Only Fools and Horses: The Untold Story of Britain's Favourite Comedy

by Graham McCann

In September 1981, BBC One screened the pilot episode of a British sitcom set in a high-rise block of council flats in Peckham, south London—9 million people tuned in. 15 years, seven series and more than 60 episodes later, 24.3 million people watched the final installment of Only Fools and Horses —over a third of the British population, and the largest audience for a sitcom ever recorded. On the 30th anniversary of the show, Britain's favorite entertainment writer celebrates Britain's best-loved sitcom.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comedy, Humor, Tv, Biography

344 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

Reviews

[Tonkica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graham McCann donosi priču o sitcomu uz koji su odrastale, a nadam se da će i odrastati mnoge generacije. U rujnu 1981. godine serija je započela skoro pa nezapaženo – bez potpore matične televizijske kuće i uvijek na rubu otkazivanja, no kako svi dobro znamo, serija je s vremenom stekla kultni status. Koliko kultni najbolje govori podatak da je broj gledatelja u jednom trenutku doveo do pada napona u električnoj mreži Velike Britanije.

Cijeli osvrt pronađite ovdje: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...

[Petra Valković · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Žuta trokolica. Čovječuljak s plosnatom kapom i darom za brbljanje. Viši, mlađi momak trajno izgubljenog izraza lica. Poslovi, snovi, prevare i katastrofe. Ogromni kristalni luster koji se rasuo po podu. Rupa gdje je trebao biti poklopac otvora za opskrbu bara. I stalno ponavljana mantra: ' U ovo doba sljedeće godine bit ćemo milijunaši!' Ovo je samo nekoliko primjera koji nam odmah padnu na pamet kada pomislimo na sjajni britanski sitcom Mućke." - Graham McCann

Listu mogu nizati samo tako, sipati iz rukava. Jer Mućke (Only Fools and Horses) su meni bile i ostale apsolutni favorit među serijama, a izrazi koje sam tamo čula, pogotovo Delboyeve francuske fraze, urezale su mi se u pamćenje toliko duboko da ih i sama koristim kad pričam s ljudima koji znaju o čemu pričam 🤣. U svim situacijama u kojima su se glavni likovi našli, bilo je nečeg svakodnevno smiješnog i čovjek se mogao poistovjetiti s njima. Što i ne čudi s obzirom na to da je scenarist i autor serije John Sullivan inspiraciju za scenarije crpio iz stvarnih događaja i osoba. Meni je ova serija neprocjenjiva jer sam je gledala u različitim fazama života, a i dalje je gledam i uvijek mi je genijalna. Štoviše, sada još bolje kužim neke stvari koje nisam kao klinka.
Ova knjiga donosi sve o nastanku i opstanku serije u ispočetka teškim uvjetima do primetime emitiranja i slave. John Sullivan i ostatak ekipe skromnog su porijekla i nikada se nisu pravili da su nešto drugo i to je samo pridonijelo autentičnosti serije. Glumci su toliko dobro odradili svoj posao da su mi se njihovi likovi činili stvarnima, a scenarij i mukotrpan rad oko njega, nevjerojatna volja i vjera u taj san, uspjeli su seriju izdići iznad drugih i zasjesti na sam vrh gledanosti (nakon prve dvije sezone preživljavanja praktički u anonimnosti).
Bojim se da bih mogla previše zabrijati pišući o Mućkama jer sam apsolutno pristrana u ovome i ova knjiga mi je izmamila toliko osmijeha i smijeha, čak i pokoju suzu. Likovi Dela, Rodneya, Djeda, strica Alberta, Boycieja, Marlene, Brzog i ostalih toliko su mi poznati da čim ih netko spomene, imam njihovu sliku pred očima. Ima puno antologijskih scena i epizoda i kada se s nekim tko ih također voli nađem u priči, zaključimo da je sve antologijsko i neponovljivo🤣.
Zato mislim da se ova knjiga neće svidjeti onima koji ne vole ili nisu pratili seriju. Ovo je knjiga koja, kao i serija, ima svoju publiku. I to je u redu. Sve je to lovely jubbly, kako bi rekao Delboy 🤣. Moje preporuke za sve obožavatelje. Ostali bi, ako ih i zanima serija, mogli naići na spojlere pa je bolje prije pogledati epizode pa čitati.

[Sandra Nedopričljivica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kultna serija koja je obilježila moju mladost i na IMDb-u ima visoku ocjenu 9 (moja je "čista" desetka). Svidjelo mi se saznati neke činjenice o glumcima i cijeloj ekipi koja je preko 20 godina radila na ovoj seriji, posebno o sad već pokojnom Johnu Sullivanu koji je sam napisao kompletan scenarij.

Međutim, ono što mi se nikako nije svidjelo je prepričavanje većeg broja epizoda i svih božićnih specijala. Nisam baš sigurna da bi ljudi, koji žele saznati više o seriji, (a još ju iz nekog razloga nisu stigli pogledati, a to žele učiniti) htjeli čitati knjigu koja im uz sve nudi još i hrpu spojlera.

Znači, ova knjiga je namijenjena samo onima koji su već gledali seriju i nemaju namjeru gledati ponovo ili onima kojima gledanje serije uopće nije opcija. Kako sam već rekla, ekipa mi je zakon i odlučila sam ponovo odgledati sve epizode. Čitajući, u početku mi je bilo simpatično sve dok nisam počela nailaziti na sve više otkrivenih detalja... daj, molim te, želim se opet iznenaditi, zaboravila sam puno toga... Tada sam preskakala dijelove gdje mi se prepričava radnja, a dodatak gdje su navedeni svi podaci o epizodama sa sadržajem istih ne moram ni reći da sam skroz preskočila.

