This one seems familiar... Thanks to Genome,
we learn that it was repeated in 1975, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998
and 2000. I think that I'd have seen almost all of those on transmission!
That's around five more repeats than most of the surrounding episodes in
the series, many of which were unseen between 1975 and 1995.
One reason why this particular episode became the one that always got shown was scheduling fortuitousness. Its a comedy about international football that the viewer needs no interest whatsoever in international football to fully understand and enjoy, making it a handy programme to fill in half an hour during disruptive football programming (a trick first tried when it was broadcast immediately before the opening ceremony of the 1986 World Cup). Another reason was its comforting familiarity after it had been repeated a few times. Perhaps the biggest reason is that it has a narrative hook that is easily grasped - needing to get through a day without discovering the result of a major event - and appeals to peoples' imaginations (although maybe its starting to come across as alien in a smartphone age).
What's odd about its particular fame is that it’s not a very representative episode of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? There's no Thelma for a start, and nothing of the major arc of that first series of Bob's engagement and marriage. There's also very little of class comedy of the gap between Bob and Terry's aspirations and approaches to life. Its there in the first scene with Terry's unease at the (gloriously period) hairdressers, but that's it. There's also little of the terrible creeping nostalgia that often shades the two old friends' conversations beyond their memories of the unhygienic barbers of old. Its rather closer to the caper storylines of the sixties Likely Lads than most of the sequel's episodes.
What it does shares with the other episode is dialogue that absolutely sings, with every other line carrying a memorable clear image, and a wonderful rhythm between the two leads, whose occasional fluff and stumble gives a naturalism to a highly-crafted script.
One reason why this particular episode became the one that always got shown was scheduling fortuitousness. Its a comedy about international football that the viewer needs no interest whatsoever in international football to fully understand and enjoy, making it a handy programme to fill in half an hour during disruptive football programming (a trick first tried when it was broadcast immediately before the opening ceremony of the 1986 World Cup). Another reason was its comforting familiarity after it had been repeated a few times. Perhaps the biggest reason is that it has a narrative hook that is easily grasped - needing to get through a day without discovering the result of a major event - and appeals to peoples' imaginations (although maybe its starting to come across as alien in a smartphone age).
What's odd about its particular fame is that it’s not a very representative episode of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? There's no Thelma for a start, and nothing of the major arc of that first series of Bob's engagement and marriage. There's also very little of class comedy of the gap between Bob and Terry's aspirations and approaches to life. Its there in the first scene with Terry's unease at the (gloriously period) hairdressers, but that's it. There's also little of the terrible creeping nostalgia that often shades the two old friends' conversations beyond their memories of the unhygienic barbers of old. Its rather closer to the caper storylines of the sixties Likely Lads than most of the sequel's episodes.
What it does shares with the other episode is dialogue that absolutely sings, with every other line carrying a memorable clear image, and a wonderful rhythm between the two leads, whose occasional fluff and stumble gives a naturalism to a highly-crafted script.
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