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The Complete Filthy, Rich and Catflap DVDA review by Michael Monkhouse
Now I remember when this show first cropped up, that's how ancient I am. It didn't help that it dragged along in the wake of the mighty blockbusting ball-battering 'The Young Ones', and was forever destined to suffer in comparison. Nor did it help that Ben Elton wrote it in (a) a flush of enthusiasm-but-no-discipline, (b) around about thirty milliseconds and (c) the belief that Rik Mayall was gonna be helping him punch up the scripts later on, only by the time he actually found out, it was - yikes! - time to start shooting. 'Cause neither is Auntie Beeb's schedule particularly helpful when it comes to last-minute rewrites. So ultimately, it was simply a case of making the best of a bad job. And yup, it shows. So what's the raison d'être behind this ill-conceived beast? Well it's a little hard to say. Basically you get the core of the 'Young Ones' team doing carbon copies of their glorious former selves (except Nigel Planer of course, he looks like he doesn't quite know what he's meant to be doing). Pity there are none of the quirks and the sparks and the spikes that made said series so inspiring - no puppetry, no live band mashing things up, none of those delightful wedged-in skits that seem irrelevant until you see them again. The overall premise is a bit dodgy too: a never-really-ever-has-been tries to get back on the telly where he's convinced he belongs. The characters are neither perfectly-formed nor dramatically independent - a manic show-stealer (Rik Mayall, now what a range of comic personalities that guy has), his piss-headed minder, his piss-headeder agent. And the storylines are, technically speaking, so much gnats' piss - like they try to blackmail the entire cast of British TV so Richie can take over the airwaves. They do and he does. The end... So the only way they can liven things up is by resorting to cheesy asides-to-camera, music-hall slapstick and the perennial fart gag. (There's a doorbell that's supposed to sound like a fart. Only it doesn't really. And even if it did, it isn't sufficiently sustained to make it a series trade-mark) Whereas any silly sod knows that decent sitcom humour is drawn organically out of the situation and how the characters react to the situation, it ain't just strung-together sketches and one-liners clumsily forced into the guys' mouths.
Yeah, I know it sounds crazy after everything I just said. And I admit it, a lot of it is steaming elephant poo. Like if I was trying explain to someone just why I was so dazzled by the 'Young Ones', this point in their career I'd come somewhere below the area of Rik's bottom. But hell, even if it ain't hilarious, it is entertaining. (The show, not Rik's bottom.) Most of it's entertaining anyway, in fact a couple of episodes really are damn funny. Like the one where Richie tries to take over a smutty game show ('Oo-Er, Sounds A Bit Rude'), and being Richie he thinks the more everyone hates his guts the more they're loving him to bits. Or the one where Mel Smith appears as fatso bastard Beeb impresario, all matey and boys'-changing-roomy and sexisty just because he wants to nick Richie's idea for a variety show ('All-Star Golfin' Secrets!!!'). There are funny moments galore... Richie's convinced he's got some horrible disease so he gets Eddie to check out his bottom and wails:"Can you see anything disgusting?"... Eddie tries to salvage Catflap's grand outa the bog. Richie: "Phoo! That lav stinks like nobody's business." Eddie: "It's the sewer. It smells like everybody's business..." Oh, and getting Rik Mayall all adolescent and limp-wristed over his 'favourite four-tissue fantasy' the Nolans then having them play cameo roles is a marvelous coup. Even Anne Diamond gets a look-in ("You really are as sweet and nice as you appear on breakfast TV aren't you?"... "Yes. I'm lovely.") In fact, there are plenty of cameos to keep sad little comedy train-spotters like myself amused: Fry and Laurie, Hale and Pace, Linda Bellingham, David Baddiel, even Barbara bloody Windsor... Look, this DVD's worth buying. Especially at its price of one pint of cider and a chicken kebab. If nothing else, you could see it as a trial run for 'Bottom', and that one's become a Great British Institution... Now that is funny! Buy the DVD now:
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© 2008 British Sitcom Guide.
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FILTHY, RICH AND CATFLAP
Despite this, I like Filthy, Rich and Catflap!