3 zvjezdice samo zbog ekipe, što se mene tiče autoru bi išla jedinica jer knjiga nije predstavljena kao scenarij, barem ja to nisam tako shvatila. Da jest, ne bi ni završila u mojim rukama.

[Josip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respondez s'il vous plait. Tres bien ensemble.

[Steve Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great TV series with many, many laughs. Unfortunately the book was a bit boring, interesting, but just not a book I that blew me away. Some good insights into the workings of the series and the actors. I had never seen the Christmas specials so this part was interesting and I will have to get the DVDs.

[Nešo Shonery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knjiga koja govori o nastanku jedne od najboljih serija svih vremena, makar po mišljenjima Engleza i nas, Balkanaca. Kako je došlo do priče, ko su bili glumci predviđeni za uloge, koje su sve teškoće imali tokom snimanja, dobre i loše strane pojedinih epizoda. Zanimljivo štivo za sve ljubitelje serije.

[Mikey James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always love to read new things about the best TV program ever made. Lots of nice little behind the scene stories, but a but too much describing episodes as if you've never seen them (of course we have, that's why we're reading this book). Good to have in the collection anyway.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an audible book! 16 Different shows and they are as funny listening to them as they are watching them.
I always have an audible book and a normal page book on the go. I do love these "live shows"

[Adisa Behram Nikolic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jedna od mojih omiljenih serija je Only Fools and Horses. Bilo je zanimljivo otkriti kako su zapravo nastali i oživeli moji omiljeni likovi. A nakon čitanja ove knjige, sve što želim je da ponovo pogledam sve epizode.

[Brian Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely jubbly!

[Rob Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, well-researched and clear-eyed in its account of the strengths and weaknesses of OFAH over its 22 year run.

[Petra Janeš · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Chris Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

First up, I am a huge fan of Only Fools and Horses. It is genuinely my favourite TV show of all time. I rewatched the entire collection recently and just found myself in awe on numerous occasions--I just cannot believe that the script is the result of one man's work. I saw this book come out last year and was waiting for it to come out on paperback, however I saw it on Amazon second-hand for about $4! Couldn't believe my luck.

The book attempts to go behind the scenes on the production of this classic show--how it started, how it nearly got cancelled, how it kept going, and how it ended. Unfortunately for books like this, we now have access to a lot of this information on Wikipedia and elsewhere online. I already knew about David Jason's background and the same for the others. That said, there were definitely some insights into the production process and initial stages that was new.

The vast majority of the book is taken up analysing episodes of the show. This can be a bit boring if you already know the episode off-by-heart. The author actually criticises some of the episodes, which is good because they certainly weren't all perfect (Royal Flush for one!). However the author seems obsessed with how a sitcom should be structured and he criticises an episode just for not conforming to a pattern (1/3 intro, 1/3 set-up, 1/3 big ending, or something like that). There are also some facts about the show that are incorrect and that is amazing for a book such as this. For example, he quotes a scene where Rodney asks Trigger why he calls him Dave. The discussion took place in the town hall, but the author somehow mistakes this for the Nag's Head.

This was an enjoyable and very quick read, but I really didn't get a lot from it and it isn't worth paying full price for. All I picked up is some information on the formation of the show and a few lunch meetings that led to the extra episodes. In this day-and-age when DVD extras often contain hours of extra detail, this is all a bit underwhelming. Still, for the most part, fans will enjoy this one, even if it is just for the reminders of a phenomenal show.

6/10

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is exactly what it says on the cover; it is a story about the sitcom Only Fools and Horses from its origins right up until the premature death of its creator John Sullivan and is fascinating in many ways. One for the information about the way that television shows were produced in the nineteen seventies right up until the noughties, and also for the insights into the creative process of creating an show from the bottom up. Excellent for fans of the show, but probably won't appeal to someone who had never heard of either the show, or of John Sullivan himself.

[Ben Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A smashing little potted history of a beloved series. Being a comedy spod, I knew most of the story but it was lovely to have a few moments spent in the world of the old BBC Television Centre where commissions were based on gut feeling rather than focus groups. Very fair on the show too, handing out the same level of criticism for the good and the bad, with a lovely postscript on how TV should treat it with more care rather than making it easy repeat fodder.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read for fans of the show. Gives the story of how the programme came about and its ups and downs as each series and then the various specials were filmed and screened. Includes an episode guide at the end that lists them all in order including original transmission dates and original viewing ratings.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting walk through the history of one of Britain's most loved comedy shows. Some interesting stories and a good insight into the production and characters behind it. Nothing amazing, but a good solid profile. If you're an Only Fools fan, it's worth a read.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The complete story of Only Fools and Horses. It has really cheered me up during a couple of hard weeks. It was interesting to hear the story of one of my favourite shows all all time. I'd have liked more of a synopsis of each episode, and more detail about the characters.

[Pennyboller · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, but not as good as I thought it was going to be...

I discovered that David Jason had a twin who died shortly after birth, and how all the actors were chosen for their roles. So I'm glad I read it.

I hope they put the programme back on the telly (ie not gold), right from the start!