Some TV channels repeat programmes and films several times over a period, before replacing them with a different batch for a further few weeks . . . and so on and so forth.
For example, Sky Arts, ‘repeatedly repeats’ episodes of “Tales Of The Unexpected”, which was a staple of Saturday night telly on ITV from1979 to 1988.
Incidentally, I always thought the show’s title was a bit of a misnomer, because in seven out of 10 cases, the eventual fate (the ‘twist in the tale’) of the unfaithful husband or wife (the central characters in many episodes) was entirely predictable from the first five minutes.
They were perhaps better described as ‘Tales Of The Just As You Expected”.
Anyway, about a month ago, every time I tuned in (do people still ‘tune in’?) to Sky Arts, the same episode of ‘Tales’ was on that I’d briefly glanced at a few days previously . . . and it was always at the exact same point in the story I’d seen on the previous occasions.
Then, every time I tuned in to Film Four, I was confronted by the exact same scene in the musical “Oliver!”, in which Nancy (Shani Wallis) sings “It’s A Fine Life!”
I’ve seen “Oliver!” many times over the years and the fact it won six Oscars in 1969 speaks for its quality.
However . . .
When you land on the same scene four times and hear the same lyrics four times over a short period, you become aware “It’s A Fine Life” contain one of the worst lines in the history of musicals!
Despite the original show’s composer Lionel Bart being a genius, he obviously had difficulty finding a rhyme for ‘Fagin’. As ‘Menachem Begin’ wouldn’t really have worked, Lionel came up with . . .
“Though diseased rats threaten to bring the plague in”!
It’s horrendous, even though Shani Wallis belts it out with such gusto, as the customers of her tavern cheerfully join in the chorus.
If Lionel was writing it today, the line might be . . .
“Though this pub doesn’t serve any grub that’s vegan!”
You’re right. I won’t give up my day job.