Editing Alas Smith and Jones (section)

==History==
===Background===
The show's development came after ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' ended in 1982. [[Rowan Atkinson]] and [[Pamela Stephenson]] pursued their solo careers, while [[Mel Smith]] and [[Griff Rhys Jones]] decide to formed a double act.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/alassmithandjones/|title = Alas Smith and Jones}}</ref>

Their first appearance as a duo was in a short sketch in the BBC1 comedy special ''[[The Funny Side of Christmas]]'' in 1982, in which Jones played a stranger who annoyed hospital patient Smith to the extent that Smith's character walked out in rage, leaving Jones's character to enjoy Smith's Christmas gifts.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Funny Side of Christmas - BBC One London - 27 December 1982|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b06a645eaf684106a6b4cd1a236a4a81|website=BBC Genome|date=27 December 1982 |publisher=BBC|access-date=26 February 2015}}</ref>

The BBC offered the pair their own show, with much of the material written by themselves with help from a large team of writers. The title is a pun on the American television series ''[[Alias Smith and Jones]]''.

===Format===
The show shared several script writers with ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' including [[Clive Anderson]] and [[Colin Bostock-Smith]]. It used taboo-breaking material, bad language, sketches in questionable taste, and included head-to-head dialogues in the [[Pete and Dud]] mould with Smith the know-all idiot and Jones the know-nothing idiot. The head-to-head format was used by Smith and Jones in a series of commercials. Cast regulars [[Chris Langham]] and [[Andy Hamilton]] helped keep the show to a consistently high standard.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mel Smith obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10193618/Mel-Smith.html|website=The Telegraph|date=21 July 2013}}</ref>

===TalkBack===
Series 4 in 1987 was the final series to be produced solely by the BBC, and the last series to be broadcast on BBC2. The 1987 Christmas special, ''The Homemade Xmas Video'', was one of the first shows to be produced for the BBC by an independent production company – [[Talkback (production company)|TalkBack]] – of which Smith and Jones were founding directors. TalkBack produced series 5 for the BBC in 1989, which was broadcast on BBC1 and dropped "Alas" from the title.

In 2000 Smith and Jones sold TalkBack to [[Pearson Television]], then owners of [[Thames Television]], for £62 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pearson TV buys TalkBack|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/791303.stm|website=BBC News Online|publisher=BBC|access-date=1 March 2015|date=14 June 2000}}</ref> [[Pearson PLC]] sold Pearson Television to CLT-UFA in 2001 to form the [[RTL Group]]. Pearson Television was renamed [[Fremantle (company)|FremantleMedia]] and its UK division took the Thames Television name.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Waller|first1=Ed|title=Pearson TV becomes FremantleMedia|url=http://www.c21media.net/pearson-tv-becomes-fremantlemedia/|website=C21Media|access-date=1 March 2015|date=20 August 2001}}</ref> The operational departments of TalkBack and Thames were merged to form [[Talkback Thames]] in 2003; initially each brand continued to be used on screen, but eventually all productions used the Talkback Thames name.<ref>{{cite web|title=Talkback and Thames in tie-up.|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/talkback-and-thames-in-tie-up/1110583.article|website=Broadcast|access-date=1 March 2015|date=17 February 2003}}</ref> In 2011 individual brand names returned and Talkback is once again used solely for comedy productions.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/23/talkback-thames-to-split-up | work=The Guardian| first=Tara | last=Conlan | title=Talkback Thames to be split up | date=23 November 2011 |access-date=22 August 2013}}</ref>