Just A Minute

 
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Re: My observations thus far...

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jerryvonkramerAug 29, 2014
 

 
I have now reached the end of 1970, which is the end of season 4 and then most of season 5. Geraldine Jones has gone, but Derek Nimmo is not yet off on his travels.

This stretch of shows provides the "missing link" between the early Kenneth and the Kenneth we find once Peter Jones turns up -- the change is much less sudden than I first thought, it is gradual. Over these shows he establishes several key tropes that he would repeat time and again:

1. Upon having a decision go his way: "Oh yes, a very good chairman, very good chairman" etc. This is pretty funny, because it can come either directly before or after ...

2. Upon having a decision not go his way: "It's a DISGRACE! etc." Kenneth's frequnet and flagrant double standards and hypocrisy are most entertaining. In these 1970 shows he's still more playful than he is aggressive, and it will be interesting to see whether or not the aggressive side ramps up when Peter Jones arrives in season 6, as I claimed in my initial post.

3. Claiming that he "plays for entertainment, not for points". He does this several times, provoking witty buzzes from Clement Freud who interjects with "he's not playing for points, I am". This is also funny because it will often come after a rant by Kenneth over a given point. The way he flits in and out of taking the game seriously adds to his overall sense of whimsy. One minute it's the most important thing on earth to win a point, next minute he doesn't care. Consummate showman.

4. Excessive prudishness. This is a hold over from many of his Carry On characters, but he'll frequently object to things that are "dirty", "filthy", "disgusting" and so on.

5. Playing up when Nicholas is trying to do a link and then getting scolded by Nicholas. This can be very funny too. "You are ridiculous sometimes Kenneth!"

6. Many silly voices and elongation of vowels. Sometimes these are so absurd that I can't help but laugh, it's almost as if he's disappearing into thin air or something, hilarious.

I think it's with this stretch of shows that Kenneth really establishes himself as a the star of the show. He's a constant presence, even when he's not talking, you can "feel" him there. Some other observations:

- Clement is a bit more playful at times during these shows, but also there are occasions where he's a bit difficult or tetchy. You can tell sometimes that he doesn't like it when a decision doesn't go his way and then he "strikes back" with a harsh challenge seconds later. Just as Kenneth feels like a constant presence, I think Clement does too -- you can "feel" him there as the arbiter of the proper rules and of the competitive spirit of the game. But as I said, more playfulness too -- he sometimes gives people points for free just for amusement, and occasionally does so to highlight some of Nicholas's glaring inconsistencies.

- Speaking of Nicholas, his sucking up to the female players is almost out of control on some of these. He's sometimes condescending and patronizing to them. Once in a while he throws out a compliment like "little blinder" that seems to go too far to me. I know he's trying to be nice to new players and some of this is because it was 1970, and not 2014, but I wonder if some of Nicholas's behaviour actually made the women feel more uncomfortable than they might have. He's trying to be "gallant" and accommodating, but frequently comes off like a total creep to me.

- Derek has settled into a nice rhythm. He's a tiny bit less aggressive than he is on the earlier shows, and his guffawing generally adds to a warm atmosphere. I also think that he acts as a great counterweight to both Clement and Kenneth. He takes the game as seriously as Clement and can be just as sharp or petty in the little challenges. At the same time, he's flamboyant, eccentric and a showman, so Kenneth doesn't dominate proceedings too much. His little ticks like "really", "what ho!", "awfully" and so on are quite endearing to. It's also pretty funny when he totally makes something up, gets called on it, keeps up the pretense of it being true for a moment before owning up. There's one where he claims to join some sort of Scottish regiment and Nicholas asks him to swear by his oath on it, and then he admits to making it up. It's a lot of fun, because he's a sort of Baron Munchausen character: you never quite know if his various yarns and travels are true.

- Of the women, Sheila Hancock is growing on me. I think Denise Coffey is a poor replacement for Geraldine Jones though, she sounds out of sync with the show. Of the newcomers, Jacqueline MacKenzie is hilarious, partly because she clearly doesn't know the game at all -- they give her a full minute during which she makes about 16 repetitions and no one challenges. There's also one with Liz Fraser or Katherine Whitehorn (can't remember which) when she's "getting into her stride" so Nick is very lenient with challenges, which produces a lot of funny moments too.

Onwards to 1971!

Incidentally, I bought the Just a Minute book by Nicholas Parsons on the weekend. Just done some light browsing so far, but some of his observations seem spot on to me.

 
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