Rutland Weekend Television: Difference between revisions

[[File:rut2top_1787.jpg|frame| The season 2 title card.]]

 

 

''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.

** And one of the episodes began not with the regular title sequence, but the title sequence of ''The Old Gay Whistle Test'', parody of ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'', particularly the host's continous whisper. Wow.

* [[Aside Glance]]: An entire group performs one in the "Trapped By The Writer" sketch, trying to rebel against the author. [[You Can't Fight Fate|It doesn't work so well.]]

'''Jack:''' No, no, he's written that silence in as well... }}

* [[Badass Normal]]: Unintentional and casual he may be, but "The Man With A Habit Of Killing People" falls into this.

* [[Biting the Hand Humor]]: In episode 6, (and throughout most of the show, really) the announcer continously complains about the terrible budget -- and a terrible budget was just what [[The BBC]] had given them.

* [[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.

* [[Brutal Honesty]]: Another one from the "Trapped By The Writer" sketch.

'''Jack:''' ''([[Beat]])'' Well, Ronald, that's rather interesting, because, in point of fact, {{spoiler|I slept with your wife.}} }}

* [[The Cast Showoff|Cast Show Off]]: Neil Innes' songs, [[Captain Obvious|obviously.]] In a less-known example, it seems David Battley had a knack for juggling -- though we only see this one-and-a-half times.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: A lot of characters, from the host of "''[[Show Within a Show|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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK3f8smt0pw&feature=related the Ricochet brothers] ('''Spelled ricochet, but pronounced rick-ot-chet''').

* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: Mentioned in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvGtx74ofFI&feature=related "Bad Language"] sketch, when the writers are talking about what to cut.

'''Eric:''' That is ''no'' excuse for five minutes solid swearing. That last word you used is ''never'' to be seen on television, apart from perhaps by lip-readers on ''[[Match of the Day]]''. }}

* [[Completely Missing the Point]]: The first episode features a man in a cell playing chess against a guard, with another guard watching.

'''Playing guard:''' [[Jerkass|Oh, not much longer, I hope, we don't get off until you're done...]] }}

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: Played for laughs in the "[[Blatant Lies|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.

* [[Football Hooligans]]: The [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Football"]] sketch.

* [[Good Is Bad and Bad Is Good]]: The "Ill Health Food Store" sketch.

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: Occurs for a moment in the "Rutland Five-O" sketch, where they manage to name all the members of [[The Who]].

'''Muttski:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|Yeah, I know, you think this stuff is easy to write.]] }}

* [[I Let You Win]]: The guard who plays chess in the "Hanging" sketch. [[Justified Trope|Justified]], as it's the prisoner's last game...then [[Subverted Trope|subverted]], when they reveal there have been times when he ''[[Jerkass|didn't]]'' let the prisoner win his last game of chess.

* [[Inherently Funny Words]]: An ''entire sketch'' revolves around a conversation in these. The announcer follows it up with this line:

* [[Lyrical Dissonance]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfk5Y46i5kM&feature=related Drama On A Saturday Night.] ''[[Tear Jerker|(sniff)]]''

* [[Medium Awareness]]: In an installment of "Rutland Weekend Theatre". The author also goes [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|mad with power.]]

* [[Most Writers Are Male]]: Pointed out and discussed in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THrJrBR0S7Y&feature=related one installment of "Rutland Weekend Theatre".]

'''Jack:''' Because the writer's written what you just said. }}

* [[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 [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|lean on the fourth wall]]. (Commenting on a [[Hurricane of Puns]], dodging commercial breaks in the road...)

* [[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.

* [[The Show Must Go On]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbK4N445WBk&feature=related 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.

* [[Show Within a Show]]: Many. The sketches ''did'' take place in a fictional TV station, after all.

* [[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!".