When did AYBS? take a plunge ????

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

In your humble opinion, do you feel that AYBS? took the plunge into mediocrity as the show wore on ?
Do you feel it took the plunge at all ???
Let us know !!!
Some would call this "Jumping The Shark", when a change or changes affects the feel of the show.

Step right up and place you vote on the poll and let your voice be heard !!!
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[Greg WibblyWobbly]

This is a little ditty from the past and I thought I would redo it for you guys and gals.

[Red Shadow]

I voted for "after Grainger left." I don't think the show started declining as a direct result of Arthur Brough's departure, but it seems to me to be the time when it started to decline. While I thought Arthur Brough's character was funny and very well acted, I think the show would have been ok with different senior assistants. However, once we started seeing new senior assistants, those seasons only featured one or two epsiodes each that I thought were very good. Most of them were average or below average.

[DebLovesJohnInman]

I voted for "When Lucas left". Mike Berry was okay but Trevor Bannister just had that "je na sais quoi". I think Trevor's shoes were hard to fill, so it wouldn't have mattered who replaced him. When an actor has had such a strong presence in a role, after they're gone...things aren't the same and it weakens the show.

:anglophile:

[blakey]

after arthur brough died, he was my favourite in that show :(

[missmacinthorpe]

I voted for "When the story lines were being repeated"; it seemed that in AYBS?'s later years every other story was a rehash of an earlier plot.

[Goldie]

I also went with when story lines started repeating..

[LovelyMissShirleyBrahms]

This one was a little difficult for me, but I went with 'When Lucas left' because I thought he was more funnier than Mr. Spooner.

[offthefloor]

I said after the trade of the Graces. Grainger was sad but couldn't be helped as Brough had died and Tebbs coulda worked but he never got enough of a chance due to Hayter's cake thing.

Lucas a tragic loss, but Mike Berry wasn't awful, I mean no one could follow up Lucas but when you put him on his own he was alright, not great but ok.

when they brought in OMG though it was just awful, every eppy with him it is was just sub par and difficult to watch because his character was so annoying, his Best Eppy was Front Page Story but I just wanna hit him in that eppy. He was sort of the straw that broke the camels back, I mean they did write him out but then it just never worked, like he was a curse or something, they never got back the magic.

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

I voted for "after Grainger left." I don't think the show started declining as a direct result of Arthur Brough's departure, but it seems to me to be the time when it started to decline. While I thought Arthur Brough's character was funny and very well acted, I think the show would have been ok with different senior assistants. However, once we started seeing new senior assistants, those seasons only featured one or two epsiodes each that I thought were very good. Most of them were average or below average.

This kind of goes with my way of thinking because the whole Grainger leaving/Humphries getting the lead happened at the same time.

For me it was when the Humphries character was getting at it's height of popularity so they had to write more of the show around him and Slocombe and I think that greatly effected the whole of the show.

[Eva]

I also went with when story lines started repeating..

So did I

[Sienna]

For me it was a tie between when Mr Lucas left and when OMG came in. I voted for the second, because OMG is quite possibly the only character in AYBS that I ever really hated (though Mr Grossman came close). It was like they tried to make him the same as YMG, with the secretaries and everything, but it never worked. To me, it was a thing that YMG got away with somehow, but OMG didn't.

[Melchett]

For me it was a tie between when Mr Lucas left and when OMG came in. I voted for the second, because OMG is quite possibly the only character in AYBS that I ever really hated (though Mr Grossman came close). It was like they tried to make him the same as YMG, with the secretaries and everything, but it never worked. To me, it was a thing that YMG got away with somehow, but OMG didn't.

Wasn't this essentially the same time? Lucas left at the end of Season 7, and YMG at the beginning of Season 8. So I couldn't really decide between these two...

[Evey]

I went for when OMG joined too, I was never crazy about him and he never seemed to gel with the rest of the cast. :shrug:

[minki]

I think it was when YMG left and OMG came on. The show was pretty late in its run, it lost almost all of its good seniors, and it seemed like they were trying too hard.

[sonosun]

I went with when the story lines began repeating.

[offthefloor]

Wasn't this essentially the same time? Lucas left at the end of Season 7, and YMG at the beginning of Season 8. So I couldn't really decide between these two...

I think it comes down to who you think was the worse replacement...Mr. Spooner or OMG...and I think OMG wins that by a mile

[Captain Peacock's Carnation]

When Mr. Mash left. Just kidding, I also agree it was when plots were rehashed from earlier seasons.

[Miss Humphries]

I picked when Mr. Grainger died. It was more that they cast Mr. Tebbs in the same character type as Mr. Grainger, same with when Trevor left and Mr. Spooner had the same antagonistic relationship with Mrs. Slocumbe. I certainly don't think Mr. Humphries gaining popularity had to do with it.

[BlissGirl]

This was a difficult choice. I went with the change in Graces. YMG had a certain whimsical innocence about him and OMG was just a disgusting old man. Spooner in the Lucas role was also a huge drop in quality. The antipathy between Slocumbe and Spooner seemed much too forced. The Slocumbe-Lucas battles seemed much more natural and balanced by an affection that you could sense between the two.

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

What I meant by "Humphries taking over the lead" was simply this.

In the early episodes (and this is all IMHO mind you) it was an ensemble piece. All characters more or less worked off each other. Everything seemed to be balanced in it's own little way.

Season 6 comes along and take an eppy like "By Appointment" for example. If you watch it close you can tell there was a lot of filler written for Humphries in this eppy. An eppy that 4 previous years ago would have taken 20 minutes to air but were extended to give Humphries more air time. Like the whole "Queen coming practice scene". This is in whole a Humphries vehicle, pushing out the other characters. From here it doesn't stop though. Then before too long we have it to the point where a once main character like Lucas is reduced to background fodder and Miss Brahms parts are thrown to her like a scrap of meat to a hungry dog. If you compare Series, take a look at how the earlier ones are written. The dialog goes around to each character so they each had something to say unless a certain eppy was about a certain character. The latter series are primarily about Slocombe and Humphries and once in a great while Peacock. Often at the risk of repeating story lines. Poor Miss Brahms, with all her years on the show had only ever gotten one show where the storyline revolves around her.

Hope this makes sense being written at 4:30AM. :shrug:

[amy2005]

i voted for 'when lucas left' because he was one of my favourite characters, and i loved some of the insults he had for people.

also, i think he seemed to fit in better with the rest of the characters, and it seemed more natural in a way.

when i watch episodes with mr spooner in, i often seem to end up thinking things like 'i wonder if mr lucas wouldve said that' or 'would they have still done the scene like that if he was there'

[Diana Yarswick]

I had to go for story lines repeating because up till then there was something new about each episode.

[sonosun]

I had to go for story lines repeating because up till then there was something new about each episode.

Amen Bruvver Diana!:mashhead:

[Dean]

When I came on the board, the index had this question "When did AYBS take a plunge?" and directly underneath that, it saud "Mr Grainger, in one word". Do you think the board is trying to have a vote! :)

My vote would be never...

[sonosun]

When I came on the board, the index had this question "When did AYBS take a plunge?" and directly underneath that, it saud "Mr Grainger, in one word". Do you think the board is trying to have a vote! :)

Hmmmm could be. :lol: