Cowboys (1980–1981) User Reviews

Excellent, funny and yet another forgotten gem *Spoilers*

[naseby · 9/10 · 22 January 2009]

A surprisingly forgotten show, mainly due to having not been repeated enough. (It may have had another run, I can't remember). Cowboys, as the only other reviewer from Wales states, was a very funny series and a shame it has never made, from what I can gather even video status, let alone DVD. A kack-handed mob of builders, as the 'Cowboys' title suggests have no effective leadership anyway, from the great and also forgotten comedian Roy Kinnear as their boss, Joe Jones. With even more ineptness, Geyser (Colin Welland, also a successful playwright/director/producer), the also familiar David Kelly as Wobbly (He formerly starred as 'Albert Riddle' in 'Robin's Nest') and James Wardroper as Eric made for a calamitous trio likened mainly to the three stooges of the building world.

Although it must seem an easy format to some, to have Cowboy builders to provide comedy, there was no real or strained slapstick - there were plenty of funny lines, especially from Colin Welland's character. Both Wobbly and Eric were the real 'thickies' compared to Geyser, but at times, Wobbly's dimness paled into comparison, with Eric's.

Jones was always chasing the gorgeous Debbie Linden as Doreen, his secretary and failing miserably and then delivered with yet another 'thickie' in the form of his new secretary, Muriel, played by Janine Duvitski, who was less than glamorous compared to Doreen.

I am fortunate enough to have recorded about three episodes, dotted around on various old VHS tapes, when the first video recorders were available for rental in 1980, when the series first aired - they are very much treasured!

''If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing wrong!''

[Rabical-91 · 9/10 · 16 February 2016]

'Cowboys' was a very funny little series from 1980 which despite starring some of Britain's finest comedy talent ( not to mention an award-winning screenwriter ), has surprisingly ( and unfairly ) been forgotten. Now, let me start off by stating that this sitcom has absolutely nothing to do with baccy-chewing, gun slinging rednecks in the wild West but is in fact all about bone-idle, incompetent builders. Meet Joe Jones ( played to the hilt by the late Roy Kinnear ), managing director of Joe Jones. Ltd, a building firm which Joe started up after his used car business ceased trading. His only workmen are short-tempered plumber Richard Geyser ( Colin Welland, author of the Oscar winning 'Chariots Of Fire' ) who has a fondness for strange sandwiches, drunken Irish painter/decorator Wobbly Ron ( David Kelly, who coincidentally played another cowboy workman in the 'Fawlty Towers' episode 'The Builders' ) and gormless van driver Eric ( James Wardroper, the nephew of the show's producer Michael Mills ) whose driving skills would frighten a destruction derby driver.

Everything they did would end in disaster. In the first episode, they were given the job of renovating a dangerously dilapidated house which by the time they have had a go at it collapses completely. In another episode they were given the job of painting a local police station, however the paint they were using was the same stolen paint the police were trying to track down and in another they were required to add an extra sink in a hospital sluice room, which then culminated in the entire hospital being flooded.

As Jones, Kinnear hammed it up for all it was worth. I found it hilarious the way he grumbled and buried his chin into his chest whenever questioned about the relationship between him and his secretary Doreen ( the late Debbie Linden ), who was replaced in series two by the dim-witted ( and noticeably less attractive ) Muriel Bailey, who was portrayed by Janine Duvitski. Colin Welland stood out from all though as the grumpy plumber Geyser, though David Kelly got many of the laughs as Wobbly Ron. I felt his role as one-armed dishwasher Albert Riddle in 'Robin's Nest' never did him justice. Irritating though was James Wardroper as Eric, who when not shouting ''Knockout!'' whilst jumping in the air is causing mass destruction with his reckless driving.

After 'Cowboys' ended, Kinnear took the lead role in what would be his final sitcom, the short lived 'The Clairvoyant', penned by Roy Clarke in which he was a used car salesman who thinks he has developed psychic powers after being involved in a hit and run accident. Sadly, not many viewers cared for the show and as a result it never made it past a first series. Peter Learmouth, who wrote the show, later wrote medical sitcom 'Surgical Spirit' and then the dire 'Let Them Eat Cake' ( which starred Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders ) but 'Cowboys' in my opinion was his best.

The plumber won an Oscar

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 3 October 2002]

"Cowboys" was a screamingly funny Thames Television sitcom that would need to be retitled if they ever show it in America. This series has nothing to do with Texas buckaroos. In Britain, a "cowboy builder" is an unscrupulous construction worker, specialising in construction jobs that look acceptable just long enough for the builders to get paid ... but which fall apart or develop problems after the builders have moved on to their next job.

Eric and Geyser and Wobbly Ron are the three cowboy builders who work for Joe Jones Ltd, the most unscrupulous building firm in the trade. Geyser is the plumber, and his nickname tells you how most of his plumbing jobs finish up. Joe Jones (played by the brilliant comic actor Roy Kinnear) doesn't much care about the shoddy work his builders are doing, because Joe is too busy trying to get into the sack with his sexy secretary Doreen ... who doesn't want any from Joe, thanks. (Actress Debbie Linden left this series early, leaving Joe with nobody to chase.)

Actor Colin Welland, who played the "oop North" plumber Geyser, is also a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. During the run of "Cowboys", Welland won an Oscar for his screenplay for "Chariots of Fire" ... surely the only time in history that a sitcom actor took home an Academy Award for writing the script of a serious film.

"Cowboys" was well-written and well-performed, and would probably get a favourable reception in the United States ... providing somebody changes the title.

Forgotten gem

[Alanjackd · 6/10 · 29 June 2015]

Another forgotten gem from the comedy archives. This was made in the un pc times when people just wanted to sit and have a giggle after a hard days work.The late great Joe Kinnear leads the cast of misfits who spend more time and effort trying to get out of work than they could actually spend working. Laughs galore here with situations adhered to in typical comedy script..Work Outings..tea drinking...the boss and his young secretary...all basic comedy prefixes. Colin Welland gives a great performance as the plumber who leads the trio of work shy socialists who scam their way through the working day rather than earn an honest pay packet. Debbie Linden, a name from my teenage dreams, plays the blonde secretary who spends all day touching up her nails and looking nice whilst trying to ignore the attentions of her overweight boss. One or two marvellous cameos here and there and sadly cancelled after just 3 series. At last available as a box set it stands the test of time and puts so called modern comedies in the shade.

12 episodes over 2 years

[matt-17541 · 11 February 2023]

This isn't really 3 series - they showed the first 10 episodes in 1980 with a 3-week break about half way, then they aired only 2 more episodes the following December (Iots of rethinking going on perhaps- I suspect they may have made all 12 together).

My memory is the cast here (Welland, Kinnear etc) were so much better than this kind of thing. It has stuck in my mind though, all these years.

PS. I don't remember the characters being "socialists" (from the other review here) - I hope that word wasn't used to explain their work-shy nature! Colin Welland would not be happy with such a comparison!