What can you say about "Hancock's Half Hour" - just the most superlative of comedies, one that has you laughing just as hard today as in the fifties!!I was familiar with the classic episodes like "The Economy Drive", "The Ladies Man" and "Blood Donor" and
I had seen a few that were gathered together in the 1980s under Classic Hancock but this particular set features every surviving "Hancock's Half Hour" and the later "Hancock" show. From "The New Nose" where Tony resorts to desperate measures to change his old nose that happens to be the height of hilarity according to all the girls he dates!! To "Ericsson the Viking" in which Sid tries to persuade him to ditch comedy and take up historical dramas. There are times (in several of the episodes) when no one can keep a straight face, when someone flubs a line and Hancock saves the day by telling a joke or just cracking up!!!
"The Set That Failed" was an extremely topical look at how television had encroached on British life in the late 1950s. Tony's set is broken and he grits his teeth, determined to spend the night "setless" but not knowing how!! When he hears the familiar theme of "Robin Hood" through the walls he just has to find a working set, come what may. Sid James was a terrific asset but the interesting thing about seeing all the episodes is that Tony and Sid weren't always a couple of likely lads from East Cheam!! The initial episodes experimented with Hancock in a variety of occupations - as a lawyer trying to defend shyster Sid in "The Crown Vs. Sid James" and as an airline steward in "The Last Airline Steward Hancock".
Just tremendous viewing.
I had seen a few that were gathered together in the 1980s under Classic Hancock but this particular set features every surviving "Hancock's Half Hour" and the later "Hancock" show. From "The New Nose" where Tony resorts to desperate measures to change his old nose that happens to be the height of hilarity according to all the girls he dates!! To "Ericsson the Viking" in which Sid tries to persuade him to ditch comedy and take up historical dramas. There are times (in several of the episodes) when no one can keep a straight face, when someone flubs a line and Hancock saves the day by telling a joke or just cracking up!!!
"The Set That Failed" was an extremely topical look at how television had encroached on British life in the late 1950s. Tony's set is broken and he grits his teeth, determined to spend the night "setless" but not knowing how!! When he hears the familiar theme of "Robin Hood" through the walls he just has to find a working set, come what may. Sid James was a terrific asset but the interesting thing about seeing all the episodes is that Tony and Sid weren't always a couple of likely lads from East Cheam!! The initial episodes experimented with Hancock in a variety of occupations - as a lawyer trying to defend shyster Sid in "The Crown Vs. Sid James" and as an airline steward in "The Last Airline Steward Hancock".
Just tremendous viewing.