The Comedians
Genre	Comedy
Directed by	Dave Warwick
Starring	Russ Abbot Lennie Bennett Stan Boardman Jim Bowen Duggie Brown Jimmy Bright Mike Burton Dave Butler Brian Carroll Frank Carson Colin Crompton Charlie Daze Vince Earl Steve Faye Stu Francis Ken Goodwin Jackie Hamilton Jerry Harris George King Bobby Knutt Bernard Manning Paul Melba Mick Miller Tom O'Connor Tom Pepper Bryn Phillips Mike Reid George Roper Harry Scott Sammy Thomas Johnny Wager Roy Walker Charlie Williams Lee Wilson Lenny Windsor
Composer(s)	Derek Hilton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	11
No. of episodes	73
Production
Producer(s)	Ian Hamilton John Hamp
Editor(s)	D.L. Hayes Ron Swayne
Location(s)	Granada Studios
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Granada Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Picture format	4:3
Original run	12 June 1971 – 6 July 1985
Status	Ended

The Comedians is a British television show of the 1970s (later reprised in the mid 1980s) which gave a stage to nightclub and working men's club comedians of the era, including Stan Boardman, George Roper, Paul Melba, Roy Walker, Tom O'Connor, Frank Carson, Jim Bowen, Charlie Williams, Sammy Thomas, Dave Butler, Mike Reid, Duggie Brown, Lenny Windsor, Colin Crompton, Ken Goodwin, Johnny Wager, Harry Scott, Mike Burton, Brian Carroll, Lennie Bennett, Charlie Daze, Vince Earl, Russ Abbot, Jimmy Bright, Steve Faye, Stu Francis, Jerry Harris, Jackie Hamilton, George King, Mick Miller, Bryn Phillips, Tom Pepper, Lee Wilson, Bobby Knutt and Bernard Manning. It was produced by Johnnie Hamp of Granada Television.

Also featured on the TV show were Shep's Banjo Boys, a 7-piece band comprising (for the first 5 series) Charlie Bentley (tenor banjo), Andy Holdorf (trombone), John Drury (sousaphone), John Orchard (piano), John Rollings (drums), Graham Shepherd (banjo) & Howard Shepherd (lead banjo).

The Comedians began as an experiment for Granada TV. Filmed before a live audience in Manchester, comics each performed 20-minute sets, which were then edited together into half-hour shows. Each edition featured up to ten stand-up comics.

Working men's clubs are numerous in Britain, especially in North East England and have been a useful training ground for artists, especially comedians. Most of these clubs are affiliated to the CIU (Working Men's Club and Institute Union) founded in 1862 by the Rev. Henry Solly. There are also political clubs, as well as Servicemen's Clubs affiliated to the Royal British Legion.

It was remarkably popular during the earlier series. An LP recording of the show reached the best-seller charts, several sell-out national tours followed, including a season at the London Palladium, and the programme won the Critics' Circle Award.

The comedy frequently took the form of anecdotes or jokes and often involved racist or sexist stereotypes. Like other British comedy successes of the day, notably Love Thy Neighbour, this kind of entertainment was acceptable on British television during this period but would not be so today. Viewing the series in retrospect it stands as a major social document of the times.

In recent years the series has been repeated on the (now defunct) British satellite television channel Granada Plus, and can now be bought, on DVD, having been released by Network.

[edit] DVD Releases

The first seven series including a dvd set (containing the first seven series broadcast 1971-79) have been released on DVD by Network.

[edit] See also

• The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club.

[edit] External links

• The Comedians at the Internet Movie Database
• Comedy Guide - The Comedians at bbc.co.uk
• Classic Telly: Tributes to The Comedians