THE oldest sitcom STILL being filmed for tv?

I was on Amazon this week looking for something else, when I ran across this bit of tv trivia: "The oldest sitcom on tv for which they are still filming episodes...or were a few months ago, is a Brit-com called "Last of the Summer Wine". The first episodes were shown on the BBC in 1973 and they are/were still filming episodes this past year.

If you have never seen/heard of this Brit-com, as one person describes it on Amazon: "it's as if the Little Rascals were now senior citizens, and still at play." Or another way to look at it, if George, Jerry, Kramer, and Neumann were senior citizens in Britain...Seinfeld would look like this show.

I don't watch it often but when I stumble on it, it's always good for a laugh.

I've been watching it for years. Friends who watch it look at me and declare that I'm well on my way to becoming Compo. Can't disagree. Just wish I wasn't so far along.

I grew up in Last of the Summer wine country. Holmfirth is where is set and mainly filmed. I grew up in the next village over Meltham. It wasn't uncommon to run into film crews during the summer. There was briefly a spin off called First of the summer wine set when the main characters were kids and that was partially filmed on my Fathers mill property that's now been torn down to build appartments. One of the first things I do when 'going home' is nip over to Holmfirth to 'Compo's Caf' to get fish and chips. Watching any episode is a pain with me as I spend the whole episode saying 'that's such and such a place'

This link shows the area http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Holmfirth,+UK&sll=53.570288,-1.722794&sspn=0.138229,0.299377&g=Holmfirth,+UK&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Holme,+Holmfirth,+Kirklees,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.579461,-1.816692&spn=0.069099,0.214748&t=h&z=13

You should be able to see what stunning country side I grew up in and it's set in. What this doesn't show is the elevation changes.

Sorry for the diversion

I miss "Coupling".

BTW you can get Coupling, Last of the summer wine, DrWho etc to watch instantly on Netflix

Is Summer Wine the one with Peter Sallis in it? If so, yes, it's pretty funny.

foxtrapper....I'm not sure you'd really want to be like Compo as he died several years ago. (Not sure if the actor or just the character, died.) The story "arc" that went from his being discovered dead and through his funeral and on til his "son" arrived on the scene were THE funniest episodes dealing with death. WAY better than the classic Mary Tyler Moore Chuckles the Clown funeral.

So many of my friends that like Britcoms think Wine is so stupid, I was surprised to hear it was still filming. Me? I think I'm mostly like Barry, with a VERY SMALL hint of Nora Batty thrown in.

Adrian_Thompson:

one of the things I noticed right off was the scenery for this series. When I saw the first few episodes, I assumed this was a retro/period comedy as the cars in the background looked like 70s and 80s British sedans. Then I noticced the cars were getting newer and was then surprised that the area SEEMS so rural and untouched...almost like time passed it by after 1975. Reminds me a bit of the mountains and valleys of my boyhood Pa.

As a big Britcom fan, this was one of my least favorites... until I eventually watched it enough to better understand the characters which are a bit deeper/complex than in most Britcoms. Then it moved to the other end of the scale for me...

Scenery is really awesome as well... beautifully filmed (for TV).

In reply to wcelliot:

Yeah, not one of my favorites. Coupling was very well written.

Drifting off topic, I do dearly love LOTSW, but must admit I only discovered about a year ago that it was still going. I ASSumed it had died soon after I left the UK in 94. Bill Owen who played Compo died in 1999 aged 85. I must see some of the new ones.

OT. Several people have commented on Coupling. I highly recommend seeing it. Think Sex in the City crossed with Friends, but way funnier. Pity it only lasted 4 seasons. For the final season they lost the character of Jeff (Richard Coyle) who I thought was the best and most complex of the characters. If you've never seen it head over to You tube and search for 'lesbian spank inferno' If you don't die laughing you have no humor gene in your soul. Warning, dialogue is NSFW although the picture is fine.

Yes, I remember the horribly failed attempt at a US Coupling...

integraguy wrote: foxtrapper....I'm not sure you'd really want to be like Compo as he died several years ago.

Yea, but he died at a ripe old age, living it up to the end. Quite the rascal, and I hope to go out just as rascalous.

Saw what must be one of the quite early episodes a few months back. My goodness but they toned it down later on. Saw a whole lot more of Nora in that episode than I'd ever seen.

I had no idea it was still going. I grew up watching it but lost track when I left England in 1990. There goes the rest of my afternoon watching Youtube....

Was up there with Only Fools and Horses in my book.

Yeah, a SITCOM lasting over 35 years....

In the "states" one of the longest running tv shows was Gunsmoke, it didn't last quite as long as LOTSW, unless you add in the years it was a radio serial. No other comedy show in this country comes close to that record, except maybe The Carol Burnett Show...ONLY, what, 15 years?

Last night our local PBS showed an episode (we get them 4 times a week, with Mulberry getting friday nights) that was completely devoid of female characters ...wait, Glenda was in it. Anyway, the 2 police officers "took center stage" for nearly half the show. It also had a "reunion" of sorts between the actors Peter Sallis (Capt. Peacock of "Are you being served") and Nicholas ? (sorry, forgot his last name at moment) who was Rumbold. From the look of Barry's car,(a small Citroen hatchback) I'm guessing the episode was made in the last 5 years.