Shark Bytes

The 3 Christmas specials in the early 2000s were bloody awful weren't they? They collective sigh of dissapointment when they all walked back into the Nag's Head was tangible.

I believe Miami Twice was the turning point. It was a funny episode, but also very far fetched. The christmas specials since have never truly recaptured the magic of Only Fools And Horses in its prime although the 1992 special wasn't bad. 1981-1990 was Only Fools And Horses peak years, after that the tide turned and the magic was predominantly lost, apart from odd flashes here and there.

I don't think this show ever jumped the shark.

The only time it came anywhere close was the "Royal Flush" Xmas 1986 episode when Delboy made a right ass of himself twice in such a fashion that you just felt horrible for him. However, that underscores the reason why this show enver jumped--unlike many other Britcoms that just stayed comedies, watching this show made you understand, love, and admire the characters. You grew to care for them as people, not just caricatures. Thus, when Del made himself look so stupid, you felt bad because you cared. You couldn't laugh because you'd be laughing at him and in this show, you're always laughing with the characters, not at them.

The characters grew and developed over time and things actually happened from episode-to-episode. Things flowed from one episode to the next, and unlike so many other cookie-cutter shows where you could watch episodes at random and it wouldn't make any difference, it actually mattered if you missed an episode of OFAH because you'd be missing something important.

One poster mentioned that it was a cliche to write out one of the characters whose actor had died as being in prison. What said poster doesn't know is that the actor himself asked John Sullivan on his deathbed NOT to mention that his character (Mike the barman) had died. Perhaps Sullivan could've come up with a different way of writing him out but it's unfair to critcize him for not mentioning his death when the actor himself asked Sullivan not to. (If you want to check this out for yourself, find a copy of the book "Only Fools And Horses A To Z" which covers everything from the first episode up through the 2002 Xmas Special).

As for the characters looking old, so what? We all get older in real life so why shouldn't the characters we watch get older as well? I'd much rather see that than someone always trying to look much younger than they actually are.

The dynamics of the show were different without Albert, of course, but it's interesting that they found a way for Albert's character/history to play an important part in the final 3 episodes.

I am not British so I am not defending this show out of a sense of national pride or anything. I am a Canadian who was lucky enough to catch a couple of the episodes with Grandad on BBC Canada and who has since bought all the shows on DVD.

The show essentially became a soap from season 7 onwards. There was just too much continuity. The earlier episodes were stand alone episodes in one series e.g. When Del gets conned by the Indians he end up selling most his possessions in effort to raise £2000 to try and trick one of the Indians in a deak worth £4000, however in the next episodes all these possessions had returned and it was as if it never happened, which was fine because it was just a comedy and didn't need continuity. However they wouldn't do anything like that in the later episodes because they were linked to each other e.g Rodney losing his job with Cassandra's dad, it was mentioned in nearly every episode during that 7th series. The show lost its ideals and became a soap, admiteedly though the later episodes are still funny in place, "Gary", but some of the gags are old, as one person mentioned, when Rodney and Boycie "carry on talking whilst someone has made a cutting interjection, before suddenly stopping and realising what the other person said". It's one of the oldest jokes in the series and it's used nearly every episode it's just not funny anymore.

Love the ep with the chandlier!

Rodney you plonker

ive watched all of the episodes now but always watching them again and again cause there so funny to watch especially when del boy falls through the bar that cracks me up all the time. nicholas lyndhurst and david jason who play rodney and del boy are great actors and great to watch. i love all their sayings like 'rodney you tart' and 'lovely jubbley' and when del boy does his french phrases. i would love them to do more series.

The 'Miami Twice' Xmas special - truly appalling 'comedy', ironically winding up for the shark jump with Del on an out of control Jet-Ski...seriously cringe inducing.

The best IMO - the one where Del wins a trip to Spain after submitting one of Rodney's paintings into a competition, only trouble is Rodders has to pretend he's 14 & Cass has to pretend to be Del's wife/Rodney's mum.

