The Smith & Jones Sketchbook (2006) User Reviews (2)

The Smith and Jones Sketchbook

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 6 July 2006]

The Two Ronnies Sketchbook was basically reuniting a brilliant comedy duo and letting them show us their past brilliance. Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones were reunited to show us all the best sketches and clips from Alas Smith and Jones. I wasn't born four years after the show started, and now that I have seen Sketchbook I have now seen all the brilliant sketches and characters that these two comedy geniuses created. Some memorable ones I can remember from Sketchbook were the two grown-up babies, the couple that finally have sex, and of course, the facing each other sketches. But it was mainly the comedians themselves that made the show a success. Very good!

Mel and Griff deserved better than this

[ShadeGrenade · 1/10 · 25 July 2006]

In the final 'Not The Nine O'Clock News', Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones spoofed 'The Two Ronnies' with 'The Two Ninnies'. It wasn't an affectionate parody, either, more of a savage attack. They cruelly berated Barker and Corbett for doing the same sort of jokes twenty years later ( which was inaccurate as 'The Two Ronnies' had only been on air for ten years at that point ). The show featured them doing exactly the same thing! 'Alas Smith & Jones' was one of the best sketch shows of the '80's, but this 'tribute' did it absolutely no favours. 'The Two Ronnies' compilations featured uncut material, here we got only excerpts interspersed with weak links. Are today's viewers so dim they need to have a joke explained before they see it? Even Mel and Griff looked embarrassed, as well they might. Fortunately, the original sketches stand up well even now. It was a shame no-one thought to put Mel and Griff in a better show.