TV Shows "borrowing" from steptoe and son.

[Dirty Old Yank]

...highly predictable stances - less polarised in todays climate- taken by rival political schools of thought.

What rivals? Sanctioned practitioners have become (mostly) indistinguishable, and as the mad among them grow worse, the easier it is for extremists to appear moderate. Calculated, ever diminishing returns. You've raised another key point, are Steptoe episodes like "Tea For Two" and "My Old Man's A Tory" apolitical? Perhaps, yet they have a comedic conscience that cannot be denied and do not age. Did Steptoe raise the bar too high? lol pull the other one Cheers Ben

[Ben Rigsby]

What rivals? Sanctioned practitioners have become (mostly) indistinguishable, and as the mad among them grow worse, the easier it is for extremists to appear moderate. Calculated, ever diminishing returns. You've raised another key point, are Steptoe episodes like "Tea For Two" and "My Old Man's A Tory" apolitical? Perhaps, yet they have a comedic conscience that cannot be denied and do not age.[/quote]

agree with your first point totally! but what are we gonna DO about it?

i certainly hope i dont start any kind of Steptoe fan flame war over politics or anything (our Steptoe BOND is worth more than that eh?) but i cant help wondering how many on here would side with Albert and how many with Harold (or the yellow-bellies in between)?

Steptoe strikes me as apolitical. if G & S ever tried to promote any kind of ideological stance in their writing then it was -at least for this thicko - too subtle to register.
and therefore, from their point of view, a failure.

Yank, you were also bang on about the 1. laudable "comedic conscience" and 2. the timelessness of Steptoe i thought.
the series confronts the viewer with despairing social issues of the day, like poverty (ditto 2013) but also addresses the (often dysfunctional) complexity of close familial relationships - an issue relevant to any social class that will continue for as long as there are human beans (IE before we become digital flesh robots or summat).
Steptoe And Son remains relevant!

BTW Harry and Phil and my earlier OFAH 'fart' post:

youre probably right guys, the memorys not so good these days.........

im an old man!!!!

[Dirty Old Yank]

...our Steptoe BOND is worth more than that eh?

1000 quid, plus profits (second movie)
As stated elsewhere, writers for television be they satirists or dramatists, that have seen Steptoe and deny it's influence upon their own work probably aren't being entirely truthful. Ahead of it's time and still is, and as you've pointed out still relevant, not just a time capsule. Though I've often wondered if some wouldn't prefer it was a time capsule, buried and forgotten, the show set such a wonderfully high standard for quality. Of course creativity isn't about oneupmanship but Steptoe is a challenge aspiring and established writers should face. Phil once suggested Ray & Alan's scripts should be taught in schools and I heartily agree. What a brilliant teaching tool! If kids are having fun they're much more likely to learn, seems so basic! lol
Fear based education, the "benefit" of negative reinforcement is as ugly and outdated as Pavlov.

Another bit...."The Addams Family", the original 1960's series....didn't it seem the Addams set bore a striking resemblance to Steptoe? A larger stage, but lots of crazy stuff cobbled together, taxidermy all over the place including a bear, very much like Oil Drum Lane.

[PhilGlass]

Another bit...."The Addams Family", the original 1960's series....didn't it seem the Addams set bore a striking resemblance to Steptoe? A larger stage, but lots of crazy stuff cobbled together, taxidermy all over the place including a bear, very much like Oil Drum Lane.

The bear gets around. In the episode of OFAH "It's Only Rock and Roll" there is a stuffed bear in Del's garage!

[Dirty Old Yank]

...The bear gets around.

Moose too. More than a decade before Fawlty Towers, the Addams set had a moose head hanging in the lounge...the same left antler pointing in the wrong direction

[Ilovesteptoe]

Now thinking about it there is a similarity to Fankie Barrow and the Only fools and Horses heavies. Henry Woolf by the way now lives in Canada since moving with hisa wife 1983 as an Acting/drama teacher and is still going strong aged 83. I also loved him post Steptoe in the 70's made for School educational show "Words and pictures" with egg head Wordy when I was a kid in School.

[Dirty Old Yank]

Steptoe episode ‘Pot Black’ (1970) opens with Harold discovering one of Albert’s false teeth in his steak and kidney, “This isn’t one of mine! You’ve been decorating pastry again!”

