Great opening credits sung by Roy Wood showing people trying to get into a pub. I personally did not think it was as good as OTT. Not live and pre - recorded in a different pub each week, varying members of the cast hung around the bar doing different sketches. It had its merits with bands like Thin Lizzy, Chas and Dave and Rocky Sharpe and the replays, playing in a small pub and Jim Bowen telling jokes. This is probably what OTT would have been if it wasn't live, and this is what I think let it down. Stayback was centered more on the adult late night show, it could be argued that OTT was more an adult version of Tiswas, as the custard pie element was still there and the anarchy of Tiswas. Chris once said in a Tiswas magazine that Tiswas would not work if it was pre-recorded and I don't think OTT would have lasted 13 episodes if it had been, and this is what I think led to the demise of Stayback.
2 Reviews
Stayback? More like comeback!
Robsnide7 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
'Saturday Stayback' is a term coined to describe after-hours drinking ( in the days when pubs had to close by eleven p.m. ). It was also the name of this short-lived Central Television series, which saw Chris Tarrant back on the box following the flop that was 'O.T.T.' ( Over The Top ) the year before.
So what was 'Saturday Stayback' all about? Well, it consisted of songs and sketches, just like its predecessor. There was Bob Carolgees with 'Spit the dog', there was lovely Helen Atkinson-Wood, again kneeing Chris in the groin as the punchline to virtually every other sketch. The humour was on the same moronic level. This was not so much 'alternative comedy' as alternative-to-comedy.
Its main gimmick was that it was filmed on location in various British pubs. I used to get a perverse laugh from the bemused looks on the faces of the regular drinkers as their hostelries were invaded by Tarrant and co. One night, I thought, some alkie is going to give Chris a good hiding, but it never happened.
When the sketches failed to raise a laugh ( which was often ), canned laughter would be liberally employed to spare the cast's blushes. The main problem with the show was obvious - you just cannot replicate a boozy pub atmosphere on television, no matter how hard you try.
On the plus side, 'S.S.' ( Sieg Heil! ) gave early television exposure to Phil Cool and Tony Slattery, so it was not a total loss.
If nothing else, you have to give Tarrant credit for nerve. After 'O.T.T.', he ought to have done an about-face and tried to produce something new but instead he gave us 'Son Of O.T.T.'. Yes it was better than its predecessor, but that is not saying an awful lot. 'S.S.' is better than 'O.T.T.' in the same way that a nosebleed is better than piles. Neither are much fun.
So what was 'Saturday Stayback' all about? Well, it consisted of songs and sketches, just like its predecessor. There was Bob Carolgees with 'Spit the dog', there was lovely Helen Atkinson-Wood, again kneeing Chris in the groin as the punchline to virtually every other sketch. The humour was on the same moronic level. This was not so much 'alternative comedy' as alternative-to-comedy.
Its main gimmick was that it was filmed on location in various British pubs. I used to get a perverse laugh from the bemused looks on the faces of the regular drinkers as their hostelries were invaded by Tarrant and co. One night, I thought, some alkie is going to give Chris a good hiding, but it never happened.
When the sketches failed to raise a laugh ( which was often ), canned laughter would be liberally employed to spare the cast's blushes. The main problem with the show was obvious - you just cannot replicate a boozy pub atmosphere on television, no matter how hard you try.
On the plus side, 'S.S.' ( Sieg Heil! ) gave early television exposure to Phil Cool and Tony Slattery, so it was not a total loss.
If nothing else, you have to give Tarrant credit for nerve. After 'O.T.T.', he ought to have done an about-face and tried to produce something new but instead he gave us 'Son Of O.T.T.'. Yes it was better than its predecessor, but that is not saying an awful lot. 'S.S.' is better than 'O.T.T.' in the same way that a nosebleed is better than piles. Neither are much fun.
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