Tag: Last Laugh In Vegas

Five From Five!

On By philshanklinIn Uncategorized2 Comments

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Time for some cake for today reviewsrevues .com is five years old!  To mark this momentous celebration I thought I’d take a look back at the five most visited and read posts of the last five years.  If you would like to read the whole post just click on the links.

5. Let’s Groove – The Best Of Earth Wind & Fire

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The most read of my 100 Essential CD listings which I took almost five years to complete, finishing it off just before Christmas is this 17 track 1996 compilation which I placed at number 30 in my rundown.  Since publishing this back in October 2015 the founding member and lynchpin of the group Maurice White has passed away (an event I commemorated in my “After The Love Has Gone” post in February 2016).  A quick click on the group’s website has shown me that they have a series of live dates lined up in Las Vegas which would seem to be a fitting location for a group who revelled in spectacle even back in the day when such visual extravagance was very unusual.

4. Jamestown 

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A Sky One series which (and I’m still a little embarrassed by this considering the number of people who have read this review over the years) I gave up on after one episode. My three star rating obviously did not deter viewers as it obviously established itself a good fanbase and ran for three series of eight episodes each before winding up in June 2019.  Mostly filmed in Hungary with the village of Vertesascsa posing as the Virginia Settlement I certainly remember that it was very visually appealing so maybe it would be a good series for me to revisit while the weather is so gloomy outside.

3.Scott and Bailey 

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My review was for the first episode of Series 5 which became the last series of this much-missed ITV show.  Surrane Jones’ career went up another level after this with award-winning “Doctor Foster” and much-acclaimed historical drama “Gentle Jack” but this would also feature amongst her all-time best roles as far as I am concerned and the great strength of this was how much of an ensemble piece it was with some very strong female characterisations significantly from performers who had made their mark in “Coronation Street” including Amelia Bulmore, Sally Lindsay and Tracie Bennett as well of course Lesley Sharp as Janet Scott.

2. Last Laugh In Vegas

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I was never totally convinced about the motivation behind this show.  It felt slightly exploitational taking a group of performers out in the twilight of their careers to perform at venues they probably would have struggled at in their heyday.  It felt as if it was exploiting both the artistes and our memories of them.  On the other hand, however, it was filled with a sense of pathos which I wasn’t exactly expecting which made you will the participants on during what was largely one performance probably in front of a specially invited audience.  If the whole premise was to manipulate us as viewers the personalities involved gave it a different spin and it was this which made it worth watching and must have kept people wanting to know what it was all about considering the number of visits this review has had since the five week series aired in April 2018.  I don’t think it was the kick-start to a later phase of their careers as the stars were hoping and sadly in December 2019 we lost the great Kenny Lynch who did look very frail here.  This was almost certainly a one-off series I can’t see ITV resurrecting this idea in the near future.

1. The Level

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I’m still to learn five years into this  blogging lark what it is which really drives up the traffic towards a particular post.  If I knew I’d probably employ it more often.  I certainly do not know why this has become by far my most visited post with over double the numbers of the review in 2nd place.  A six part ITV series which began in September 2016 and which got me viewing because of its Brighton location and casting which included Rob James-Collier, Lindsey Coulson, Noel Clark and Amanda Burton.  The central figure in the series was played by Karla Crome more recently seen in the 2019 BBC series “The Victim” which I didn’t watch.  Director Andy Goddard’s most recent work has been on the fascinating sounding forthcoming film “Six Minutes To Midnight” a British set WWII film starring Eddie Izzard and Judi Dench.

I’m going off to celebrate these five years but my special thanks to all of the readers and visitors to reviewsrevues.com since 2015.  Keep visiting and I’ll keep posting!

The 500th Post – What You’ve Been Reading

On By philshanklinIn Uncategorized4 Comments

5002It’s the big 500th Post!  This gives me a chance to sit back, eat cake and sip sparkling wine and to say thank you to all of you who have kept me posting by reading and commenting and suggesting.  On these big occasions I like to take a little look back and see just what it is you have been finding to read here on reviewsrevues.com.  According to my Stats page this is a total of 374,652 words.  Huge thanks if you have managed to read them all!!

I reset the clocks at the start of the year and so this is the Top 10 of those 500 posts which you have been  reading since January.

