We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Recommendations rarely come much higher Public Eye was made from 1965 to 1975 and contains adult themes, outdated attitudes and language which some viewers may find offensive.
– Warning message put up by Talking Pictures TV prior to its re-runs of the series. For those unfamiliar with Public Eye, think Colombo meets The Rockford Files in the English suburbs.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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“Outdated”: PC-speak for “unfashionable”.
Who are these people that are shocked and offended that a fifty year old TV show reflects the social norms of fifty years ago? Why do we have to give a damn about their ridiculous feelings?
Frank Marker ( the late Alfred Burke)was a fairly low -key PI–or “Private Enquiry Agent” as Marker called himself–largely sans the fights and car chases seen in US series. But the stories were solid drama. I remember bits from my childhood. I have watched several episodes recently and seen nothing “offensive” –not that I give a rat’s arse about CM vapouring.
I watched Public Eye last night and Susan Penhaligon was in it, her character described as a dolly bird and a lezzy. I remember her as a beauty from the 70s and it was great to be reminded of just how pretty she was. The plot was a bit silly though.
Diane Keen was in it the night before. Another 70s stunner.
Another golden example from the golden age of UK television. Glad to see it back. 6 guineas a day, plus expenses – who in the UK even remembers what this means?
I doubt it contains anything much-more offensive than all the other UK TV made at that time. I wonder – do they show re-runs of ‘The Sweeney’ or ‘Minder’ these days? Those certainly contained plenty of ‘outdated attitudes’.
What I recall about ‘Public Eye’ was that it often showed life lessons, about incentives, honrsty and trust. But those, of course, will be lost in the vapouring about some bad word or other.
As we now raise greyhounds, the episode of the kidnapped greyhound comes out in my memory. Not quite Shergar, was it? I’ll go looking for it online.
llater,
llamas
I wouldn’t mind watching The Sweeney again. It’s no more “outdated” than the original Get Carter.
They’ll never show re-runs of “Love Thy Neighbour” though. The humourless scolds can be relied upon to misinterpret it.
The Sweeney is often on ITV4, along with Minder and The Professionals.
Apparently London in the 70s was festooned with neat piles of large, empty, pristine cardboard boxes.
Indeed, pete. Also Ironside and Kojak. ITV4 is practically The’70s Cop Show Channel.
Good heavens! Ironside and Kojak! Their fame travels surprisingly far & wide!
Speaking of K., it somewhat entertains me to know that a guy wearing a Kojak suit also had the honor of stroking a white Persian cat on the Big Screen. :>)!
Meanwhile, I have hunted up Public Eye on the Toob. I’m interested to watch it, as you guys haven’t steered me wrong yet. (In fact as soon as I shuffle off this mortal coil, I intend to have Sir Arnold come live with my Honey and me. And the dogs. 😀 )
In the same episode with Susan Penhaligon there was a scene where Frank ordered a large Gin & Tonic–45 pence.
In the early episodes the prices are all in guineas and shillings.
@Pete – re cardboard boxes, UK viewers will immediately know exactly what you mean, and smile. US viewers will be bemused.
When I’ve watched some of these shows with mrs llamas, she picked up on the cardboard-box meme at once. I explained to her how the cars were loaners and they were trying to avoid damaging them. ‘So’ she said ‘are the cardboard boxes loaners as well?’ When one episode of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ might total a dozen cars or more, the contrast does something to the ability to suspend disbelief. Regan and Carter are supposed to be hard, hard men but they never get a scratch on the motor.
llater,
llamas
“Outdated Attitudes”
The Frankfurt School of Marxism has long spread beyond the universities – to most Big Business and other organisations (with their university trained staff) – such as the television organisations.
There are a lot of Public Eye episodes on YouTube. I’ve been ploughing through them since reading this post. I didn’t know of the series before. Superb. Sadly, I haven’t noticed any triggering moments.