History Series / AlasSmithAndJones

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Alas_Smith_and_Jones_5810.jpg]]

-->'''Curb-Crawler''': Denise!\\
'''Prostitute''': Dad!

--->'''Curb-Crawler''': Denise!\\

After ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' ended and Creator/RowanAtkinson [[Series/{{Blackadder}} struck out]] [[Series/MrBean on his own]], Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones made this SpiritualSuccessor SketchShow, which ran from [[LongRunners 1984 to 1998]]. Not to be confused with ''Series/AliasSmithAndJones'', the American series which its PunBasedTitle references; some series of the show dropped the 'alas' from the byline and went out simply as ''Smith and Jones''.

After the show ended, Griff Rhys Jones largely moved away from comedy in favour of presenting documentaries, while Mel Smith went on to do multiple projects, the best-known probably being ''Film/BrainDonors'' and the film adaptation of ''Film/{{Bean}}''. The two still acted together on occasion and reunited in 2006 to present ''The Smith and Jones Sketchbook'', a compilation inspired by TheTwoRonnies doing the same thing shortly before. Any hopes of further material were dashed after Smith passed away in 2013.

* ForbiddenFruit / SkewedPriorities: In the NaughtyBirdwatching sketch, we eventually see that both Mel and Griff have beautiful girlfriends upstairs who want to have sex with them, but they instead obsess over seeing a brief flash of knickers from one of their neighhbours through the telescope.

* UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}: Some jokes about Griff being Welsh.

* TheParody: Usually of adverts and songs or music videos (as with ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews''). Later series also had parodies of [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative unusually-themed compilation albums]], such as "Now That's What I Call The Best Psycho Album Ever 2" or "StephenHawking Sings The Blues".

* MundaneMadeAwesome: In one sketch, a couple who have friends for dinner are interrupted by the dramatic appearance of Mel in fantasy warrior costume, loudly demanding that they hand over "the sword of Kagnazax". Griff and his wife search the kitchen for the sword of Kagnazax but can't find it, and eventually give Mel "the egg whisk that Ruth and Dave gave us last Christmas" gave us, telling him that it's the "dagger of Zang". He accepts it and returns to his own people, where he dramatically announces his find:
-->'''Mel''': My people! I have returned, and I give you ... ''the egg whisk of Ruth and Dave''!

After the show ended, Griff Rhys Jones largely moved away from comedy in favour of presenting documentaries, while Mel Smith went on to do multiple projects, the best-known probably being ''Film/BrainDonors''. The two reunited in 2006 to present ''The Smith and Jones Sketchbook'', a compilation inspired by TheTwoRonnies doing the same thing shortly before. Any hopes of further material were dashed after Smith passed away in 2013.

* ChannelHop: Not really, but Creator/TheBBC turned into the network equivalent of a CrazyJealousGuy when they made an (unrelated) show for Creator/{{ITV}}, which almost scuppered their chances of coming back to continue the show--in the end it was smoothed over, though.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As with ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'', there haven't been many VHS and DVD releases, and those tend to be compilations rather than full episodes--to the point that one DVD was called "At Last Smith and Jones".

Like ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' before it, the humour was often quite taboo, and cheerfully employed MoodWhiplash by going from elaborate sketches with complex humour to rapid-fire slapstick or one-shot gags and then back again. Probably the best known, and defining, recurring feature was the "Head to Head" sketch, in which Smith and Jones' characters face each other across a black void and have an inane SeinfeldianConversation. This is an example of what [[HarryEnfieldAndChums Harry Enfield]] calls a "Thick Bloke and Thicker Bloke" routine: Jones' character is an idiot who gets everything wrong, while Smith corrects him, but is still thicker than the audience and often gets it wrong in a different way in his corrections. Some series also had a domestic recurring flat sketch (possibly inspired by ''Creator/MorecambeAndWise''), usually carrying a story thread throughout an entire episode, cutting back to it in between the other sketches. Episodes also sometimes started with Mel and Griff on stools facing the audience, supposedly [[AsHimself As Themselves]] introducing the show, but actually carrying on a surreal stand-up routine.

After the show ended, Griff Rhys Jones largely moved away from comedy in favour of presenting documentaries, while Mel Smith went on to do multiple projects, the best-known probably being ''Film/BrainDonors''. The two reunited in 2006 to present ''The Smith and Jones Sketchbook'', a compilation inspired by TheTwoRonnies doing the same thing shortly before. Any hopes of further material were permanently destroyed after Smith passed away in 2013.

After the show ended, Griff Rhys Jones largely moved away from comedy in favour of presenting documentaries, while Mel Smith went on to do multiple projects, the best-known probably being ''BrainDonors''. The two reunited in 2006 to present ''The Smith and Jones Sketchbook'', a compilation inspired by TheTwoRonnies doing the same thing shortly before. Any hopes of further material were permanently destroyed after Smith passed away in 2013.

