it as a different programme entirely. I'm sure it will improve as the series progresses.

I fell asleep halfway through it, which probably says everything about it.

It had some very nice lines and good moments, no doubt due to David Nobbs involvement. The pacing was too quick and the hysterical laughter was completely out of proportion and frankly, a bit ridiculous at times. Having said that it wasn't half as bad as I feared and I'll certainly be watching again.

It was just all wrong. Clunes wasn't the right person for the job, neither was the guy from Game On playing his boss.

I was distinctly unimpressed, I'm afraid.

I did chuckle at the nods given to the original show, in the Perrin character's excuses for being late:-

"27 Minutes late! Leaves on the line at Chalfont St Peter" etc


other than that, I thought it was a huge dud. :(

I lied. In an earlier post, I said I wasn't going to watch it but I recorded it and watched it Sunday night. I thought it was fairly amusing and inoffensive. I would watch it again if convenient but I probably wouldn't record it if I were out.

I tried to watch it yesterday but found the laughter track annoying and even tho I found some of it amusing, couldn't bear to watch it all way through. After 10 mins all I ended up thinking about was the over the top canned laughter.

While watching it, it felt as if we were seeing what might have happened to Clune's Martin Strang character from Men Behaving Badly, 10 years on. Then I saw Simon Nye's name in the end credits.

Interesting to compare it with the original. 70s Reggie was full of a manic energy with a taste for the surreal, this version was a bit glum and despondent. Perhaps they should have set this in the 70s, rather than try to update it for the ghastly modern age.

Clunes tries hard bless him and the people I was watching it with found it fairly funny.

The thinking behind decision to remake this show can probably be best summed up by the original C.J. "Run it up the flagpole, see if the rats desert a sinking ship."

Still, I didn't get where I am today by pouring cold water onto a wet blanket. I may possibly have the wrong end of the gist. This first episode could just be the exception that closes the stable door, not that I'm counting my chickens before they spoil the broth.

I watched the first one of the new series. Thought it was utter pants...Not helped by the excessive canned laughter.

.....by watching dire unfunny remakes of Reggie Perrin on BBC1 on Friday nights.

So neither great... nor super...?

What's surprised me is that David Nobbs was involved with this remake...

if i were you ,i'd like to go fishing.