Research Catalog

Title

The British sitcom spinoff film / Stephen Glynn.

Author

Glynn, Stephen

Publication

Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, an imprint of Springer Nature Switzerland, [2024]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 273 pages : illustrations; 22 cm

Summary

"This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic analysis of theatrically-released spinoff films derived from British radio and television sitcoms. Regularly maligned as the nadir of British film production and marginalised as a last resort for the financially-bereft industry during the 1970s, this study demonstrates that the sitcom spinoff film has instead been a persistent and important presence in British cinema from the 1940s to the present day, and includes (occasional) works with distinct artistic merit. Alongside an investigation of the economic imperative underpinning these productions, i.e. the exploitation of proven product with a ready-made audience, it is argued that, with a longevity stretching from Arthur Askey and his wartime Band Waggon (1940) to the crew of Kurupt FM and their recent People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan (2021), the British sitcom spinoff can be interpreted as following a full generic 'life cycle'. Starting with the 'formative' stage where works from Hi Gang! (1941) to I Only Arsked! (1958) establish the genre's characteristics, the spinoff genre moves to its 'classic' stage where, secure for form and content, it enjoys considerable popular success with films like Till Death Us Do Part (1969), On the Buses (1971), The Likely Lads (1976) and Rising Damp (1980); the genre's revival since the late-1990s reveals a more 'parodic' final stage, with films like The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005) adopting a consciously self-reflective mode. It is also posited that the sitcom spinoff film is a viable source for social history, with the often-stereotypical re-presentations of characters and events an (often blatant) ideological metonym for the concerns of wider British society, notably in issues of class, race, gender and sexuality." --

Subject

• Comedy films > Great Britain > History and criticism
• Comedy films
• Great Britain

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes blibliographical references (pages 255-261), filmography (pages 249-253) and index.

Call Number

MFL 24-280

ISBN

• 3031412214
• 9783031412219

OCLC

1389877611

Author

Glynn, Stephen, author.

Title

The British sitcom spinoff film / Stephen Glynn.

Publisher

Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, an imprint of Springer Nature Switzerland, [2024]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes blibliographical references (pages 255-261), filmography (pages 249-253) and index.

Research Call Number

MFL 24-280