A Likely Story

Currently enjoying another watch through one of the great old sitcoms, and perennial influences on my own work, Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. It was the first television comedy to really move away from the established sitcom styles - broad, physical humour and more esoteric farces and satires - towards character-driven comedy peppered with the everyday wit of ordinary people, and pathos in the depiction of their lives. As dated as the fashions and even some of the attitudes may now be, there's a unmistakable timelessness to Terry and Bob encapsulated by one of my favourite lines: "I'd offer you a beer, but I've only got six cans."