Peter Rhodes on Cheers, freebies and a surname to live up to
A UK-based company is making a British version of the classic US sitcom, Cheers – avoiding the original's “1980s values.”
So what does that mean? No predatory bar manager, no sexy barmaids, no alcoholic tipplers? Take the 1980s values out of Cheers and you've got something approaching Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. In any case if we want a thoroughly British comedy set in a pub where everybody knows your name, the Beeb has already done it. Early Doors, written by Craig Cash and Phil Mealey ran from 2003-04 and was, in my opinion, one of the best comedies ever screened.
Behold, after years of striving, we are approaching a new age of clean and honest politics. Industry minister Sarah Jones gushes that Keir Starmer has repaid thousands of pounds in freebies “to do more to make people trust politicians.” Really? Or does this episode merely prove that we can always trust politicians to do the right thing – once they've been caught out doing the wrong thing?
