ShadeGrenade
Following the end of 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' in 1982, the team went their separate ways. Pamela Stephenson pursued a ( short-lived ) movie career, Rowan Atkinson moved into sitcoms with the sublime 'The Black Adder', but what of Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones? 'Alas Smith & Jones' kept them in the sketch show format, but unlike its predecessor was not tied to topicality ( although some items referenced issues of the day ). Each edition commenced with the pair cracking gags before a studio audience, rather like the Morecambe and Wise Show intros. Then the sketches would get under way, along with a funny song or two, and - my favourite - the head-to-head routines.Obviously inspired by 'Not Only But Also', these were often beautifully written ( sometimes by Clive Anderson ) and performed. Mel would be the idiot, Griff the even bigger idiot. For instance, when discussing clothes, Griff asked: "what sort of animal is a mo?". Flustered, Mel wanted to know what he meant. "I've got a mohair suit!", replied his friend, "So what's a mo then?". Then, there was another item in which Mel claimed to have won the pools, and indeed he had - 50p. "I think I'll put my 50p into something.", he bragged. "What?", responded Griff, sarcastically, "A cigarette machine?".The best one of all was when Mel reminisced about the day he lost his virginity to the woman who ran the local sweet shop, Mrs.Wilberforce. "She took me round the back to search me for orange Jubblies, and that was when it happened. Wham bam thank you ma'am!". Griff said, "For me, it would have been 'wham bam NO thank you mam!". "Everybody remembers where they were when they lost their virginity.", said Mel, with a nostalgic sigh. "In my case...", said Griff, "It happened at the same time that President Kennedy was shot!".Amongst the other sketches was a parody of the American T.V. movie 'Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy' entitled 'Margaret Roberts Thatcher', Mel as a recording artist who adds the word 'wank' every time he sings, a gangster send-up called 'The St.Davids Day Massacre', Mel as Meatloaf, belting out 'I'm A Loving Machine', two men in a restaurant eating their meals in the manner of babies, an Iranian version of 'Terry & June' entitled 'Achmed & June', Mel as a salesman attempting to extol the virtues of a new music system without having a clue as to how it actually works, and the adventures of an inept pair of detectives called 'Inspector Bribeasy' and 'Sergeant Porno'! It was outrageous, cheeky, and wicked, but it was hard to be offended as it was done so well. Smith and Jones sparked off each other wonderfully, becoming the alternative 'Laurel & Hardy'. They got into trouble with a couple of sketches, though; one had Mel tossing a wreath onto the Senotaph on Remembrance Sunday, another had both men kissing each other with rather more enthusiasm than was necessary.'Alas' proved a worthy successor to 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' and ran ( losing the first word of the title along the way ) well into the '90's.In case you are puzzling over that quote, it was a catchphrase used by Griff ( and other characters too ) in the first series. At the very end of the final episode, the real Joanna Lumley appeared, and announced that she intended to sue!
Petri Pelkonen
Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones are the stars of the sketch show "Alas Smith & Jones" (1984-1998).Here in Finland we're watching the older episodes, from the 80's.There you can see how the world has changed.The show can often be very funny, just hilarious.It's the skill of the comedians who make it all work.They both have huge amount of energy and chemistry, that raise the show from mediocrity to something really memorable.It's also a brilliantly written show.Smith and Jones have also been writing it, so they're versatile talents.If you want to laugh hard then this may be your show.Otherwise watch something else- something not funny.