Like ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' before it, the humour was often quite taboo, and cheerfully employed MoodWhiplash by going from elaborate sketches with complex humour to rapid-fire slapstick or one-shot gags and then back again. Probably the best known, and defining, recurring feature was the "Head to Head" sketch, in which Smith and Jones' characters face each other across a black void and have an inane SeinfeldianConversation. This is an example of what [[HarryEnfieldAndChums Harry Enfield]] calls a "Thick Bloke and Thicker Bloke" routine: Jones' character is an idiot who gets everything wrong, while Smith corrects him, but is still thicker than the audience and often gets it wrong in a different way in his corrections. Some series also had a domestic recurring flat sketch (possibly inspired by ''MorecambeAndWise''), usually carrying a story thread throughout an entire episode, cutting back to it in between the other sketches. Episodes also sometimes started with Mel and Griff on stools facing the audience, supposedly [[AsHimself As Themselves]] introducing the show, but actually carrying on a surreal stand-up routine.

After ''NotTheNineOClockNews'' ended and Creator/RowanAtkinson [[{{Blackadder}} struck out]] [[Series/MrBean on his own]], Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones made this SpiritualSuccessor SketchShow, which ran from [[LongRunners 1984 to 1998]]. Not to be confused with ''Series/AliasSmithAndJones'', the American series which its PunBasedTitle references; some series of the show dropped the 'alas' from the byline and went out simply as ''Smith and Jones''.

Like ''NotTheNineOClockNews'' before it, the humour was often quite taboo, and cheerfully employed MoodWhiplash by going from elaborate sketches with complex humour to rapid-fire slapstick or one-shot gags and then back again. Probably the best known, and defining, recurring feature was the "Head to Head" sketch, in which Smith and Jones' characters face each other across a black void and have an inane SeinfeldianConversation. This is an example of what [[HarryEnfieldAndChums Harry Enfield]] calls a "Thick Bloke and Thicker Bloke" routine: Jones' character is an idiot who gets everything wrong, while Smith corrects him, but is still thicker than the audience and often gets it wrong in a different way in his corrections. Some series also had a domestic recurring flat sketch (possibly inspired by ''MorecambeAndWise''), usually carrying a story thread throughout an entire episode, cutting back to it in between the other sketches. Episodes also sometimes started with Mel and Griff on stools facing the audience, supposedly [[AsHimself As Themselves]] introducing the show, but actually carrying on a surreal stand-up routine.

* ChannelHop: Not really, but Creator/TheBBC turned into the network equivalent of a CrazyJealousGuy when they made an (unrelated) show for {{ITV}}, which almost scuppered their chances of coming back to continue the show--in the end it was smoothed over, though.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As with ''NotTheNineOClockNews'', there haven't been many VHS and DVD releases, and those tend to be compilations rather than full episodes--to the point that one DVD was called "At Last Smith and Jones".

* TheParody: Usually of adverts and songs or music videos (as with ''NotTheNineOClockNews''). Later series also had parodies of [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative unusually-themed compilation albums]], such as "Now That's What I Call The Best Psycho Album Ever 2" or "StephenHawking Sings The Blues".

* SpecialGuest: One episode had [[{{Queen}} Brian May]] turning up to Mel and Griff's flat to play poker. He was treated as a SpecialGuest in-universe as well, with the humour coming from Mel telling everyone to act normally and that it wasn't a big deal, while the others were prone to HeroWorship.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''NotTheNineOClockNews''--besides having Mel and Griff and a similar format, it also shared many of the same writers.

* ChannelHop: Not really, but TheBBC turned into the network equivalent of a CrazyJealousGuy when they made an (unrelated) show for {{ITV}}, which almost scuppered their chances of coming back to continue the show--in the end it was smoothed over, though.

After the show ended, Griff Rhys Jones largely moved away from comedy in favour of presenting documentaries, while Mel Smith went on to do multiple projects, the best-known probably being ''BrainDonors''. The two reunited in 2006 to present ''The Smith and Jones Sketchbook'', a compilation inspired by TheTwoRonnies doing the same thing shortly before.

After ''NotTheNineOClockNews'' ended and Creator/RowanAtkinson [[{{Blackadder}} struck out]] [[Series/MrBean on his own]], Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones made this SpiritualSuccessor SketchShow, which ran from [[LongRunners 1984 to 1998]]. Not to be confused with ''{{Alias Smith and Jones}}'', the American series which its PunBasedTitle references; some series of the show dropped the 'alas' from the byline and went out simply as ''Smith and Jones''.

After ''NotTheNineOClockNews'' ended and Creator/RowanAtkinson [[{{Blackadder}} struck out]] [[MrBean on his own]], Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones made this SpiritualSuccessor SketchShow, which ran from [[LongRunners 1984 to 1998]]. Not to be confused with ''{{Alias Smith and Jones}}'', the American series which its PunBasedTitle references; some series of the show dropped the 'alas' from the byline and went out simply as ''Smith and Jones''.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: The end of the Brian May sketch sees Griff inviting EricClapton over, and Brian proceeds to fanboy over Clapton just as the others fanboyed over him earlier, and they instruct him in turn in ActingUnnatural with a vacuum cleaner.

* AssShove: One of the starting routines involves Griff walking awkwardly while telling a [[DisorganisedOutlineSpeech long, rambling]], [[ImplausibleDeniability unconvincing]] speech about hanging pictures on a stepladder in front of a box of vegetables while naked, to explain why he went to the hospital to have a cucumber removed from his backside. This ends with the {{inversion}} punchline: