DVD cover

Bless This House on the cover of TV Times magazine.

Bless This House was a British television comedy show made by Thames Television, then the weekday broadcaster on the ITV network (now ITV1) in the London region, and ran from 1971 to 1976. As a result of ITV's policy of rarely repeating its sitcoms, Bless This House has a tendency to be overlooked in modern times, though it has gained a renewed following with repeats being shown on the Sky Digital channel Paramount Comedy. In 2004, it was placed at number 67 in a poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. Image File history File links Bless-This-House. ... Image File history File links Bless-This-House. ... Image File history File links TVTimesBlessThisHouse. ... Image File history File links TVTimesBlessThisHouse. ... The TV Times is a television listings magazine published in the United Kingdom. ... The classic Thames Television logo (1969—1989), featuring a montage of London landmarks. ... ITVs Logo 2006—present Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the broadcasting licences for... ITV1 is a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... ITVs Logo 2006—present Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the broadcasting licences for... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ... Paramount Comedy is a television channel shown in the UK. As the name suggests, it is owned by Paramount Pictures (aka Viacom) and concentrates on comedy. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Britains Best Sitcom is the name of a poll conducted in 2003 and 2004 by the BBC. Criticism was levelled at the BBC after it was revealed that the top ten programmes were all their own productions and that only one place lower at number 11 was the highest...

This popular early sitcom centred around a household of Birch Avenue, Putney, where Sid Abbott and his wife Jean lived with their teenage children — Mike, fresh from art college and more preoccupied with protests than finding a job, and Sally, a trendy schoolgirl. Each week, the old-fashioned parents battled to comprehend the permissive ways of the new generation and consistently amused viewers by being bemusedly out of touch. A sitcom is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Putney is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ...

The show was produced by William G. Stewart of Fifteen to One fame, and featured a theme by Geoff Love. A comic strip version was also produced, written by Angus Allan and printed in TV comic Look-In. William Gladstone Stewart (1935-) is a British producer and director of comedy and game shows, now best known as the former producer and presenter of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One. ... Fifteen to One was a popular general knowledge quiz show on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, that ran from 4 January 1988 to 19 December 2003. ... Geoff Love lived on Commercial Street and has a plaque dedicated to his memory outside his old house. ... As almost the only script writer employed by television listings comic Look-In in the 1970s, Angus Allan (sometimes also credited as Angus P. Allan) was responsible for original comic strip adaptations of, among others, such well-known 70s and 80s TV series as: Catweazle Adventures of David Cassidy...

Cast

• Sid Abbott — Sid James
• Jean Abbott — Diana Coupland
• Mike Abbott — Robin Stewart
• Sally Abbott — Sally Geeson
• Trevor — Anthony Jackson
• Betty — Patsy Rowlands

Sid James (8 May 1913 - 26 April 1976) was a film and television actor. ... Diana Coupland (born 5 March 1932, London) is a British actress who has worked mainly in television since the early 1960s. ... Sally Geeson (born June 23, 1950, Sussex) is an English actress with a career mostly on television in the 1970s. ... Patsy Rowlands (born 19 January 1934, died 22 January 2005) was a British actress. ...

Episodes

Series 1 (2 Feb 71 - 20 Apr 71)

1. The Generation Gap (2 Feb 71)
2. Mum's The Word (9 Feb 71)
3. Father's Day (16 Feb 71)
4. Be It Ever So Humble (23 Feb 71)
5. Another Fine Mess (2 Mar 71)
6. For Whom The Bells Toll (9 Mar 71)
7. A Woman's Place (16 Mar 71)
8. The Day Of Rest (23 Mar 71)
9. Make Love, Not War (30 Mar 71)
10. Charity Begins At Home (6 Apr 71)
11. lf The Dog Collar Fits ... Wear It! (13 Apr 71)
12. The Morning After The Night Before (20 Apr 71)

Series 2 (21 Feb 72 - 15 May 72)

1. Two Heads Are Better Than One (21 Feb 72)
2. Love Me, Love My Tree (28 Feb 72)
3. It's All In The Mind (6 Mar 72)
4. Another Lost Weekend (13 Mar 72)
5. Parents Should Be Seen And Not Heard (20 Mar 72)
6. Strangers In The Night (27 Mar 72)
7. Get Me To The Match On Time (10 Apr 72)
8. Wives And Lovers (17 Apr 72)
9. Never Again On Sunday (24 Apr 72)
10. People In Glass Houses (1 May 72)
11. A Rolls By Any Other Name (8 May 72)
12. A Touch Of The Unknown (15 May 72)

Series 3 (22 Jan 73 - 28 May 73)

