Si Hunt Takes Down Tommy Cooper

[Si Hunt]

Humour is all, essentially, subjective. If Roy Chubby Brown can make good money making people laugh, then he's doing a good job, even if I find him vile. People have wildly different sense of humours. If Cooper is simplistic, then is that bad if lots of people out there have simplistic sense of humours (no insult intended)? I guess what this thread aims to do, however, is root out those people that are lazily trumpetted as "legends", when in actual fact they arn't really worthy of the mantle.

Si.

[Jason Thompson]

I don't think you could say Tommy Cooper is lazily trumpeted as a legend: he genuinely was one, just like Eric and Ernie, Tony Hancock or Peter Cook. Whether you like them or not is another matter, but you can't deny his popularity.

[Si Hunt]

I don't know. Shouldn't the definition of "Legend" be enduring, timeless, still good today? (or else Jive Bunny is a legend). There are certain acts, Cooper among them, who are conspicuously not repeated or seen today...

Si.

[Jason Thompson]

But Cooper's popularity continued past his death, and even though he's not shown a lot on TV these days he is still fondly thought of. You don't see a lot of Tony Hancock or Peter Cook and Dudley Moore either these days. Or even Eric and Ernie.

[Si Hunt]

I'm sure a lot of things are fondly thought of, maybe that's because they arn't seen any more and people forget they wern't actually that good? Hancock is arguably because he is in black and white or absent from the archives. What's Cooper's excuse? They still repeat Ronnie Barker.

No comment on Eric 'n' Ern.

Si.

[Wayne]

The repeated Tommy Cooper special that i watched last xmas was on Channel 5.
I suppose being on Channel 5 is not really a major plus point for the defense, though.

[Jason Thompson]

What's Cooper's excuse?

Ask the people who schedule TV shows. What's their excuse for not repeating The Talons Of Weng Chiang, or The Robots Of Death? See, with its absolutely vast back catalogue and relatively high number of well regarded stories, Doctor Who gets short shrift in the repeat stakes as well. In the 16 years between Survival and Rose we had thirteen stories repeated, one of which was shown twice while two ended up in graveyard timeslots, and one of which was more an advert for the RT and their new colourising technique than anything else.

I just don't think you can judge something's legendary status by whether or not it's still repeated ad nauseum.

[Jason Thompson]

There was a Tommy Cooper special repeated on BBC2 immediately before the 1996 TV Movie was shown on BBC 1. Thanks to BBC 2's habit of running a little late, I missed the whole pre-credits sequence and had to run the video back and watch it at the end!

[Si Hunt]

I just don't think you can judge something's legendary status by whether or not it's still repeated ad nauseum.

I haven't judged based on that. Like the wife beating thing, people keep taking one of the points I have made in my argument and making out it's the sole basis for it.

Si.

[Jason Thompson]

That's not the case at all. I'm picking up on the post in which you specifically brought up his lack of presence on current TV schedules. I've made my more general defence already.

[Rob McCow]

Perhaps it depends on whether you buy into Tommy Cooper's 'character'. He doesn't go on stage as himself, truly that would be humiliating in the way that Mr.Hunt describes, but he creates this persona of a bumbling magician who sometimes, to everyone's surprise, gets it right.

I like the story he does with the box full of hats and wigs. Paticularly when he's rooting through the box, looking more and more annoyed at being unable to find the next hat. But he did that skit numerous times and generally paused in the same places each time - it's all part of the act. It's more clever and sophisticated than it may at first appear.

[Logo Polish]

I'm sure a lot of things are fondly thought of, maybe that's because they arn't seen any more and people forget they wern't actually that good? Hancock is arguably because he is in black and white or absent from the archives. What's Cooper's excuse? They still repeat Ronnie Barker.

Some of those are available on DVD or CD formats though, and still have a following in that sense.

[Mark]

Jive Bunny is a legend

Correct

[The Secretive Bus]

Do you ever get the impression comedy in the seventies was slightly less sophisticated?

But that was the whole point of Tommy Cooper; he was just making silly jokes to try and make people giggle. He was popular because he could be watched by the whole family and because he seemed so innocent. A lot of the jokes were groanworthy, sure, but Cooper delivered them in such a way that made you smile at the very least. I personally find him very funny; even some of the lines you posted made me smile simply because I read them with Cooper's voice in mind.


Edited: I see Lissa and Jason have made even better defences and well done to them. Sorry, Si; there's nothing wrong with saying "I don't find Tommy Cooper funny," but your attack does seem very mean spirited and since you don't know very much about Cooper anyway (I'm guessing) I can't see why you even wanted to have a go at him.