Mel O'Drama
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The final 1978 special felt a little anticlimactic in a number of ways.
The big plane sequences were enjoyable, but quite prolonged and they felt too impersonal. All other stunts have been most impressive because one can see Crawford getting stuck into them whereas in these, even if he were flying the plane himself (which I don't think he was) there's no way of knowing that. It could have been second unit for all I know. The better scenes were earlier in the episode where he first put Biggins off his flying lesson (Biggins's second episode - he was earlier in the team building episode where he got covered in food at least once) and then returned to sign up for his lesson, complete with his excited "I need a wee" kind of leg movement ("Cramp, is it?", asked the instructor. "No. Spencer" was Frank's reply).
The malapropisms wore a little old for me. They seemed to appear quite suddenly in Series Three and so felt slightly out of character to me. Likewise, his singing to Jessica - which reappeared in this last episode - felt more Michael Crawford than Frank Spencer, even though it was very charming to see Michael Crawford singing and keeping a connection with the child.
I noticed most Series Three episodes were "based on material provided by Michael Crawford" or some such wording. So I'm guessing he had far more input by this time.
I don't mind the "life goes on" endings of many sitcoms of the era and since, but with such tight continuity in many episodes, the felt the lack of a proper ending was a little disappointing.
Still - overall, Some Mothers... was a consistently enjoyable series.
The big plane sequences were enjoyable, but quite prolonged and they felt too impersonal. All other stunts have been most impressive because one can see Crawford getting stuck into them whereas in these, even if he were flying the plane himself (which I don't think he was) there's no way of knowing that. It could have been second unit for all I know. The better scenes were earlier in the episode where he first put Biggins off his flying lesson (Biggins's second episode - he was earlier in the team building episode where he got covered in food at least once) and then returned to sign up for his lesson, complete with his excited "I need a wee" kind of leg movement ("Cramp, is it?", asked the instructor. "No. Spencer" was Frank's reply).
The malapropisms wore a little old for me. They seemed to appear quite suddenly in Series Three and so felt slightly out of character to me. Likewise, his singing to Jessica - which reappeared in this last episode - felt more Michael Crawford than Frank Spencer, even though it was very charming to see Michael Crawford singing and keeping a connection with the child.
I noticed most Series Three episodes were "based on material provided by Michael Crawford" or some such wording. So I'm guessing he had far more input by this time.
There's a great deal of continuity, which is appreciated. And it's not overplayed, which is even better. Just two episodes after Betty announced she was pregnant, Jessica was born. It was just enough. Likewise, two episodes before the final episode Frank heard from his uncle in Australia, paving the way for the upcoming emigration and flying lessons.
I don't mind the "life goes on" endings of many sitcoms of the era and since, but with such tight continuity in many episodes, the felt the lack of a proper ending was a little disappointing.
Still - overall, Some Mothers... was a consistently enjoyable series.