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Rutland Weekend Television
- 185 statements
- 35 feature instances
- 18 referencing feature instances
| Rutland Weekend Television | type |
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Rutland Weekend Television | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television | comment |
Rutland Weekend Television (RWT) was a Sketch Comedy show on BBC 2, written by Eric Idle and his fellow actors and with music by Neil Innes. The show starred David Battley, Eric Idle, Neil Innes and Henry Woolf, with appearances here and there wherever needed by other actors. Gwen Watford acted as the Carol Cleveland for the group, with model Carinthea West providing glamour and very occasional token nudity.The title was invented by John Cleese (who received one pound for his idea), on the basis that Rutland was England's smallest county. A Rutland TV station would have to be rather small, so a Rutland Weekend station would be ridiculously puny.note Further, in 1974, the year before the first series, Rutland had ceased to be a separate county due to the Local Government Act of 1972, and become a district of Leicestershire. The RWT spin-off book claims that there are enormous tax advantages to broadcasting from somewhere that technically doesn't exist. Rutland was revived as a county in its own right by Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s, in reply to pleas by its well-heeled Tory-voting residents that they were paying ridiculously high local taxes to subsidise socialism in neighbouring Leicestershire. But this was long after the passing of RWT as a TV show. A second level of humour was provided by the comparison of the puny back-room Rutland Weekend Television with the broadcasting giant known as London Weekend Television, at the time a going concern that had exclusive ITV broadcasting rights to London and the South-East (Britain's richest areas) between Friday and Sunday evenings. LWT was basically a licence to print money. RWT... wasn't.When the show came into being, the title got another joke to it, as accidental Executive Meddling caused Idle to get a presentation budget, instead of the more lavish budget associated with light entertainment. The weekly patter about inability to buy props or sets was quite real indeed.Unfortunately, this, along with complicated rights claims, led Idle to never release the series on DVD, because it reminded him of such a bad time in his life. Thus, fans have no choice but to Keep Circulating the Tapes — many clips are on YouTube, for instance.A typical episode was introduced by an announcer in an oddball manner (either the announcer openly nervous and repeating words, or obviously messing up the titles of the shows that are next in line, or even auditions for the announcer), before cutting to one of the programs, the strange contents of the programs being a great, if not the greatest, source of comedy. Every episode had a song by Neil Innes, with everything from cheerful (like "Good Times Roll") to well known (like "I'm the Urban Spaceman") to melancholy ("I Don't Believe in Santa Anymore"). | |
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2023-11-18T05:30:04Z | |
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Dropped link to AffectionateParody: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Dropped link to TheRutles: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_16d8476f | type |
Protest Song | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_16d8476f | comment |
Protest Song: Innes' Bob Dylan parody performs one. Excruciatingly badly. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_1f799027 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_1f799027 | comment |
Obstructive Bureaucrat: From the "Hanging" sketch, the prisoner gets a vital telegram. Unfortunately, the guard insists that the telegram does say 'candelled', and not 'cancelled', and suggests they send it off to check...and of course, when it got back, the prisoner would already be dead. The other guard takes it, to stop the arguing. Turns out he was right. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_23ff95fb | type |
Brutal Honesty | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_23ff95fb | comment |
Brutal Honesty: Another one from the "Trapped By The Writer" sketch. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_2937826d | type |
Hurricane of Puns | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_2937826d | comment |
Hurricane of Puns: Occurs for a moment in the "Rutland Five-O" sketch, where they manage to name all the members of The Who. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_35566274 | type |
I Let You Win | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_35566274 | comment |
I Let You Win: The guard who plays chess in the "Hanging" sketch. Justified, as it's the prisoner's last game...then subverted, when they reveal there have been times when he didn't let the prisoner win his last game of chess. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_35a858b3 | type |
Cluster F-Bomb | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_35a858b3 | comment |
Cluster F-Bomb: Mentioned in the "Bad Language" sketch, when the writers are talking about what to cut. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_3a781509 | type |
Most Writers Are Male | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_3a781509 | comment |
Most Writers Are Male: Pointed out and discussed in one installment of "Rutland Weekend Theatre". | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_3b4f620a | type |
No Fourth Wall | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_3b4f620a | comment |
No Fourth Wall: Normally, considering the show is about a fictional television station. Oddly enough, even in the shows that aren't grounded in reality ("Rutland Five-O"), they still lean on the fourth wall. (Commenting on a Hurricane of Puns, dodging commercial breaks in the road...) | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_6411dac8 | type |
BadassNormal | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_6411dac8 | comment |
Badass Normal: Unintentional and casual he may be, but "The Man With A Habit Of Killing People" falls into this. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_664bc28f | type |
British Brevity | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_664bc28f | comment |
British Brevity: A total of 13 episodes where made, including one Christmas special. A record and a book were also made, but neither sold well. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_722d0026 | type |
Vanity Plate | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_722d0026 | comment |
Vanity Plate: The opening RWT logo is a parody of the pre-show logos used by the various ITV companies at the time. The second logo combines a Stealth Pun and a Visual Pun: the cow parodies the BBC's continuity announcements, which years later would be generated by the COW (Computer Originated World) system. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_741e8e7 | type |
The Cast Showoff | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_741e8e7 | comment |
The Cast Show Off: Neil Innes' songs. In a lesser-known example, it seems David Battley had a knack for juggling — though we only see this one-and-a-half times. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_7d218606 | type |
Rapid-Fire Comedy | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_7d218606 | comment |
Rapid-Fire Comedy: Occurs in some of the sketches. Of course, as their budget was low, they likely had to pack every line with as much jokes as they could in hope of renewal. Most noticeable in the "Come Dancing" sketch and "Rutland Five-O". | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_7e5f2db2 | type |
Talk Like a Pirate | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_7e5f2db2 | comment |
