This is often considered to be Britain's greatest ever sitcom, although Fawlty Towers often is as well. If i'm honest i'd say there was a time when i was a big OFAH fan but these days i'd rather watch the superior One Foot In The Grave over this. That's not to say that i don't think think this is good, i think it can be very very good in parts. But i think its overrated and really its very hit and miss. Series 1 was really not very good, there were a number of boring episodes in that. From Series 2 it got better, but there were always one or two bad episodes in every series, the quality is not consistent.
The only Series i can think of where i liked every single episode is Series 6 (and even than the Sickness and Wealth episode didn't need to be as long as it was really) I was surprised that the writer John Sullivan was able to knock out such a superior series as late in the run as that, its fairly unusual for a later series to be so much better than the earlier ones. Unfortunately he couldn't sustain the quality of the longer 50 min episodes over two series, as series 7 returned to the hit and miss that is present in every other series other than Series 6. There were only two episodes i thought sustained the 50 minute length well in Series 7 (the cwying episode and the birth of Damian), the other four were far too long and full of filler (especially The Chance Of A Lunchtime)
I kind of like how the series evolves, with them eventually settling down with wives and having kids. This is something a lot of fans do not seem to like at all and they prefer the earlier years with Grandad.But for me i can appreciate the Grandad years and the later years, both are very different but there is no reason not to like both and enjoy both. I think it was good that they grew up and settled down a bit as they got older, i do think perhaps the problem was that the two women playing Cassandra and Raquel were not particularly funny or warm. If they had been funnier then i think people would have warmed to them more.
After Series 7 there are a number of Christmas specials that (in my opinion) are really poor and not funny at all. Fatal Extraction is a dull episode particularly and even the 1996 ''final'' episodes could have been done in two parts rather than three. The ''Modern Men;; episode is more like a filler episode, with some editing they could have got that down to two parts/two hours. The last three episodes aired between 2001-2003 shouldn't have been made, although the ''Gary!'' stuff is fairly amusing.
Supporting cast are fine but mostly underused and underdeveloped. Trigger is quite amusing but in all honesty the whole ''Dave'' thing is only funny the first few times you see it, after that it wears a bit thin. David Jason of course plays his character very well and so does Nick Lyndhurst.
Overall a pleasant series to watch, but overrated and inconsistent quality throughout its run. Best series is Series 6 by far, worst Series 1. There are other sitcoms i think are superior and which i would choose to watch over this (and if i did want to watch it i know that Gold will be playing an episode anytime i fancy it)
The only Series i can think of where i liked every single episode is Series 6 (and even than the Sickness and Wealth episode didn't need to be as long as it was really) I was surprised that the writer John Sullivan was able to knock out such a superior series as late in the run as that, its fairly unusual for a later series to be so much better than the earlier ones. Unfortunately he couldn't sustain the quality of the longer 50 min episodes over two series, as series 7 returned to the hit and miss that is present in every other series other than Series 6. There were only two episodes i thought sustained the 50 minute length well in Series 7 (the cwying episode and the birth of Damian), the other four were far too long and full of filler (especially The Chance Of A Lunchtime)
I kind of like how the series evolves, with them eventually settling down with wives and having kids. This is something a lot of fans do not seem to like at all and they prefer the earlier years with Grandad.But for me i can appreciate the Grandad years and the later years, both are very different but there is no reason not to like both and enjoy both. I think it was good that they grew up and settled down a bit as they got older, i do think perhaps the problem was that the two women playing Cassandra and Raquel were not particularly funny or warm. If they had been funnier then i think people would have warmed to them more.
After Series 7 there are a number of Christmas specials that (in my opinion) are really poor and not funny at all. Fatal Extraction is a dull episode particularly and even the 1996 ''final'' episodes could have been done in two parts rather than three. The ''Modern Men;; episode is more like a filler episode, with some editing they could have got that down to two parts/two hours. The last three episodes aired between 2001-2003 shouldn't have been made, although the ''Gary!'' stuff is fairly amusing.
Supporting cast are fine but mostly underused and underdeveloped. Trigger is quite amusing but in all honesty the whole ''Dave'' thing is only funny the first few times you see it, after that it wears a bit thin. David Jason of course plays his character very well and so does Nick Lyndhurst.
Overall a pleasant series to watch, but overrated and inconsistent quality throughout its run. Best series is Series 6 by far, worst Series 1. There are other sitcoms i think are superior and which i would choose to watch over this (and if i did want to watch it i know that Gold will be playing an episode anytime i fancy it)