Of Funerals and Fish first episode, is referred to as Harold; when the character went on to appear in the series, he would be called Wally. Of Funerals and Fish "Of Funerals and Fish" is the pilot episode of the world's longest running sitcom, "Last of the Summer Wine" (1973–2010), written by Roy Clarke. It was first aired on 4 January 1973 and became the first of 295 episodes. It was aired as a "Comedy Playhouse" episode. The plot involved the trio going around discussing life and death. It starred Bill Owen, Peter Sallis and Michael Bates. This also was the first appearance of
British sitcom world's longest running sitcom. The commercial station ITV had popular successes with "Rising Damp" (1974–78, sometimes called the best of all ITV sitcoms), "Man About the House" (1973–76) and "George and Mildred" (1976–79). "Rising Damp"'s star, Leonard Rossiter, also played the lead role in the BBC's highly popular "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (1976–79). The decline in cinema attendance in this period meant that many of these series were turned into cinema films; the first film version of "On the Buses" (1969–73) was the biggest hit at the British box office in 1971. According to Jeff Evans, "On