Also the Jolly Boys outing to Margate, f*ckin hilarious, & the last great episdoe IMO (the 96 ones were ok IMO).

I do not believe there was a bad episode for the first fifteen years of Only Fools. A couple came sort-of close (I'm thinking of Miami Twice) but overall it is, in my opinion, the best show ever to have appeared on the box. Aside from being the funniest, it also had some of the most affecting dramatic scenes too. I don't get people criticising the show for this. If you want nothing but laughs, go and watch Bottom.

The 1996 trilogy was a showcase of the best shows the series had ever had. The Batman and Robin appearing through the mist gag is the funniest thing I've ever seen on telly. Then Del and Rodders get their millions and you're left feeling incredibly warm.

Then three crap, or at least two crap, episodes crop up and go and spoil everything. O'Sullivan was working without two prominent casting members however, and I think people should at least give him credit for the illegal immigrant episode, which was a partial return to form.

Only Fools is, like fish and chips, tea and the Queen, an epitome of Britain. It has that special feel to it that shows of the era such as Porridge and Fawlty Towers had. It will be sadly missed.

Damian should never be allowed to speak. Once he opened his RADA trained Mockey mouth it was all over. The writing just reminded me of that episode of the Simpsons when Homer voices the street wise dog Poochie – just embarrassing. They’re all far too old to be trying to write street talk, I’ve heard more cutting edge comedy on Terry Wogan’s breakfast show.

Uncle Albert was rarely as funny as Grandad. Grandad often only had to come out with one line, and we'd be in hysterics. Whereas with Albert, more often than not his stories of the war succeeded in boring the viewers as much as the other characters. I mean no disrespect to the actor, but I found most of the jokes surrounding Albert, quickly become very tired and overused. For all that though, I actually think the show hit its stride later on. Grandad was sorely missed, but the late 80's saw some real gems being produced. Raquel's character had a lovely introduction, but later on you sometimes wondered why she bothered sticking with Del. In First Date they were both a bit unsure around one another, and it come off very sweetly. Then once she lived in the flat, most of the time she seemed to just be moaning at Del, or thinking he was an idiot. Cassandra and Rodney were very well suited though. And Trigger and Boycie always had me laughing. Oh and Marlen, who was very underrated. The show jumped with the christmas specials in 2001 because it felt like a desperate attempt to recapture the glory days. 1996 xmas specials actually felt like an attempt to tie things up with respect. I could have done without the dream sequence of the vasectomy, and Damien ruling the world (what does that have to do with the premise of the show), but overall they were some of the funniest stories of the series. Would have been a great way of remembering it, but they had to drag it back just to jump the shark in its final moments. The first 2001 episode was the worst was all of the awful exposition, and that evil git Damien. I thought Del was supposed to be wanting to do a good job with his son? Not just after the birth, but when he briefly became a family with single Mum Heather, he was presented as wanting to be a dad desperately. And he didn't do a bad job with Rodney. I find it hard to believe he ended up producing something like the teenager Damien (there was genuine pathos attached to Damien's birth, which seems a bit pointless now).

I am obviously not alone in thinking that it was well and truly screwed after the 1996 Christmas Specials. I knew that they wouldn't go anywhere when I heard about the follow ups years later. It had run it's course. Me and some friends were having arguments about bringing the show back and I didn't want it but the others did. But it was so good, they would say. But I would reply "It's finished, so let it be" but they didn't. I just wish that after the argument the John Sullivan had with the BBC in the late 90's (he threatened to leave after they changed a script he wrote for another programme). It would've been wonderful if he had. Who knows? Maybe we'd still be here wondering where Del and Co are now in the sands of the past. Which is the way to should've been, but there you have it, destroyed in the interests of money. Well done BBC!!!!!!

