Alas Smith and Jones
1 9 8 4 - 1 9 8 8 (UK)
25 x 30 minute episodes
1 x 40 minute special
 This clever comedy sketch series (mimicking the title of the
1970s Western series starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy) with Mel
Smith and Griff Rhys Jones basically picked up where they left off
on Not the Nine O'clock News.
Writers included Smith and Jones, Clive Anderson, Rob Grant and
Doug Naylor (creators of Red Dwarf). The 40 minute 1988 Christmas special was called Alas Sage and Onion.
In 1988 the duo produced The World According To Smith and Jones
for LWT, returning to the BBC for Smith and Jones In Small
Doses and Smith and Jones (1990-1995). The latter was
in the same format as Alas... but the quality
declined.
The series is probably best remembered for the ''head-to-head''
scenes where the idiotic Smith attempted to explain something
straightforward to the even dimmer Jones:
Mel: I think I might emigrate to Australia
Griff: Oh no, don't do that, mate, don't do that.
Mel: But it's a beautiful country . . .You can tell that
when you're watching all the films and everything, can't you?
What''s that one with all the wild animals in the outback, what's
it called? . . . "Dingo's ate my baby" . . . you know,
it was in Australia, what was it called? . . er . . . Meryl
Streep was in it . . .
Griff: Out of Africa?
Mel: That's the one, yeah
Griff: Yeah.
An attempt to revive Alas Smith and Jones was made in
1998.
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