It's a TV series about theatrical types performed and written by theatrical types, and it doesn't work well on the small screen.
Julie Covington does the tomboy bit which probably inspired Sinead O Conner... Charlotte Cornwell does the mousy middle-aged housewife going through a crisis and Rula Lenska struts around doing a disturbing impersonation of a Las Vegas drag act.
This Thames Television production exploded onto the British consciousnesses in early 1976. I was 16 at the time with much better things to do to occupy my time than watch this. I was left out of a lot of conversations! It was all anyone talked about and the 'girls' sold a zillion magazines touting 'girl power' before it was even invented!
The songs sound like they would do well in a musical. The song 'Little Ladies' is simply unbearably painful to listen to. The acting is so camp and unpolished that it also belongs on a stage where it can never be accurately recalled, too. Unfortunately it's there for all to see.
The peripheral characters are caricatures. The boyfriends are so absurd and annoying that you just want to reach into the screen and punch them senseless. There's lots of shouting, lots of over-acting and lots and lots of smoking! It's allegedly a satire, but I didn't see any. Then again, it's 2018 and maybe 40 years has changed the meaning of the word.
There are some good cameos, though. Kathy Staff (Nora Batty/Mrs Blewitt) is a hoot as the waitress in episode two. Whoever plays the seedy agent in the first episode is funny, too, especially when he's explaining how he wants the Annie Hall production to be a bit more sexed up.
But these moments are too few and far between. In summation... it's just a noisy and annoying mess.
Julie Covington does the tomboy bit which probably inspired Sinead O Conner... Charlotte Cornwell does the mousy middle-aged housewife going through a crisis and Rula Lenska struts around doing a disturbing impersonation of a Las Vegas drag act.
This Thames Television production exploded onto the British consciousnesses in early 1976. I was 16 at the time with much better things to do to occupy my time than watch this. I was left out of a lot of conversations! It was all anyone talked about and the 'girls' sold a zillion magazines touting 'girl power' before it was even invented!
The songs sound like they would do well in a musical. The song 'Little Ladies' is simply unbearably painful to listen to. The acting is so camp and unpolished that it also belongs on a stage where it can never be accurately recalled, too. Unfortunately it's there for all to see.
The peripheral characters are caricatures. The boyfriends are so absurd and annoying that you just want to reach into the screen and punch them senseless. There's lots of shouting, lots of over-acting and lots and lots of smoking! It's allegedly a satire, but I didn't see any. Then again, it's 2018 and maybe 40 years has changed the meaning of the word.
There are some good cameos, though. Kathy Staff (Nora Batty/Mrs Blewitt) is a hoot as the waitress in episode two. Whoever plays the seedy agent in the first episode is funny, too, especially when he's explaining how he wants the Annie Hall production to be a bit more sexed up.
But these moments are too few and far between. In summation... it's just a noisy and annoying mess.