The second series of Man About The House had one less episode than the first series. The 6 shows aired in January and February 1974. It's stars Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett, with Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. They all started acting in the 1960s, except for Richard, his first role was in 1953. He stopped acting in 1996 after having serious medical issues and Sally stopped in 1978 after 24 years. Yootha died in 1980 but she'd had 18 years in the business by then. Paula is still going after 46 years and Brian has had a steady job on TV since 1960. I see from Brian's long list of roles that I've seen him in programs in the last 3 or 4 years. I didn't remember him as the guy from Man About The House but that's not too surprising. It's been decades since I've seen the show. I'd seen Paula in a Jonathan Creek a year or so ago and wondered why she was familiar, The IMDb told me what was up there.
The stories are your typical sitcom fare. In the first episode the Roper's leave to go out of town and the trio have a party. Oh, oh, the Roper's have returned early. Robin takes judo but is afraid to fight when Chrissy is bothered in the pub. Now he's got to prove himself. In episode 3 Chrissy's new boyfriend turns out to be married. Mr Roper has a meal with a guy from Germany in the next episode and he can't stop talking about the war. Dennis Waterman plays the guy from Germany. I'd seen Dennis over the last three years in New Tricks. I have two other shows, The Sweeney and Minder, with Dennis in them on my shelves to watch.
In the fifth episodes Jo has a date but she promised to babysit for a friend. Chrissy and Robin take the babysitting job. You can guess how that will go. Robin fails his cooking exams in the last episode of the series and his father gives him money so he won't return home. Leslie Sands plays Richard's father. I remember him fondly from an episode of The Saint. He appeared in The Black Adder, Wodehouse Playhouse and The Avengers, among tons of other programs. Man About The House continues to be fun but I'm not too sure that I care for the addition of Robin's pal Larry into a tiny room in the attic. He's kind of a jerk for the most part and doesn't add much of anything to the show. Everyone else seems fine to me. The stories are still making me laugh. Still more to come, stay tuned.
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