Although I still consider this the greatest UK sitcom of all time, the dynamic did change when they returned for 3 specials in 2001, 2002 and 2003. With no Uncle Albert, and increased roles for Cassandra and Raquel, the show just didn't feel like Only Fools and Horses anymore, plus it wasn't as funny as it used to be. I still would watch any further episodes as the characters and actors are great, but I'd hope to see the format change slightly if they bring it back, and focus more on their dodgy deals and comical escapades rather than the more dramatic emotional emphasis of the latest three specials. I think I'd rather see a new 6 episode series than more 90 min specials, so John Sullivan can write episodes that rely on ongoing storylines and character development rather than just squeeze the entire cast of supporting characters and all the OFAH cliches into a one-off episode that turns more into a caricature of itself rather than the real deal, such as the last three; plus they need a third man foil to replace Albert in their schemes, so perhaps an increased role for Trigger or Sid?

Only Fools and Horses ended perfectly in 1996 with the Christmas trilogy, at the end of which the Trotters finally 'made it' when they discovered that a pocket watch that they took for a worthless piece of rubbish was actually worth millions. Evidently, the Britsh public thought this would be end of the Trotter saga, with recorded audiences (over 24 million) tuning in to say their farewells. Yet, five years later, the writer John Sullivan saw fit to resurrect the series. BAD MOVE. Actors David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst looked very old, as if they'd spent the interim since the 1996 episodes having their faces carefully wrinkled and drawn. With Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield) dead, a more prominent role was given to the spouses Cassandra and Rachel: I don't think this worked well; the traditional three men dynamic was sorely missed. Also, the scripts weren't very good: the episodes were more like contemporary drama than situation comedy.

Throughout it's history, OFAH has got steadily worse. First of all when Grandad died. He was an absolutely brilliant character and to be honest I never really warmed to Uncle Albert. Grandad, for all his senility, still had an air of cunning about him, whereas Albert just seemed like an old buffoon. That said, however, the show was still highly watchable and very funny. Then they brought in Cassandra and Racquel (and eventually that little shit Damien) and once again managed to destroy the group dynamic. It just wasn't the same show. Again, however, it was still mostly funny and highly watchable. Eventually, they got to 1996 and a funny and poignant finale. But wait. They just had to resurrect it in 2001. What a disaster. It became clear, at this point, that the show was truly dead. It just ceased to be funny and just got gradually worse until the third one in 2003. Throughout the shows history, they haven't been afraid to inject a bit of pathos and they do do it well. Grandads funeral, the lift scene, Damien's birth (evil little f**ker that he is.) However, they never let it dominate the episode. The main trouble with the 2003 Christmas special was that it was just a 90 minute sob-fest. I gathered round the TV with my family expecting a bit of light hearted humour on Christmas night and what I got was a epic drama with practically no laughs that left me contemplating suicide. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Don't try and resurrect it again in a few years time!

In the mid to late 80's, OFAH was a fantastic programme. I can think of countless hilarious or poignant moments, such their Mickey Mouse arrest at the hands of Det.Slater or Grandad's funeral. Another gem of an episode was their being stalked by an escaped madman whilst staying in a fisherman's cottage on Dartmoor. But the show became a victim of it's own success and writer John Sullivan, probably through no fault of his own, became complacent. Thinking no matter what he wrote would be funny, I think he stopped trying. From 1990 onwards, the show had too many moments of cringing embarrassment, or saccharine sentimentality that was devoid of pathos and just left the viewer shuddering in shame. The shark was jumped years ago but time was really up when they became millionaires. That was the perfect time to end it all. Bringing the show back years later, showing them having lost their dough left the viewers feeling irritated and bored. The jokes are now so old, tired and predictable. Some of the word-play gags you can see coming a mile off. And Rodney STILL keeps talking whilst someone has made a cutting interjection, before suddenly stopping and realising what the other person said. Tired tired tired. This programme doesn't just jump the shark; it keeps flogging an exhausted old nag around the track until someone summons the twelve-bore.