The Good Life

When I was growing up, a combination of constant Radio 4 and a limit on what we were allowed to watch on television left me with a peculiar lack of exposure to pop culture and the 'in' things in entertainment, but has left me with a lasting affection for certain shows which were probably incongruous with my age and other interests.

While the sound of the shipping forecast makes me feel like I've been hypnotised and Allen Bennet's voice reminds me strongly of times spent in the airing cupboard recording my own books on tape, The Good Life still holds a vaguely titillating thrill for me which is at once comforting and risque. As a child, I was allowed to watch The Good Life because it was a relatively harmless comedy, but as a programme clearly written for adults (what else could possibly explain the fervour with which Felicity Kendal's bum has been admired ever since it was first seen in dirty work trousers?) it also contained occasional oblique references to adult themes. Off the cuff remarks about the pill, the state of other people's marriages and vague references to extra marital affection still make my inner child say 'Ummmm!', and I think the fact that both couples were child free made for an exciting departure from the lives of my parents and their friends, all of which seemed very glamorous and exotic when I was younger.

Whenever I see repeats of the Good Life I find myself compelled to watch, enjoying the magnificent outfits sported by Margot, the reassuring contentment of Tom and Barbara and the exemplary use of the word 'bombastic' by Margot when being shaken by the elbows. As feel-good comedies go, The Good Life really does the job and I only hope they continue to show it on UK Gold forever.

What's going on

Recently we have noticed a spate of peculiar programming, partly because it's Christmas so we've had more spare time, but mostly because the Boy Wonder is ill and we haven't really left the house for a fortnight. This has lead to the discovery of some of the weirdest programming we have even come across, and some of the highlights have been:

Liza Tarbuck and Huey Morgan in 'Liza and Huey's Pet Nation', where this pair who clearly are unlikely to have met under normal circumstances host a sort of clip/talk show about animals. For some reason.

Celebrity Parents SOS , which we only discovered this afternoon, featured Jonathan Ross's mum and Vinnie Jones's dad helping a couple to sort out their house, tidy up the garden and learn basic car maintenance. I'm reliably informed by the listings that this show will also include Jeremy Clarkson's mum, Sarah Beeny's dad, Charlotte Church's stepdad and Ben Fogle's mum, coming to the rescue of feckless people without the wit to solve their own problems nor the money to call in a professional - who came up with this?!

Pineapple Dance Studios, in which Louis Spence prances around being entertainingly camp whilst the tragic Spinal Tap-esque Andrew Stone deludes himself about his potential pop career and sexuality for the amusement of the viewing public all with peculiar staged dance routines carrying on in the background and increasingly unlikely scenarios in which the other members of the 'cast' are required to perform peculiar activities for 'publicity' etc.