Shark Bytes

Read ver' carefully, I shall type this only wonce...

I haven't seen any of the episodes beyond season 5 yet, so I haven't experienced the sorrow of seeing Jack Haig or Richard Gibson replaced, but I trust the producers. When the actress playing Maria left, it didn't affect me much; she was talented, but not as maniacally hilarious as Sue Hodge playing the fierce-but-diminutive Mimi. Sam Kelly was brilliant as Hans, but Guy Siner's equally clever, nuanced portrayal of Lt. Gruber made up for the loss, to me.

The point is: in the episodes I've seen so far, the casting has been inspired. No one could ever play the re-worked roles the same way, but only exquisite performers were cast early on, and I don't expect any less in the later series.

Brilliant use of accents (especially with the british agent who is poor at speaking french - brilliant!), inuendo, and common prejudice.

Herr Flick was definitely the funniest character.

When Hans left!

Oh so many... so very, very many.

The loss of Helga and Hans, and the replacement of the original Herr Flick, meant that the only reasons for watching the show had gone. And how many bloody Leclercs were there?

It was never much cop to start with, if truth be known.

Gorden Kaye was never quite the same after his catastrophic interface with a tree, either. He often looked rather spaced in the lateer seasons.

I think the closest 'Allo 'Allo came to a jump was when David Janson replaced Richard Gibson as Herr Flick (as if anyone COULD replace him!) Luckily it was only for the final season, though. And I kind of missed Hans, but Bertorelli was also funny, and I appreciated that rather than put an entirely new character into Hans's place alongside the Colonel, they moved Gruber more into that role and beefed up his screentime considerably. I don't think it ever really jumped. Consistently hilarious from the first episode. I love this show so much.

Actually, both exit, stage left and death apply here. It all started with the departure of Sam Kelly. Captain Bertorelli was not a very good replacement for Captain Geering. Jack Haig died, Richard Gibson moved on to films. How anyone could think he could be replaced as Otto Flick is outrageous.

What a marriage of ensemble cast and funny writing. Gibson's Flick and Bostrom's Crabtree are two of the finest acts in tv comedy series, and there were so many others. I don't regularly look forward to many series on TV but this was one I couldn't wait for each week, and it never failed to entertain.

Oh, I don't know that this show ever jumped the shark. It did go on for an age, and the once voluptuous Vicki Michelle did begin to look a bit like mutton dressed as, well, mutton by the episodes with the gypsy fair staged in the square. I know that they obviously had to string out one-joke characters ('I was just pissing by your door', 'my little tank', 'GENERAL VON KLINKERHOFFEN!, etc.), but the very fact they managed to set a comedy in such a dark period (Lord, it even featured a JEWISH tailor from London at one point!) and the familiarity of the catchphrases of many of the (now late - Carmen Silvera, Kenneth Connor, Hilary Minster, Richard Marner, Rose Hill) cast makes all the episodes pretty watchable. I think, for me, the biggest disappointment was the fact that Michelle barely appeared at all in the final episode. She's an interesting character to watch, as in the pilot she is anything but funny and actually holds Rene at gunpoint with two (male, rather than female bobbysoxed) heavies to back her up. I think her highpoints were singing 'Shine On Harvest Moon' with Officer Crabtree as a replacement for the tone-deaf Mme. Edith, and her flashing her bikini-clad legs under her mac: 'Look very carefully, I shall show these only once!'

This show 'jumped the shark' when David Croft left the scene (in terms of producing), and John B Hobbs entered. The show had an almighty jump which didn't make any sense, and the jokes were toned down dramatically (as compared to the first time).

'Allo 'Allo was consistently funny until Hans left. He was by far the most likeable fake Nazi on TV. After this point, the series dwindled. Those complaining of the re-casting of herr Flick should be glad that you didn't have to put up with the 'Allo 'Allo stage show that toured Australia. Fortunately, Gordon Kaye made it here, (I had never looked forward so much to hearing someone say "Yooooou Stuuupid Woman!!" in my life). Unfortunately we had an actor called Max Gillies play Flick. He's a renowned character actor down here but he sucked ass, and was totally miscast as the evil Flick.

The show stayed entertaining to the end. THE GOOD: Herr Flick #1, Geering, Bertorelli #1, Maria, Mimi (not a very important change really), Roger Leclerc, Ernest Leclerc (his brother) #1 (also a change I could live with). THE BAD: Herr Flick #2 (Richard Gibson's wonderful deadpan performance could not be duplicated by another actor!), Bertorelli #2, Ernest Leclerc #2.

The first series was wonderful, full of good storywriting and concepts. Then the jokes just got old and repetitive. Jumped after that first series.

I could've cared less that Maria left the show, but it really did jump the shark when Hans left. He was my favorite character on the show and my main reason for watching. When he left the show, it just wasn't the same. The Colonel wasn't even the same after that. He just seemed boring without Hans to get into trouble with, or to "have a cuddle" with the waitresses at the cafe with. The Colonel barely ever got together with them after that. Except maybe once or twice he went upstairs with Yvette. I did, however, continue watching the series and I was glad to see him come back for one episode and tie up the loose end of what happened to him when he was taken away by the girls of the resistance. Also,I got used to the first Bertorelli, but the second actor who played him was terrible (another JTS moment). And I didn't like them changing LeClerc either. Jack Haig brought alot of mischievous humor to the character and when he passed away, they should have just written the character off somehow instead of replacing him.

Toned down menace of Gibson's character after pilot. Only reason most people tuned in was for Maria who fell foul of the Broadcast House Gestapo. Replaced by what looked like a poodle on two legs.

I don't think it ever really jumped. One of the best things about it was that even though Rene was a coward, he was a "fleshed-out" one, instead of a stereotyped French coward, which is one of those jokes that comedies fall back on constantly (and not just in the past few months). Also, Arthur Bostrom,the "Crabtree" actor, was very funny, partly because he had a slight resemblance to Peter Cook, and like him, he would say ridiculous things with a deadly serious look on his face. One thing I liked about it was the "cartoon violence", where no one on either side (even one-time characters) would get killed (since it wasn't meant to be realistic in the first place). That's why I didn't like the late episode where two Germans were killed (one, I think, was played by David Janson before he played Herr Flick). On Hogan's Heroes this happened, but on 'Allo,'Allo it didn't fit. And on top of that, the next episode was still about them, and become one of those comedies about hiding a dead body, which there have already been so many of. There was one running gag I never seemed to like (on 'Allo 'Allo or elsewhere), and that was when men had to disguise themselves as women (usually in some dangerous situation), but didn't have to shave off their moustaches (in a far-fetched story, it's often the smaller far-fetched things that seem to spoil the story, and this was one in my case). But these are about my only complaints.