I feel honour-bound to vote Only Fools, as when it was great it was *so great, and its mid-period episodes, when Rodney met Cassandra, were really strong, and perceptive in their jabs at the yuppie-era and Thatcher's Britain, and the characters still seem very real to me (at least until the later series, were they became so broad and caricature).
Citizen Smith I had much affection for, not least as I am a Tooting boy myself. But it really is a show that should stay in the memory; I remember buying the first season DVD when it was released, and finding it really stiff and unfunny and rote-sitcom. Rock & Chips showed promise, though - another reason it's a shame Sullivan died so young.
Dear John was great - again, great characters, and even though I've not seen it in years and years, there are jokes from it I can still remember, and which still make me laugh.
I think Just Good Friends is his best show, however. The will-they/won't-they romcom conceit never feels overstretched, and its dramatic touches work well, and never at the expense of the comedy; the families are hilarious and very well-drawn; and the leads are excellent, and play their roles brilliantly - Nicholas as the irredeemable charmer and Lothario was never more charming, and Jan Francis was just the right combination of brittle, bristling and beguiling. And that weird Xmas special, which traced their relationship before the show began, was a gem.
The rest of that stuff is either garbage (Green Green Grass) or I've not seen it.
― Rallsballs@onelist.com (stevie), Tuesday, 6 January 2015 22:22 (nine years ago) link
I'd totally forgotten about Roger Roger and Heartburn Hotel tbh. I thought Sullivan wrote Lucky Feller as well, but that was Terence Frisby apparently
― soref, Tuesday, 6 January 2015 22:33 (nine years ago) link
I need to get the Dear John DVD. I keep asking for it every xmas but my other half is like "No you don't really want that." It was filmed in my neck of the woods - John drives past my dentists (the Patrick Doody Clinic) at one point.
― Rallsballs@onelist.com (stevie), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 09:07 (nine years ago) link
Voted Dear John – haven't seen them in years, but as an early pubescent I was drawn to this and Ever Decreasing Circles.
I loved then hated OFAH. Bit of distance now, I'd probably enjoy it again - retro Peckham thrills.
― woof, Wednesday, 7 January 2015 10:29 (nine years ago) link
Yeah that Dear John Kirk reveal was amazing. Voting for Just Good Friends though, for Vince's family and Penny's mother.
― nate woolls, Wednesday, 7 January 2015 10:33 (nine years ago) link
stevie's summary of Sullivan's career is fairer and more accurate than my flipness, i was very into Just Good Friends at the time tho i can't for the life of me remember why now except some bitter edge to it that appealed to my teen gloom maybe
― Gombeen Dance Band (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 17:59 (nine years ago) link
three weeks pass...