Dave Allen (At Large)

Who remembers this show? I loved his storytelling. I didn't find the sketches as consistently funny (though the best of them were great), but the show needed both for variety.

Wish they'd release it on DVD, even if only as a multi-disk compilation. There are a couple of similar single-disc sets but I need more.

Any other fans?

 

Yeah, I liked his stuff. As you say, he was great at telling jokes in the form of mini-stories, always careful to set the mood and paint a detailed picture with words, inflections and mannerisms. And of course, he had great material as it was mostly sourced from religions.

 

Yeah, loved his show.

 

Benny Hill did a brilliant send up where people in the audience keep getting offended with his material so he makes a joke about the Irish and someone yells out 'What sort of an Irishman has two christian names and no surname'? So he makes a joke about God and the whole set collapses.

 

I'm surprised there's no dvd. There was a documentary about him shown on the BBC a while ago, which was very good, and worth checking out.

 

They used to run Dave Allen, On the Buses, Man About the House, Doctor in the House on Thursday nights (I think) in Canada on Global. He was for a while a household name here in the late 70's/early 80's.

 

I couldn't remember which TV show was broadcasting these shows back then. I could've sworn that On The Buses was on TVO though. But I was quite young so I probably got it wrong.

I used to watch Dave Allen and On The Buses with my younger brother all the time and sometimes my Mom and Dad would sit in. I have a lot of good memories with them getting a kick out of Dave Allen. Lot's a laughs.

 

I always liked Dave Allen at Large. I loved the way he sat in his directors chair, smoke in hand, and poked fun at religion. I like that kind of humor though, so his show was tailor made for me. His show usually ran right after Benny Hill.

 

I think what I liked about him was that air of sophistication and intelligence often missing from this kind of comic - that and the fact he was actually funny.

 

If you notice also in the Benny Hill - Dave Allen spoof is that he also positions his hand to make it look like he is missing half a finger, which Dave Allen actually lacks.

 

The man was truly gifted. thanks johnnyyen for posting the link to the bio doc.

 

I remember watching it back in the 1980's at night either after or before Benny Hill. I like Allen and the opening music but Benny was funnier.

 

In Chicago, our Sunday night lineup was Monty Python at 10pm, followed by Dave Allen and then Doctor Who (edited into movie format).

I thought Dave Allen must've run only a few seasons until I got the DVD mentioned in the first post, then I realized WTTW only had a small percentage of the show because he was clearly older in several of the clips.

 

I didn't know that ON THE BUSES was shown in the states. But such was the nature of syndication of Britcoms that they never got shown in some markets. In Boston where I live, a UHF station bought a bunch of Brit filmed cop shows that probably weren't on in any other US market.

 

He did a show in Australia in 1971 that was so bad he got a lifetime ban.

 

One of my fave Dave Allen stories.

Allen was living in Australia at the time and had rather a large lawn at his rental property. A friend recommended that he buy a sheep to put on it to feed on the grass and keep it under control . So he did just that, bought a single sheep and let it do it's job.

Anyway as the seasons progressed Allen noticed that the sheep needed shearing as it's coat needed to come off for the summer. As he didn't know how to shear a sheep he grabbed the yellow pages and called up a shearing company/contractor.

Allen - "Hello, do you do sheep shearing?"

Shearer - "Yes we do mate! How many thousand head do you need shearing?"

Allen - "Ah well you see I have just the one!"

Shearer - (sarcastic) "Oh really? What's it's name?" [click]

 

I've always liked this one:

(if you're listening to music or out in public without headphones, you can watch it without the sound. I just did.)

 

Dave Allen:


Benny Hill as Dave Allen:

 

An Allen Shearer joke

 

Used to love this as a kid. I believe WSBK in Boston ran it around 10PM or so, to compete with (or complement) WLVI running Benny Hill.

I bought a UK "Best of" disc several years ago and it's great. I believe they've since released full seasons of the show on DVD there, but still
nothing official in the US.

 

No, alas, they have not released any season sets in the UK or outside. There are only two best-of DVDs and I suspect they're the same material.

 

This is the disc I have:



It was released previously with a different cover, but both DVD's are the same. They recently ran the Dave Allen in Australia series over here on Satellite, but I sadly missed all but the last episode. That series IS on DVD, so I'm looking out for it.

 

he was banned for life in 1971

but they must have forgiven him because he had a series here in 1975.

 

Both Amazon.com and .co.uk only have the two single-disc compilations. If whole seasons/series are out, who has them?