Talk Like a Pirate: When George Harrison made a guest appearance, he came out in full pirate gear and doing this trope, only to be disappointed when he was informed there was no pirate sketch. After several small appearances throughout the episode where he persists in trying to be a pirate, he finally appears at the end, dressed normally, to sing as he was invited to. He and the band play the full intro to "My Sweet Lord"...and then he breaks out into a song about pirates. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_8426d2ac | type |
Inherently Funny Words | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_8426d2ac | comment |
Inherently Funny Words: An entire sketch revolves around a conversation in these. The announcer follows it up with this line: | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_884e513b | type |
Medium Awareness | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_884e513b | comment |
Medium Awareness: In an installment of "Rutland Weekend Theatre". The author also goes mad with power. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_96e6876e | type |
GoodIsBadAndBadIsGood | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_96e6876e | comment |
Good Is Bad And Bad Is Good: The "Ill Health Food Store" sketch. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_a10d8339 | type |
The Show Must Go On | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_a10d8339 | comment |
The Show Must Go On: Lance-Corporal Collier was originally scheduled to appear in a sketch later in the program, but then the fellow who should have done the announcing didn't turn up, and he was asked to do it instead. He isn't that used to it. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_a188ac4b | type |
Overly Long Gag | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_a188ac4b | comment |
Overly-Long Gag: The "Wife-Swapping Club" sketch. Mr. Phillips keeps trying to introduce them all, and they keep swapping wives in the background as he goes on. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_a8aba532 | type |
Football Hooligans | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_a8aba532 | comment |
Football Hooligans: The "Football" sketch. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_ab8462f7 | type |
The Backstage Sketch | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_ab8462f7 | comment |
The Backstage Sketch: The show's actors could be seen sitting around a table ostensibly doing read-throughs, commenting on the quality or otherwise of Eric Idle's scriptwriting and generally fracturing the fourth wall. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_b21ddb6b | type |
Content Warnings | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_b21ddb6b | comment |
Content Warnings: Parodied in Episode 3. It starts by showing what symbols mean what (a lady with bare breasts for sexuality, someone baring their bottom for nudity, a preist for religeon, a foot kicking a ball for football), and then stringing a number of them together as an example (butt+soccer ball+preist=preists playing nude football). It culminates in a weather report done using the symbols as the final sketch. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_c2393191 | type |
Show Within a Show | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_c2393191 | comment |
Show Within a Show: Many. The sketches did take place in a fictional TV station, after all. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_caa28b82 | type |
Cloudcuckoolander | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_caa28b82 | comment |
Cloudcuckoolander: A lot of characters, from the host of "Come Dancing" ("So, without any ado, let's nonetheless as soon as possible.") to the singing gynaecologist (Exactly What It Says on the Tin) to the Ricochet brothers (spelled ricochet, but pronounced rick-ot-chet). | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_cb83d23b | type |
I Just Want to Be Special | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_cb83d23b | comment |
I Just Want to Be Special: Episode 2 has an interview with a perfectly normal English nobody, who sees being "normal" as a tragic thing to be. His family tried to screw him up juuust enough to make him special, but failed. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_d148b019 | type |
Mundane Made Awesome | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_d148b019 | comment |
Mundane Made Awesome: "Frontloader", a romantic-sounding swinging tune... about doing laundry. The tune is a parody of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", at the time a big chart hit. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_d9ee7048 | type |
Spin-Off | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_d9ee7048 | comment |
Spin-Off: The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book, which was part-book, half TV guide for the fictional TV station. They did use some of the names (and, naturally, all of the actors) that had been in the show, which gave the average fanatic some quite fun deduction moments, such as "Hey, the wittiest man in the world joined the Razorblade Five to form The Gay Gordons!". Neil Innes' solo show featuring the music, The Innes Book of Records. Also, you know, the entire discography and filmography of The Rutles. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_dbfd6b8 | type |
Lyrical Dissonance | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_dbfd6b8 | comment |
Lyrical Dissonance: Drama On A Saturday Night. (sniff) | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_e8e3807 | type |
Aside Glance | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_e8e3807 | comment |
Aside Glance: An entire group performs one in the "Trapped By The Writer" sketch, trying to rebel against the author. It doesn't work so well. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_ea5c413d | type |
Biting-the-Hand Humor | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_ea5c413d | comment |
Biting-the-Hand Humor: In episode 6, (and throughout most of the show, really) the announcer continuously complains about the terrible budget — and a terrible budget was just what The BBC had given them. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_f2a6d76d | type |
Rage Against the Author | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_f2a6d76d | comment |
Rage Against the Author: The "Trapped By The Writer" sketch. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_f9c17447 | type |
The Remnant | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_f9c17447 | comment |
The Remnant: The first episode has a sketch about a group of British soldiers who remain unaware WWII is over... and who are stationed on the Isle of Wight, a couple of miles off the English coast. It also has a Major who has been told the war is over, but is incapable of understanding the concept. | |
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| Rutland Weekend Television / int_fb3576b2 | type |
The Dog Bites Back | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_fb3576b2 | comment |
The Dog Bites Back: Played for laughs in the "Tonight's Drama" sketch. A Magnificent Bastard leads an Extreme Doormat into jail, chatting about his trial, where the MB defended him (horribly. "It was interesting to try out for once."), his sentence of twenty years, and the MB even outright commenting on him being the fall guy, and finishes off with saying "And thanks for not squealing", clapping him on the shoulder. | |
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Comically Missing the Point | |
| Rutland Weekend Television / int_fbd285b7 | comment |
Comically Missing the Point: The first episode features a man in a cell playing chess against a guard, with another guard watching. | |
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Rutland Weekend Television |
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