'Little & Large', like 'Cannon & Ball', arrived soon after 'Morecambe & Wise' ( who personally I am not fond of ) fell out of favour with viewers. Despite their following at the time ( this show ran on the BBC from 1978 to 1991 ), the two have never really been regarded as comedy legends. Well, legends they are most certainly not, but they are two entertaining comedians who deserve far more credit than they have received over the years.
This long running BBC gave the two their lucky break following the failure of their dire ITV series 'The Little & Large Telly Show'. Each edition opened with Syd warming up the audience with a few light hearted gags, only for Eddie to come on stage and interrupt him with impersonations of Eamonn Andrews, Jimmy Saville, Deputy Dawg, Magnus Mackisson and Cliff Richard.
The best sketch was Toy's Hospital in which Eddie and Syd play toys who have been damaged by their owners over Christmas. Eddie, dressed as a bunny rabbit, complains angrily that his owner purposely cut off his ear so he could say ''well, what's this 'ere!''. The dire American soap 'Dallas' was, quite rightly, sent up something rotten. The continuity announcer reveals that since being shot, JR has had trouble holding down his beer, we then see him down a tankard of beer, only for the booze to spray out of his stomach like a watering can! The two also indulged in a witty 'Scrooge' style musical number in which snow kept landing on Eddie's head. Also very funny was a spoof of 'Grease' which, surprisingly, featured Eddie as 'Rab C. Nesbitt'!
The show ended in 1991 due to a decline in their popularity. They have not been seen on television since and the show has since been elusive of a DVD release. Not great comedy ( far from it ) but overall 'Little & Large' at least allowed for unassuming, safe entertainment.
This long running BBC gave the two their lucky break following the failure of their dire ITV series 'The Little & Large Telly Show'. Each edition opened with Syd warming up the audience with a few light hearted gags, only for Eddie to come on stage and interrupt him with impersonations of Eamonn Andrews, Jimmy Saville, Deputy Dawg, Magnus Mackisson and Cliff Richard.
The best sketch was Toy's Hospital in which Eddie and Syd play toys who have been damaged by their owners over Christmas. Eddie, dressed as a bunny rabbit, complains angrily that his owner purposely cut off his ear so he could say ''well, what's this 'ere!''. The dire American soap 'Dallas' was, quite rightly, sent up something rotten. The continuity announcer reveals that since being shot, JR has had trouble holding down his beer, we then see him down a tankard of beer, only for the booze to spray out of his stomach like a watering can! The two also indulged in a witty 'Scrooge' style musical number in which snow kept landing on Eddie's head. Also very funny was a spoof of 'Grease' which, surprisingly, featured Eddie as 'Rab C. Nesbitt'!
The show ended in 1991 due to a decline in their popularity. They have not been seen on television since and the show has since been elusive of a DVD release. Not great comedy ( far from it ) but overall 'Little & Large' at least allowed for unassuming, safe entertainment.