10. Collateral –  (BBC2 2018- posted in Feb 2018)

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Much anticipated four part Crime drama series by Sir David Hare had mixed reviews with some finding the writing at times a little clunky.  I did stick with it and there was a great performance from Carey Mulligan but it is unlikely to be the best police drama I will watch this year.

9. Top Of The Shop With Tom Kerridge (BBC2 2018- posted in April 2018)

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I liked this series as it brimmed with feel-good factor and feels to me like the BBC’s natural successor to the gap in the schedules caused by “Bake Off” moving to Channel 4.  It worked because of the passion of the contestants- people prepared to give up on their 9-5s to produce food, often during their evenings and weekends, often in places like their sheds or domestic kitchens, food which they really believein with a passion and wanting to spread the word.   I also loved the farm-shop setting in Malhamdale, Yorkshire.

8. The Real Full Monty (ITV 2017- posted in June 2017)

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This has received a surge in readers this year as ITV decided to do it all over again with two one-offs over consecutive nights, one with celebrity men and one with women.  My review was for the original 2017 one-off.  Even though I couldn’t really see it working a second time it actually did.  I know there was criticism in some quarters of the press about the amount of money actually raised for charity by these shows but it certainly raised awareness on prime-time television of testicular and breast cancer and that has got to be a good thing.

7. Let’s Groove – The Best Of Earth Wind and Fire (Columbia 1996- posted in October 2015)

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Continues to be the most read CD review I have ever posted, still leading the way two and a half years on.

6. Dynasty (Netflix 2017- posted in October 2017)

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I’m still working my way through the first series of this on reboot of a TV classic on  Netflix and I am enjoying it.  The writing of this review made me go all dewy-eyed with nostalgia for the days of John Forsythe, Linda Evans and of course, Dame Joan Collins and ended up with me buying the complete box set of the original series off Amazon.  Haven’t got round to watching any of it yet- it’s still in its plastic shrink wrap.  Maybe one day I’ll have 165 hours to spare!!

5. The Diary Of Two Nobodies – Giles Wood and Mary Killen (2017- posted in January 2018)

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Despite all the literary treasures I try to put your way the most read of my book reviews this year has been dear old Giles and Mary from “Gogglebox”.  It is actually very readable, laugh out loud funny and quite a long way from most tv cash-in publications.

4. Make! Craft Britain (BBC4- 2016) (Posted in June 2016)

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It seems like I have been urging the BBC for ages to make more of this idea as this one off programme has always attracted a lot of attention on here.  At last, this year BBC4 went with a three parter which explored a range of crafts and has sparked many people who watched it into different artistic directions.  (I have unearthed the knitting needles again after watching beginners produce a hat).  This review was for the original episode- I hope the BBC will make more of these surprisingly relaxing and inspirational hours.

3. The Level (ITV 2016- Posted in October 2016)

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This six part Brighton set series remains the most read review on the site, clearly dominating the statistics in 2016 and 2017.  Although it has slipped off the top spot in this first part of the year it seems people have far from forgotten about it and still want to know what it was all about.

2. Jamestown ( Sky 1 2017- Posted in May 2017)

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Here’s one I feel guilty about.  Sky has aired a second series which has meant good traffic on the site for this review and yet I only ever watched the first episode of the first series.  I gave up with it at this point.  It seems as if I was in a minority……………

The most read review on this site so far this year is…………… (drum roll needed or at least a showbizzy fanfare -there’s a clue….)

Last Laugh In Vegas (ITV 2018 – Posted in April 2018)

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A clear winner here stats-wise for this five part series which started off with car-crash tv potential but actually turned out to be a really quite charming tale of dogged determination in keeping your name up in lights.  Celebrities better known in the 60s and 70’s took on Las Vegas for a night and you ended up willing them to succeed.  Certainly not without its faults, I’m still questioning the motives behind the whole idea but it has obviously attracted attention worldwide.

Well that was post number 500!  Thanks for reading.  Thanks especially if you read something on April 25th 2018 as that was the day I received the highest number of visits ever which spurs me on thinking there’s still life in the old dog yet! Here’s to the next 500 posts!

