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From: ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian)
Newsgroups: net.tv
Subject: Re: greatest tv program ever?? (Fall Rise Reg Per)
Message-ID: <383@wjvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 19-Mar-85 22:07:39 EST
Article-I.D.: wjvax.383
Posted: Tue Mar 19 22:07:39 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 20-Mar-85 01:43:53 EST
References: <1027@reed.UUCP>
Organization: Watkins Johnson, San Jose, Calif.
Lines: 45

***MILD SPOILER WARNING***

'Fall and rise of Reggie' greatest tv program ever?  I think not.

It is good, I agree.  I saw all of them, (some twice and thrice)
and I enjoyed them immensely.  But a few things bother me about
the show, the chief amoung them being the lack of characterization
of the supporting parts.  Everyone is a straight person for Rossiter.

The character of Reggie's friend (the one that keeps saying "Bit
of a cock up on the (whatever) front" played by Geoffrey Palmer)
is particularly one-dimensional.  Watch Palmer in 'Butterflies',
where he plays the main supporting roll, and 'The Last Song', his
own show, and then watch him in 'Fall and Rise'.  What a waste of
a fine actor.

The same is true for CJ, ("I didn't get where I am today..") Reggie's
wife (wasn't she also Sybill of Fawlty Towers?) his two co workers,
("Super!" and "Repetition City, Arizona".) and his son-in-law.  ("I'm
not very good at (whatever)".  Or is it "I'm not a (whatever) man".
I forget.)  One knows them only by their particular verbal cliches.
The only exceptions were the Irish farm worker Reggie hires as management
consultant (who turns out to be a genius) and to a lesser extent
Reggie's secretary.  (Names fail me at the moment.)

During the first two or three episodes I was rolling on the floor,
but it gets harder and harder to dredge up the yucks after the 53rd
repitition of "47 minutes late (whatever excuse)".  The show *does*
get more interesting as you start following Reggie's fall and eventual
rise, but at this point the old cliches just get in the way.

As a side note, it occured to me after the second viewing that an
ideal place to end the series was where Reggie and his wife are
looking through the telescope at all his friends throwing off their
old identities, and Reggie says, "You see, everyone's doing it."
The show got much weaker after that.

It's a good show, but with a little more thought and material it could
have been a great show.  Give me the gentle philosophizing of 'Butterflies'
or the verbal interaction of 'Good Neighbors', for greater continuing interest.
-- 
__
	Ron Christian  (Watkins-Johnson Co.  San Jose, Calif.)
	{pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,isi,idx}!wjvax!ron
	"...so I did a 'fmt trip.report > trip.report' and..."