The Old Guys

The Old Guys
The Old Guys title card for series 1.
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jesse Armstrong Sam Bain
Written by	Jesse Armstrong Sam Bain Simon Blackwell
Directed by	Dewi Humphreys
Starring	Roger Lloyd-Pack Clive Swift Jane Asher Katherine Parkinson Justin Edwards
Theme music composer	Ivor Cutler (Series 1) Clive Swift Roger Lloyd-Pack
Opening theme	"I'm Happy"
Ending theme	I'm Happy (Instrumental Version)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Alan Tyler Cheryl Taylor
Location(s)	BBC Pacific Quay, Glasgow
Production company(s)	BBC Scotland
Distributor	BBC DVD
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One BBC HD (series 2)BBC One HD (series 3)
Picture format	16:9
Original run	31 January 2009 (2009-01-31) – Present
External links
Website

The Old Guys is a British comedy television series that revolves around two aging housemates: Tom Finnan (Roger Lloyd-Pack) and Roy Bowden (Clive Swift). The pair live across the street from Sally (Jane Asher), whom they both find attractive. Tom moved in with Roy after Roy's wife Penny deserted him. Baby boomer Tom has little in life but his daughter Amber (Katherine Parkinson), who is dating Steve (Justin Edwards). Roy is a suburban pensioner who believes that he is one of the country's leading intellectuals.^[1] It premiered on 31 January 2009 on BBC One, and aired on Saturday evenings.

The show concluded its second series on 13 August 2010. The first and second series are currently being repeated on GOLD, and in the United States on PBS Saturday nights, while in Australia the second series airs on ABC1.

Production

The sitcom produced by BBC Scotland stars Jane Asher, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Clive Swift and Katherine Parkinson, and is written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell and Sam Bain. The show was commissioned by Lucy Lumsden, BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning in 2008.^[2] It is recorded at BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow.

In 2005, while in the early stages of development, a script for The Old Guys was used for a BBC Three competition, The Last Laugh, aimed at encouraging young writers. Along with seven other scripts for potential sitcoms, the first 13 scenes were published, and entrants invited to write the remainder.

Characters

• Roger Lloyd-Pack as Tom
• Clive Swift as Roy
• Jane Asher as Sally
• Katherine Parkinson as Amber
• Justin Edwards as Steve

Title music

For its theme tune the series has used Ivor Cutler's distinctive song "I'm Happy" , which can be found on his 1967 Ludo album. Series 1 used the original recording of the song, whilst Series 2 used a version performed by Lloyd-Pack and Swift.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Old Guys episodes

The Old Guys has so far run for twelve episodes over two series. All episodes are thirty minutes. The first series aired at around 9:30pm every Saturday. The first episode gained 4.95 million viewers, an audience share of 22.5%. The second episode slumped slightly with 3.75m (17.2%) viewers. The second series began on 9 July 2010 and ended on 13 August 2010. ^[3]

Reception

The Old Guys has received mixed reviews. On The Box stated, "Aside from sporting the worst theme tune to accompany a sitcom in living memory, The Old Guys is a horrid confection of cheap BBC comedy and an ill-conceived, poorly handled premise." Whereas The Mirror commented, "Moved to a new home on Friday nights, where it's much-needed, the second series of The Old Guys feels as comfortable as a pair of slippers."^[4]

DVD release

The first series of The Old Guys was released on Region 2 DVD on 28 June 2010. ^[5] The two series are also available to buy on iTunes.

References

1. ^ "The Old Guys". British Comedy Guide. http://www.comedy.org.uk/guide/tv/the_old_guys/. Retrieved 2009-01-23. 
2. ^ "Two brand new sitcoms from BBC Scotland - Life Of Riley and The Old Guys". BBC Press Office. 2008-03-19. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/03_march/19/comedies.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-08. 
3. ^ "The Old Guys Series 2 (2010)". British Comedy Guide. http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_old_guys/episodes/2/. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
4. ^ http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_old_guys/press/?ppage=2
5. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Guys-1-DVD/dp/B0036FKO8E/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1297445360&sr=1-1

External links

• The Old Guys at BBC Programmes
• The Old Guys at the Internet Movie Database
• The Old Guys at the British Comedy Guide
• The Old Guys at TV.com
• Review in the Leicester Mercury