 

 

 

 

 

Last Laugh In Vegas (ITV 2018) – A What I’ve Been Watching Review

On By philshanklinIn What I've Been Watching6 Comments

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Reality shows provide work for past-their-best celebrities.  Fact.  There’s a whole posse of them (including Debbie McGee, Christopher Biggins, Wayne Sleep etc etc), well known names from 30+ years ago who are happy to go into jungles, sit on boats, travel to retirement places, learn to dance etc etc etc to boost their pensions.  But ITV’s “Last Laugh In Vegas” a five parter which started this week has a slightly different premise.  Here, the celebrities are, for the most part, from an even earlier era of heyday, from 40-50 years ago and they will not be attempting to learn new skills but will be doing what they did then but this time for a new audience.  It’s bringing British variety to a Las Vegas crowd used to megastars and state- of -the- art dazzling technology.  How can it possibly work?

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Well….even though I can find car-crash television as compulsive as the next person I’m hoping here that ITV haven’t set up this group of long-ago-more-famous-than-they-are-now celebrities for a fall.  To prevent this, they have brought in someone who is going to help them with their acts which would be more at home on old re-runs of  “The Good Old Days” than working amongst the razzle dazzle of Vegas.  And at this stage, I’m not convinced by this help.  I was vaguely disturbed that the person chosen looked like a white Michael Jackson tribute act, a Vegas performer by the name of Frank Marino.  We were told that Marino is a top comedian which just in itself reinforces the differences between live US and UK comedy and brings home the vast gulf between him and Bernie Clifton, the man who has pretending to ride an ostrich for his laughs for over half a century.  In fact, a modicum of research reveals Marino is best known as a drag act, something ITV is obviously keeping up their sleeves for a later episode.

vegas3Frank Marino – (I think this was a few years ago………)

 Much obviously depends on the people chosen for this Vegas show.  The obvious headliners would seem to be Cannon and Ball, but their brand of Northern humour and rapid wordplay seems more likely to bemuse an international audience.  There’s Su Pollard (was “Hi Di Hi” as well known worldwide as “Are You Being Served which turned its cast into household names in America?) who has chosen to sing, which wasn’t actually the best idea even in 1986 when she had an inexplicably big British hit (the #2 “Starting Over”).  Also attempting to revitalise their music careers are a frail looking Kenny Lynch (7 Top 40 hits 1960-65), a vulnerable Anita Harris (3 Top 40 hits 1967-68) and the supremely confident Jess Conrad (just 1 Top 40 hit back in 1961).  Admittedly, all three of these were British film and TV regulars throughout the 60’s and 70’s- old troopers who just kept going after their hits dried up.  The baby of this musical bunch is 64 year old Bobby Crush, thrust into stardom as a teenager by Hughie Green’s “Opportunity Knocks” for his piano-playing and his David Cassidy-on-a-budget looks.  Comedy is represented by the aforementioned Messrs. Clifton, Cannon and Ball together with “star of TV’s “The Comedians”” Mick Miller whose “trademark” long hair of his bald patch Marino is keen to cut.

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 Bernie Clifton and ostrich

The whole thing was tinged with sadness as their big opportunity became shadowed by squabbles over bedrooms, over billing and dawning realisation that they may be getting in over their depth.  There is probably a reason why most of them never played American in their glory days.  And yet, I am willing them to shine.

vegas5This is how I will always remember Anita Harris – from “Carry On Doctor” with Sid James

 Towards the end of this first offering they watched  a show-reel of their acts in their younger days in what was an affecting few minutes of television.  Thus Su Pollard watched herself impersonate Gracie Fields on a Royal Variety Show (how lost this would be on a Vegas audience), Anita Harris performed in her slinky, sophisticated style, the comics were shown being funny and Mr Conrad and Lynch looked dapper and Bernie Clifton rode around faster on his ostrich.  The passage of time and the trials of being in the public eye, to some extent, for decades, showed on their faces but none more than on a tearful Bobby Crush, who was watching once again the unhappy young man, struggling to cope with sudden fame and sexuality, grinning at the camera as the show went on regardless.

 Bobby Crush – then and now

And this show will go on regardless over the next five week and I suspect ITV will be providing us with more tears through the laughter as well as quite a few more moments I’ll be peering through my fingers to watch. 

The whole idea might seem somewhat cruel and heartless but I’d like these unlikely Vegas stars to hit the jackpot so I’m going to continue to watch.

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Last Laugh In Vegas is being shown on Tuesdays at 9.00 pm on ITV1.  The first episode is available on the ITV Player