He was a tiny orange puppet bear and yet he did so much. I watched Sooty and company from when I was very little till, well, yesterday when I looked him up on youtube. Although I loved Sooty and his many antics, my favorite was Sweep, a puppy puppet (ooo the alliteration) who used to communicate by squeaking. He was one of those soppy characters who is always doing something silly, but for me he made the show. This brings me to the important point I wanted to make in this blog. Why is it that Ricky Gervais is so much more famous than Steven Merchant?!
I have had a crush on Steven Merchant since he played the ogg-monster in the original Office, what can I say I like 'em tall and gangly. This was even before I saw him interviewed on the box-set extras, or on the million television shows that had the writing duo as guests. I was lucky enough to be in England when Stephen, Ricky and Karl were on Xfm and got to catch the hilarity that is Karl before the podcasts hit, and can I just say Stephen is hilarious. He is dry, and witty and you can tell his humor had a massive influence on the final dialogue in both The Office and Extras. I was glad when he cast himself as the hapless agent Darryn Lamb because he was finally getting some of the fame he so desperately deserved. It certainly irritates me that Ricky Gervais is tagged as the creator of the Office when it was something that emerged from a writing duo.
I guess watching Sweep, a vital character in the Sooty and Company ensemble, stand in the shadow of the far less vocal Sooty was just a reminder that sometimes the real stars don't get the credit they deserve. Before you think I've completely gone off in the deep end, I do realize that Sweep was a puppet and Steven Merchant is a live person, but puppets need credit too.
And with that I hope you guys have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend xx
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So, not being a massive Office or Extras fan I feel that I can't really comment on that part of the blog but having grown up with Sooty I'll stick to that. I must say that I totally agree, Sweep did make the show he was the joker of the pack and really didn't get enough credit for his role. The same could be said for little cousin Scampy. I guess today's blog is a little like life. All through life and the world people get credit for things they haven't thought up or inventions that they haven't invented. The sad thing is it takes Sooty to make us realise that this is the case. It's time to stop accepting life as face value and dig that little deeper. It's the only way we will all get to meet the Sweeps of this world. Good Shabbos :-)
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