Butterflies (BBC sitcom, 1978-83)

NBC made a pilot for an American version n 1979. Insanely, because it never would have worked here—it was too smart, adult, and low-key.

The pilot starred Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad), who died a few weeks before it aired — a year or so after he watched Ann Romano slap Julie for dating him on One Day at a Time.

OP - never heard of it. There seem to be so many British shows of the 70s and early 80s that haven't endured in pop culture the way American counterparts have. I say that as someone who spent the first half of his childhood in the UK in the 80s and the second part in the U.S. in the 90s.

Can anyone remind me of what that lovely piece of classical music is playing in the OP's video starting at about 6:30 when the female lead is in that church with the other man?

how can you concentrate given such low quality video surrounded by that huge frame of a lit auditorium?

My mother watched Butterflies decades ago on PBS. We didn't have cable, we didn't have a remote control, she often ruled the roost when it came to what we watched.

I remember Butterflies as being very funny, but don't think I understood all of the jokes.

Years later, when watching the Judi Dench TV show, As Time Goes By, I was happily reunited with the actor Geoffrey Palmer. On ATGB he played Lionel, Judi's love and on Butterfiles he had played the exasperated father.

Both programs were delightful.

Why are we watching through a movie theater motif?

Sons not cute.

R5 They limiting the size of the video on a screen because the resolution is SO low.

That lead actress, Wendy Craig, is still alive and very admired in the UK. I first saw her in the Hammer Horror film called The Nanny, with a grim and prim elderly Bette Davis in the lead role. It’s an uneven film, but worth watching for the sets and design of that era, like a Time Machine view into a prosperous UK household. I think Bette Davis watches another character’s heart fail and withholds medicine that could have saved her, and possibly drowns a few children in the bath. Serious crimes, but not as serious as her bad English Accent.

Like r4, I remember that program, Butterflies, on PBS when I was a kid. That actor Geoffrey Palmer, who played the stuffy husband, passed away in 2020 at 93. He was omnipresent in BBC productions, and played all sorts of parts.

I think Dolly Parton performed that theme song on a special or series of her own near the same time. I remember because our older sister impersonated her cover version of it, for fun. We were still kids then, perhaps 9 or 10.

My mother, who gave birth to us in the 1970s and 1980s loved Butterflies. And I can see why she did. It actually put me off the idea of ever having children.

Nicholas Lyndhurst, who plays the younger son is now appearing in the Frasier reboot on Paramount.

[quote]with a grim and prim elderly Bette Davis in the lead role.

Bette Davis wasn't elderly at the time, she was only 56/57 if you can believe it. The cigarettes and booze did a number on her.

Loved Butterflies. So long ago! Always loved Geoffrey Palmer.

I loved this show back when it was on PBS. The sons were a lot of fun and wore really tight jeans, although neither one was particularly attractive. The older one actually died about five years ago. I thought the plot line got a little thin towards the end, since the entire series was just her seeing the other man on the sly and the one time they almost had sex, they decided not to. But both the parents were wonderful actors.

It was the second British tv show I watched. The first had been Monty Python.

I was 15 when I read an article about it premiering in the USA on channel 13 (PBS in the NY area). It sounded interesting but, well, I was 15. It was a very adult program about adult lives.

I did watch the first two episodes but didn’t keep up with it. Maybe I’ll try it again, 46 years later. I understand why it’s presented in that format but it’s a bit strange to watch it that way.

[Quote] There seem to be so many British shows of the 70s and early 80s that haven't endured in pop culture the way American counterparts have.

What an odd thing to say. Many American shows came and went in the 70s and 80s which no one remembers.

Here’s one of about a million examples:

[Quote] I loved this show back when it was on PBS. The sons were a lot of fun and wore really tight jeans, although neither one was particularly attractive.

And for those who are fetish-inclined, there’s a breathtaking closeup of Lyndhurst’s teenage feet in one episode.

[Quote] They limiting the size of the video on a screen because the resolution is SO low.

No that’s not why.

It’s because the BBC is fiercely protective of its programming and has an arrangement with YouTube — each video has a sort of video fingerprint that can be immediately recognized and the video disabled.

Hollywood movie studios have this arrangement with YouTube as well.

One way to beat it is to bury the video in a frame like has been done here.

It’s very irritating. One of my favorite tv documentaries is “The World at War,” a superb series made in the early 70s. The war was still vividly clear in most Britons’ minds and the series is very somber.

It’s not streaming anywhere, which is completely fucking exasperating. But when it’s uploaded to YouTube the videos are taken down by Thames television. They have allowed a few episodes to remain up on YouTube but most are unavailable.

r10, He did not age well at all.

R17 -- Was Peter Ustinov the narrator?

I wonder how much money Dolly made off them using her song for the theme?

The sons were hot in the way all young, thin guys are. The parents would talk about all the girls they were banging.

In the failed pilot for the American remake, one of the sons was played by Craig Wasson ("Body Double," "Ghost Story").

Dolly just re-recorded the theme.

The original version.

Smart, evocative lyrics. Even on her minor hits, Dolly really shows her songwriting genius.

I loved the show mostly for Wendy Craig, who was very funny as Ria. She was excellent at being a conflicted housewife who loved her husband and grown sons, but was curious about the life she never led.

I didn't feel the rest of the cast was at her level, though. Geoffrey Palmer was too curmudgeonly, the guy who played the millionaire who wanted to fuck her wasn't very appealing, and the two actors who played her sons were unattractive.

Wendy Craig really did a great job with the role.

And the writing was so layered, smart and real.

Such a contrast to the top-rated US sitcoms of the time.

To be fair it was better than most British sitcoms of the time as well.

I would sit on the couch bored as my mother watched it. I was around 6,7 when it was popular in the UK