I really wanted to enjoy this show because of it's reputation as a classic but I found it boring, stupid and down right unfunny. The idea of a skinflint corner shopkeeper isn't a bad idea on paper and a few of the characters were entertaining but in execution it was as boring as sin.
Ronnie Barkers Arkwright got on my nerves very fast, especially that stutter, (before you get on my case and lecture me about discrimination, he's acting and it's used in the show for comedic effect, so in reality it's the show that's being discriminatory). I could let the stutter pass but that's his only joke. The skinflint aspect could have been developed even further, he has no redeemable aspects (so I can't feel any sympathy for him) and he's not extremely slimy either (a character you love to hate).
Also I can't stand that romance plot between Arkwright and Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, she clearly has contempt for Arkwright and he is oblivious (to the point of being a peeping tom which last time I checked is a criminal offence), why hasn't she put a restraining order on him yet?
Each episode was as boring as sin (each is only 30 minutes long and I felt every second of it) and the best it got out of me was a mild chuckle once or maybe twice an episode, the first time I got truly annoyed at a sitcom studio audience.
The only redeemable part was Granville played by David Jason, he was the only character I felt any sympathy towards and provided most of the chuckles, although that could largely be down to David Jason.
Nurse Gladys Emmanuel played by Lynda Baron was a fairly fun character but nothing remarkable.
Ronnie Barker is an amazing actor and comedian from his work in The Two Ronnies and Porridge but this was by far the worst thing he ever did, (down to a combination of the writing and acting). And for the writer Roy Clarke I much preferred his later sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
There were plenty of great sitcoms produced in the 70s, such as Porridge, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Fawlty Towers and even On The Buses (which I know a lot of people slate but I enjoy it a lot more than Open All Hours).
You can come to the argument that it's not suppose to be deep and it's suppose to be clean feel good fun but it majorly fails because it's so unfunny and so boring.
Review of Open All Hours