1. It Comes To Us All In The End (22 Jan 73)
2. Tea For Two And Four For Tea (5 Feb 73)
3. To Tell Or Not To Tell (12 Feb 73)
4. Blood Is Thicker Than Water (19 Feb 73)
5. One Good Turn Deserves A Bother (26 Feb 73)
6. The Loneliness Of The Short Distance Walker (5 Mar 73)
7. Watch The Birdie (12 Mar 73)
8. Will The Real Sid Abbott Please Stand Up (30 Apr 73)
9. Atishoo! Atishoo! We All Fall Down (7 May 73)
10. Entente Not So Cordiale (14 May 73)
11. I'm Not jealous, I'll Kill Him (21 May 73)
12. A Girl's Worst Friend Is Her Father (28 May 73)

Series 4 (20 Feb 74 - 10 Apr 74)

1. Money Is The Root Of ... (20 Feb 74)
2. And They Will Come Home (27 Feb 74)
3. Who's Minding The Baby? (20 Mar 74)
4. A Beef In His Bonnet (27 Mar 74)
5. The Bells Are Ringing (3 Apr 74)
6. The First 25 Years Are The Worst (10 Apr 74)

Series 5 (14 Oct 74 - 16 Dec 74)

1. They Don't Write Songs Like That Anymore (14 Oct 74)
2. The Gipsy's Warning (21 Oct 74)
3. The Biggest Woodworm In The World (28 Oct 74)
4. Home Tweet Home (4 Nov 74)
5. You're Never Too Old To Be Young (11 Nov 74)
6. The Policeman, The Paint And The Pirates (18 Nov 74)
7. Happy Birthday Sid (25 Nov 74)
8. Freedom Is (2 Dec 74)
9. Mr. Chairman ... (9 Dec 74)
10. And Afterwards At ... (16 Dec 74)

Series 6 (29 Jan 76 - 22 Apr 76)

1. The Frozen Limit (29 Jan 76)
2. Beautiful Dreamer (5 Feb 76)
3. Fish With Everything (12 Feb 76)
4. The Naked Paperhanger (19 Feb 76)
5. Remember Me? (26 Feb 76)
6. Something Of Value (4 Mar 76)
7. Men Of Consequence (11 Mar 76)
8. Skin Deep (18 Mar 76)
9. Friends And Neighbours (25 Mar 76)
10. Well, Well, Well (1 Apr 76)
11. The Phantom Pools Winner (8 Apr 76)
12. A Matter Of Principle (15 Apr 76)
13. Some Enchanted Evening (22 Apr 76)

A Sad End

Bless This House came to an abrupt end in 1976, when, just 4 days after broadcast of the final episode of series 6 (Some Enchanted Evening (22 Apr 76)), Sid James collapsed in his dressing room at the Sunderland Empire (on the opening night of The Mating Season) from a heart attack. He later died on the way to the hospital. The Sunderland Empire Theatre is located in High Street West in Sunderland. ... The Mating Season is a 1951 film with Thelma Ritter. ...

Film

A film version was made in 1972, still starring Sid James & Diana Coupland as the Couplands with their children, but featured "new" neighbours Terry Scott and June Whitfield both of whom would go on to star in another hit comedy TV series Terry and June playing similar roles (Today, this movie is shown more frequently than either of the TV shows). In the film, the part of Mike was played not by Robin Stewart but by Robin Askwith, who also starred as a friend of Mike's in the series in 1972. The part of Trevor was also recast with Peter Butterworth replacing Jackson. Both original actors returned for the next television series. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Terry Scott (May 4, 1927-July 26, 1994) was a comedian who appeared in seven Carry On films. ... June Whitfield CBE (born 11 November 1925 in London) is a highly-respected veteran English actress who has worked constantly for more than 60 years. ... June Whitfield and Terry Scott on Terry and June Terry and June was a popular British sitcom, broadcast on the BBC from 1979 to 1987. ... Robin Askwith (born October 12, 1950 in Southport, England) is a British film actor, most famous for his role as Timmy Lea in the sex comedies. ... Peter Butterworth Peter Butterworth (February 4, 1919 - January 16, 1979) was an English comic actor who appeared in many of the Carry On films. ...

American sitcom of the same name

Bless This House is also the name of a short-lived American sitcom starring Andrew Dice Clay and Cathy Moriarty that aired on CBS in 1995. It was a notable program becase Clay was previously (and since) known for adult humor that was unairable on network television. However, the show did not last long due to low ratings and to reports of clashes between Clay and the network. Andrew Dice Clay (born September 29, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American comedian and actor born Andrew Clay Silverstein. ... Cathy Moriarty (born November 29, 1960, in New York City) is an American actress. ... CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of the network) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• British Sitcom Guide
• Phill.co.uk Comedy Guide
• BBC Comedy Guide
• Blessthishouse.net For all you need to know about The 70s hit comedy "Bless This House"