Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 347987" data-attributes="member: 23">Well, last night I came to the end of GUAC episodes - at least as far as the playlists created on a certain video sharing site go - with the final available 1991 episode. With the daytime version of the series, my pace has significantly slowed down from the "several episodes a day" pace at which I began devouring the series to just an occasional few episodes here and there. There are several reasons for this, I suspect. Firstly, life's got a little busier and I've found myself with less spare time to watch TV - certainly during the daytime when I'd usually sneak in a few GUACs (work shifts and other such trivialities permitting). Secondly the novelty has worn off and I have probably run out of that initial burst of excitement for the series as the familiar kicks in. By virtue of its format, the episodes can be a little "samey" (a comforting factor which is also a key reason the series is so appealing and accessible). They're designed to be watched regularly, but probably not "binge-watched" in the way many viewers consume TV series today. This is no bad thing. While I can occasionally watch some series at quite a pace (my greatest "achievement" in this regard" being devouring almost 1000 episodes' worth of Sons And Daughters in the space of little more than five months), I'm generally an advocate of less being more. Not that GUAC episodes need time to resonate or settle as a powerful drama might, but the adage about familiarity breeding contempt isn't untrue. The final reason is simply that, as previously mentioned, Parkinson hasn't stopped ranging from irritating to insufferable as chairman and I can only take him in small doses. While I've found myself almost always rooting for the men's team to win because of the negative impact Parky's bias has had on Lionel and his team, as the episodes have progressed I've also wondered if the women, too, don't appreciate his interference. Increasingly as I've watched, I've tried to understand what's going on and concluded that his favouritism may stem from a very condescending belief that the women are somehow less capable than the men. I'd be fascinated to have known what those appearing on the series - especially Lionel and Liza - really thought of his chairmanship. There appears to be a great deal of warmth between him and Liza and it's plain he's fond of her. It comes across as a two-way thing and she seems, if anything, to appreciate his favouritism. There's certainly no sign of her discouraging him (and there have been female players on the series who have blatantly fallen back on their femininity to appeal to Parky at times in order to get an extra point or two). But then Liza is a professional, and I suspect has good working relationships with her colleagues. If she did resent his interference, I very much doubt it would come across on-screen, and the dynamic between them would probably not be very different even if he didn't interfere. I really wonder what her experience of Parky was as they would have spent a lot of time together. I must confess I've had questions about Parkinson's attitudes towards women. There's a whole lot of condescension wrapped up as chivalry, but there's also a lot of what would now be considered unacceptable behaviour and comments. Some of this is no doubt simply a sign of the times (and, as I commented in the Una Stubbs era, Aspel made the occasional eyebrow-raising comment about the women's nubile charms). But there's just something I find extremely icky when Parky makes comments about the women's attractiveness or short skirts or whatever, There's also something about the way he gazes adoringly up at the prettier female players as they come up to collect their cards from him that doesn't always sit well with me. And there's also an over-familiarity present with the women sometimes that you don't see with the men. In one of the latter episodes, for example, he called Upstairs Downstairs' Nicola Pagett over mid-charade to offer his unsolicited guidance on how to act something out. In order to whisper in her ear, he stood up and leaned over the desk, putting his hands all over her shoulders, arms and back as he whispered. To me, it looked uncomfortably - and unnecessarily - intimate. Other pieces of the puzzle - such as Parky's infamously awkward <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blpq-Iwu25s" target="_blank">grilling of Meg Ryan</a> - only add to the questions I have. For his part - and to his huge credit - Lionel seems to have relaxed over Parky's interference. I suspect he's accepted that the situation isn't going to change and has decided to make the best of it. In these latter episodes, there's a lot less tut-tutting or under-the-breath comments from him when Parkinson does something to enable Liza's team to win. He continues to enjoy the company of his teammates, with lots of genuine laughter when Kenny Everett or Bernie Winters are larking around. And his team have genuinely thrashed Liza's team now and then, despite all efforts by Parky to scupper them. Revisiting the series has made me realise what a class act Lionel is, how he's shown himself to be the bigger person in what appeared to be a spat with Parkinson, and how much blooming fun he appears to be. Parkinson aside, the daytime/Liza version of the series has proved in all other regards at least as watchable as the primetime/Una iteration. In many ways even more so: the format is perfected and the shorthands and rules mostly better understood. There are some exuberant guests doing their thing. The set looks great. And the catchy theme song is so perfect and catchy I found myself wishing it had come along many years earlier than it did. With the Aspel/Una era being released on DVD in its entirety, I'm sure I'll take the plunge soon and invest in a copy, and I'll be back in this thread when I finally get round to watching it. However, I'm on the fence with the Parkinson era. As mentioned, there's a lot in its favour, and one can never have too much of wonderful players like Kenny Everett, Derek Griffiths, Dave Lee Travis, Paula Wilcox or Christopher Biggins (special mention to Thelma Barlow - the best title-guesser in series history. She got almost every title within seconds, leaving me wondering if she'd been rummaging through the cards when nobody was looking). But I fear my blood pressure would be adversely affected if I had to sit through EVERY Parkinson episode.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?

Poison your name this Hallowe'en

There's plenty of time to choose your spooky October username

Click here for more details

Reply to thread