Sez Les (1969)

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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

British comedian/game show host Les Dawson held court over this long-playing, freewheeling collection of sketches and monologues, which was popularly known as Sex Les, though it bore such titles as The Les Dawson Show and The Dawson Watch. The project was assembled over a seven-year period, broken up into 11 individual "series." The first group of six half-hour programs were seen over Yorkshire Television from April 30 to June 18, 1969; the second six aired from September 10 to November 19 of the same year. Four more episodes were shown from August 16 to September 6, 1971, with an additional six from January 13 to February 17, 1972, six more that same year from July 29 to September, and yet another six from October 30 to December 4. The calendar year 1973 yielded seven episodes from July 28 to September 8 and a Christmas special on December 26, while 1974 offered 14 programs, seven from January 25 to March 8, and an equal number from June 8 to August 9. Finally in 1976, Sez Les showed up in the form of a January 2 New Year's special, a three-part miniseries from February 25 to March 10, and a climactic seven shows from October 19 to November 30, 1976. Common to all these series was the antic visual humor of star Dawson (his "piano battles" were nationally famous), as well as the star's familiar catchphrases ("Ey up! It's the wife's mother") and such recurring characters as gossips Ada and Cissy, played in drag by Dawson and Richard Barraclough. Additionally, each successive series featured a recurring guest star, including the likes of Brian Glover and John Cleese. Sez Les was briefly and unmemorably revived by the BBC in the mid-'80s; Dawson himself passed away in 1993.