An opening scene of Tobe Hooper’s horror/comedy ‘Texas Chainsaw II’ (1986) has clansman/cook Drayton Sawyer (the brilliant Jim Siedow) accepting a Best Chili trophy in an interstate competition. As he begins his acceptance speech, the woman that presented his award greedily spoons chili into her mouth and discovers a tooth....and it’s not one of hers. Sawyer snatches it away and says, “Oops, must be one of them hard shell peppercorns!”

If only Albert had thought of that

[Archie]

I watched a documentary about Leonard Rossiter earlier on no mention of his 2 appearances on Steptoe. But in a clip from Rising Damp I noticed that Alan and Philip who were medical students had a skeleton hanging near the door in their flat

[Ilovesteptoe]

I watched a documentary about Leonard Rossiter earlier on no mention of his 2 appearances on Steptoe. But in a clip from Rising Damp I noticed that Alan and Philip who were medical students had a skeleton hanging near the door in their flat

You've got to ask yourself the credibility of the so-called researchers on these documentaries with their facts or lack of. Most weren't even born when Leonard sadly passed in 1984 let alone were alive when he was at his height although that shouldn't be a barrier to obtaining relevant information about his TV & Filmography.

[Dolly_Clackett]

Hello to everyone, my first post...been a fan and apostle of Steptoe and Son since an early age.

I'm quite surprised reading this thread that many people have questioned the similarities, at least initially. I have always seen Only Fools as a re-imagining of Steptoe and was always aware of the credit John Sullivan gave to it.

Sullivan is standing on the shoulders of Galton & Simpson. I always imagined the Trotters being relations of the Steptoe's.

In the OFAH episode "Only Rock 'n Roll" we see the inside of the Trotters garage...and it's there plain to see...a big stuffed bear.

[Ilovesteptoe]

Hello and welcome DC, (we're not formal here) unless you prefer Mrs, Miss or Mizz Clackett? Anyhoo, how's they hangin.

Re Steptoe & OFAH. They say imitation is a form of flattery, or plagiary.

[The late Mrs Steptoe]

Hello to everyone, my first post...been a fan and apostle of Steptoe and Son since an early age.

I'm quite surprised reading this thread that many people have questioned the similarities, at least initially. I have always seen Only Fools as a re-imagining of Steptoe and was always aware of the credit John Sullivan gave to it.

Sullivan is standing on the shoulders of Galton & Simpson. I always imagined the Trotters being relations of the Steptoe's.

In the OFAH episode "Only Rock 'n Roll" we see the inside of the Trotters garage...and it's there plain to see...a big stuffed bear.

Hi DC! And a very belated welcome. Sorry about that but I've been here there and everywhere (except here, of course) for the last so many weeks. Anyway - there is a sort of connection here, with a much repeated comedic scene;

Did you know... the famous 'brush' gag in OFAH was actually in Open All Hours - first and 15 years earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77pAE1s ... b5PfLDm3jj

At 0:37 seconds in. Not the raucous laughter as in Only Fools though eh? It makes me wonder if David Jason 'suggested' something about the joke to John Sullivan at some point? I'd say I love OAH and OFAH about equally and it stopped me in my tracks the other week to see this here when I watched the complete series through on DVD because I've always considered this to be my favourite episode.

And after suddenly getting properly addicted to Steptoe in the 90s (the 'lost' BBC2 re-runs played no small part in that) after seeing and loving episodes since I can remember, I was seeing Del and co in very similar situations and thinking it was just my imagination going silly or something. I'm also glad that people have mentioned Hancock's Half Hour being something of an influence on the much later Bottom. Just without the naughty language and extreme violence, perhaps.

[Ilovesteptoe]

Anyone seen the comedy series Bowler (1973) with the late Actor George Baker? Reason asking was has anyone noticed the similarity with his character and Del boy of Only Fools and Horses , indeed Steptoe as George's portrayal of Bowler sounded a bit like Harry H, with both salt of the earth type who used French terminology, although saying that Frankie Barrow (Henry Woolf) out of Steptoe did similar, so maybe he has a shout too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cmd4QZr5ao

[Dirty Old Yank]

In “Robbery With Violence” (1970) Albert and Harold don’t know why exemplars would be necessary.
And the ink quickly finds its way onto the inspector’s coat.
There’s a virtually identical scene, note for note, in “Raising Arizona” (1987).
Happenstance? No chance .

[Ilovesteptoe]

In “Robbery With Violence” (1970) Albert and Harold don’t know why exemplars would be necessary.
And the ink quickly finds its way onto the inspector’s coat.
There’s a virtually identical scene, note for note, in “Raising Arizona” (1987).
Happenstance? No chance .

They say imitation is a form of flattery. Others call it plagiarism.